25 March 2022
by Gareth Jennings
One of the six Rafales from the first batch handed over to Greece in January. The HAF is to receive 24 such aircraft following the latest contract awarded on 24 March. (French Embassy in Athens)
Greece has signed for additional Dassault Rafale combat aircraft from France, with both countries' defence ministers sealing the earlier announced order on 24 March.
Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, Greek Minister of National Defence, and Florence Parly, French Minister of the Armed Forces, signed a contract for six new Rafales for Greece, adding to the 18 ordered to bring the Hellenic Air Force's (HAF's) fleet up to 24 aircraft.
The contract finalises the announcement for the new fighters made in September 2021 by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
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.
Greece has signed for additional Dassault Rafale combat aircraft from France, with both countries' d...
Ritu Gill, Intelligence Analyst, joins Harry and Sean to discuss the practical use of OSINT to support law enforcement. Ritu discusses it’s use in supporting risk assessments and classified or closed sources of intelligence. She also discusses t...
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