Argentina's few remaining A-4ARs have effectively served out their lifespans. The future of the fleet is unclear. (Santiago Rivas)  Latin American fighter fleets were regularly modernised through the 1980s, with aircraft such as the French Mirage family, British Hawker Hunter, and American F-5 Tiger II and A-4 Skyhawk flying routinely. Most regional air forces have since seen their budgets constrained and fleet renewals restricted in terms of size and capability.  Today, many Latin American countries have small fleets of old aircraft, while o...

Poland is set to acquire two Saab 340 Erieye AEW&C aircraft from Sweden, according to a statement made by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, Mariusz Błaszczak, as well as a briefing slide shown by the Polish Air Force. (Saab)  Poland is in the advanced stages of negotiations with Sweden to acquire airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft for the country's armed forces.  The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, Mariusz Błaszczak, made the disclosure on 22 May, saying he expects a contract...

The Leonardo tiltrotor AW609 can support various security-centric applications such as cargo carrier, special operations, personnel recovery, and ‘homeland security'. (Leonardo)  Weststar Aviation Services (Weststar), a Malaysian aviation company, has signed an agreement with Leonardo to operate a single AW609 tiltrotor helicopter in the country.  According to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) Exhibition 2023 on 24 May, Weststar will operate the aircraft under lease. LIMA...

US marines filing into an MV-22 on   USS Kearsarge  off the coast of North Carolina during Exercise ‘Bold Alligator' in 2012.   (Janes/Mike Fabey)  Boeing's Philadelphia, Pennsylvania V-22 factory, which produces the fuselage and other major equipment for the joint Bell-Boeing tiltrotor aircraft, may close as soon as 2025, according to a Boeing official.  Discussions have begun about closing the assembly line, said Shane Openshaw, Boeing's programme manager for the V-22, on 23 May. “We're starting to have those c...

Leaders of both the FCAS/SCAF and GCAP programmes are committed to operability between their respective solutions. (BAE Systems)  Programme leaders from the Future Combat Air System/Système de Combat Aérien du Futur (FCAS/SCAF) and Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) have promoted the need for interoperability between their rival efforts.  Sharing a stage for the first time, the chief of SCAF in the French Air and Space Force (l'Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace: AAE), Major General Jean-Luc Moritz, and UK Future Combat Air Director at the Ministr...

One of four Reaper UAVs so far delivered to the Netherlands. These will be modified to carry weapons, while a further six Reapers to be delivered in 2026 will have that capability already. (Dutch MoD)  The Netherlands is to arm its General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc MQ-9A Reaper medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), having originally acquired them as unarmed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) assets only.  The Dutch Minister of Defence, Christophe van der Maat, made the announcement on 23 May...

The Royal Malaysian Air Force is sustaining the operations of its BAE Systems Hawk fleet through component repairs. Some of the older Hawks have been in RMAF service since 1994. (Janes/Akhil Kadidal)  As the Malaysian Armed Forces struggles with a problem of ageing aircraft, Honeywell said it is offering fleet sustainment solutions in partnership with local industries.  According to Honeywell, it is currently providing support to Malaysian partners to repair components of BAE Systems Hawk aircraft, which are in service with the Royal Malaysia...

The UK has reopened the HMT programme to new suppliers. Pictured is DefendTex D40 nUAS, which was involved in one of the frameworks projects. (Crown Copyright)  The UK Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) Human Machine Teaming (HMT) programme reopened to new suppliers on 22 May.  Initially announced in May 2022, the three-year GBP300 million (USD372.4 million) HMT project seeks to collate lessons from the British Army's experimentation activity in Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) and enable rapid iterations across the full spectrum of potential...

The Czech Republic signed a contract in August 2022 for three Heron 1 MALE UAVs. (Israel Aerospace Industries)  The Czech Republic has scrapped its decision to acquire medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in favour of smaller systems.  According to an Army of the Czech Republic (ACR) announcement on 22 May, the force will acquire 200 small UAVs rather than three MALE systems following assessments of Russia's electronic warfare (EW) capabilities and the deployment of these platforms in Ukraine.  ACR combat and...

Sypaq's Corvo PPDS UAS is shipped in compact form for assembly by the user. The company said this allows it ship the UAS in bulk. (Janes/Akhil Kadidal)  The Australian company Sypaq has reported a surge in interest within the Asia-Pacific (APAC) in its “cardboard” unmanned aerial systems (UASs) after their use in Ukraine.    The lightweight and small battlefield logistics aircraft is called the Corvo Precision Payload Delivery System (PPDS). Sypaq told   Janes   that the aircraft is being used in various applications such as th...

The KC-390 will undertake a range of duties for the Portuguese Air Force. (Embraer )  The Portuguese Air Force (FAP) formally activated its new transport squadron on 20 May.  Five Embraer KC-390 Millennium multimission transport aircraft will be operated by 506 Squadron at Beja Air Base No 11. The aircraft were acquired in August 2019 under an EUR827 million (USD894 million) contract to replace the C-130H Hercules aircraft of 501 Squadron.  The first aircraft, which is undergoing final certification by the Portuguese National Aeronautical Aut...

Malaysia's KAI FA-50 Block 20 aircraft will have the ability to integrate a Lockheed Martin Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP), 500 lb GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs, and the AGM-65 Maverick missile. (Janes/Akhil Kadidal)  Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) said that Malaysia's order of 18 FA-50 light combat aircraft will be followed by a second order of an additional 18 aircraft.    Speaking to   Janes   at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) Exhibition 202...

The 22nd and final UK A400M was delivered to RAF Brize Norton on 22 May. (Crown Copyright)  The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) has received into service the last of its Airbus A400M C1 Atlas airlifters currently under contract.  Aircraft ZM421, the 22nd A400M, was flown from the final assembly line in Seville, Spain, into the home of the UK's fixed-wing air mobility force at RAF Brize Norton station in Oxfordshire on 22 May.  The A400M provides the RAF's mid-tier airlift capability, with its 37 tonne payload capacity sitting between the 22 tonne of...

The newly announced Next Generation Medium Helicopter programme will develop future rotorcraft technologies into retrofits for existing helicopters or as newbuild helicopters. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)  The European Union (EU) has launched the Next Generation Medium Helicopter (NGMH) programme geared at converting future rotorcraft technologies into fieldable solutions, either as retrofits to existing platforms or as newbuild aircraft.  Announced on 23 May as part of a wider raft of new Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) projects, NGMH se...

The Pampa III E 824 made its maiden flight on 21 September 2018. (FAdeA)  Fábrica Argentina de Aviones (FAdeA) delivered the ninth IA-63 Pampa III to the Argentine Air Force, and showcased a new modernised cabin for the IA-58 Pucará Fénix on 18 May.  The same day, Argentine Minister of Defense Jorge Taiana signed a contract with FAdeA for five structural wing assemblies (shipset) to install new Pratt & Whitney PT-6 engines on five Pucarás, and signed a separate contract for developing a vertical take-off and landing unmanned aircraft system f...

Boeing delivered its first F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III to the US Navy on 31 August 2021. (Boeing)  The US Navy (USN) has inducted around 33 Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet Block IIIs into the air fleet, including around 20 for operational squadrons VFA-25 and VFA-113, with the remainder going to test units. The operational squadrons, which are based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore, California, and fly the single-seat F/A-18E, are both gearing up for carrier deployments, Captain Jason Denney, F/A-18 and EA-18G programme manager, told Janes. Al...

Airbus is providing the German armed forces with a Heron TP capability that it now proposes to upgrade with a SIGINT package. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)  Airbus Defence and Space (DS) has outlined a signals intelligence (SIGINT) capability option for the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Heron TP unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) provided to the German armed forces (Bundeswehr) under a service-level agreement.  Addressing the Association of Old Crows (AOC) Europe 2023 conference in Bonn on 16 May, Stefan Loebel, responsible for sales and business...

In 2022, Raytheon released this computer rendering to illustrate its HACM concept. (Raytheon)    Raytheon's Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM), an air-launched, air-breathing hypersonic vehicle, is undergoing subsystem component testing and beginning component fabrication, company programme director Nate Szyba told   Janes  .   In September 2022 Raytheon and Northrop Grumman were awarded a USD985 million contract to build and test the HACM by 2027, with the latter providing the propulsion system and the former the vehi...

A graphic put out by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 19 May to mark the announcement by US President Joe Biden that F-16s will be sent to Ukraine. (Crown Copyright)  The United States is to allow the transfer of Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft to Ukraine, President Joe Biden announced on 19 May.  The announcement, which reversed the president's earlier stated position that Ukraine did not need such jets, was made at the Group of Seven (G7) summit of world leaders in Hiroshima, Japan.  “In my private meeting with [Ukraini...

Boeing's NGAD concept art, which may or may not represent its notional bid. (Boeing)  The US Air Force (USAF) on 18 May announced the release of a solicitation for engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) of the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) platform, intended to replace the Lockheed Martin F-22 as the service's high-end fighter jet.  The solicitation is classified, and details such as desired cost and specifications were not immediately available, although it likely requests an aircraft with a longer range than current fighters...