Defence News Weekly 13-19 January 2020
Defence News Weekly Review for the week: 13-19 January 2020.
LAND
Belgium to replace EL-1205 battlefield surveillance radar with Squire radar from Netherlands: Belgium Ministry of Defence has announced that it has received nine Squire battlefield surveillance radar. The radar is expected to replace the current EL-1205 battlefield surveillance radar, which dates back to 1987 and is reaching the end of its lifetime.
US Army awards Leidos CDT tech refresh and upgrades contract: Leidos has been tasked to deliver technology refresh and upgrades to the US Army’s common driver trainer (CDT) virtual product line (VPL). Under the single-award contract, the company will be responsible for producing CDT VPL based on the current CDT component. It will also develop and update the CDT component architecture for the US Army’s on-site existing CDT systems.
Lockheed Martin wins US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for OpFires programme: Lockheed Martin has won a $31.9 million contract from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the Operational Fires (OpFires) programme. The three-phase OpFires programme aims to develop a ground-launching, mobile, integrated weapon system that makes use of DARPA-funded propulsion solutions and hypersonic boost-glide technology to precisely engage time-sensitive targets.
US Department of Defense awards C3.ai a contract to provide AI application for aircraft readiness: The US Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded a $95 million five-year contract via its Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to artificial intelligence (AI) software provider C3.ai to deliver an application to improve aircraft readiness. The C3 AI Suite is an integrated software platform that organisations can use to design, develop, and deploy enterprise-scale AI applications on any public or private Cloud environment.
MARITTIME
Ethiopia, a landlocked African country now has navy: Ethiopian Defence Minister Lema Megersa has announced that Ethiopia has a navy for the first time since 1991.”We have established a navy,” he announced on local television. In his statement, the Minister did not say where the navy’s vessels would be based but noted the importance of Djibouti – the country’s main entrepôt due to the Ethiopia-Eritrea recent conflict.
India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation test-fires submarine-launched ballistic missile: India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has test-fired a 3,500km range K-4 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). Armed with K-15 Sagarika missiles with a range of 750km, the submarine-launched ballistic missile would be equipped on indigenous Indian Navy Ship Arihant.
US Navy takes delivery AN/AQS-20C mine-hunting sonar from Raytheon: The US Navy has received a AN/AQS-20C mine-hunting sonar system from manufacturer Raytheon. The delivery marks the tenth mine-hunting sonar developed by the company. Following delivery, the system was transferred to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division.
The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) releases a report on the country’s future submarine capability: The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has released a report into the Future Submarine Program on the country’s future submarine capability. The first scheduled major milestone was reached five weeks later than planned. Defence and Naval Group are working on the recovery of this delay by the next contracted major milestone in January 2021.
AIR
Leonardo finalse first test flight of drone aircraft Falco Xplorer: Leonardo has completed the first test flight of its new Falco Xplorer S/N0001 remotely piloted air system (RPAS) from Trapani Air Force base in Italy. The system combines more than 24 hours of endurance with a maximum payload of 350kg. It cruised over the Gulf of Trapani in a dedicated fly zone for about one hour and returned to the base safely.
Russia starts production of S-400 long-range surface-to-air defence missile systems: The Russian Federation has started the production of S-400 long-range surface-to-air defence missile systems, with plans to deliver them to India by 2025. Russian deputy chief of mission Roman Babushkin said that the initial batch of the missile systems will be delivered by October this year, with the remaining batches expected to join the Indian Air Force (IAF) by 2023.
Northrop Grumman announce the successful free flight missile testing of CIRCM for the US Army: Northrop Grumman has announced the free flight missile testing of its Common Infrared Countermeasure (CIRCM) system for the US Army. The system was tested at White Sands Missile Range and is designed to protect specific types of US Army aircraft against infrared-guided missile threats. It is developed on an open architecture to enable its integration with existing systems.
