All Defence articles – Page 129
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News
US Army to receive AH-64E Version 6 upgrade, with ship and UAV hunting capabilities, in August
The US Army is to start receiving the Version 6 hardware and software update for the Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopter in August. Boeing says it has already delivered the update to one international customer, though it declines to name the nation. The update improves the AH-64E’s maritime and unmanned ...
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News
US Air Force works towards in-flight updates of F-16 software
The service believes updating software on the fly will reduce fielding time to its fleet by 50%.
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News
Avalon Airshow pushed back to late 2021
Next year’s Avalon air show has been postponed owing to the coronavirus pandemic, with a new date proposed for late 2021. The event had been scheduled for 23-28 February 2021, but the organiser, AMDA Foundation, says the event will be pushed back several months, potentially to November. Source: ...
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News
Changing world creates vexing challenge for USAF planners: Rand
Washington think tank Rand has outlined the challenges facing US Air Force (USAF) and defence planners in a series of papers focusing on the future of warfare in the coming decade. The series of papers, which were sponsored by USAF, points out that the US has a poor record predicting ...
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News
‘Agile’ strategy fails to deliver as F-35 upgrade two years late and cost rise $1.5bn
The Block 4 upgrade, modernisation of the relatively new stealth fighter’s software and hardware, was initially to be delivered by 2024, but now will not be handed over until 2026. Problems also pushed up the cost on the modernisation effort to an estimated $12.1 billion.
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News
Tokyo’s first V-22 Ospreys reach Japan
Tokyo has received its first pair of Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotors, as the nation continues to build up its amphibious capabilities.
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News
Royal Canadian Air Force fighter competition delayed by coronavirus until 31 July
The deadline was pushed back at the request of potential bidders in the competition. Ottawa wants to buy 88 fighter aircraft, worth $15 to $19 billion.
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News
USAF abandons 80% mission capability goal after three fighters miss target
The mission capability rate is defined as the percentage of a fleet of an aircraft that are able to perform at least one assigned mission over a period of time.
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News
Leonardo gains initial certification for M-345
Leonardo has secured initial certification for its M-345, edging the jet trainer closer to service introduction with the Italian air force.
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News
MQ-8C starts flight tests with new radar
Flight tests of the Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout UAV with an advanced search radar are underway with the US Navy. Flight testing with the Leonardo AN/ZPY-8 Osprey radar commenced from the US Navy’s Patuxent River testing facility in late February, says Northrop. “The AN/ZPY-8 radar significantly increases Fire Scout’s ...
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News
Lockheed Martin Skunk Works demos autonomous reconnaissance pod
Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs, also known as Skunk Works, has demonstrated an artificial intelligence-powered intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance pod autonomously searching out and confirming a target in a demonstration.
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News
USA approves $2.3bn refurbishment package for 43 of Egypt’s AH-64E Apaches
The helicopters would be used to put down a Bedouin insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula.
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News
Leonardo finances hit by airline crisis after strong start to year
Italian group suspends 2020 guidance as commercial market collapse throws outlook into uncertainty
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News
Long-Range Standoff Weapon franchise worth $10 billion over lifetime: Raytheon
The USAF gave Raytheon a sole-source contract in April for the LRSO, ending the missile development competition early. Lockheed Martin was also competing to design and build the missile.
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News
Joint battlefield network one of USAF’s highest priorities: chief of staff nominee
US Air Force chief of staff nominee General Charles Brown plans to make pursuit of the Pentagon’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control battlefield network concept one of the service’s highest priorities.
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News
First German government A350 arrives for outfitting in Hamburg
Airbus has transferred the first of three A350-900s for the federal German government to Hamburg for outfitting at the Lufthansa Technik facility. The aircraft flew from the airframer’s Hamburg Finkenwerder plant to the city’s main international airport on 7 May. It bears the civil registration D-AGAF but will be re-registered ...
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Analysis
Why hypersonic developers have narrow window to enact arms controls
A forthcoming generation of missiles capable of travelling at Mach 5 threaten to overwhelm defences and upset the global power balance.
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News
US Army studies data fusion for FARA and FLRAA as pilot cognitive overload hits ‘tipping point’
The US Army is calling for ideas from US aerospace manufacturers for dealing with cognitive overload in its next-generation rotorcraft. The call for white papers comes ahead of the service’s plans to launch a “Holistic Situational Awareness—Decision Making” development programme in fiscal year 2021.
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In depth
8 key hypersonic missile efforts for the US Department of Defense
In a race to catch up with China and Russia, the US Air Force, Army and Navy are sharing funding, designs and maybe eventually components from hypersonic weapons. These heady early days of industry and service co-operation will probably not last, but represent the all-hands-on-deck urgency that the US Department of Defense believes is needed.
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In depth
7 technical challenges that need to be overcome by hypersonic missile builders
There remain great challenges to designing, building and fielding a reliable hypersonic weapon. Overcoming these seven technical problems is essential to advancing hypersonic missile technology to an operational state, according to leading experts at Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Technologies.