Bids for the US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) technology demonstration were submitted in late March. Northrop Grumman is one of four bidders - with Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Systems - and is proposing this flying wing design resembling its B-2 stealth bomber. Bidders are required to submit a concept of operations for a strike UCAV, a description of an operational system and a design for a demonstrator.
Source: Flight International
While Turkey will still move forward with the purchase of 40 new F-16V fighter jets from Lockheed Martin, Ankara has decided to scrap a planned acquisition of 79 Block 70 upgrade kits for its existing F-16 fleet, opting instead to contract with domestic Turkish Aerospace for the modernisations.
The Next Generation Intra-theater Airlift programme aims to enhance the air force’s existing airlift capability with a regional logistics aircraft able to operate without ground infrastructure like a maintained runway.
A Boeing P-8A maritime patrol jet from the US Navy overflew the Taiwan Strait separating the island from mainland China, a waterway over which Beijing claims jurisdiction but Washington views as international water.
