19 février 2019 | International, Aérospatial
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has announced that the UK's new fleet of submarine hunting aircraft will take to the skies over the Arctic next year.
While visiting Royal Marines and Royal Navy personnel on winter training in Norway, the Defence Secretary announced that as part of their first deployment next year the RAF P8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft will be in the Arctic to counter Russian submarine activity that has reached Cold War levels.
This deployment is part of the Defence Arctic Strategy, which will be published this spring, deepening our relationship with regional partners and sharpen our expertise of operating in the extreme cold environment.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:
The Arctic Strategy puts us on the front foot in protecting Britain's interests in this expanding new frontier.
Whether it's sharpening our skills in sub-zero conditions, learning from longstanding allies like Norway or monitoring submarine threats with our Poseidon aircraft, we will stay vigilant to new challenges.
Nine of the P8 Poseidon aircraft will be delivered to RAF Lossiemouth in 2020 at which point they will begin reconnaissance patrols over a wide range including the High North and North Atlantic.
While in Norway the Defence Secretary also met with the elite commandos of the Royal Marines and discussed the unique challenge of honing their combat skills hundreds of miles inside the Arctic Circle where temperatures drop as low as -30°C.
As part of the Defence Arctic Strategy, the Royal Marines have committed to a 10-year training programme with their Norwegian counterparts, which will see around 1,000 Marines travelling North each year. A long-term NATO ally, Norway is also a fellow member of the Joint Expeditionary Force and Northern Group – two initiatives through which the UK is enhancing its co-operation with key northern European partners.
Elsewhere in the region this year, RAF Typhoons will guard NATO's northern flank as part of the Icelandic Air Policing mission.
22 novembre 2023 | International, Sécurité
Italy blocked French group Safran's planned $1.8 billion purchase of the flight control systems arm of Collins Aerospace because it could have threatened supplies to national armed forces, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday.
11 août 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) will partner with Asia Air Survey (AAS) to hold a series of validation flights for the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) featuring GA-ASI's SeaGuardian® beginning in mid-September. Xavier Vavasseur The purpose of the flights is to validate the wide-area maritime surveillance capabilities of RPAS for carrying out JCG's missions, including search and rescue, disaster response, and maritime law enforcement. The flights are expected to run for approximately two months and will include support from the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) at its Hachinohe base in Aomori Prefecture. According to the JCG, the flight validation will be conducted in accordance with “The Policy on Strengthening the Maritime Security Systems,” using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to perform maritime wide-area surveillance using new technology. “We're pleased to support the JCG's goals of validating SeaGuardian's maritime surveillance performance,” said Linden Blue, CEO, GA-ASI. “We know there is a need in Japan and worldwide for affordable, long-endurance airborne surveillance in the maritime domain.” The SeaGuardian system will feature a multi-mode maritime surface-search radar with Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) imaging mode, an Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver, and High-Definition – Full-Motion Video sensor equipped with optical and infrared cameras. This sensor suite enables real-time detection and identification of surface vessels over thousands of square nautical miles. The featured Raytheon SeaVue surface-search radar system provides automatic tracking of maritime targets and correlation of AIS transmitters with radar tracks. SkyGuardian® and SeaGuardian are revolutionizing the long-endurance RPAS market by providing true all-weather capability and is built to achieve Type Certification based on STANAG (NATO standard) airworthiness compliance. This feature, along with its operationally-proven, collision-avoidance radar, enables flexible operations in civil airspace. https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2020/08/general-atomics-seaguardian-uav-to-conduct-validation-flights-for-japan-coast-guard/
4 juin 2021 | International, Terrestre
The Army has chosen who will build its Medium Caliber Weapon System for the Stryker combat vehicle.