Archive: News & Articles

Boeing has been awarded a USD 1.946 Bn (EUR 1.82 Bn) contract modification from the US Army covering the manufacture of 184 AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters, the company announced on 17 March 2023. Under the award the US Army will receive 115 remanufactured Apaches, plus another 15 procured as options (also remanufactured), while the […]

Turkish Aerospace has brought the prototypes of its two future jet platforms – the TF-X future fighter and the Hürjet advanced jet trainer – out into the open for the first time. Turkey’s Defence Industry Agency (Savunma Sanayii Başkanlığı (SSB) posted a series of photos on its website on 17 March 2023 showing the TF-X, which […]

UK survival technology provider Survitec has supplied the 2,000th set of F-35 pilot Aircrew Flight Equipment (AFE), the company announced on 14 March 2023. The equipment consists of a flight jacket, flight suit, anti-g trousers and an immersion suit, among other items. Fitting to the pilots takes place in special facilities, where the clothing system […]

Within the US Army’s latest USD 1.9 Bn (EUR 1.8 Bn) contract award to Boeing for 184 Apache AH-64E attack helicopters will be the first Apaches for Australia, which are to be delivered to the Australian Army from 2026, according to the company. Australia decided in 2021 to replace its Airbus Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters […]

Following talks at the DSEI Japan defence exhibition, held in Tokyo from 15 to 17 March 2023, the United Kingdom and Japan have signed an agreement to co-operate in space. A Terms of Reference document has been signed by the UK’s Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, and the Chief […]

Poland is poised to become the first nation to give Ukraine the fighter jets that Kyiv has long sought to take the fight to the country’s Russian invaders, according to a statement made by Polish President Andrzej Duda on 16 March 2023. Speaking at a joint news conference in Warsaw with the visiting Czech president, […]

Tensions have been raised in the Black Sea region following an incident on the morning of 14 March 2023 in which one of two Russian Su-27 fighters operating in the area brought down a US MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). According to a statement released later that day by the US Department of Defense […]

A pair of Eurofighter Typhoons, one from the Royal Air Force (RAF) and one from the Luftwaffe, carried out their first joint interception as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission on 14 March 2023. They were scrambled to intercept a Russian Il-78 ‘Midas’ air-to-air refuelling aircraft near Estonian airspace after it failed […]

The Norwegian Ministry of Defence (MoD) stated on 14 March 2023 that it will buy six MH-60R Seahawk helicopters from Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky to partially replace its cancelled order for 14 NH Industries NH90s. The MH-60Rs, which are expected to cost USD 1.1 Bn (EUR 1.02 Bn), are slated to be delivered between 2025 and […]

The Stork STM parafoil-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made by the UK’s Animal Dynamics has been selected to participate in the next phase of the UK Royal Navy’s Uncrewed Aerial Systems Heavy Lift Challenge (UASHLC), the company announced on 14 March 2023. Animal Dynamics describes the Stork STM as “an autonomous aerial logistics vehicle capable […]

The Boeing/Leonardo MH-139 Grey Wolf multi-mission helicopter has entered low-rate initial production (LRIP) for the USW Air Force (USAF), Leonardo announced on 9 March 2023. The announcement follows the USAF reaching a positive Milestone C decision on 3 March and then on 7 March issuing a USD 285 M (EUR M) LRIP contract for the […]

French tethered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturer Elistair announced the launch of its Orion Heavy Lift (HL) platform on 8 March 2023. Designed to support the growing demand for variable-height antennas from military, public safety and homeland security customers, the Orion HL platform leverages the Orion and Orion 2 platforms used by military and security […]

Russia launched a major missile attack against Ukraine on 9 March 2023 on a scale rarely seen previously. Most notably the attack included the use of six Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles: almost certainly the highest number of Kinzhals Russia has used against Ukraine in any such barrage. “During the day of March 9 the […]

Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), announced the initiation of the European High-Altitude Platform Systems (EuroHAPS) project on 9 March 2023. A demonstration project selected by the European Commission on 20 July 2022 after a call for collaborative defence research and development projects from the European Defense Fund (EDF), […]

Reported nuclear co-operation between China and Russia was one of a number of strategic threats to the United States outlined during an 8 March 2023 hearing of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces. With the subcommittee convened to discuss the US military’s financial year 2024 Strategic Forces Posture, its chairman, US Representative Doug […]

A ceremony has been held at the Egyptian Air Force (EAF) base at Gebel el-Basur, near Cairo, to mark the EAF becoming the first service after the French Air Force to achieve 10,000 flight hours with its fleet of Dassault Rafale fighters, the French company announced on 8 March 2023.  The ceremony, which Dassault said […]

Joint NATO Baltic Air Policing (BAP) missions involving German and British Eurofighter Typhoons have begun, the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) announced on 6 March 2023. The joint force, which is located at Ämari Air Base in northern Estonia,includes four Eurofighters from the Luftwaffe’s 71 Tactical Air Wing ‘Richthofen’ and four Typhoons from the Royal Air Force’s […]

Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky arm is to produce a fully autonomous, long-range hybrid-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) prototype, the parent company announced on 7 March 2023. Known as the Hybrid-Electric Demonstrator (HEX), the unmanned platform will have a gross weight of more than 3,175 kg (7,000 lb) and will serve as a flying test-bed to […]

The US Air Force (USAF) has no choice but to prioritise future capabilities to keep ahead of China as its pacing threat, even if that means making hard choices in the present, the service’s senior civilian leader has indicated. “We are united in our commitment to modernising the Air and Space Forces and in achieving […]

Leonardo and the Italian Defence Ministry’s Air Force Armament and Airworthiness Directorate (Armaereo) have signed a contract related to the upgrading of the Italian Air Force’s fleet of C-27J Spartan tactical transport aircraft, the Italian company announced on 7 March 2023. The contract covers the development, integration, qualification and certification of a new avionics configuration […]

The US Air Force (USAF) and Northrop Grumman have conducted the first full-scale static test firing of the Stage-1 solid rocket motor (SRM) that will be used in the United States’ future generation of LGM-35A Sentinel silo-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the air force and Northrop Grumman announced on 6 March. The open-air test of […]