China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) unveiled the SLC-18 space surveillance radar (pictured above) during Airshow China 2022 in Zhuhai in November. (Future Publishing via Getty Images)  China unveiled a space surveillance radar that can also be used to track anti-ballistic missiles (ABMs), during the Airshow China 2022 exhibition held in Zhuhai from 8 to 13 November.  Janes analysis of SLC-18 images suggests the radar is approximately 9 m tall and 8 m wide. The antenna face of the low-frequency radar array is covered with 960...

Elettronica showcased conceptual artwork of its Edge electronic attack pod fitted to the Eurofighter EK, at the IQPC International Fighter Conference 2022 in Berlin. (Elettronica via Janes/Gareth Jennings)  Elettronica is to offer its Edge solution to the Luftwaffe for the new airborne electronic attack (AEA) capability Germany seeks to field on behalf of NATO from 2028.    Speaking to   Janes  at the IQPC International Fighter Conference 2022 in Berlin, Roberto Scotto di Vettimo, Global Sales and Business Development, said th...

Lockheed Martin/Sikorski MH-60Rs destined for the Indian Navy have specialised equipment to fit Indian requirements. This includes domestic IFF and other systems. (Lockheed Martin/Sikorski)  The Indian Navy (IN) has received six Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare helicopters.  William Blair, chief executive for Lockheed Martin India, told Janes that the first three MH-60R multirole helicopters have been delivered to the Indian Navy. The company said that these aircraft are operating at nava...

Jordan is to receive two new C-208B Grand Caravans in addition to the six it operates in the ISR role. (Janes/Patrick Allen)  IOMAX is to fit two new Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) Cessna C-208B Grand Caravan EX aircraft with an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) system, a company spokesperson told Janes on 11 November.  The work will see the two new ‘green' aircraft delivered to IOMAX's Mooresville facility in the US in the late third quarter/early fourth quarter of 2023, at which time they will be fitted with their new I...

China's state-owned AVIC has displayed the Wing Loong-10 UAV (pictured) in PLAAF colour at the Airshow China 2022 exhibition being held in Zhuhai. (Future Publishing via Getty Images)  China's state-owned aerospace and defence prime Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has displayed the Wing Loong-10 (WL-10) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at the Airshow China 2022 exhibition being held in Zhuhai from 8 to 13 November.  WL-10, also dubbed as WZ-10, can be seen in People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) colour at the airshow, suggest...

HII's new REMUS 620 UUV. (HII)  US shipbuilder HII has pulled the curtain back on its newest unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), a platform that company officials say represents the “most capable medium-class” UUV on the market.  The basic platform specifications for the new REMUS 620, such as size and weight, mirror those of the navy's Littoral Battleship Sensing-Autonomous Undersea Vehicle (LBS-AUV) and the LBS-Razorback systems, according to a company statement. The former is used by the navy's mine-countermeasures squadrons, while the latt...

AVIC's Wing Loong-3 (WL-3) reconnaissance and strike UAV. (Janes)  China's state-owned aerospace and defence prime Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) is displaying the latest variant of the Wing Loong series of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – Wing Loong-3 (WL-3) – at the Airshow China 2022 exhibition being held in Zhuhai from 8 to 13 November.  WL-3 is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV, which is larger in size and has enhanced performance characteristics as compared with Wing Loong II.    WL-3 has a length of 12.2...

The winner of the UK's Skynet satcom SDW contract will assume responsibility for managing the Skynet 5 satellites and the ground communications networks. (Airbus Defence & Space)  Up to three wideband satellites will be acquired under the Skynet programme, and the Skynet Service Delivery Wrap (SDW) project will commence in 2023, according to UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials.  Under the umbrella of the Skynet Enduring Capability (SKEC) programme, the MoD intends to acquire up to three wideband satellites, which will be introduced in the...

An M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams tank assigned to Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, fires during the last day of Table VI operator new equipment training event at Fort Stewart, Georgia, in September 2022. (US Army)  US Army soldiers with the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, also dubbed the Spartan Brigade, were recently the first to completely divest of older, legacy combat vehicles and receive the newest equipment. They are preparing to head to the National Training Center in Febru...

Turkey is to fit a domestically developed AESA radar onto its current Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft and Akinci unmanned aerial vehicle, as well as the future Turkish Fighter Experimental (TF-X)/National Combat Aircraft (MMU). (Turkish Air Force)  Turkey has showcased a new domestically developed active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar system it intends to equip its fleet of manned and unmanned combat aircraft.  The president of Defence Industries, İsmail Demir, revealed the new Aselsan AESA radar on 10 November...

Syracuse 4B will be launched in early 2023, following the successful launch of Syracuse 4A in October 2021. In the picture is the Syracuse 4A satellite. (Thales Alenia Space)  A French military satellite communications (satcom) system will be launched in 2023.  Speaking at the Global MilSatCom 2022 conference and exhibition held in London between 8 and 10 November, Lieutenant Colonel Marina Ballanger, Satcom International Affairs at the French defence procurement agency (Direction générale de l'armement: DGA), announced that the launch date f...

A US Army Specialist, assigned to 82nd Airborne, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, trains with the Integrated Visual Augmentation System as part of Project Convergence 2022 at Camp Talega in California, in October 2022. (US Army)  The US Army and Microsoft are renegotiating their multibillion-dollar Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) contract after soldiers continued to experience physical ailments while wearing the device during a recent operational test.  Assistant Secretary of the US Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology Dougla...

AVIC's Wing Loong-3 (WL-3) reconnaissance and strike UAV. (Janes)  China's state-owned aerospace and defence prime Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) is displaying the latest variant of the Wing Loong series of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – Wing Loong-3 (WL-3) – at the Airshow China 2022 exhibition being held in Zhuhai from 8 to 13 November.  WL-3 is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV, which is larger in size and has enhanced performance characteristics as compared with Wing Loong II.  WL-3 has a length of 12.2 m, a he...

Pictured is the AW159 Wildcat helicopter, which has been trialling the Link 16 and Bowman tactical data networks for the British Army and the Royal Navy. (Janes/Patrick Allen)  The British Army and the Royal Navy are trialling a new datalink system in the Leonardo AW159 Wildcat helicopter as part of the army's Future Soldier transformation programme.  Known as the tactical data link (TDL) project, the British Army and the Royal Navy are trialling “two separate but mutually reinforcing datalinks – Link 16 and Bowman data – [which] will share b...

Textron announced delivery of the first of eight Beechcraft T-6 Texan II trainer aircraft to Tunisia on 8 November. (Textron)  Tunisia has received the first of eight Beechcraft T-6C Texan II turboprop trainer aircraft ordered in 2021.  Beechcraft's parent company Textron announced the delivery on 8 November, noting that the aircraft will be delivered to the Tunisian Air Force's 13 Squadron at Sfax Air Base. The second aircraft will be delivered in the coming weeks, with the remainder to follow until the end of 2023.  “The Foreign Military Sa...

The optionally piloted vehicle (OPV) Blackhawk N600PV at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, on 14 October 2022, during PC22 Technology Gateway. (Sikorsky/Lockheed Martin)  Programme officials at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), along with their counterparts at Lockheed Martin-owned Sikorsky, are planning to expand a DARPA-led programme for autonomous US Army rotorcraft into US Navy-operated aircraft.  Igor Cherepinsky, director of Sikorsky Innovations, told reporters that company representatives were in talks with navy leader...

IAI TacSense is a new tactical low-SWaP ESM solution, which weighs approximately 16 kg. A manportable version is also available. (Israel Aerospace Industries)  Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has unveiled TacSense, a new compact electronic support measure (ESM) system.  TacSense is a compact, low-SWaP (size, weight, and power) ESM system that can intercept, classify, track, and analyse radars across the radar-frequency spectrum, including the latest low-probability-of-intercept (LPI) emitters, the company announced on 3 November.  Intended...

Artemis  is pictured on sea trials.  (Saab)    Sweden's new signals intelligence (SIGINT) vessel, the future HSwMS   Artemis  (A 202), has started sea trials from Saab Kockums' shipyard in Karlskrona.     Saab was awarded a contract to design and build the new SIGINT ship by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) in 2017. It is intended to replace the Royal Swedish Navy's (RSwN's) intelligence-gathering vessel, HSwMS   Orion  (A 201), which was built in the early 1980s.   Under...

The MESA radar being lowered into position on the spine of the 737 NG airframe that will become the first of three E-7A Wedgetail AEW1 aircraft for the UK Royal Air Force. (Boeing)  Construction of the first Boeing E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft for the UK has progressed with the mating of the Northrop Grumman Multirole Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar with the 737 Next-Generation (NG) airframe of the first aircraft.  Boeing announced the event on 4 November, saying it represented a major milestone...

Luxembourg and the US have established a space-based partnership to promote satellite communications (satcom) co-operation within NATO.  Known as the ‘Global Commercially Contracted Satellite Communications Support Partnership' (GCC SATCOM SP), the...