July 16, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Contracts for July 15, 2021
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July 10, 2018 | International, Aerospace
Another win for Boeing: New Zealand commits to the P-8 with $1.6 billion deal
New Zealand has become the fifth export customer (after Australia, India, Norway and the U.K.) for Boeing's P-8 Poseidon, with a $1.6 billion order for four aircraft.
Announced July 9 by Minister of Defence Ron Mark, the order includes the cost of infrastructure and training equipment.
The aircraft are expected to enter Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) from 2023 and will replace six Lockheed P-3K2 Orions that have served the RNZAF for more than 50 years.
New Zealand purchased five P-3B Orions in 1966 and acquired a sixth aircraft in 1985.
New avionics led to new designation of P-3K in the late 1980s; they were then given new wings as part of a life extension program in 2000. New radar and digital avionics from 2011 led to the designation P-3K2.
A new title for the Orion fleet was introduced too, the Airborne Surveillance and Response Force.
Always operated by 5 Squadron RNZAF from Whenuapai air base, Auckland, the squadron will operate its P-8As from Ohakea.
Mark says options for a complementary maritime surveillance capability will be included in the forthcoming Defence Capability Plan review, due to be completed by the end of the year.
Smaller manned aircraft, as well as remotely piloted aircraft and satellite surveillance will be considered to complement the P-8s.
The Annual Report of the New Zealand Defence Force shows that last year the existing P-3K2 Orions flew around 120 hours on search and rescue missions and more than 500 hours conducting humanitarian aid and disaster relief work.
On the same subject
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September 18, 2024 | International, C4ISR, Security
DOD must accelerate AI adoption amid growing threats: PrimerAI CEO
Sean Moriarty, CEO of PrimerAI, said the Defense Department is lagging in its adoption of important technology.
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January 21, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Is The World’s Fighter Market Set To Thrive In 2020?
This is an abbreviated article based on the 1200+ word article ‘Can Surging Demand For New Fighters Create New-Generation Momentum?' from Aviation Week & Space Technology's Aerospace 2020 issue. The world's fighter market will thrive in 2020. A long-repressed call to replace aging fighter fleets around the globe is finally gaining momentum, as overall defense spending levels continue to rise. A sharp growth spurt in fighter output in 2020 will revive decades-old production models that not long ago either seemed to be winding down or dormant, and will fuel investments in new long-range weapons, offensive electronic warfare, seamless connectivity, improved sensors and other new capabilities. The world's fighter community also will seek to clarify and define a new generation of tactical combat aircraft systems after 2030. As these programs come into sharper focus, the pressure will grow on industry, particularly in the U.S. and UK, to break from the traditional business model. As military officials become impatient with development schedules measured in decades, support is growing for acquisition policies that foster greater levels of competition by transferring ownership of the underlying technology to the government and away from the original equipment manufacturers. More impressively, the growth spurt in 2021 is expected even as the growth rate for the F-35 program begins to slow down, with the single-engine fighter family's share of the Western fighter market falling to 57% in 2021 from 65% in 2020. The slack will be picked up mainly by another U.S. company. Boeing's share of the overall fighter market will rise to 19% in 2021 from 12% in 2020, as the U.S. Air Force revives F-15EX deliveries and the Navy receives the first F/A-18E/F Block III. For the first time in nearly three decades, it is a good time to be in the fighter business. The market for new deliveries shrank dramatically after the Cold War and never regained momentum as production ramp-ups were prolonged and in some cases strangled. The tide has turned since 2017 especially as the market's most dominant player, the Lockheed Martin F-35, finally began a steep climb to full-rate production in 2023. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/z/worlds-fighter-market-set-thrive-2020?elq2=064db0d3873a4d659f22c8952ec14826