TASL's Rajak-XLR surveillance system (pictured above) will be tested by the Indian Army in August. (Janes/Oishee Majumdar)  Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) has developed a new surveillance system – named Rajak-XLR (extra-long range) – that will be tested by the Indian Army in August, a source at TASL told Janes at East Tech 2022, held in Kolkata by the Indian Army's Eastern Command on 7 and 8 July.  Rajak-XLR consists of “a long-range continuous zoom-type thermal camera, long-range continuous zoom-type day camera, and a laser rangefinder...

An in-flight Doot MK-I nano UAV with ISR package being exhibited at East Tech 2022. The UAV has been tested by NSG and is currently being tested by Assam Rifles in Manipur. (Janes/Amit Kalra)    Noida-based Indian Defence Reforms' (IDR's) Doot MK-I, a nano unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) – designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) – has undergone initial tests by India's National Security Guard (NSG) in June, Mayank Pratap Singh, co-founder and CEO of IDR, told  Janes   at East Tech 2022, held in Kolkata...

RRP S4E's Viraj 28 A (pictured above) is a long-range multisensor optical platform camera specially designed to detect UAVs. (Janes/Oishee Majumdar)    Mumbai-based RRP S4E has been supplying its multisensor optical platform camera system for surveillance − Viraj 28 A − to the Indian Army's Eastern Command, Shikhar Gupta, senior executive for business development at RRP S4E, told  Janes  at East Tech 2022, an event held in Kolkata by the Indian Army's Eastern Command on 7 and 8 July.   The company received an order to del...

Zen Technologies has delivered two units of its counter-unmanned aerial system (pictured above) to the IAF. The system includes an electronic jammer, a radio frequency detector, a passive location finder, and a video-based UAV identification and tracking equipment. (Zen Technologies)    Hyderabad-based Zen Technologies has delivered two units of its counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) to the Indian Air Force (IAF), Abdul Imran, subject matter expert on anti-drone systems at Zen Technologies told  Janes  at East Tech 2022,...

Saif Seas has delivered 50 “remote-operated buoys” (pictured above), which can be used for rescue and surveillance operations, to the Indian Navy. (Janes/Oishee Majumdar)    Kolkata-based Saif Seas has delivered “50 pieces” of its “remote-operated buoy” to the Indian Navy and will be delivering 50 more by the end of 2022, Taher Calcuttawala, co-founder and chief operating officer of the company, told  Janes  at East Tech 2022, held in Kolkata by the Indian Army's Eastern Command on 7 and 8 July.   The battery-operated unm...

Mynaric's Condor Mk3 optical communications terminal enables satellites to share data with each other. (Mynaric)  US defence contractor L3Harris Technologies plans to acquire a 7.2% stake in German laser communications equipment provider Mynaric for about EUR11.2 million (USD11.4 million) as part of a collaboration agreement between the two companies, according to a joint announcement on 6 July.  Under the agreement, L3Harris and Mynaric, which work together in the air domain, will expand their co-operation to other domains, including land, s...

A company rendering of Airbus US Space & Defense's Arrow satellite platform. (Airbus US Space & Defense )  US defence company Northrop Grumman is teaming up with Airbus US Space & Defense to develop prototype satellite communication (satcom) platforms, in support of the US Department of Defense's National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA), according to company officials.  Under the terms of the deal announced on 5 July, Airbus will provide 42 satellites “as well as assembly, integration, and test (AIT); launch; and space vehicle commissioning...

A Hensoldt and Theon consortium has received a follow-on contract for 20,000 Mikron night-vision goggles from the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR), Hensoldt announced on 5 July.  The contract amendment, signed by OCCAR on behalf...

The Singapore Armed Forces is building infrastructure and developing workforce to support its new fourth service, the Digital and Intelligence Service, which is expected to be set up by late 2022. (Singapore Armed Forces)  Singapore's Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) has announced updates regarding its efforts to develop infrastructure and a skilled workforce for the new Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS) of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).  In a media release, MINDEF said it will establish a Digital Ops-Tech Centre (DOTC) and a Centre of Ex...

The US Army command post during Joint Warfighting Assessment (JWA) 21 at Fort Carson, Colorado, which was the culmination of testing for CPCE Increment 1. (Amy Walker/US Army PEO C3T public affairs)  US Army officials within the service's primary information systems and networking technology directorates are working to merge two major programmes – data analytics and combat management – into a cohesive capability, with the goal of leveraging the new, joint programme into the army's burgeoning data fabric development effort.  Programme official...

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told journalists on 29 June that Ukraine could count on NATO members to continue to provide it with military and financial aid. (NATO)  With allied leaders agreeing, during the June 29–30 Madrid summit, to massively ramp-up the defence of NATO's home territory against external aggression, attention will now turn to how effectively the alliance can deliver assistance to its partner countries, particularly Ukraine, to shore up their security via NATO's newly reformed multination Trust Funds (TFs).  The ti...

India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited won a contract in late 2021 to start building the Abhyas High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (pictured above) for the Indian military. The system was tested at low altitudes on 29 June. (Janes/Patrick Allen)  India has tested its locally developed Abhyas High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) off the country's east coast.  The Ministry of Defence (MoD) in New Delhi said that the test – on 29 June – demonstrated the Abhyas system's performance at low altitude including capability at “sustained levels”...

HELIOS is being installed on the guided-missile destroyer USS   Preble  .  (Lockheed Martin)  As the US Navy (USN) and Lockheed Martin work through the installation of the company's High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) on guided-missile destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88), the service and the company are also working on integration and developing concepts of operations (CONOPS) for the new weapon system.  “What does integration mean,” Tyler Griffin, director of Lockheed Martin adva...

Sweden is to field two GlobalEye AEW&C aircraft, with the option for a further two. (Saab)  The Swedish government has contracted Saab to deliver two GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft for the country's armed forces.  The manufacturer announced the order on 30 June, saying the SEK7.3 billion (USD716 million) order will see the two aircraft delivered in 2027. The contract includes options for a further two GlobalEyes, for a total fleet of four aircraft.  Coming about nine months after the Swedish Armed Forces submitt...

US Army document detailing the service's three-tier strategy to integrate the hybrid cloud capability into army operations. (US Army )  US Army officials are preparing to move out on a plan to expand the ground service's burgeoning cloud computing capabilities beyond the continental United States (CONUS), with service leaders anticipating integration of those capabilities into the regional commands, beginning with the Asia-Pacific region.  The plan is part of the army's plan to rapidly transition from legacy combat networking strategies to a...

BEL has developed a lighter, compact variant of its Swathi Mark I weapon location radar (pictured here). The new system is intended for operations on mountains and at high altitudes. (BEL)  The Indian Army has ordered six units of a new “mountain variant” of a weapon location radar (WLR) system developed by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).  Speaking to Janes at a recent event, Anandi Ramalingam, BEL's chairman and managing director, said that six Swathi Mark II units were ordered.  “The six units ordered are the mountain version of the WLR,...

An artist's rendering of the F-110 frigate design. (Navantia)  Navantia has successfully completed the critical design review (CDR) for the Spanish Navy's new F-110 frigate programme.  Announcing the milestone on 24 June, Navantia said this signified that the F-110 design met all the capability requirements requested by the Spanish Ministry of Defence (MoD) and paved the way for the shipbuilder to ramp up production activities at its yard in Ferrol.  Navantia will build five multi-purpose F-110 frigates for the Spanish Navy under a EUR4.31 bi...

The RCN is assessing new training requirements for a slate of forthcoming platforms, including its AOPS, JSS, and CSC. (Royal Canadian Navy )  The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Strategic Plan 2017–2022 referenced the modernisation and recapitalisation...

A US Air Force KC-46A Pegasus tanker conducts air-to-air refuelling with a US Air Force F-16 over the Canadian Arctic in March 2021. Service leaders migrated the MAFPS system for air mobility operations into the cloud. (North American Aerospace Defense)  The US Air Force (USAF) and BAE Systems have successfully migrated the air service's premier planning and tasking software for mobility operations into a cloud computing environment, marking one of the first mission-critical air force programmes to be transitioned into the cloud.    The...

Douglas Bush (left), then the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, and Timothy Goddette (right), at a ceremony at the Detroit Arsenal in Michigan in May 2021. (Ted Beupre)    Douglas Bush's tenure helping guide and craft defence policy from the legislative side of the government is a driving force behind several key priorities guiding his time as the Assistant Secretary of the US Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, he recently told   Janes  .   After a handful of ye...