DroneOptID utilises AI and is updated on a quarterly basis. It focuses on sensors such as thermal and electro-optical cameras. (DroneShield)  The US government has awarded DroneShield a USD33 million order, the largest to date for the counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) and electronic warfare (EW) company.    DroneShield CEO Oleg Vornik told   Janes  that the company could not disclose the details of the new contract, although he said it is tied to drone detection and defeat technology. It followed a USD9.9 million order...

The PLAN has been deploying remotely operated vehicles alongside its Wozang-class vessels (pictured) to enhance mine countermeasure operations. (Chinese Ministry of National Defense)  The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has been experimenting with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) that can support mine countermeasure (MCM) operations.    The PLAN's Northern Theater Command explored “new patterns of unmanned integrated minesweeping procedures” using two ROVs in a recent exercise conducted in the Yellow Sea (West Sea), state-owned new...

Sweden is to field two GlobalEye AEW&C aircraft from 2027. (Saab)  Bombardier has delivered to Sweden the first of two Global 6000 airframes for conversion to the GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) configuration for the Swedish Air Force (SwAF).  The business jet manufacturer announced on 19 July that the aircraft, which is the first for the SwAF but the sixth for the wider GlobalEye programme, had been delivered to Saab's Linköping facility in Sweden from its Toronto manufacturing plant in Canada.  News of the delivery came...

A US Air Force officer operates a virtual reality headset in support of the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) Onramp 2 on 2 September 2020 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. The ABMS is the air-domain component of the CJADC2 capability. (US Air Force)  The Pentagon's ongoing maturation of its Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) capability is being dramatically hindered at the services' level because of a lack of specific, concrete operational command-and-control (C2) requirements – from well-defined mission threads to...

The NSA is developing a new AI road map to better understand the maturation of the technology and the potential threats posed to the US and its allies. (National Security Agency )  Senior leaders at the National Security Agency (NSA) are working to draft a new strategic road map to help understand future development and use of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and how these AI applications can be turned against the US and its allies.  “This is a big deal, obviously … so what we have to do is figure out how to harness in the g...

A visual representation of the Typhoon DASS (Praetorian) P4E upgrade package. (Leonardo)  Leonardo announced the next generation of survivability upgrade for Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) on 14 July.  Speaking on behalf of the European Defensive Aids Sub-System (EuroDASS) consortium that also comprises ELT Group, Indra, and Hensoldt, Leonardo said this improvement of the current Praetorian DASS system is designed to meet the Phase 4 Enhancement (P4E) upgrade requirements of the four Eurofight...

The Striker II HMD should be operational aboard RAF Eurofighter Typhoons from 2027–28, a senior service official said at the Royal International Air Tattoo. (BAE Systems)  The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) expects to field the BAE Systems Striker II helmet-mounted display (HMD) aboard its Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft before the end of the decade.  Speaking at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) 2023 air show held at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, Group Captain Matthew D'Aubyn, Air Capability Typhoon programme director, said the RAF...

An artist's impression of the Dreadnought-class submarine. (Crown Copyright)  Thales has been awarded a GBP169 million (USD220 million) contract to equip the UK Royal Navy's (RN's) Dreadnought nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) with a new Integrated Combat System Mast solution.  Announcing the award on 13 July Thales said the new mast would provide the submarines' above-water situational awareness by – for the first time – combining advanced visual sensors, electronic warfare (EW), and communications capabilities into a sing...

A model of the DP16 UAV displayed at the Defense & Security show in Bangkok in August 2022. ATIL used the DP16 to test-fire laser-guided bombs on 13 July. (Janes/Amit Kalra)  Thailand's Aero Technology Industry Company Limited (ATIL), which is partly controlled by the state-owned Defence Technology Institute (DTI), has test-fired laser-guided bombs (LGBs) using its DP16 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).  The test, announced by the DTI on 13 July, helped evaluate the strike capabilities of the DP16.  The DTI said two LGBs were launched from the D...

AUDS, a C-UAV system capable of detecting, tracking, and disrupting small UAVs, is being used by the Ukrainian military (library picture). (Blighter Surveillance Systems)  The Ukrainian military appears to be fielding a UK-developed counter-unmanned aerial vehicle (C-UAV) system.  Imagery posted on Twitter on 12 July closely resembles components of the Anti-UAV Defence System (AUDS) produced by UK companies Chess Dynamics, Blighter Surveillance Systems, and Enterprise Control Systems (ECS).  AUDS is designed to detect, track, classify, and di...

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...

Australian Army officers work in the joint operations room at Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane in November 2016. The Australian Army's battlefield management capabilities are expected to improve under the LAND 200 Phase 3 Battlefield Command Systems project, which received the government's preliminary budget approval on 13 July. ( Commonwealth of Australia/SGT Janine Fabre)  The Australian government has given a‘first-pass' or initial approval for the Department of Defence's (DoD's) LAND 200 Phase 3 Battlefield Command Systems project that ai...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...