The USAF intends to purchase 42 F-35s in FY2025, a lower number than FY 2024. An A-model aircraft is shown. (Lockheed Martin)  The US Air Force's (USAF's) fiscal year (FY) 2025 presidential budget request includes the acquisition of at least 90 aircraft and hundreds of missiles.  Aircraft lead the USAF procurement budget with 82 platforms listed in briefing materials, revealed on 11 March.  The procurement of Lockheed Martin F-35As leads with USD5.9 billion for 42 aircraft, down from the FY 2024 request of USD6.1 billion for 48 F-35s. The F-3...

India's Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft programme began in 2008 and is intended to produce aircraft for induction into the Indian Air Force by 2030. Data shows that the fifth-generation fighter aircraft requires about two decades of development before entering service. (Janes)  Development of India's Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) fifth-generation fighter aircraft programme is expected to accelerate in 2024 following New Delhi's approval of the design and prototype programme, according to a project official.    The official, a me...

The USAF's acquisition budget request includes 42 additional F-35As, such as the one seen here refuelling from a KC-10 tanker above an undisclosed location in 2019. (US Air Force)  The US Air Force (USAF) requested a total of USD217 billion in the fiscal year (FY) 2025 presidential budget request, up USD3 billion, or 1.6%, from the FY 2024 request. Pass-through funding, which goes to other agencies despite being in the USAF budget (not included in the figure) is up to USD45.1 billion from USD44.2 billion.  The service's largest request is for...

The US Air Force said the Bell Boeing CV-22B involved in a November 2023 Japan mishap was an aircraft from the 353rd Special Operations Wing. The unit operates its CV-22Bs from Yokota Air Base near Tokyo. (US Air Force)  US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), which manages the global Bell Boeing V-22 fleet, has cleared the tiltrotor to return to flight following a three-month grounding, the service announced on 8 March.  The grounding was implemented on 6 December 2023, following indications that a 29 November US Air Force (USAF) CV-22 crash...

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on 14 February, sending six satellites to orbit – two for the Missile Defense Agency and four for the Space Development Agency. (US Space Force )  The Pentagon's Space Development Agency (SDA) anticipates having a testing strategy in place by the end of 2024 to evaluate Link 16 connectivity across US airspace for satellite communications (satcom) in the agency's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA).  Officials from SDA and...

An F-35 launches off the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) in 2016. The US Navy intends to purchase 13 F-35Cs in FY 2025. (US Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kris R. Lindstrom)  The US Navy (USN) has requested USD16.6 billion in its fiscal year (FY) 2025 presidential budget request, intended to purchase 75 aircraft or helicopters, down from USD17.3 billion in FY 2024.  The service intends to purchase 26 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters: 13 short-takeoff-vertical-landing B-models for the...

The airborne SAR was displayed on the Iranian stand labelled as both the S-811 and the larger S-813. (Janes/Ajay Shankar Pandey)  Iran displayed a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that it has developed for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the DIMDEX 2024 show held in Doha from 4 to 6 March.  The SAR has a monopulse flat-plate slotted-array antenna and was labelled as both the S-811 and S-813, with Iranian officials refusing to identify which one it was.  An Arabic-language brochure provided details of both types, saying they can provide...

A model of Schiebel's Camcopter S-300 vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Schiebel in collaboration with South Korea's Hanwha Systems and UI Helicopter will provide three Camcopter S-300s equipped with locally developed synthetic aperture radars (SARs) and electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors to the RoK Navy. (Janes)    The Republic of Korea (RoK) Navy plans to equip two undisclosed classes of its vessels with Schiebel's Camcopter S-300 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the company confirmed to  Ja...

The Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF) uses its E-2K Hawkeye fleet for aerial surveillance and command-and-control operations. (Annabelle Chih/Getty Images)  Northrop Grumman and Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) have announced a partnership to collaborate on a possible upgrade of Taiwan's Northrop Grumman E-2K Hawkeye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) fleet.  According to AIDC, the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF) requires a strengthening of its reconnaissance, search, and early warning capabilities to offset t...

US B-52 Stratofortress crews look at an AGM-183 Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) during a hypersonic weapon familiarisation briefing at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, on 27 February. The yellow bands on the missile indicate that it is a live round. (USAF/SSgt Pedro Tenorio)  The US Air Force (USAF) has deployed a hypersonic AGM-183 Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) on Guam for testing.  The presence of this hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) was disclosed in USAF-published photographs on 28 February. The missile's appearance on G...

XSS-11 was designed to advance technologies and techniques to increase the level of autonomy, guidance, and safety for microsatellites. However, US officials say it could be used to carry out RPOs as part of an ASAT mission. (USAF research labatory)  The US Space Force (USSF) is looking to industry to provide inputs in support of its efforts to develop an operational architecture for a new slate of satellites and payloads operating at geosynchronous orbit (GEO), according to a 5 March USSF request for information (RFI).  USSF's Space Systems...

Royal Norwegian Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35 (F-35A) Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters operating over the High North. The Nordic countries have opened a CAOC to protect NATO's northern flank. (Royal Norwegian Air Force)  The Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden have opened a combined air operations centre (CAOC) aimed at protecting NATO's northern flank.  The Danish Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on 6 March that the new CAOC at Bodø in northern Norway is made up of personnel drawn from the air forces of the four Nordic...

The first Saab 340 Erieye AEW&C aircraft for Poland was delivered on 6 March. (Polish Ministry of National Defense)  Poland has received the first of two Saab 340 Erieye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft contracted in 2023.  Secretary of State at the Ministry of National Defense (MND) Paweł Bejda made the announcement on 6 March, saying in-country acceptance testing will take place before the aircraft is handed over to the Polish Armed Forces.  The milestone came about five months after the first aircraft was officially pres...

A model of the GCAP fighter displayed at DSEI Japan 2023 in Chiba. (Janes/Jon Grevatt)  Japan is considering the implementation of further reforms to support military exports. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on 6 March that the additional reforms are necessary to allow future Japan sales of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) aircraft to international customers.  Speaking at the House of Councillors budget committee, Kishida said that additional export reforms – to support GCAP sales – are required for three reasons: to reduce GCAP produ...

The Gaza UAV displayed at the Iranian stand at DIMDEX 2024. (Janes/Ajay Shankar Pandey)  Iran promoted its Gaza unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for export for the first time at the DIMDEX 2024 show held in Doha from 4 to 6 March.  A model of the Gaza UAV was displayed at the Iranian stand and it was detailed in a brochure alongside the M129, which is the export name of the Shahed-129, the Iranian military's primary long-endurance UAV.  After the Gaza was unveiled in May 2021, it was reported to have a wingspan of 21 m and a maximum take-off wei...

Royal Norwegian Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35 (F-35A) Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters operating over the High North. The Nordic countries have opened a CAOC to protect NATO's northern flank. (Royal Norwegian Air Force)  The Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden have opened a combined air operations centre (CAOC) aimed at protecting NATO's northern flank.  The Danish Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on 6 March that the new CAOC at Bodø in northern Norway is made up of personnel drawn from the air forces of the four Nordic...

A GQM-163 Coyote target overflies a mobile ship target. (Orbital Sciences)  The US Navy (USN) is looking to expand the kinematic envelope of the GQM-163A Coyote supersonic aerial target to enable more stressing and realistic threat representations.  US Naval Air Systems Command's (NAVAIR's) Aerial Targets program office (PMA-208) in February issued a pre-solicitation of its intent to contract Northrop Grumman for a 12-month study to increase the target's performance envelope. A contract award is anticipated in the first quarter of fiscal year...

HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, officially opened a permanent UK military facility on an airbase in the United Arab Emirates on 6 March. (Crown Copyright)  The United Kingdom has opened a permanent military facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 6 March.  Named Donnelly Lines, the facility at Al Minhad Air Base (AMAB) was officially opened by the UK's Princess Anne and senior military and political dignitaries from both countries on the same day as the announcement.  “The siting of Don...

One of the first three F-16 Block 70 aircraft bound for Bahrain departs the Greenville production facility in the US on 6 March. (Lockheed Martin)  The first Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft for Bahrain departed the United States for the Gulf on 6 March.  The manufacturer announced the milestone, saying the first three of 16 jets had left the Greenville production facility in South Carolina bound for Bahrain.  To date, Lockheed Martin has produced five F-16 Block 70 jets for Bahrain, with the additional 11 in vari...

A file photo of AASM Hammer guided bombs (in their imaging infrared seeker configuration) of the type Russia now claims to have intercepted over Ukraine. (Safran)  Russia has claimed to have intercepted a Safran Armement Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM) Hammer launched at its forces in Ukraine.  Russian state-controlled media reported the claim on 6 March, quoting the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation as saying that ground-based air defences had shot down a single guided bomb “in the zone of a special military operation”.  The report cam...