The Black Recon VRS, displayed at DSEI 2023, autonomously launches and recovers UAVs and is suited for military vehicles as well as critical infrastructure. (Janes/Olivia Savage)  An autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) launch-and-recover system designed by Teledyne FLIR Defense and integrated with a new micro UAV has been debuted at DSEI 2023, held from 12 to 15 September in London.  Known as the Black Recon Vehicle Reconnaissance System (VRS), the prototype is intended to provide autonomous persistent reconnaissance, surveillance, and t...

Hughes' Jupiter 3 commercial satellite spacecraft is pictured above. The LEO spacecraft being developed for the USSF will likely be similar in size, according to company officials. (Hughes )    Hughes Network Systems is developing a new S-Band satellite communications (satcom) network, to support proliferated-low Earth orbit (P-LEO) requirements outlined by the US Space Force (USSF), a company senior executive told   Janes  .   The P-LEO service will be provided by OneWeb Technologies and distributed by Hughes, which also d...

An artist's impression of the future fighter aircraft that Italy, Japan, and the UK are developing under the GCAP programme. (BAE Systems)  The three countries partnering on the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) have announced an agreement to work to develop an industrial construct for the delivery of the sixth-generation combat aircraft.  Announced on the opening day of the DSEI 2023 defence exhibition in London, the agreement between the three national industrial primes of Mitsubishi for Japan, Leonardo for Italy, and BAE Systems for the U...

The site of the planned USAF squadron operations centre at RAAF Base Darwin. (ESRI/Janes)  A United States-Australia infrastructure development plan to support the deployment of United States Air Force (USAF) aircraft in Australia has officially extended to two locations across the country's Northern Territory.    A US government contracting document from July 2023 states that a “United States Air Force squadron operations facility” will be set up at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base in Darwin.   Janes   earlier report...

Displayed at DSEI 2023 is MARSS' Interceptor (left) and the new manportable variant – Interceptor Short Range (right). (Janes/Olivia Savage)  UK company MARSS has developed a manportable version of its vertically launched, reusable kinetic counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS).  Known as the Interceptor Short Range (SR), the solution still utilises kinetic force and four motors to defeat small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) but weighs less than half the size compared with the original solution, Stephen Scott, head of Countermeasures at MA...

Lockheed Martin promoted its Black Hawk for the UK bid at DSEI 2023. (Lockheed Martin via Janes/Gareth Jennings)  Lockheed Martin has partnered with StandardAero to assemble the Black Hawk helicopter in the UK should it be selected for the New Medium Helicopter (NMH) requirement.  Speaking at the DSEI 2023 defence exhibition in London, the chief executive of Lockheed Martin UK, Paul Livingston, said StandardAero will establish a line for the S-70M Black Hawk helicopter at its Gosport facility in southern England, from where it will assemble p...

Pictured at the Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose on 5 September is one of two Crowsnest-configured Merlin HM2 helicopters from 820 NAS now embarked on HMS   Queen Elizabeth  for CSG23/Operation ‘Firedrake'.  (Richard Scott/NAVYPIX)  The UK Royal Navy (RN) has achieved initial operating capability (IOC) for its much-delayed Crowsnest airborne surveillance and control (ASaC) capability.  Crowsnest is a role-fit for the Merlin HM2 helicopter, which swaps out the standard mission console and sonics suite for an ASaC...

A Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon intercepts a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 ‘Flanker' over the Baltic region. The House of Commons Defence Committee has warned that recent cuts to the UK's combat aviation capabilities have left the country ‘dangerously exposed' in the face of Russia's ongoing aggression in Ukraine. (Crown Copyright)  Cuts to the UK's combat air power over recent years have left the country “dangerously exposed” in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a parliamentary report has determined.  Published on 11 August, the...

An Insitu Integrator launching inert test munitions. (Insitu)  Insitu announced plans to arm its Integrator unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the Boeing subsidiary announced on 5 September.  Testing to prepare for munitions began in September 2021, when Insitu and the US Navy launched ‘surrogates of the Northrop Grumman Hatchet' and other munitions from an Integrator, the company told Janes on 8 September.  “Prior to the test event, the aircraft was integrated with a multishot battle management system from Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren...

ST Engineering is partnering with Wigetworks Private Limited to create several variants of the Airfish 8 wing-in-ground (WIG) aircraft. (ST Engineering)  ST Engineering and Wigetworks have started a joint venture (JV) to develop multiple versions of the Airfish 8 wing-in-ground (WIG) effect aircraft.  Wigetworks Private Limited, a Singapore-based company, is developing the Airfish 8 for commercial and “parapublic” applications. The “Airfish 8 will be the baseline product. Variants can be developed based on [the] Airfish 8”, an ST Engineering...

Airbus is impatient for the UK MoD to proceed with its New Medium Helicopter requirement, for which it is offering the H175M. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)  Airbus has repeated its call for the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to progress its New Medium Helicopter (NMH) requirement at a quicker pace, with a senior official telling Janes and other defence media that it is “chomping at the bit” to fulfil the requirement with its H175M offering.  Speaking ahead of the DSEI 2023 defence exhibition in London, Lenny Brown, managing director of Airbus Helicop...

A model of Blue Force Technologies' Fury UAV. (Anduril)  Anduril acquired Blue Force Technologies, designer of the Fury unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the company announced on 7 September.  Neither company divulged specifics about the purchase, including purchase price.  While Costa Mesa, California-based Anduril is best known for its Lattice defence operating system software, the company has acquired companies in other defence sectors. In June Anduril announced the purchase of Adranos, a rocket propulsion manufacturer, with intentions to sca...

Intelsat's New Dawn (Intelsat 28), designed to transmit across C-band and Ku-band at GEO orbit, to provide voice, wireless backhaul, internet, and media application services to African customers. (Intelsat)  Satellite communications (satcom) company Intelsat has created a new international business development unit, geared specifically towards expanding the company's government and defence portfolio in Europe, as well as emerging markets in Africa and the Indo-Pacific region, a senior executive told Janes.  Currently, the majority of the comp...

The HCMC air vehicle on the deck of HMS   Prince of Wales  .  (Crown Copyright)  The UK Royal Navy (RN) and W Autonomous Systems have completed a proof-of-concept activity designed to demonstrate the operation of a fixed-wing cargo-carrying unmanned aircraft system (UAS) from the flight deck of a Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier.  Performed on 5 September, the trial saw a W Autonomous Systems' HCMC short take-off landing (STOL) air vehicle take off from Predannack Airfield on the Lizard peninsula, complete a...

The SLR-P enables the launch and recovery of the Reaper UAV from austere locations with a much reduced manpower footprint. (Janes/Patrick Allen)  The US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) and Air Forces Africa (AFAFRICA) has demonstrated a new package for the remote launch and recovery of the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), it announced on 7 September.    The command proved the capability during a technological proof of concept of the Reaper's Satellite Launch and Recovery Package (S...

With the first of 14 F-16s for Slovakia rolled out on 6 September, deliveries should commence in the second quarter of 2024. (Slovak MoD)  Lockheed Martin rolled out the first F-16C Block 70 Fighting Falcon multirole combat aircraft for Slovakia during a ceremony at the company's Greenville production facility in South Carolina on 6 September.  Slovak Defence Minister Martin Sklenár and other high-ranking Slovakian dignitaries attended the event, where the first of 12 single-seat F-16C and two twin-seat F-16D Block 70 aircraft was officially...

The Slinger, pictured above from the demonstrations, has a maximum ammunition load of 150 rounds. The Slinger's thermal imager has a detection range of more than 13,700 m, a recognition range of more than 5,100 m, and an identification range of more than 4,000 m. (EOS)  Canberra-based Electro Optic Systems (EOS) demonstrated its directed energy and kinetic counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UASs) capabilities in the presence of “potential export customers from Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Southeast Asia”, the company announce...

Boeing Australia FSR Luc de Leacy (left) and USAF Airman First Class Anthony Cardoni on the flight deck of a USAF C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft during a field test of Boeing's ATOM technology. (Boeing)  Boeing has conducted the first field test of an augmented reality (AR)-based maintenance technology it has developed to enable swift repair of deployed aircraft.  The technology, named Augmented Training Operations Maintenance (ATOM), was tested on a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft belonging to the United States Air F...

Two F-15EXs return from a test flight over the Gulf of Mexico on 2 August 2023. (USAF)  The Boeing F-15EX completed Integrated Test and Evaluation (IT&E) Phase I, the US Air Force (USAF) announced on 30 August.  Testing was conducted by the USAF's 53rd Wing, based at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.  Test flights included 19 ‘large-force engagements', integrating with fifth-generation fighters, and launching three AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSMs), the USAF said.  “This event marks the conclusion of F-15EX IT&E Phase I,” s...

The FlyEye UAS on display at MSPO 2023. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)  The Polish defence procurement agency, Agencja Uzbrojenia, has signed a contract with WB Electronics for the delivery of FlyEye unmanned aircraft systems (UASs).    Speaking to   Janes   at the International Defence Industry Exhibition MSPO 2023 held in Kielce, Poland, a WB Group spokesperson told   Janes  that more than 400 FlyEye UASs would be delivered – each complete system consists of four FlyEye aerial vehicles and up to two control stations. The...