An artist's rendition of the Flight III DDG 51 shows the new AN/SPY-6(V) radar antenna array. (Huntington Ingalls Industries)  The US Navy (USN) awarded Raytheon Technologies a USD619 million contract to continue producing AN/SPY-6(V) radars, the company confirmed on 29 March, exercising the second option from the March 2022 hardware, production, and sustainment contract that is valued up to USD3 billion over five years.  The work is expected to be completed by September 2026, the Department of Defense (DoD) said. About USD470.6 million in fi...

Thales Sophie Ultima. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)  Thales demonstrated the Far Target Location (FTL) capabilities of its Sophie Ultima thermal imager at the SOFINS 2023 exhibition in Bordeaux, France.  Sophie Ultima features an optical day channel with a 20º wide field-of-view and unlike earlier members of the Sophie family is fitted with a continuous zoom function, which helps to maintain the target in sight at extended distances. The system is equipped with a cooled thermal imager that supports a 6 km detect, recognise, and identify range for a...

Thales XTRAIM weapon sight mounted on a Sig Sauer MCX Virtus .300 BLK rifle. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)  Thales demonstrated a combination of its XTRAIM thermal weapon sight and Nellie night-vision goggles (NVGs) at the SOFINS 2023 defence exhibition, near Bordeaux, France.  The two systems were tested on a course replicating night type four and five environments, and the XTRAIM's fused mode was used to detect thermally active targets that would have been almost impossible to detect using an image intensified device alone.  Unveiled in 2021, t...

A model of the Medium Power Radar (MPR) Arudhra displayed by BEL at Aero India 2023 held in Bangalore in February. BEL will manufacture and supply an undisclosed number of MPRs to the IAF under a contract worth INR28 billion. (Janes/Prathamesh Karle)  The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed two separate contracts with public sector undertaking (PSU) Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to procure multiple units of a radar and a radar warning receiver for the Indian Air Force (IAF).  BEL will manufacture and supply an undisclosed number of th...

Thales SquadNet tactical radio to be delivered to the Austrian Army to support military modernisation. (Thales)  The Austrian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract with Thales for the provision of its SquadNet tactical radio.  More than 2,500 radios will be delivered to the Austrian Army to support its digital transformation.  This is the second significant order for the radios, following a deal signed with Belgium, the company said.    Thales was unable to respond to   Janes   regarding delivery timeframes and the...

HNLMS  De Zeven Provinciën  pictured in the Atlantic in May 2021 during Exercise ‘At-Sea Demo/Formidable Shield 21'. ASD/FS-21 served as a ‘graduation exercise' for the new MBMD capability.  (US Navy)  Some two decades after entering service, the Royal Netherlands Navy's (RNLN's) four De Zeven Provinciën-class air defence and command frigates (luchtverdedigings en commandofregatten: LCF) are receiving a package of improvements intended to sustain and enhance their operational capability into the 2030s.    Alo...

Sonar 2087 equips eight RN Type 23 frigates. Pictured here is the sonar room of HMS   Westminster  – the sonar director is nearest to the camera, with the four dual-screen sonar operator consoles ranged behind.  (NAVYPIX/Richard Scott)  Thales UK is set to start rolling out a package of enhancements for the Sonar 2087 low-frequency active/passive variable depth sonar equipping the Royal Navy's (RN's) eight anti-submarine warfare (ASW)-optimised Type 23 frigates under a phased capability insertion project (CIP)....

A new, flexible silicon-on-polymer chip developed by the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and American Semiconductor has a memory capability 7,000 times above the current slate of flexible, integrated circuits on the market. (US Air Force )  US semiconductor companies Intel and Qorvo are poised to deliver a critical microelectronics (ME) technology prototype to the US Department of Defense (DoD) by April for integration into military systems and platforms across the US armed forces.  Intel and Qorvo will transition their multichip pac...

Conlog Group has been contracted to deliver communcation posts for the Swedish Armed Forces. Pictured is the company's Communication Station CL-600, with a deployable mast. (Conlog Group)  The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) has ordered new containerised tactical communication systems for EUR20 million (USD21.75 million) from Finnish company Conlog Group.  According to a company announcement on 23 March, the contract is for the provision of its Tactical Communications Shelters with Deployable Mast Systems.  Deliveries, intended...

CesiumAstro's Cesium Mission 1 AESA satcom testbed launched in 2021. The company reached a deal with the SDA to develop a Link 16-capable AESA antenna platform. (CesiumAstro)  The Pentagon's Space Development Agency (SDA), in conjunction with Colorado-based space payload company CesiumAstro, is developing the first multibeam active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna compatible with the Link 16 tactical datalink.  Distributed across the L-band frequency, the AESA platform under development by CesiumAstro will create a persistent, esta...

Hensoldt UK will supply its Kelvin Hughes Mk11 SharpEye naval navigation radars (pictured) for the Philippine Navy's new offshore patrol vessels and corvettes, being developed by Hyundai Heavy Industries. (Hensoldt)  Hensoldt UK, formerly known as Kelvin Hughes, has secured two contracts to supply its Mk11 SharpEye naval navigation radars for the Philippine Navy's new offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) and corvettes, being developed by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).  In addition to navigation, the Mk11 SharpEye pulse-doppler radar can provide en...

Displayed at IDEX 2023, Thuraya's T-TAC convertor enables tactical radios to utilise satellite communications. The system can also notify the user if it detects any compromised units on the battlefield. (Janes/Olivia Savage)  The United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based company Thuraya has unveiled a new tactical radio satellite communications (satcom) solution developed in co-operation with Cobham.  Launched by the company on 16 March, the system, known as the tactical radio extender over satellite solution (T-TAC), allows tactical radios to utilise...

KHI displayed its new high-energy laser C-UAS, mounted on a Mule Pro-FX ground vehicle, at the DSEI Japan 2023 show. (Janes/Oishee Majumdar)  Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) displayed a prototype of a high-energy laser system it has developed to counter hostile unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at the DSEI Japan 2023 show being held in Chiba from 15 to 17 March.  Speaking to Janes at the show, company officials said that KHI has delivered one prototype of this laser energy-based counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) to the Japanese Ministry...

A conceptual image, displayed at DSEI Japan 2023, showing how the UUV and semi-submersible USV developed by IHI Corporation will work together with the mother vessel to counter mines. (Janes/Oishee Majumdar)    Japanese heavy-industry manufacturer, IHI Corporation, has developed an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) to detect mines. The system has been delivered to the Japan Coast Guard and will also be provided to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), a company official told   Janes   at DSEI Japan 2023 being held in C...

Saab has demonstrated the Sirius Compact (pictured) passive EW sensor to a Northeast Asian military, and is expected to also demonstrate to a South Asian military soon. (Saab)  Saab is pitching its ‘Sirius Compact' passive electronic warfare (EW) sensor, launched in May 2022, to countries in the Asia-Pacific, a company official told Janes at the DSEI Japan 2023 show being held in Chiba.  Janes understands that Saab has demonstrated the Sirius Compact to the armed forces of a Northeast Asian country. Saab has also received requests from a Sout...

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has displayed a new USV (pictured) at DSEI Japan 2023, which will be able to automatically launch and recover expendable mine disposal systems and smaller unmanned systems. (Janes/Oishee Majumdar)  Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) unveiled an unmanned surface vessel (USV) it has developed, named Whale, at DSEI Japan 2023 being held in Chiba from 15 to 17 March.  According to company specifications, the Whale USV has a length of 8.8 m, a beam of 3.05 m, and weighs about 6 tons. The system is equipped with a folding...

A Shahed-129 UAV with a previously unseen payload at the IRGC Qeshm island airbase. (IRNA)  At least one of the Shahed-129 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operated by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) has been fitted with a previously unseen sensor, prompting speculation that it is a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that could significantly improve the force's situational awareness.  The UAV was seen with a new dome mounted midway along the underside of its fuselage in photographs published by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)...

A ULA Delta IV rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex-37 At Cape Canaveral, Florida, with the US Air Force's ninth Wideband Global satcom satellite. (ULA)  Pentagon budget officials are seeking a significant increase in investment to its satellite communications (satcom) portfolio in fiscal year (FY) 2024, while opting to pare back proposed spending for Global Positioning System (GPS) programmes for the US Armed Forces.  The US Department of Defense (DoD) is poised to funnel USD4.7 billion in federal dollars into research, development, te...

A Chinese surveillance balloon flies above in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the United States on 4 February 2023. The incursion prompted the US Department of Defense to include USD90 million in last-minute ISR investments in its FY 2024 budget proposal. (Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)  The fallout from the detection and eventual shoot-down of a Chinese high-altitude intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) balloon operating in US airspace prompted several last-minute changes in the US Department of Defense (DoD) budg...

A US Space Force radome receives data from satellites at Kaena Point Space Force Station, Hawaii, on 14 September 2022. (US Space Force)  The US Space Force (USSF) is poised to award several contracts to commercial satellite communications (satcom) companies, who will provide proliferated low Earth orbit (LEO) satcom capabilities to US armed forces and allies, the head of the service's commercial satcom office said.  Officials from the USSF's Commercial Satellite Communications Office (CSCO) are in the midst of wrapping up the source selectio...