Global Hawk drones: A look at Nato's new spy tool

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  12 février 2021 | International, Aérospatial

  Northrop Grumman to Develop Advanced Air-to-Air Missile Engagement Concept

  Posted on February 11, 2021 by Seapower Staff REDONDO BEACH, Calif. — Northrop Grumman Corp. has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) Tactical Technology Office to develop an advanced technology weapon concept designed to significantly increase engagement range and weapon effectiveness of U.S. forces against adversary air threats, the company said in a Feb. 10 release. “Our collaboration with DARPA is the critical first step in the development of innovative operational concepts and solutions that will enhance our warfighter's combat capability against a rapidly growing threat,” said Jaime Engdahl, program director, kinetic weapons and emerging capabilities, Northrop Grumman. “The LongShot program enables us to combine our digital engineering skillset with our extensive knowledge in advanced technology weapons, autonomous systems and strike platforms to increase weapon range and effectiveness.” Spurred by rapid technological advancements and an ever more dangerous and disruptive battlefield, DARPA's LongShot program will explore new lethal engagement concepts by leveraging multi-modal propulsion, weapon systems that can be operationally deployed from existing fighters or bombers. DARPA's advanced aerospace systems activities are focused on utilizing high pay-off opportunities to provide revolutionary new system capabilities, as opposed to incremental or evolutionary advancements, in order to achieve undeterrable air presence at dramatically reduced costs. The LongShot program enables Northrop Grumman to combine its expertise in weapon system design, survivability, autonomy, advanced mission systems and rapid prototyping to deliver advanced solutions that help to maintain a competitive military advantage in highly contested environments. https://seapowermagazine.org/northrop-grumman-to-develop-advanced-air-to-air-missile-engagement-concept/

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  26 juin 2018 | International, Aérospatial

  The Countries Where F-35 Sales Are Taking Off

  Since the first F-35 rolled off Lockheed Martin's production line in 2006, the fifth-generation multirole stealth fighter has taken the world by storm. U.S. F-35s deployed to Europe and the Pacific in 2017, and Israel has reportedly already used its jets in combat in the Middle East. Soon, the Arab world might get its first F-35 — the United Arab Emirates is in talks with the United States about buying the aircraft. To date, the program's reach has expanded to 12 nations around the globe, and all signs point to the F-35 continuing to dominate the Western fighter market for decades to come. But tensions between historically close NATO allies could threaten the fate of one partner nation's F-35 fleet: Turkey. Here's the breakdown of the global F-35 fleet. https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/22/the-countries-where-f-35-sales-are-taking-off/

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  9 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Top Aces acquires 25 Belgian Air Force Alpha Jets

  Posted on July 9, 2020 by Laurent Heyligen Top Aces has acquired 25 former Belgian Air Force Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jets, according to information from Belgian Press Agency Belga on July 8. The Montreal-based adversary air provider delivers combat training services to Canadian, American, German and Australian forces, among others, with a mixed fleet of Alpha Jet, Douglas A4 Skyhawk and Learjet 35A aircraft. The company also intends to add the Lockheed Martin F-16A fighter jet to its fleet, which offers superior speed, acceleration and manoeuvrability, all of which will benefit its aggressor air program. If finalized, the Belgian aircraft acquisition would more than double the size of Top Aces' current Alpha Jet fleet. The company operates about 20 of the Dornier jets, which were formerly owned by the German Air Force. The sale was led by the Belgian Directorate General of Material Resources (DG-MR) of the Defense Staff. No further information was provided on the contract award or cost. The Belgian Ministry of Defence announced the potential sale of 25 Alpha Jets in December 2018. The package included spares, ground equipment, additional engines and a simulator. The simulator was reportedly sold to an Austrian aerospace company, AMST, which specializes in training fighter pilots. The Alpha Jets were officially withdrawn from Belgian service during a small ceremony at Cazaux in France on Oct. 11, 2018, though they remained in service with the French Armée de l'Air until the end of 2019. The aircraft were operated by the joint Belgo-French AJeTS (Advanced Jet Training School) at Cazaux and had been gradually removed from service and stored over the past several years. One of the pioneers of what is often called aggressor or “red” air training, Top Aces in October 2019 was awarded part of US$6.4 billion contract for adversary air services to the United States Air Force (USAF). It was one of seven firms selected to participate in the Combat Air Force Contracted Air Support contract, a collective, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract that will solicit individual tenders for advanced adversary air capabilities at 12 USAF bases. Top Aces has been simulating hostile threats for fighter pilots, naval crews and land forces for the Canadian Armed Forces since the mid-2000s. In October 2017, it was awarded the permanent domestic Contracted Airborne Training Services (CATS) program under a 10-year deal worth about $480 million, including options to extend the service to 2031 and the value to as much as $1.4 billion. The company has secured a similar training support contract with the German Armed Forces in 2014 and, more recently, a two-year trial with the Australian Defence Force. It is also bidding on U.S. Navy aggressor air programs and partnering with Leonardo and Inzpire on the U.K.'s Air Support to Defence Operational Training (ASDOT) program. To date, the company has accumulated over 81,000 accident-free flight hours. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/top-aces-acquires-belgian-alpha-jets