September 6, 2023 | International, Land, C4ISR
The MoU aims at leveraging IAI and BEL’s capabilities, and is in sync with the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ policies of the Government of India.
September 27, 2023 | International, Aerospace
As the original manufacturer of the complex AN/ALR-94 EW system, BAE Systems has provided life cycle management of the system since the program’s inception
October 29, 2020 | International, Naval
Christina Mackenzie PARIS – France's future navy surface ships will be protected from swarm attacks by the RAPIDFire very short range weapon system developed by a Thales and Nexter consortium, the DGA French procurement agency has announced. Based on the medium-caliber, cased, 40mm gun developed by CTAI, the international subsidiary of Nexter Systems and BAE Systems, RAPIDFire was designed to respond to new threats, notably low, small, slow, stealthy, swarm attacks that can saturate conventional missile defenses. It has a range of 4 kilometers (2.5 miles). Integrated onto the unmanned turret, the gun has an optronic fire-control system which can be controlled by the operator. Threat analysis is shared with the ship's combat management system, and the gunner can validate or adjust the strategy proposed by the gun. There are five different types of ammunition that the gun can choose from automatically to best engage a given threat. In a joint statement Thales and Nexter specify that “the system is compatible with the full range of ammunitions developed for land forces programs and is predisposed to the use of future ammunition as the smart Anti Aerial Airburst (A3B) round” for use against UAVs for example. The surface-to-air and surface-to-surface gun has been designed to be used on a common turret for ground and naval systems. This means the RAPIDFire system will be able to be used on land vehicles in the future. Although the program is still in the development phase, the DGA French procurement agency has already undertaken firing tests with it and has chosen it to equip the French Navy's future surface vessels. First delivery is scheduled for 2022. https://www.defensenews.com/smr/euronaval/2020/10/27/french-warships-to-get-new-drone-swarm-killing-gun-derived-from-land-weapons/
April 16, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Lee Hudson The Department of the Air Force has conducted its first-ever Space Acquisition Council (SAC) meeting and discussed the need for integration and synchronization across the national security space community, current and projected threats to U.S. interests in space, and the impact of the COVID-19 environment on the aerospace industry. Congress directed the Pentagon to establish the nascent council in the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper is the SAC chairman. Additional members include Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Rayment; Shon Manasco, performing the duties of the undersecretary of the Air Force; Stephen Kitay, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy; Derek Tournear, Space Development Agency director; National Reconnaissance Office Director Christopher Scolese; Lt. Gen. JT Thompson, Space and Missile Systems Center commander; and Shawn Barnes, performing the duties of the office of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration. The SAC will hold a second, out-of-cycle meeting within the next two weeks to focus on required actions to stabilize the aerospace industry and identify how best to focus additional stimulus funding during the spread of the novel coronavirus, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said. “Our aerospace industrial base is particularly at risk as commercial markets recede and defense markets slow during COVID-19 uncertainty,” Roper said in an April 14 statement. “The Space Acquisition Council will hold an emergency session to converge on a plan of action to stabilize our industrial base. Working with Congress, we can ensure the nation's space superiority does not become a cornonavirus victim.” https://aviationweek.com/shows-events/space-symposium/usaf-monitors-covid-19-impact-space-industry