Hensoldt will develop a SIGINT pod demonstrator for German Eurodrone MALE UAVs. The collective Eurodrone platform will be developed by Airbus, Leonardo, and Dassault. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)  Hensoldt has been awarded a contract to develop an intelligence capability for the Eurodrone platform.  The German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) awarded a EUR15 million (USD16.3 million) contract to Hensoldt for the development of a signals intelligence (SIGINT) demonstrator for the Eurodr...

The Type 31 mission system is based on a tailored variant of Thales' TACTICOS Baseline 2 CMS product. (Richard Scott/NAVYPIX)  Thales Nederland has completed production of the first TACTICOS combat management system (CMS) shipset for the first of the UK Royal Navy's (RN's) Inspiration (Type 31)-class general-purpose frigates.  Under a contract awarded in November 2019, UK shipbuilder Babcock, leading the ‘Team 31' consortium, will deliver five Type 31 ships for the RN. The class is based on the Arrowhead 140 design – an evolution of the Royal...

With US Navy (USN) Constellation-class guided-missile frigate (FFG 62) shipbuilding under way, Thales' Advanced Acoustic Concepts is now looking to ramp up its own manufacturing capacity and resources for the ships' combined active/passive towed-ar...

Hensoldt's TRML-4D multifunctional surveillance and target acquisition sensor system is highly mobile and can be deployed within 10 minutes. (Hensoldt)  Hensoldt is to equip the Ukrainian military with two new TRML-4D radars.  According to a company announcement on 18 January, Ukraine will receive the new active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars to strengthen its air defences.  Valued in the “two-digit million-euro range”, the company is expected to deliver the radars in the next three months.  A Hensoldt spokesperson informed Janes...

The antenna array for the S1850M long-range wide-search air surveillance radar suited for medium and large surface ships. (Thales Nederland)  Thales has won a contract to support the S1850M radar in use with specific NATO navies.  On behalf of the French, Italian, and British ministries of defence (MoDs), the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (OCCAR) has signed a service contract with Thales for the support and maintenance of the company's S1850M long-range air surveillance radar.  The new three-year service contract comprises deli...

USAF personnel test ABMS capabilities. The USAF is making progress on ABMS but lacks precise plans, requirements, and financial estimates, the GAO said. (US Air Force/DVIDS)  The US Air Force (USAF) is making progress on but lacks definitions and plans for the Air Battle Management System (ABMS), the service's component of Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).  A GAO report, released on 13 January, details the USAF's efforts to build and implement ABMS.  The USAF has defined tw...

Xtend's Griffon C-UAS engaging with a UAV using its net effector. (XTEND)  The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been trialling unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in counter-UAS (C-UAS) and counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) roles to improve force protection.  Working alongside Israeli company Xtend, the IDF Yahalom special operations engineering unit (SOEU) has been experimenting with the company's Griffon C-UAS and Wolverine UAS over a four-year period to demonstrate their utility in a C-UAS and C-IED role, a platoon commander from the...

Regulus Cyber launches Ring, a flexible modular C-UAS solution that can defeat unmanned swarms from a 5 km range. (Regulus Cyber)  Israeli company Regulus Cyber has launched a new counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) effector that is capable of neutralising a wide range of unmanned threats including swarms, the company announced on 19 January.  Known as ‘Ring', the portable or fixed C-UAS solution utilises global navigation satellite system (GNSS) manipulation to allow the user to take control of the unmanned threat by pushing back, holding...

L3Harris Technologies completed the first flight of the US Army Airborne Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System (ARES) aircraft – that will help modernise and enhance the army's ISR capabilities – on 27 August 2021 in Melbourne, Florida. (L3H...

Israeli company Xtend will supply its robotic operating system, which enables unmanned swarming, to the Israel Ministry of Defense (MoD).  The USD20 million multi-year contract is part of a joint project with the Israeli MoD called ‘Urban Capsule',...

An F-35B short take-off and vertical landing variant and F-35C carrier variant aircraft fly together over Fort Worth, Texas, on functional check flights on 14 March 2013. (Lockheed Martin)  Engineers at Northrop Grumman are developing a new advanced active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for the F-35 Lightning II, which company officials say will be compatible with all variants of the advanced stealth fighter jet.  Work within the company's electronic systems directorate is ongoing on the AN/APG-85, which will replace the current AN...

The STARKOM tactical communication jammer with all four antenna masts extended to a height of 8 m. (Michal Zdobinsky)  Janes  has learnt details of the STAvebnicový Rušič KOMunikační (Modular Communication Jammer: STARKOM), one of the main components of a mobile electronic warfare (EW) system. The first STARKOM system was delivered to the Czech Army's 53rd Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare Regiment in mid-October.   The system was developed and manufactured entirely in the Czech Republic in only three years. The main contractor...

Concepts such as Boeing's Blended Wing Body could be explored as part of the UK's effort to determine its fixed-wing aircraft requirements of the future. (Boeing)  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has launched an effort designed to address its future military fixed-wing aircraft needs.  Published by the MoD on 19 December, the Fixed-Wing Concepts and Technology project will be led by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), and will aim to address the requirements and technologies needed of the UK military's future fixed-wing air...

A demonstration version of Cubic's 81 mm mortar training solution shown at 2022 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC 22). The three bombs beside it are 60 mm, 81 mm, and 120 mm training rounds. The small blue object is the electronic sensor cartridge, which is common to all three. (Giles Ebbutt)  Saab and Cubic have developed systems that bring enhanced realism to indirect fire training and support of live training.  Both systems utilise the same principles of establishing the weapon's location, elevat...

Safran will supply more than a hundred JIM Compact long-range binocular systems (pictured) to the ADF as part of Project Land 159 Tranche 1. (Safran)  Safran Electronics & Defense has secured a contract to supply its jumelle infrarouge multifonction (JIM) Compact long-range binocular system to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to enhance the surveillance capabilities of snipers.  Safran will supply more than a hundred JIM Compacts to the ADF as part of the Australian Department of Defence's (DoD's) Lethality System Project (Land 159) Tranche...

Pictured is SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Boeing's 702X satellites onboard. (Janes/Olivia Savage)  Luxembourg-based SES successfully launched its first two satellites – F1 and F2 – into medium Earth orbit (MEO) for its O3b mPOWER satellite communication (satcom) constellation at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 16 December.  Launched on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, the Boeing-built 702X software-defined satellites will deliver satcom services to governments, militaries, and commercial entities.  The constellation will comprise 11 high-throughput low-la...

The Bundeswehr will procure 118,718 G95A1 assault rifles from Heckler & Koch in 2024–26. (Heckler & Koch)  On 14 December the budget committee of the Bundestag, the German parliament, approved the retrofit of Puma infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and the procurement of BvS10 all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and Heckler & Koch HK416A8 assault rifles.  The budget committee approved around EUR850 million (USD900 million) for the retrofit of 143 Pumas so all IFVs of the type are of the same operational technical standard.  It approved another EUR405...

Conlog Group receives order from the Finnish Defence Forces for containerised command post. Pictured is the company's Communication Station CL-600. (Conlog Group)  The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) have ordered 20 ft containerised communication stations from Conlog Group.  According to Conlog Group, on 12 December, the company will design, implement, manage, and maintain the containerised communication stations for the FDF.    Juha Moisio, CEO of Conlog Group, informed   Janes   that the company is supplying its ‘Signal Station...

The Royal New Zealand Air Force's (RNZAF's) new Boeing P-8A Poseidon force will be used for the surveillance of the country's Exclusive Economic Zone and assist with humanitarian operations in the region. (Boeing)  New Zealand has received the first of four Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft ordered in 2018.  In a press statement, Boeing said that it handed over the aircraft to the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, on 7 December. The delivery was made over eight months, after the ke...

The Eurofighter EK will be developed in a stepped approach, with the AARGM missile being integrated for the SEAD/DEAD mission, ahead of a jammer pod for an airborne electronic attack mission. (Janes/Gareth Jenings)  The Luftwaffe has submitted to its service chief a market study geared at informing the electronic attack payload for its Eurofighter Elektronischer Kampf (EK) aircraft.    Andreas Hammer, the head of Combat Aircraft Systems at Airbus, told   Janes  and other defence media on 12 December that the report had been su...