10 September 2021
by Giles Ebbutt
Polish BMP IFVs move towards the river during a joint river crossing rehearsal as part of Exercise Allied Spirit, a joint US-Polish exercise at Drawsko Pomorskie training area in June 2020. A Rosomak IFV is in the background. About 6,000 US and Polish soldiers took part in the exercise. The TES being procured by Poland from Saab will instrument similar vehicles and others and will enhance the realism of joint exercises like these. (US Army)
Saab has been awarded a contract by the Polish Armed Forces for live tactical engagement simulation (TES) training systems, the company announced on 7 September. The contract, which is over a five-year period from 2021 that includes three years of support, is worth about SEK1 billion (USD116.1 million).
The supplied systems are a complete instrumented TES solution for a reinforced mechanised battalion at the Drawsko Pomorskie combat training centre (CTC) together with four company-sized systems for separate individual unit locations. The solution will use Saab's GAMER instrumentation and communications system and exercise control (EXCON) software.
A Saab representative told Janes
27 March 2024
by Olivia Savage & Cem Devrim Yaylali & Raghuraman C S
A screenshot from an Aselsan video showing its new AESA radar in an anechoic chamber prior to flight trials aboard an F-16. (Aselsan)
Aselsan's new active electronically scanned array (AESA) Nose Radar has completed its maiden flight onboard the Turkish Air Force's (TuAF's) Lockheed Martin F-16 Block-30 fighter jet.
According to Aselsan on 26 March, the indigenously developed radar is designed to support both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions and offers capabilities such as multitarget detection and tracking, beyond-visual-range missile guidance, high-resolution imaging, and electronic warfare functionalities.
Commonly referred to as Murad, the Nose Radar is a key component of the Özgür programme, dedicated to modernising the TuAF's F-16 Block-30 fleet. The initiative involves integrating new indigenous software and hardware on the aircraft, including for the mission control computer, and replacing elements of the avionics and cockpit displays.
After successful integration of the Nose Radar on the F-16 Block-30s, the aircraft will become a 4.5-generation platform, according to the President of Defence Industry Agency (SSB), Haluk Görgün. İsmail Demir, then president of SSB, noted in November 2022 during an unveiling of the radar that its capabilities were “equivalent to the most advanced radars in the world”.
27 March 2024
by Cem Devrim Yaylali
A screenshot from an Aselsan video showing its new AESA radar in an anechoic chamber prior to flight trials aboard an F-16. (Aselsan)
Aselsan revealed on 16 March that its domestically developed active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar made its maiden flight onboard a Turkish Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft.
The test was performed on 15 February aboard a test aircraft that also featured a mission computer developed by Aselsan.
The radar was designed with gallium nitride (GaN)-based chip technology, and has capabilities such as automatic target recognition, multiple target tracking, terrain mapping, distance measurement, automatic altitude determination, under-cloud surveillance with synthetic aperture radar, automatic target classification with artificial intelligence-supported algorithms, wideband radar spectrum monitoring, directional electronic jamming, and more effective guidance for air-launched munitions. Technical specifications of the radar were not disclosed.
Aselsan general manager Ahmet Akyol announced that the radar will operate in manned platforms F-16 Özgür, Hürjet, Kaan, as well as the Akıncı, Kızılelma, and Anka-3 unmanned platforms.
For more information on Turkey's domestically developed AESA radar, please seeTurkish Air Force receives modernised F-16 aircraft.
25 March 2024
by Carlo Munoz
A Silvus Technologies StreamCaster MANET radio paired with an Echodyne MESA radar is demonstrated during a US armed forces readiness exercise. (Echodyne)
Mobile networking company Silvus Technologies is developing a pared down variant of its StreamCaster mobile ad hoc network (MANET) radio, specifically designed to provide networked radio communications capability for small unmanned aircraft systems (UASs).
Company officials are preparing to release “our next generation” of the small UAS-specific StreamCaster variant later this year, Silvus Technologies vice-president of sales Jimi Henderson said.
“We've seen that as a key and demand signal in the market and we're working to help address that gap” with the new variant, he told Janes . Henderson declined to comment on specifics of the new MANET radio variant.
However, he indicated that the new platform would likely feature a significantly smaller form factor, compared with the StreamCaster Lite 4200, which is currently the company's smallest offering in the StreamCaster family of systems.
Saab has been awarded a contract by the Polish Armed Forces for live tactical engagement simulation ...
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