25 August 2023
by Kapil Kajal
India's Nirbhay cruise missile, displayed above at Defexpo 2020 in Lucknow, will be equipped with Small Turbofan Engines, enhanced radio frequency seekers, and other subsystems to transform it into the proposed Long-Range Land Attack Cruise Missile. (Janes/Rahul Udoshi )
India's Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh, has accorded an Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to procurethe Long-Range Land Attack Cruise Missile (LRLACM) for the Indian Air Force.
The AoN is the sixth step in Indian defence procurements after identifying the project, approving it in principle, consulting the industry, carrying out a feasibility study of the project, and formulating Preliminary Services Qualitative Requirements (PSQRs) specifying essential and desirable parameters.
Under the ‘Make-I' category, following AoN, the development and procurement process consists of 14 extensive steps, beginning with an expression of interest through to the development of a prototype, multiple trials, and the contract award.
The LRLACM is being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO's) Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), which is situated in Bangalore.
The missile is a replacement for the Nirbhay missile and will be developed for all land, air, and marine formations, a DRDO official earlier told
02 May 2024
by Zach Rosenberg
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.
02 May 2024
by Ridzwan Rahmat
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.
30 April 2024
by Gareth Jennings
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.
India's Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh, has accorde...
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