16 December 2021
by Robin Hughes
A US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet multirole combat aircraft testbed conducts a safe separation launch with an AIM-120D-3 AMRAAM variant over Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California on 12 May, 2021. (US Navy)
The US Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida, in association with Raytheon Missiles & Defense, is preparing for a series of air-launched guided live-fire trials of the new variant AIM-120D-3 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM).
“The live-fire test campaign will begin in February 2022 with the work-up missions,” a Raytheon spokesperson told Janes . “There are five live fires as part of this campaign and these are scheduled for Q2–Q4 2022, with current planning to shoot from the [US Air Force] F-15E Strike Eagle and [US Navy] F/A-18F [Super Hornet] platforms.”
The AIM-120D-3 delivers a significant capability upgrade through the Form, Fit, Function Refresh (F3R) programme – a comprehensive AMRAAM Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages project, designed to mitigate systemic hardware obsolescence issues in the AIM-120D's guidance section, and sustain AMRAAM missile production beyond Lot 32, awarded in March 2018.
26 April 2024
by Olivia Savage
UK company Spaceflux has been contracted to develop and operate a ground-based SDA sensor as part of Project Nyx Alpha to monitor objects in GEO for UK Space Command. (Spaceflux)
The UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is conducting three technology demonstrator programmes to explore the utility of novel space domain awareness (SDA) technologies.
The first programme is exploring the development of a Deep Space Radar (DSR) designed to monitor and protect geostationary orbit (GEO) assets such as the Skynet satellite communications system, William Feline, senior principal advisor for SDA at the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), said at the Military Space Situational Awareness Conference 2024, held in London from 22 to 24 April.
The purpose of the programme is also to assess whether the UK needs its own DSR capability or whether it can rely on or complement the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) currently being developed alongside Australia and the US, Emma Kerr, senior principal engineer for SDA at Dstl told Janes .
A monostatic or biostatic system is being considered as well as whether a new or existing system is required, Feline said.
26 April 2024
by Carlo Munoz
An artist's concept of how Lockheed Martin's LRDR would detect ballistic missile launches from Asia. The radar completed preliminary design review in March and will go through critical design review in September 2027. (Lockheed Martin)
The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and its industry counterparts at Lockheed Martin are preparing for the ‘final transition' of the long-awaited Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) to the US armed forces in the Indo-Pacific region.
LRDR programme officials officially transitioned control of the S-band missile defence radar to the MDA on 23 April, according to a company statement. The handover of the system, currently stationed at Clear Space Force Station in Alaska, will allow agency officials to finalise the Operational Capability Baseline (OCB) milestone, which is the final stage before the LRDR is handed over to US Space Force (USSF) units. “Prior to this transition, the system has started space domain awareness data collects” for USSF units, the 23 April statement said.
26 April 2024
by Gareth Jennings
One of the first six Rafales to be delivered to Croatia. Deliveries of all 12 aircraft will be complete by mid-2025. (Dassault)
Croatia has inducted into service the Dassault Rafale combat aircraft it recently received from France.
The manufacturer announced the milestone on 25 April, saying the first six of 12 Rafales had been formally received into service by the Croatian Air Force (Hrvatsko ratno zrakoplovstvo i protuzračna obrana: HRZ i PZO).
Having been handed over to the Croatian Ministry of Defence (MoD) at the French Air and Space Force (Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace: AAE) base at Mont-de-Marsan in France in 2023, these initial aircraft were received into the 91 operational base near Zagreb in a ceremony that was attended by Croation Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Minister of Defence Ivan Anušić.
With the Rafale to be operated by 191 Squadron, the first of the follow-on batch of six aircraft will arrive in Croatia by the end of 2024 to complete the unit by mid-2025.
For more information on the Croatian Air Force, please seeCroatia – Air Force .
The US Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida, in as...
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