06 September 2021
by Rahul Bedi
The Indian Army (IA) has signed two contracts worth a combined INR2 billion (USD27.4 million) to acquire a total of 200 locally produced loitering munitions to meet urgent operational requirements.
The first contract, worth INR1 billion, was awarded on 31 August to a joint venture (JV) between local company Alpha Design Technologies Limited (ADTL) and Israel's Elbit Systems for the supply of 100 SkyStriker light munition systems.
Elbit Systems' SkyStriker is a precision-guided loitering munition designed to seek, locate, and acquire operator-marked targets and targets of opportunity in tactical-level engagements.
The IA has ordered a total of 200 locally produced loitering munitions, including100 SkyStrikers (similar to this one), to meet urgent operational requirements. (Elbit Systems)
According to the company, the SkyStriker can cover a distance of 20 km within 10 minutes. Upon reaching the target area, it can loiter and pursue the target for up to 2 hours when fitted with a 5 km warhead and for up to one hour with a 10 kg warhead.
26 April 2024
by Kate Tringham
HMS Diamond shoots down a missile fired by Iranian-backed Houthis from Yemen over the Gulf of Aden using its Sea Viper missile system – the first time a Royal Navy warship has intercepted a missile in combat since 1991. (Royal Navy/Crown Copyright)
The UK Royal Navy's (RN's) Daring (Type 45)-class destroyer HMS Diamond (D 34) has successfully engaged an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) launched by Yemen-based Ansar Allah (commonly known as Houthi) rebels targeting a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden, the service confirmed on 25 April.
During the incident, which took place around 1151 h local time (Sanaa time) on 24 April, Diamond used its Sea Viper anti-air guided weapon system to shoot down the missile, the navy said. According to a US Central Command (CENTCOM) statement issued on 25 April, the missile was likely targeting the US-flagged, owned, and operated merchant vessel MV Yorktown, which has 18 US and four Greek crew members onboard.
No injuries or damage was sustained by the ship or its crew, CENTCOM said.
Diamond
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 Olivia Savage
Flyeye is a multiple-optics telescope with a very wide field of view that will be capable of classifying objects in space as small as 15 cm in LEO and 35 cm in MEO. The 6.5 m high and 4 m wide telescope will be used by the Italian Space Agency and military for SSA. (OHB Italia)
The Italian National Armaments Directorate (NAD) is procuring three ground-based sensors to enhance the country's space situational awareness (SSA), Janes learnt at the Military Space Situational Awareness Conference 2024, held in London from 22 to 24 April.
In total, two optical telescopes and one high-performance radar are being procured as part of its national SSA plans, Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinando Dolce, the head of SSA at NAD, said at the conference.
The first sensor being procured is a high-performance optical surveillance telescope from OHB Italia called Flyeye, Lt Col Dolce said.
Flyeye will have the capacity to monitor objects in low Earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), and geostationary orbit (GEO), Commander of the Space Situational Awareness Centre at the Italian Air Force Colonel Dario Tarantino told Janes
The Indian Army (IA) has signed two contracts worth a combined INR2 billion (USD27.4 million) to acq...
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