23 January 2024
by Gareth Jennings
Germany is to join Spain and the UK in integrating the Brimstone air-to-surface missile onto its Eurofighter combat aircraft. (Janes/Patrick Allen)
Germany is to equip its Eurofighter combat aircraft with the MBDA Brimstone air-to-surface missile, the government revealed on 17 January.
Revealed in Bundeswehr budgetary documents disclosed by Der Spiegel, the Luftwaffe intends to acquire 274 of the low-yield missiles to equip its Eurofighter fleet, with a contract to be awarded in the second quarter (Q2) of 2024.
No further details of the planned procurement were disclosed, but with the Brimstone requiring the Phase 2 Enhancement (P2E) capability package, the missile will be compatible with all of the Luftwaffe's 70 Tranche 2, 31 Tranche 3, and 38 Tranche 4 (Project Quadriga) jets.
Germany joins Spain and the UK in selecting the Brimstone for its Eurofighters, with the fourth partner country Italy yet to announce a decision on the missile. Export customer Qatar too selected the Brimstone for its Eurofighters, though none of the other four export countries of Austria, Kuwait, Oman, and Saudi Arabia have so far opted for the missile.
07 May 2024
by Carlo Munoz
An AFRL chart outlining the Battle Management of AI concept under development by the US Air Force. (US Air Force)
The US Air Force's (USAF's) main research and development (R&D) directorate is soliciting industry solutions to accelerate the air service's integration of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into its command-and-control (C2) and battle management systems.
Officials from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) issued a broad agency announcement (BAA) in March, seeking industry input on “development and application of AI to C2, new concepts and techniques for the battle management, and orchestration of AI at pace and scale”.
AFRL officials at the organisation's Rome Research Site in Rome, New York, are seeking proposals to also explore “how the use of AI by adversaries can be considered in the C2 planning and execution process and distributed and collaborative C2 to enable C2 anywhere and anyplace”, the 24 March BAA noted.
07 May 2024
by Kapil Kajal
The PT-91M main battle tanks (MBTs) in Malaysian service will be maintained by DEFTECH (recently acquired MMC Defence), which had the contract to provide in-country support for the tanks. (Malaysian Ministry of Defence)
Malaysia's state-owned DRB-HICOM Defence Technologies (DEFTECH) has outlined the Malaysian Army's plans to upgrade its plaguing fleet of PT-91M ‘Pendekar' main battle tanks (MBTs) at the Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2024 exhibition held in Kuala Lumpur from 6 to 9 May.
Wan Mohamed Aizat bin Wan Mohamed, lead engineer for weapon system integration at FNSS, told Janes on 6 May that the Malaysian Army plans to upgrade the PT-91M tanks – delivered to the army by Poland's PHZ Bumar between 2007 and 2011 – as a part of the MBT's life extension programme.
The upgrades will include the integration of a new fire-control system (FCS), which will be supplied by Polish Armaments Group (PGZ), with the tank, Wan Mohamed said.
Other upgrades include the addition of new controllers and displays for the turret, a new autoloader system, a new day-and-night-vision camera in the tank, and a remote-controlled weapon station (RCWS), Wan Mohamed added.
06 May 2024
by Akhil Kadidal
The Australian government said that a Chinese combat aircraft launched flares in front of HMAS Hobart 's embarked MH-60R helicopter (nicknamed Voodoo), pictured here, on 4 May 2024 while the helicopter was flying over international waters in the Yellow Sea (West Sea). (Commonwealth of Australia)
A Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) fighter aircraft conducted an unsafe interception of a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) helicopter in the Yellow Sea (West Sea), the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) said.
The incident occurred when HMAS Hobart launched a Sikorsky MH-60R helicopter on 4 May as part of “routine” operations, the DoD said on 6 May. At the time, HMAS Hobart , a 7,000 tonne air warfare destroyer (AWD) was “in international waters in the Yellow Sea [West Sea] undertaking … activities as part of Operation ‘Argos'”, the DoD added.
Operation ‘Argos' is the Australian Defence Force's (ADF's) commitment to the international effort to enforce United Nations Security Council sanctions on North Korea. Australian units involved in the operation assist with monitoring illegal ship-to-ship transfers of sanctioned goods, according to the DoD.
Germany is to equip its Eurofighter combat aircraft with the MBDA Brimstone air-to-surface missile, ...
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