US Army plans long-range missile fly-offs for future helicopters

On the same subject

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  April 29, 2019 | International, Naval

  China’s latest class of warship makes its public debut

  By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia – the first of a new class of guided missile destroyer from China made an appearance at a naval review to mark the 70th Anniversary of the country's navy. The Type 055 destroyer, named the Nanchang, was among several ships of the People's Liberation Army Navy or PLAN that took part in the naval review held off the northern Chinese city of Qingdao with Chinese President Xi Jinping in attendance. China's first aircraft carrier Liaoning, a refurbished Soviet-era ship, was also in attendance along with 18 warships from 13 other nations including Australia, India and Japan. The United States declined an invitation to send its ships to the naval review, and France was disinvited after its frigate Vendémiaire sailed through the Taiwan Straits prior to the event, Reuters reported. The Nanchang was launched at Shanghai's Jiangnan Changxin shipyard in June 2017. The Type 055, which is classed as a cruiser by the Pentagon, measures almost 590 feet and displaces 10,000 tons according to specifications released by China — although some naval analysts believe that figure is an underestimation. Each ship is also equipped with a total of 112 vertical launch cells that are capable of launching either surface-to-air or anti-ship missiles, and fitted with a modern sensor suite that includes phased array radars. Speaking at a regular press briefing conducted by China's Ministry National Defense on Thursday, Senior Col. Ren Guoqiang confirmed that the Nanchang is on the verge of completing sea trials and will be officially handed over to the PLAN later this year. In addition to the Nanchang, recent open-source satellite and aerial imagery show that seven other Type 055s are in various states of construction and fitting out at the two major Chinese naval shipyards in Shanghai and Dalian. The latter is also where China's first domestically-built carrier, which is based closely on the Liaoning, is currently being completed. Further underscoring the astonishing pace of China's ongoing naval buildup, the photos also show five other smaller Type 052D destroyers undergoing construction at Dalian with six more being built at Shanghai. The latter shipyard has four more destroyers of an unknown sub-type being put together, along with what are reportedly the modules for China's third and largest aircraft carrier. https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2019/04/26/chinas-latest-class-of-warship-makes-its-public-debut/

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  June 3, 2024 | International, C4ISR

  AI regulators fear getting drowned out by hype of wars

  Advocates for limiting artificial intelligence in combat say the global security environment isn't conducive to their cause, but interest remains.

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  July 20, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  It’s do or die for Germany’s new missile defense weapon

  By: Sebastian Sprenger   COLOGNE, Germany — The German government continued another round of talks with vendors Lockheed Martin and MBDA this week about a contract for the TLVS missile defense system. The ongoing negotiations suggest there is still no common ground on the legal framework for costs and risks associated with the next-generation program. Berlin had asked the contractors in early May to submit a revised bid, the third attempt to nail down a replacement for the country's aging Patriot fleet. For its part, the Defence Ministry is still expecting a formal offer later this summer, a spokeswoman told Defense News on Friday. Hiccups lie mostly within the industry team, specifically relating to how and if the U.S. defense giant Lockheed can bend to Berlin's demands that the contractors absorb the majority of risk if problems come up in the program. German officials have so stretched the scope of desired capabilities of the former Medium Extended Air Defense System — the basis for TLVS — that the effort amounts to a new development, including a ramp for integrating defenses against hypersonic missiles. Those high-tech aspirations come packaged in Germany's new defense acquisition process that seeks to right past procurement failures by pushing more liability to companies. The ongoing negotiations come with the understanding that the new offer, if Lockheed decides to go forward sometime next month, equates to a contract-ready agreement that would be presented to lawmakers after the summer break. Next year is an election year in Germany, which means there's little appetite to push big-ticket acquisitions come January. A lot hangs on the TLVS program for Lockheed, as German defense leaders last year connected its outcome to the competition for a new heavy-lift helicopter fleet. Lockheed's subsidiary Sikorsky is offering the CH-53K for that race, going against Boeing's CH-47 Chinook. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/07/17/its-do-or-die-for-germanys-new-missile-defense-weapon/