Airbus's unmanned UH-72 concept, displayed at Modern Day Marine 2024. (Janes/Zach Rosenberg)

Airbus unveiled a conceptual unmanned version of the company's UH-72B at Modern Day Marine 2024, which it intends to pitch to the US Marine Corps (USMC) to fulfil its expected unmanned ship-to-shore cargo carrier requirement.

Airbus has been working on the concept for roughly one year, Carl Forsling, senior director for business development and strategy at the company's US branch, told Janes at Modern Day Marine on 1 May.

“We're doing this in response to a Marine Corps requirement under [middle tier acquisition] for rapid prototyping,” Forsling said. Such programmes are intended to field prototypes within two to five years. “We're confident that using an off-the-shelf modification of [our] platform, we can meet those timelines.”

The company's pitch is based partially on commonality with the US Army's UH-72 versions. The service operates more than 400 such helicopters for stateside training and transport, according to Janes All the World's Aircraft: Development & Production , and would allow the US Department of Defense to take advantage of economies of scale.

India's SMART system, seen here during its first test in 2020. The DRDO carried out the third known test of the system on 1 May 2024. (DRDO)

India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has carried out another test of its missile-based torpedo delivery system after a lull of more than two years.

The latest test of the weapon known as the Supersonic Missile-Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) system was carried out on 1 May, the DRDO disclosed in a statement on the same day.

It was fired from a truck-based mobile launcher that was situated on the Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha on India's eastern seaboard. Parameters such as the weapon's separation, ejection and velocity control functions were validated during the test, the DRDO added.

The SMART is a canister-based supersonic missile system that utilises a two-stage solid propulsion system to deliver a lightweight torpedo.

Upon closing in on its intended target, the SMART releases its torpedo payload via a parachute-based release system. This method extends the range of the lightweight torpedo beyond what is usually achieved with conventional delivery systems such as vessel-borne torpedo tubes.

A pair of Norwegian F-35A Lightning IIs. In Polish service, the type will be named Husarz. (Royal Norwegian Air Force)

Poland has assigned the name Husarz to the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in national service, the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces announced on 29 April.

The name, which translates in English to Hussar, has been given to the ‘fifth-generation' stealth fighter following a public competition.

At the same time as the new national name was disclosed, the Polish Ministry of National Defence (MND) said that the country's F-35As will receive low-visibility greyed-out checkerboard markings in place of the traditional red and white checkerboard. This will be a first for the Polish Armed Forces and has been decided to fully preserve the aircraft's low observability characteristics.

The new name and national marking disclosures coincided with the announcement by Lockheed Martin that the first F-35A for Poland, aircraft AZ-01, had stood on its own wheels at the assembly line in Fort Worth, Texas. It will be delivered to Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas for pilot training later in 2024.