Defence`s Feeds

30 years ago today, a Blackbird smashed a transcontinental speed record. On Mar. 6, 1990, SR-71 Blackbird S/N 61-7972 (tail number #972) made its final flight from AF Flight Test Center Plant 42 in Palmdale, [...]

Videos of gun and missile tests taken at the Russian GkNIPAS range are extremely interesting. The one of  the Su-34 is pretty unusual too. The top image, showing a Russian Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback attack aircraft [...]

The European Defence Agency (EDA) confirms that two additional staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. Both staff members have been at home in self-isolation since 2 March and have thus not returned to the Agency since symptoms appeared.

Given that both staff members had been in close contact with the first staff member who has tested positive, the Agency, while awaiting test results, has proactively taken additional precautionary measures to those already outlined in its statement of 4 March.

The additional precautionary measures include: 

• EDA has personally informed all individuals who were in close contact with the two colleagues four days prior to the appearance of symptoms;
• EDA has asked its staff members in close contact to self-isolate themselves for 14 days as a precaution.

All three EDA staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19 are at home and have not reported any adverse change in their health.

EDA will continue to closely monitor the situation and remain in close contact with the responsible health authorities (Belgian health authorities as the host nation, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the EU Inter-Institutional Medical Board and the World Health Organisation) in order to strictly follow their guidance.

 

North Korean KN-25 Multiple Launch Rocket System

Americas

Boeing won a $36.7 million contract modification or KC-46 engineering, manufacturing and development contract. The modification is for the component build and development of the hardware system integration lab to conduct lab verification and ground test verification for the boom telescope actuator redesign. The KC-46A Pegasus is a widebody, multirole tanker that can refuel all US, allied and coalition military aircraft compatible with international aerial refueling procedures. Problems with the boom were among the issues that the Air Force and Boeing knew still needed to be resolved at the time the tankers first began being delivered early last year. work will take place in Seattle. Estimated completion will be in February 2023.

Australia has agreed to sell up to 46 of its F/A-18A/B fighters to Air USA, an air combat training company in the United States. The transfer will take place over next three to four years, the Minister for Defense Industry, Melissa Price said. Air USA is a private contractor. Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) personnel at RAAF Base Williamtown will be responsible for preparing the aircraft for their transfer to the company. The Australian Department of Defense announced the sale on its website. Williamtown is home to three of the four remaining Australian F/A-18A/B units, No. 3 and No. 77 Squadrons and No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit, the latter of which is responsible for training pilots on the type. No. 75 Squadron is based at RAAF Base Tindal in Australia’s Northwestern Territory.

Middle East & Africa

The Dassault Mirage 2000 jets flown by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force and Air Defence (AFAD) will be the first of the type to use the Sniper targeting pod, manufacturer Lockheed Martin announced on February 26. It said it had received a directed commercial sale from the AFAD to expedite the delivery of the pods. It did not reveal the value of the sale or the number of pods involved. The AFAD maintains a fleet of at least 42 Mirage 2000-9s, some of which are older aircraft that were delivered in the 1980s and subsequently upgraded. The Emirati Mirages currently use a version of the Thales Damocles pod called the Shehab.

Europe

Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions has been selected to provide a Digital Tower system as an Operational Concept Demonstrator for the Royal Air Force at their air force base by Lossiemouth in the United Kingdom, the company announced. The UK’s Royal Air Force is set to trial a digital air traffic control tower at RAF Lossiemouth airbase, the future home of the submarine-hunting P-8 Poseidon aircraft. Under a single-source experimental project, RAF Lossiemouth will see the development of a digital air traffic control (ATC) tower operational concept demonstrator (OCD) by Saab’s UK division. According to BBC, the cameras would give the controllers a 360 degree view of the airfield, allowing them to monitor the whole airfield through a series of communication links.

The DoS approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Poland for 180 Javelin missiles and 79 Javelin Command Launch Units (CLUs) and related equipment for an estimated cost of $100 million. The sale will include basic skill trainers, battery coolant units and missile simulation rounds. Javelin is expected to improve and strengthen the country’s long-term defense capacity. It will also help Poland fulfill its national defense needs to better defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Raytheon and Lockheed Martin’s partnership Javelin Joint Venture (JJV) will serve as the prime contractor for the program.

Asia-Pacific

The coronavirus now hit the F-35 production. Japan has paused work for one week at its Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) final assembly and checkout facility in Nagoya, Japan over concerns of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) that is spreading the globe. Lieutenant General Eric Fick, F-35 program executive officer, said on March 4 that he anticipates resumption of work at the facility after the week’s pause. Lt Gen Fick added that he does not anticipate any other disruption to the supply chain and that the Joint Program Office (JPO) is not taking any deliberate steps to actively curtail any ripple effects due to the coronavirus that may further go through the F-35 supply chain.

Today’s Video

Watch: CHINESE NAVY FIRES LASER AT AMERICAN P-8A POSEIDON AIRCRAFT !

Key Points Omega Air Refueling Services expects demand for its services to grow as the US Air Force wants to reduce its tanker fleet The company expects competitors to enter this market but an expert warns of flat budget predictions and high barriers to entry The world’s only provider of

Brazilian state-controlled company Emgepron has awarded a contract to the Águas Azuis consortium comprising Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS), Embraer Defesa & Segurança, and Atech Negócios em Tecnologias to build four Tamandaré-class frigates for the Brazilian Navy. The

The UK and France has completed the first qualification firing trial of the MBDA Sea Venom/Anti-Navire Léger (ANL) anti-ship missile, the Defence Equipment and Support (DES) agency announced on 6 March. The missile, which will equip the Royal Navy’s AgustaWestland AW159 Lynx

The Turkish military made extensive use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the eight days of intense fighting in Syria’s Idlib province that came to an end with a ceasefire at midnight on 5-6 March. However, the loss of at least four aircraft raised questions about their ability to

UK defence secretary Ben Wallace has launched a review of the country’s defence and security industry sectors in a bid to demonstrate their importance in the upcoming government-wide Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development, and Foreign Policy. In a written statement to parliament

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has disclosed the award of a Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) contract to MSubs for the test of an extra-large unmanned underwater vehicle (XLUUV). Valued at GBP1 million (USD1.3 million), the 12-month Stage 1 contract was placed in September 2019 but not

Navy research and engineering officials are casting a wide net among industry to help the service develop a new generation of multi-domain sensor payload technologies for manned and unmanned systems. A broad agency announcement (BAA) issued by Naval Air Warfare Command on 28 February is soliciting

For the first time Leonardo has unveiled in public its weapon wing system that is to equip UK AW159 Wildcat HMA2 maritime helicopters during the Royal Navy’s (RN’s) Carrier Strike Group 2021 (CSG21) deployment. The UK-arm of the Italian company displayed one of the first production

The quarterly report on Iran released by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 3 March revealed a significant increase in the country’s stockpile of enriched uranium since its last report. The stockpile stood at 1,020.9 kg in February, up from 372.3 kg in November 2019. This 648.6

The Spanish Navy has decided to rebuild a Segura-class minesweeper that ran aground in August 2019 rather than replace it with a new vessel. Announcing the decision on 5 March, the navy said a budget of approximately EUR25 million (USD28.3 million) is expected to cover repair costs for its fourth

Key Points Results of the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) are expected to be seen by the summer. EDIDP is the foundation for the broader European Defence Fund (EDF), funding for which remains a matter of debate. The EU’s test-case spending programmes on defence

The US Army and the United States Marine Corps (USMC) both announced in their Financial Year (FY) 2021 budget estimates their intentions to procure the Barret Multi-Role Adaptive Design (MRAD) as their newest sniper rifle. The army intends to initially procure 536 rifles at a cost of USD10.14

New concepts and equipment will be used during exercise ‘Defender-Europe 20’, a senior US Army Europe (USAREUR) commander has said. Asked by Jane’s during a phone briefing on the exercise on 4 March which armour units would participate with Trophy active protection systems and

Key Points Australia has handed over a Guardian-class patrol boat to Fiji The programme to equip 13 countries with the vessel is on track for completion by October 2023 The Australian government has handed over a Guardian-class patrol boat to Fiji. The vessel, which is part of a 21-vessel

Elbit Systems’ C4I & Cyber Division is to supply the Canadian Land Forces with its ELSAT 2100 satcom on-the-move (SOTM) system to provide a real-time broadband communication system, according to a 3 March company statement. The system is to be provided under the Land Command Support