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First F-16 fighter jets arrive in Ukraine, officials say
President Joe Biden gave the go-ahead in August 2023 for F-16s to be sent to Ukraine, though the U.S. will not be providing any fighter jets directly.
September 24, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence
Turkey eyes new markets for exports
ANKARA— Turkish government officials and industry executives are hoping to find new sales in what they see as emerging export markets in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
“These are promising markets for Turkish manufacturers,” said one senior procurement official.
A Turkish diplomat familiar with the three countries said that “smooth, friendly, problem-free political relations” with all three Asian countries promise export deals for Turkish companies. “As more Turkish-made systems become combat-proven [by local use], interest from those countries will increase,” he said.
Hakan Kurt, chairman of Capital Exhibition, calls Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan as “hot markets” for Turkish defense and aerospace industries. Capital Exhibition organizes Defence Port Turkey South Asia.
“Turkish manufacturers do not have the problem of ‘lack of sellable platforms' like they had a decade ago,” Kurt said.
Kurt expects that Turkish defense and aerospace exports to the three Asian countries could reach $5 billion in the next 10 years.
Turkey's overall defense exports stood at $2.74 billion in 2019, down from the official target of $3 billion.
A defense specialist in Ankara advised caution about Asian markets.
“These countries need hardware. They have good political ties with Turkey. But their economies are often cash-strapped. Turkey may also have licensing problems in any potential export deal as it depends on foreign technology for local production,” he said.
In 2018, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) signed a $1.5 billion agreement to sell a batch of 30 T129 attack helicopters to Pakistan. But the deal has not moved forward as TAI has failed to secure U.S. export licenses for the contract.
The T129 is a twin-engine multirole attack helicopter produced under license from the Italian-British company AgustaWestland. It's powered by two LHTEC T800-4A turboshaft engines. Each engine can produce 1,014 kilowatts of output power. The T800-4A is an export version of the CTS800 engine. LHTEC, the maker of the engine, is a joint venture between the American firm Honeywell and the British company Rolls-Royce.
The defense specialist said that most likely Turkish hardware to go into Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan would include naval vessels and patrol boats (except Afghanistan), smart ammunition, drones and armored vehicles.
https://www.defensenews.com/global/2020/09/23/turkey-eyes-new-markets-for-exports/
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May 25, 2020 | International, Aerospace
The U.S. Navy’s New Drone Could Team Up With Stealth Fighters
The U.S. Navy is spending $13 billion buying 72 MQ-25 Stingray tanker drones for its 11 aircraft carriers. The idea is for the Boeing BA-made MQ-25s to refuel manned fighters, extending their range while also relieving the fighter squadrons of their own tanking duties. But the MQ-25 always had potential to be more than just an aerial-refueler. With its stealthy airframe and high endurance, it could be a surveillance plane and even a light strike platform, too. At least one fleet community isn't waiting for the Navy and Boeing to adapt the MQ-25 to other missions. The fleet's airborne command-and-control weapons school at Naval Base Ventura County in Point Mugu, California, already thinks of the Stingray as more than a tanker. Robbin Laird, a military analyst and writer, spoke to Cmdr. Christopher Hulitt, the head of the school, and summarized the conversation at Second Line of Defense. Laird and Hulitt's main point is that the Navy is acquiring new aircraft with highly-sophisticated communications systems and sensors. The F-35C stealth fighter. The E-2D early-warning plane. The MQ-4C high-altitude drone. And the MQ-25. Where before, E-2s would fly over a maritime battle, detecting targets and relaying commands to fighters, now a new system is coming together. The F-35C, E-2D, MQ-4C and MQ-25 all possess the qualities of a sensor- and command-and-control platform. So instead of passing information just one way—from an E-2 to a fighter—in coming years info could begin moving in all directions. An F-35C in stealth mode might detect an enemy ship using its passive sensors and beam, via secure datalink, the target's general location to the nearby MQ-25 that just refueled the F-35C. The MQ-25 could hand off the data to an E-2D. The E-2D crew could instruct the operators of an MQ-4C to steer their drone toward the enemy ship's location. Once the MQ-4C pinpoints the ship, the E-2D could then pass the targeting data back to the F-35C as well as to other allied vessels and planes, all of which could fire missiles. Imagine this whole process happening in minutes. “It is about deploying an extended trusted sensor network, which can be tapped through various waveforms, and then being able to shape how the decision-making arc can best deliver the desired combat effect,” Laird wrote. The Navy hopes to deploy the first MQ-25s as early as 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2020/05/22/the-us-navys-new-drone-could-team-up-with-stealth-fighters/#9bc4fd875e2e
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