19 December 2022
by Akhil Kadidal
The initial concept design of the GCAP sixth-generation fighter appears to incorporate design elements from both the BAE Systems Tempest and Mitsubishi F-X fighter jet programmes. (Japan Ministry of Defense/Janes)
The new sixth-generation fighter jet being developed by the tri-nation Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) could potentially start ground and flight-testing by the end of the decade, according to the Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD).
The UK government has described the GCAP as “an ambitious endeavour between the UK, Japan, and Italy to deliver the next generation of combat air fighter jets”. The joint programme was announced on 9 December. The ambition is to deliver the next-generation aircraft for service in 2035, according to BAE Systems.
The Japan MoD told Janes that because of this timeframe, it “plans to start [the] preliminary design of platform, engine manufacturing”, and other systems. According to the UK government, the development phase will be launched in 2024.
“While [the] three countries are still co-ordinating the details of [the] GCAP development schedule, starting the ground and flight tests around 2029 is being considered as a possible scenario,” the Japan MoD said.
29 April 2024
by Gareth Jennings
A full-scale mock-up of the New Generation Fighter that sits at the core of the FCAS/SCAF project of which Belgium is now an official observer. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)
Belgium has joined France, Germany, and Spain in the Future Combat Air System (FCAS)/Système de Combat Aérien du Futur (SCAF) programme, with the Belgian government saying the country now has observer status.
Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Labour Pierre-Yves Dermagne announced the news in a joint communiqué released on 26 April.
“On 24 April the government obtained observer country status for Belgium as part of the FCAS/SCAF development programme,” the communiqué said.
As detailed in the announcement, the observer country status will afford Belgium access to information on the programme and its development, and will be able to participate in strategic discussions. “This will allow Belgium to get a clear idea of the programme and its implications for the Belgian defence industry,” the ministers said.
26 April 2024
by Zach Rosenberg
A Kodiak-based MH-65 trains aboard the USCGC Healy in 2022. (Janes/Michael Fabey)
The last US Coast Guard (USCG) Airbus MH-65 Dolphin in Alaska retired from Air Station Kodiak on 23 April, ending the type's 36-year employment in the service's Alaska Patrol (ALPAT) role.
“For decades, the cutter and helicopter team were the core of the ALPAT mission,” said Commander James Kenshalo, a USCG MH-65 Dolphin pilot. “Together they projected force and protection to the most extreme remote regions of our nation's territories, operating beyond where help could reach.”
Air Station Kodiak operates six Sikorsky MH-60Ts and is scheduled to receive three more in 2025. The service intends to standardise its full rescue helicopter fleet on the MH-60T, which has a longer range, greater payload capacity, and commonality with other armed service fleets. Alaska is among the first regions to complete the transition because of the long ranges required to perform rescue and security missions in the region.
26 April 2024
by Olivia Savage
Flyeye is a multiple-optics telescope with a very wide field of view that will be capable of classifying objects in space as small as 15 cm in LEO and 35 cm in MEO. The 6.5 m high and 4 m wide telescope will be used by the Italian Space Agency and military for SSA. (OHB Italia)
The Italian National Armaments Directorate (NAD) is procuring three ground-based sensors to enhance the country's space situational awareness (SSA), Janes learnt at the Military Space Situational Awareness Conference 2024, held in London from 22 to 24 April.
In total, two optical telescopes and one high-performance radar are being procured as part of its national SSA plans, Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinando Dolce, the head of SSA at NAD, said at the conference.
The first sensor being procured is a high-performance optical surveillance telescope from OHB Italia called Flyeye, Lt Col Dolce said.
Flyeye will have the capacity to monitor objects in low Earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), and geostationary orbit (GEO), Commander of the Space Situational Awareness Centre at the Italian Air Force Colonel Dario Tarantino told Janes
The new sixth-generation fighter jet being developed by the tri-nation Global Combat Air Programme (...
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