5 octobre 2023 | International, Aérospatial
This is the first announced sale of this new model of the satellite, which is different from the OptSat-3000 supplied to the Israel Defense Forces.
31 décembre 2024 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité
Military chaplains said that some Canadian Forces personnel are experiencing "lengthy commutes and a diminished work-life balance.”
8 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial
The Aviation Corps currently operates Chetak and Cheetah choppers, the ALH Dhruv since 2001, and its armed variant Rudra since 2013. By AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA New Delhi: The Army is working on a 10-year modernisation plan for its Aviation Corps and aims to induct at least 350 helicopters, including the indigenous Light Combat Helicopter and the battle-proven Apache. The long-pending plan includes increasing the surveillance features of the choppers already in the Aviation Corps' inventory, with the induction of the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS). What does Army plan to buy? The Army plans to induct two kinds of utility choppers and three combat helicopters. This will include squadrons of Rudra (the armed version of the Advanced Light Helicopter ‘Dhruv'), which will have 20mm guns and 70mm cannons and are to be inducted within one year. The LCH squadrons are to be inducted within seven to 10 years, while 200 Kamov Ka-226s, which are for reconnaissance and observation, are expected to be procured within 10 years through an inter-government agreement. By 2021, the Army also expects to procure six Apache choppers and an additional squadron of ALH Dhruv, to add to what is already functional. Dhruv can fly over all terrains in India, including high altitudes. What will the new choppers replace? The Aviation Corps currently operates Chetak and Cheetah choppers, the ALH Dhruv since 2001, and its armed variant Rudra since 2013. Each squadron of the Aviation Corps is supposed to have three ‘flights' and each ‘flight' is supposed to feature five aircraft each. However, in the current scenario, all squadrons have only two ‘flights' of five aircraft each. The inductions will replace the Army's ageing Chetak and Cheetah helicopter fleet at a time when a Cheetah crash recently killed the Indian Army's Lt Col. Rajneesh Parmar and Captain Kalzang Wangdi of the Royal Bhutan Army, raising questions about the choppers' flight-worthiness and bringing the focus back on their long-pending replacement with the Light Utility Helicopter. Probable advantages Army sources said the plans would be a game-changer in future conflicts, and expressed confidence that they would be put into action in a time-bound manner. “More emphasis is being put on prioritisation, rationalisation and economy of expenditure. Greater value for money is being achieved by encouraging procurements from indigenous sources in support of the government's Make in India initiative,” an Army source said. Army officers further said that the transfer of the RPAS to the Aviation Corps would ensure a comprehensive surveillance picture, utilising both manned and unmanned platforms, while sharing support infrastructure. “The operation of these assets under the common umbrella of Army Aviation Corps and a common aviation adviser to the ground forces commander will help achieve battlefield transparency,” the source added. https://theprint.in/defence/army-plans-buy-350-helicopters-10-years-modernise-aviation-corps/302506/
7 décembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial
By: Valerie Insinna BANGKOK — Over the past two years, Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab has put its advertising muscle into promoting a maritime patrol aircraft it called Swordfish. But in the absence of a launch customer and no immediate sales prospects, the company is ending its marketing campaign — at least for now, the head of its Asia-Pacific business said Thursday. “From a product perspective, we are no longer marketing it. So it was a concept. It was an opportunity that we looked at on the back of GlobalEye, and we're just concentrating on GlobalEye,” Dean Rosenfield said in a roundtable with journalists in Saab's Bangkok office. Defense News traveled to Thailand the week of Nov. 26 to learn more about the country's air warfare capabilities, accepting airfare and accommodations from Saab. Swordfish was initially conceived as a derivative of Saab's GlobalEye airborne early warning aircraft. Both are based on Bombardier's Global 6000 airframe and contain a suite of cutting-edge sensors, with Swordfish also adding torpedoes, sonobuoys, anti-ship missiles, an acoustics processor and a magnetic anomaly detector. But while GlobalEye has landed a launch customer in the United Arab Emirates, Swordfish is still looking for a buyer. Saab hoped to position Swordfish as a lower-cost alternative to Boeing's P-8 Poseidon, which is used by the U.S. Navy to hunt submarines and conduct surveillance over open waters. The firm targeted a handful of international countries who had expressed interest in upgrading their legacy maritime surveillance inventories. One such country was South Korea, which was looking for up to six additional aircraft to augment its fleet of Lockheed Martin P-3 Orions. In March, one Saab official told Defense News that — should South Korea chose Swordfish as its future maritime patrol aircraft — the company was prepared to allow South Korea to have a hand in producing the aircraft, with the first few aircraft being produced in Sweden and the rest assembled in South Korea. Saab had responded to South Korean requests for more information about Swordfish, Rosenfield said. But in June the country decided to award a sole-source contract valued at about $1.7 billion to Boeing for the P-8 Poseidon, eschewing the Swordfish and Airbus' C295. In July, another sales opportunity for Swordfish was dashed, when New Zealand announced that it would buy up to four P-8s to replace its P-3s. Rosenfield said that even if Saab wasn't successful in the Korean competition, the company's efforts may still prove fruitful as it goes forward marketing its GlobalEye early warning plane. “But the good thing about what we did there is that it gave us great recognition — brand recognition — particularly as we were marketing a GlobalEye capability like what we are delivering to the UAE,” he said. “That's where we see it going.” Rosenfield said there may be opportunities in the future to resurrect the Swordfish sales initiative. “If there is a customer who has a need for a maritime patrol aircraft, like Singapore for example, and they are prepared to invest in the technology to take something that hasn't been delivered before to a first customer, then we're happy to entertain that discussion,” he said. But currently, “the product, per se, doesn't exist in the Saab portfolio,” he added. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/11/30/saab-puts-marketing-effort-for-swordfish-maritime-plane-on-hiatus