Air Force Awards First Round of Advanced Battle Management System Contracts

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  8 décembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Taiwan F-16 upgrade aims for 2023 completion

  By Greg Waldron7 December 2020 Taiwan has upgraded 18 Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs to the new F-16V standard, and hopes to complete all 141 planned upgrades by 2023. In addition, 66 new F-16Vs from a 2019 deal with the US government will be completed by 2026, according to a recent report by Taiwan's Central News Agency, quoting the Taiwanese military. The work is being undertaken by local airframer AIDC with support from Lockheed. Taipei hopes to complete the upgrade work by 2023, a year later than originally planned. The report adds that the Taiwan F-16V fleet will feature the Raytheon ALQ-184 electronic countermeasures pod, which is consistent with US Air Force equipment. The upgrade affects the mission computer, airframe, cockpit instruments, and electronic warfare system. The jets will also receive an active electronically scanned array radar in the form of Northrop Grumman's Scalable Agile Beam Radar. The project involves AIDC essentially installing a kit originally developed by Lockheed. Taipei has an urgent need to upgrade its defence capabilities owing to increasing military pressure from China, which views the democratic island as a province. Beijing, which has rapidly developed its military over the last decade, regularly mounts probing flights to test Taiwan's air defences. https://www.flightglobal.com/defence/taiwan-f-16-upgrade-aims-for-2023-completion/141502.article?referrer=RSS

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  12 janvier 2021 | International, Naval

  Lockheed Martin delivers HELIOS laser weapon to U.S. Navy

  Jan. 11 (UPI) -- A long-awaited seaborne defensive laser weapon system known as HELIOS was delivered to the U.S. Navy for testing, builder Lockheed Martin announced on Monday. The Navy is scheduled to test the 60kw High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance, or HELIOS later this year, and will go to sea aboard an unnamed guided missile destroyer assigned to the Pacific Fleet. HELIOS, designed in a $150 million contract with Lockheed Martin, is designed to "burn the boats," or unmanned drones, with a high-energy laser beam. It follows a 2019 demonstration of laser power, although with half the wattage of the device announced on Monday, aboard the amphibious transport dock USS Ponce. The scalable laser design architecture combines multiple kilowatt fiber lasers to attain high beam quality at various power levels, according to Lockheed officials. HELIOS was designed as a weapon capable of burning small speed boats, notably of the type the Iranian military deploys in armed groups, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles. It can also merely "dazzle" a UAV's electro-optical sensors, damaging them and preventing them from performing their missions. The system can be used as an alternative to firing missiles or other projectiles at enemy craft, and can theoretically fire an unlimited number of laser blasts at targets. HELIOS is one of a number of laser weapons the Navy is currently working to develop. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/01/11/Lockheed-Martin-delivers-HELIOS-laser-weapon-to-US-Navy/2291610385689/

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  11 octobre 2022 | International, Terrestre

  US Army, BAE aim to accelerate armored vehicle production

  The move to quicken production may come as a surprise, given the Army originally planned to slow the rate of AMPV purchases across its five-year plan.