2020 CF-18 Demo Team season cancelled due to COVID-19

On the same subject

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  January 20, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval

  American warship, F-35 jets to deploy with British fleet

  By: Andrew Chuter LONDON — U.S. combat jets and a destroyer are to join the British Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier on its maiden operational deployment to the Asia-Pacific region later in 2021, after officials formally approved the deployment Tuesday. British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and U.S. acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller co-signed a joint declaration approving the deployment of U.S. Marine and U.S. Navy assets as part of a carrier strike group led by the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the British Ministry of Defence announced. U.S. assets attached to the carrier strike group will include a detachment of Marine F-35Bs and the destroyer The Sullivans, the announcement said. The U.S. military has been regularly flying its short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing F-35Bs from the deck of the 65,000-ton Queen Elizabeth as the new carrier tests its capabilities. The warship was commissioned in December 2017, and the carrier strike group achieved initial operating capability in December 2020. The inclusion of Marine combat jets on the warship has long been planned by the two governments, not least because Britain has a modest numbers of F-35Bs available. The British carrier also will deploy Leonardo-built Merlin helicopters for anti-submarine missions and other duties. Wallace said in a statement that the U.K. “now possesses a 21st century carrier strike capability, which has been greatly assisted by the unswerving support and cooperation of the US at all levels over the past decade.” “This deployment embodies the strength of our bilateral ties and reflects the depth and breadth of this vital defence and security partnership,” he added. The British government has not officially announced where the deployment is expected to take the carrier force, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson previously said the group would be going to the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and the Pacific region. That's expected to include Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Oman; Britain has a naval support base in the latter. British officials previously signaled the carrier and its support ships could transit through the South China Sea, where the U.S. regularly conducts freedom of navigation operations in disputed waters claimed by China. A second carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, was commissioned in late 2019 and is scheduled to become operational in 2023. It was hit by a serious flooding incident last year, which caused the cancellation of a trip to the U.S. Eastern Seaboard for trials with the F-35B. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2021/01/19/american-warship-f-35-jets-to-deploy-with-british-fleet

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  July 15, 2022 | International, Aerospace

  Avions de combat: la Grèce a officialisé son intention d'acheter 20 F-35... et peut-être 20 de plus

  Après l'achat de 24 Rafale, la Grèce s'apprête à signer un contrat avec les Etats-Unis pour l'achat de 20 F-35 avec 20 autres en option pour remplacer ses F-16.

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  July 16, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval

  The Navy is looking at an unmanned helicopter to make its newest ships more lethal — and it just passed the first test

  Christopher Woody The Navy recently completed initial testing of the MQ-8C Fire Scout, an unmanned helicopter capable of carrying three times as much payload as an earlier version. The Navy hopes to deploy the MQ-8C aboard littoral combat ships, augmenting their limited range and firepower. More testing is needed however, and the Navy is still evaluating how the arm the drone helicopter. On June 29, US Navy crews completed the first comprehensive initial operational test and evaluation of the MQ-8C Fire Scout, an unmanned helicopter the Navy hopes will increase the lethality of the service's new littoral combat ships. The aircraft carried out several mission scenarios from the USS Coronado, an LCS commissioned in 2014. The Coronado's crew and members of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 performed simulated engagements in order to review the MQ-8C's target-identification, intelligence-gathering, and surface-warfare abilities. The testing showed "cohesion between the surface and aviation platforms," the Navy said in a release published on July 9. "The results, lessons learned, and recommendations reported on following this underway test period are absolutely invaluable to the future of the MQ-8C Fire Scout's mission effectiveness and suitability to perform that mission," Lt. Cmdr. Seth Ervin, leader of the Air Test and Evaluation detachment on the Coronado, said in the release. The testing also looked for ways to simultaneously operate both the Fire Scout and a MH-60S Seahawk manned helicopter onboard an LCS, finding that such operations were possible but required extensive planning and coordination. "It has been challenging and rewarding to be one of the first maintainers afforded the opportunity to take both aircraft aboard the ship. Working together, we made the overall product more functional and efficient for the fleet," Aviation Machinist's Mate Second Class Salvatore Greene, a member of the testing squadron, said in the release. The Coronado previously hosted tests of the smaller MQ-8B, which has been used in Afghanistan to detect improvised explosive devices. The larger MQ-8C, which is based on the Bell 407 manned helicopter, retains the hardware and software for the smaller model but has twice the range and can carry a payload three times bigger. The MQ-8C can also fly for 11.5 hours because the redesign for the Fire Scout program fitted the Bell 407's passenger and cargo spaces with fuel tanks, according to Jane's 360. The MQ-8B was to be equipped with a multimode maritime radar and the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, consisting of modified 70 mm Hydra rockets fitted with a guidance system. The MQ-8B was limited to three tube launchers, but Capt. Jeff Dodge, the Navy's Fire Scout program manager, told USNI News the service was looking to put seven tubes on the MQ-8C. Limited space aboard the LCS complicates decisions about arming the Fire Scout. The LCS has one magazine that would store all weapons used by aircraft and the ship's own weapon systems. Dodge said in April that the Navy was still deciding how to fit Fire Scout armaments in with the LCS's own weapons. Those complicating factors had effectively put a hold on efforts to arm the MQ-8C until 2023, Dodge said at the time. The MQ-8C can land and takeoff autonomously from any aviation-capable ship and can carry out anti-submarine, anti-surface, mine warfare, and search-and-rescue operations, according to Northrop Grumman. Northrop has also touted the MQ-8C as a range-extender, adding up to 300 miles by providing targeting data for the LCS's over-the-horizon surface missile. The company plans to upgrade the MQ-8C with a new radar and datalink that allow it to send air-to-air and surface targeting information to surface ships. The MQ-8C did its first ship-based flight in December 2014 on the USS Jason Dunham, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. It also did underway-testing aboard the littoral combat ship USS Montgomery in April 2017, when it took its first flight from an LCS. Initial operational testing and evaluation for the MQ-8C began on April 16. Pierside testing focused on maintenance and cyber capabilities will continue on the Coronado through mid-July, the Navy said. Initial operational capability is expected by the end of this year. The Navy hopes to have the MQ-8C aboard the LCS fleet by the early 2020s. http://www.businessinsider.com/navy-mq-8c-fire-scout-unmanned-helicopter-passes-test-to-work-with-lcs-2018-7