A US marine operates an Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) during a May 2021 multilateral assault exercise with Australian, French, and Japanese forces at Kirishima Maneuver Area. (US Navy/DARPA)  The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has recently transitioned control of experimental software, designed to streamline and secure data sharing between US and allied forces at the tactical level, to the US Department of Defense (DoD).  Programme officials at DARPA officially handed over the Secure Handhelds on Assured Resilient net...

Ukraine is one of more than 30 countries known to be operating Black Hornet systems. Pictured is a Black Hornet 3 with a monitor, attached to a soldier's combat flack vest. (Teledyne FLIR Defense)  Norway will donate 1,000 ‘drone' kits to Ukraine, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 12 July.  A total of 1,000 Teledyne FLIR Defense Black Hornet nano unmanned aircraft system (nUAS) kits will be delivered to Ukraine following a request from the authorities.    A spokesperson from the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (Forsv...

Australia is to deploy a Boeing E-7A Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft to Germany for six months to protect “the essential flow of military and humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine”, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on 10 July. (Anadolu Agency)  The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is to deploy a Boeing E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft to Europe to help oversee military and humanitarian relief efforts into Ukraine.  Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement during a press conference in Ber...

Lockheed Martin completed another milestone in its efforts to integrate the PAC-3 missile with Aegis. (Lockheed Martin)  Lockheed Martin's Patriot Advanced Capability – 3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor successfully communicated with the AN/SPY-1 radar, a key component in the Aegis Weapon System, for the first time, the company confirmed on 10 July.  “This successful test is a major step forward to fully integrate PAC-3 MSE into the Aegis Weapon System,” Tom Copeman, vice-president, Naval Systems, Lockheed Martin Missile...

Austrian Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner (right) and Viola Amherd, head of Switzerland's Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection, and Sports (centre), signed a letter of intent with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (left) for Austria and Switzerland to join the German-led European Sky Shield Initiative during a trilateral meeting in Bern on 7 July. (DDPS)  Austria and Switzerland signed a letter of intent (LOI) to join the German-led European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) on air defence during a trilateral meeting with Germany i...

The US Army approved Raytheon's Third-Generation Forward-Looking Infrared (3GEN FLIR) for low-rate initial production in July 2023. (Raytheon Technologies)  The US Army programme for third-generation FLIR sensors entered into low-rate initial production (LRIP), the service announced on 6 July.  The kit will be integrated first on the Abrams main battle tanks, but the service's next focus could be on the XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle (formerly Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicles [OMFVs]), a Raytheon executive told Janes on 6 July. Th...

Three years after suffering serious damage caused by a fire while it was undergoing its final major overhaul, the French Navy's Rubis-class SSN   Perle  has been returned to active service.  (French Navy)  The French Navy's fire-damaged Rubis Améthyste-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) Perle (S 606) has been returned to active service following the successful completion of its refit, repair, and upgrade period, the French Navy has announced.  Perle, the youngest of the French Navy's four remaining Rubi...

Sweden has acquired the SMART-L MM/F AESA radar that is capable of detecting missiles from 2,000 km and low-observable threats from 65 km and has a track capacity of up to 2,000 targets. (Thales)  Sweden has acquired new long-range radars from Thales to bolster its air surveillance and ballistic missile defence capabilities.  The contract, signed with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), is for the company's SMART-L Multi Mission Fixed (MM/F) land-based long-range radar.  A Thales spokesperson informed Janes that the radars woul...

The new ASW frigates for the Dutch and Belgian navies will start entering service from 2029. (Damen Naval )  Netherlands-based RH Marine is the first Dutch supplier to receive a contract in support of the Dutch-Belgian anti-submarine warfare frigate (ASWF) programme.  Under a deal signed with Damen Naval on 4 July, RH Marine will equip the four new ASW frigates with its integrated mission management system (IMMS), integrated navigation bridge system (INBS), and integrated platform management system (IPMS).  The announcement follows the offici...

Typhoon aircraft ZK355/BS116 alongside an ECRS Mk 2 radar model in the test and evaluation hangar at BAE Systems in Warton. (BAE Systems)  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded BAE Systems GBP870 million (USD1.1 billion) for further development and integration of the European Common Radar System Mark 2 (ECRS Mk 2) for the Royal Air Force's (RAF's) fleet of Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft.  Announced on 4 July, the five-year electronically scanned (E-Scan) radar award for BAE Systems and its partner Leonardo is part of a wider GBP2....

Ultra Maritime has been contracted by the MoD to deliver an additional five Sonar 2150 systems for the Type 26 ASW frigate programme. (Ultra)  Ultra Maritime has been awarded a GBP30 million (USD38.06 million) contract by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to supply bow-mounted sonar systems for the five Type 26 Batch 2 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) frigates on order for the UK Royal Navy (RN).  Disclosed in an MoD voluntary transparency notice published on 23 June, the eight-year contract covers the supply of five Sonar 2150 medium-frequency so...

Typhoon aircraft ZK355/BS116 alongside an ECRS Mk 2 radar model in the test and evaluation hangar at BAE Systems in Warton. (BAE Systems)  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded BAE Systems GBP870 million (USD1.1 billion) for further development and integration of the European Common Radar System Mark 2 (ECRS Mk 2) for the Royal Air Force's (RAF's) fleet of Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft.  Announced on 4 July, the electronically scanned (E-Scan) radar award for BAE Systems and its partner Leonardo is part of a wider GBP2.35 billion...

SEA will build and install communications systems for the Royal New Zealand Navy's Te Kaha and Te Mana (pictured) frigates under phase two of the MoD's Frigate Sustainment - Communications project. (Petty Officer Chris Weissenborn, New Zealand Defence Force)  UK-based Systems Engineering & Assessment Ltd (SEA) has secured a contract worth GBP26 million (USD33 million) to build and install communications systems for the Royal New Zealand Navy's (RNZN's) two MEKO 200 ANZ Anzac frigates.  The contract is part of the New Zealand Ministry of Defe...

An internal view of the Space Surveillance Telescope inside the dome at the Naval Communication Station Harold E Holt in Western Australia. On 1 July the ADF operationalised its first joint space unit, the No 1 Space Surveillance Unit, which will be responsible for operating the SST to enhance space domain awareness of the forces. (Commonwealth of Australia)  The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) announced on 3 July initiatives taken in accordance with the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) 2023 to improve space defence capabilities of the A...

A rendering of an MQ-4C Triton UAS demonstrating persistent targeting for long-range fires during ‘Northern Edge 2023'. (Northrop Grumman)  Northrop Grumman is gleaning lessons learned from the MQ-4C Triton's recent participation in the US Navy (USN)-led Arctic military exercise ‘Northern Edge 2023', as programme officials are preparing for the unmanned aerial system (UAS) to reach initial operating capability (IOC).  Achieving IOC for the Triton Integrated Functional Capability (IFC)-4 variant remains “a critical step as the [USN] achieves i...

Artist impression of ASW frigates. (Damen Naval)  The Dutch Materiel and IT Command (COMMIT) signed a contract with Damen for the design, build, and delivery of four anti-submarine warfare (ASW) frigates for the Netherlands and Belgian navies on 29 June.  At the same time, COMMIT signed a separate contract with Thales to equip the ships with its Above Water Warfare System (AWWS) fire control cluster and sensor suite.  Under their joint ASW Frigate (ASWF) programme, the Belgian and Dutch navies are procuring two ships each to replace their res...

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Starlink payload launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 17 December 2022. The Japan Self-Defense Forces has been testing the communication capabilities offered by Starlink at 10 sites across the country. (Joshua Conti/US Space Force)    The Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) has been testing SpaceX's Starlink satellite communication (satcom) services since March, a spokesperson for the Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD) told   Janes  on 27 June.   “In recent years, the threat towar...

Systematic's SitaWare Frontline running on a DRS MFoCS tablet at the Everest experiment. The screen shows the common operating picture. (L3Harris UK)  An industry team has completed an initial experiment seeking to better exploit the information-sharing, resilience, and interoperability of land-centric military-off-the-shelf technologies.  The project took three months to build, but the experiment was conducted over two days at the Defence BattleLab in Dorset in mid-June. The event was attended by around 250 staff from the UK Ministry of Defe...

DAPA has ordered new ground laser target designators, which will replace Scarab GLTDs, pictured above, in service with the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. (L3Harris)  South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has signed a contract worth KRW86.7 billion (USD66 million) with local firm Hancom Lifecare to procure ground laser target designators (GLTDs).  DAPA said in late June that the project comprises the acquisition of a laser target designator, a laser rangefinder, a thermal imager, camera, and auxiliary equipment. It a...

The Hensoldt TRML-4D ground-based air-defence radar is being acquired for Ukraine's IRIS-T SLM systems. The radar is designed for near- to long-range ground-to-air detection and weapon assignment. (Hensoldt)  Hensoldt has been contracted to deliver four additional TRML-4D active electronically scanned array (AESA) ground-based air-defence radars to Ukraine.  The radars, ordered by Diehl Defence, are intended to supply Ukraine's IRIS-T surface-launched medium-range missile (SLM) air-defence systems, Hensoldt announced on 27 June.  According to...