The first of the German navy's Lockheed Martin P-3C Orions arrived at Nordholz airbase in March. The eighth and finalex-Royal Netherlands Navy aircraft should be ready for delivery in March 2006, allowing Germany to complete the phase-out of its 14 anti-submarine warfare Atlantic Mk 1s.The navy will still operate three electronic intelligence Atlantics from Nordholz, but is expected to replace them with the Northrop Grumman/EADS Eurohawk unmanned air vehicle.
Source: Flight International
Northrop Grumman continues to chase international sales opportunities for its E-2D Advanced Hawkeye and MQ-4C Triton maritime surveillance aircraft, as it simultaneously introduces upgrades to both platforms.
Leonardo is confident that by the autumn it will have created a UK team through which it can drive the development of air-launched effects (ALE) – collaborative drone swarms that could be deployed from a helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft.
The US government has cleared a possible Czech Republic purchase of air-to-surface missiles for attack helicopters.
