With the first of 14 F-16s for Slovakia rolled out on 6 September, deliveries should commence in the second quarter of 2024. (Slovak MoD)  Lockheed Martin rolled out the first F-16C Block 70 Fighting Falcon multirole combat aircraft for Slovakia during a ceremony at the company's Greenville production facility in South Carolina on 6 September.  Slovak Defence Minister Martin Sklenár and other high-ranking Slovakian dignitaries attended the event, where the first of 12 single-seat F-16C and two twin-seat F-16D Block 70 aircraft was officially...

Now being received by the US Air Force (pictured), the F-15EX Eagle II is being pitched to Poland, as the country looks to plug an air superiority/dominance gap in its future combat aircraft inventory. (US Air Force)  Boeing is formally pitching its F-15EX Eagle II to Poland, saying the air dominance fighter offers the country “unmatched” capabilities.  Announcing its offer at the MSPO 2023 defence exhibition in Kielce, Boeing said on 7 September that a potential US Department of Defense (DoD) Foreign Military Sales (FMS) buy would be extende...

Boeing Australia FSR Luc de Leacy (left) and USAF Airman First Class Anthony Cardoni on the flight deck of a USAF C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft during a field test of Boeing's ATOM technology. (Boeing)  Boeing has conducted the first field test of an augmented reality (AR)-based maintenance technology it has developed to enable swift repair of deployed aircraft.  The technology, named Augmented Training Operations Maintenance (ATOM), was tested on a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft belonging to the United States Air F...

Japan has trimmed the number of KHI P-1s it intends to procure in favour of acquiring long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). (Damon Coulter/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)  Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has instituted a project team to develop a ‘future fixed-wing patrol aircraft' to replace its P-1 maritime patrol aircraft. The aircraft is currently operational with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).  A company spokesperson told Janes that the project team for the ‘future fixed-wing aircraft' was instituted in Ap...

HMS   Queen Elizabeth  was involved in a collective synthetic training demonstration orchestrated by BAE Systems, Inzpire, and QinetiQ.  (BAE Systems)    The UK Royal Navy's (RN's) aircraft carrier HMS   Queen Elizabeth  as well as Type 23 frigate HMS   Kent  and Type 45 destroyer HMS   Diamond  participated in a collective synthetic training demonstration against a peer adversary as part of Phase 2 of the RN's Platform Enabled Training Capability (PETC).   Conducted at H...

With 50 F-35I Adir combat aircraft already ordered across two operational squadrons, Israel is to acquire 25 more aircraft to equip a third unit. (Israeli Air Force)  Israel has begun the formal process of acquiring a third squadron of Lockheed Martin F-35I Adir combat aircraft, with the Ministry of Defense (MoD) announcing governmental approval for the buy on 3 September.  The Israeli Air Force (IAF) already fields the F-35I (a national-specific version of the F-35A) with 140 Squadron ‘Golden Eagle' and 116 Squadron ‘Defenders of the South'...

One of an undisclosed number of Yak-130 advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft that Iran has recently received from Russia. (Fars News)  Iran has received an undisclosed number of Yakovlev Yak-130 ‘Mitten' advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft from Russia, footage and imagery posted online on 2 September revealed.  At least one aircraft in Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) markings and high-visibility livery with national serial number 7-9701 was filmed flying at the 8th Tactical Air Base at Isfahan International Air...

Norway has received a Mission Master XT UGV from Rheinmetall. (Rheinmetall)  Norway received a Mission Master XT (Extreme Terrain) 4×4 unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) from Rheinmetall at the beginning of August, the German company announced in a press release on 1 September. The contract for the UGV was awarded by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment.  Etienne Rancourt, business development manager, European market, at Rheinmetall Canada, confirmed to Janes on LinkedIn on 1 September that Norway is the first Mission Master XT customer,...

KAI and Airbus Helicopters view prospective sales of the LAH to countries in Africa and the Middle East. (Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd  )  Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has signed a pre-emptive integrated procurement contract with Airbus Helicopters for the production of its Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) and the KUH-1 Surion.  The contract, which was signed on 30 August, covers the production of 300 helicopters in total over a period of 10 years, according to KAI. The company added that it covers not only the mass production of the LAH bu...

An image Tweeted by the Ukrainian MoD calling for the transfer of Taurus cruise missiles to complement the Storm Shadow and SCALP EG systems already supplied. (Ukrainian Ministry of Defence)  Ukraine is pressing its allies to transfer Taurus (Target Adaptive Unitary and dispenser Robotic Ubiquity System) cruise missiles to complement the Storm Shadow and SCALP EG systems already supplied.  The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (MoD) posted artwork on its official X (formerly Twitter) account on 31 August showing the Taurus flanked by the Storm Sh...

Germany is to offload six Orion MPAs to Portugal, under a deal announced on 30 August. (Janes/Patrick Allen)  The Portuguese Air Force will acquire Lockheed P-3C CUP Orion maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) from the German Federal Government.  The contract, pending signature, involves the acquisition of six aircraft for an amount of EUR45 million (USD48.8 million), to be financed between 2023 and 2027. The package also includes mid-life upgrade (MLU) sets, spares, support equipment, test benches, and simulators.  The Portuguese government forma...

The Belin UAS, seen here in Slovenian service, will now be jointly acquired by Montenegro and Slovenia. (Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia)  The ministers of defence for Montenegro and Slovenia have signed an agreement for the joint procurement of C-Astral Belin unmanned aircraft system (UAS).  Announced on 30 August the bilateral agreement signed by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Montenegro, Krsto Perović, and the State Secretary of the MoD of the Republic of Slovenia, Damir Črnčec, will see the two fo...

The 110 mm electro-optic/infrared-guided Spike SR (pictured above) is the only disposable system in the Spike family of precision-guided munitions. (Rafael Advanced Defense Systems)  The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract worth INR2.87 billion (USD34.7 million) with Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems Pvt Ltd (KRAS) to deliver an unknown number of Spike anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) to the Indian Armed Forces, Rudra B Jadeja, managing director and CEO of KRAS, told Janes on 31 August.  According to a press statement by KRA...

Nag anti-tank guided missile. (Janes)  India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) recently confirmed to Janes that the Nag anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), the development of which was started in the 1980s, has cleared all the flight and user trials required for induction into the Indian Army. The DRDO is currently awaiting an order from the Indian Army for the missile, a DRDO official said.  The Nag ATGM was developed by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and the DRDO's Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) to meet...

A Bombadier CRJ700, similar to the aircraft used during the DSaT demonstration during the US Army's EDGE 2023 technology experiments. (Bombardier)  Programme engineers at Northrop Grumman have completed live demonstrations of its new Deep-Sensing and Targeting (DSaT) system for US Army officials as part of the service's annual Experimental Demonstration Gateway Event (EDGE) exercises.  The DSaT system was mounted aboard a civilian Bombardier CRJ700 and conducted data collection, fusion, and dissemination of beyond-the-line-of-sight battlefiel...

A screenshot from a video taken on 29 August, showing a Russian Il-76 ‘Candid' airlifter burning after a Ukrainian UAV attack on Pskov Air Base. (Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation)  Ukrainian attacks on Russian airbases over recent weeks have claimed a number of damaged and destroyed aircraft, including most recently a number of airlifters and bombers.  Footage posted online on 29 August showed a burning Ilyushin Il-76 ‘Candid' strategic transport aircraft at Pskov Air Base, about 850 km north of Kyiv and 40 km east of the Russian...

US Marines assigned to Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command at Fort Meade, Maryland. (US Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command)  Information technology (IT) and network security specialists with the US Navy (USN) are in the midst of developing and testing a new identity, credential, and access management (ICAM) system, as part of a service-wide effort to increasingly adopt zero-trust applications and capabilities into USN and US Marine Corps (USMC) combat networks.  The establishment of a viable and secure digital identity management capab...

Norway has joined Denmark and the Netherlands in pledging F-16s for Ukraine. (Janes/Patrick Allen)  Norway has joined Denmark and the Netherlands in pledging the transfer of Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft to Kyiv.  Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gar Støre made the offer during a 24 August meeting in Kyiv with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky.  “We plan to transfer Norwegian F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, and will provide further information on the transfer, quantity, and delivery time in due course,” Støre sa...

Victoria-class submarine HMCS   Windsor  sails through Halifax Harbour. The submarine class is slated for modernisation.  (Royal Canadian Navy)  Initial work packages under Phase 2 of the Royal Canadian Navy's (RCN's) Victoria-class submarine Modernization (VCM) project are scheduled to go out for tender.  According to a Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) official, requests for proposals (RFPs) for two VCM Phase 2 projects – flank sonar array modernisation and periscope modernisation – “are expected to...

An artist's impression of the CH-53K in Israeli service. The IDF is to receive 12 helicopters, which it will use for heavy lift, long-range personnel recovery, and special mission insertion/exfiltration duties. (Lockheed Martin)  The US Navy (USN) has contracted Lockheed Martin to build a further eight CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopters for Israel, the company announced on 24 August.  The Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreement was part of a wider USD2.7 billion contract for the manufacture of 35 Lot 7 and Lot 8 helicopters to be deli...