With the keel being laid in 2022 for carrier  Enterprise  , the expected delivery date for the ship was scheduled for March 2028. The ship is now to be delivered in September 2029.  (Janes/Michael Fabey)  Industry supporters caution that any delays in the previously planned acquisition schedules of aircraft carriers could have a cascading effect on cost and schedule in the wake of proposed carrier schedule changes in the proposed US Navy's (USN's) fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget, released on 11 March.    “Overal...

The Thales SquadNet soldier radio will be pitched for the UK's forthcoming next-generation personal role radio replacement programme, expected to be launched in 2025. (Thales)    Thales is planning to pitch its SquadNet radio for the UK armed forces' next-generation Personal Role Radio (PRR) replacement programme due to be announced in 2025,   Janes   learnt at SAE Group's Future Soldier Technology conference held from 11 to 13 March.   According to John Dix, Thales UK sales manager for land communications, SquadNet is a su...

An artist's rendering of the Polar Security Cutter, which the US Coast Guard has acknowledged has taken longer than initially estimated to begin fabrication. (VT Halter Marine/Technology Associates)  As US Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports continue to question the development and acquisition of the US Coast Guard (USCG) Polar Security Cutter (PSC), the USCG's Chief Acquisition Officer, Rear Admiral Chad Jacoby, is defending the progress of the shipbuilding effort.  “The government is building the work force to certify the welders...

The BMP-2M IFV – pictured above from India's DefExpo 2022 held in Gujarat – is a BMP-2 featuring armament upgrades. (Janes/Kapil Kajal)  The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract with state-owned Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL) to upgrade the armament of 693 BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to the BMP-2M standard, the MoD said in a press release on 13 March.  Under this contract, the AVNL will upgrade the Indian Army's BMP-2s with night-fighting capability, gunner main sight, panoramic commander sight, and fire-...

TCG  Istanbul  seen transiting the Bosphorus Strait enroute to the test site on 2 March.  (Cem Devrim Yaylali)    The Turkish Navy performed its first Hisar-D missile launch from the Midlas vertical launch system (VLS) installed onboard the TCG  Istanbul  in the second week of March.   The event marked the first launch from the indigenous VLS on the high seas. The frigate was observed sailing northbound through the Bosphorus Strait to the test site on 2 March.    Haluk Görgün, the president...

The 36th F-35, delivered in 2014, was CF-19, the US Marine Corps' first F-35C carrier variant. The Milestone C decision has slipped for nearly a decade beyond initial projections, even as the production has continued. (Lockheed Martin)  The US Department of Defense (DoD) approved the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II to enter full-rate production, according to a 12 March announcement, even as deliveries remain suspended.  William LaPlante, the DoD undersecretary of defence for Acquisition and Sustainment, signed the full-rate production/Miles...

The US Navy is seeking more money for Tomahawk missiles and systems. (Raytheon)  The fiscal year (FY) 2025 US Navy (USN) budget request includes USD6.6 billion for weapons procurement, according to budget documents released on 11 March.  This request is a slight decrease from the USD6.9 billion requested in FY 2024, budget documents show.  The USN is seeking to buy 2,656 weapons in FY 2025, compared with the 2,773 weapons the service sought to buy in FY 2024.  “The [FY 2025] focus is to continue to build up critical munitions inventories whil...

A computer-generated image (CGI) showing how, under the ASCEND2LEO programme, Fleet Space's Centauri satellites are being leveraged to develop a low Earth orbit satcom system that can connect defence assets and personnel. (Fleet Space Technologies)  South Australia-based Fleet Space Technologies has demonstrated push-to-talk (PTT) capabilities using a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite as part of an Australian military project on satellite communications (satcom).  Fleet Space implemented a “software update” to its Centauri 4 satellite, currentl...

TCG   Istanbul   seen transiting the Bosphorus Strait enroute to the test site on 2 March.  (Cem Devrim Yaylali)  The Turkish Navy performed its first Hisar-D missile launch from the Midlas vertical launch system (VLS) installed onboard the TCG Istanbul in the second week of March.  The event marked the first launch from the indigenous VLS on the high seas. The frigate was observed sailing northbound through the Bosphorus Strait to the test site on 2 March.  Haluk Görgün, the president of the Defence Industry Agen...

Janes Defence Budgets forecasts that growth in China's total military spending, which includes its official defence budget, will start to slow down in the second half of this decade. (Janes)  China released its annual ‘work report' on 12 March, outlining a government commitment to accelerate military modernisation in line with its current five-year plan, which ends in 2025.  The work report was formally adopted one day earlier on the final day of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing.  In the report, the g...

The US Army's Precision Strike Missile is meant to strike targets as far as 400 km away. (US Army)  The multimode seeker that makes the US Army's Precision Strike Missile Increment 2 (PrSM Inc 2) unique and more advanced than Inc 1 is holding the capability back from its scheduled procurement in fiscal year (FY) 2025, according to budget documents.  While Inc 1 is designed for land targets, it is the Land-Based Anti-Ship Missile multimode seeker that enables Inc 2 to perform maritime targeting for the army. The service is requesting funding f...

In a screenshot from a New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) video, the Royal New Zealand Air Force's (RNZAF's) first C-130J-30 Hercules emerges from the Lockheed Martin paint shop with RNZAF and squadron livery on 15 February 2024. (New Zealand Defence Force)  The New Zealand government has issued a tender for the sale of its old Lockheed Martin C-130H Hercules aircraft as it prepares to induct five new C-130J-30s in 2024.    The tender specified that the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) seeks to sell four of the five C-130Hs currently opera...

Poland has been approved for USD3.68 billion of air-launched missile sales to equip its front-line fighter force, including the F-16 (pictured here). (Polish Ministry of National Defence)  The US government has cleared the sale of air-launched missiles to Poland for a combined USD3.68 billion. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced the US Department of State approvals in three separate notifications on 12 March.  These notifications covered 821 Lockheed Martin AGM-158B-2 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles with Extende...

Germany is buying 35 F-35A aircraft, which it intends to use in the nuclear and conventional strike roles. (Lockheed Martin via Janes/Gareth Jennings)  The German Luftwaffe has welcomed the recent announcement that the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has been granted its nuclear certification, saying it was an important reason for buying the aircraft.  In a statement posted on 13 March, the Luftwaffe said it was an important decision by the Joint Program Office (JPO) to award the F-35A its nuclear operational cer...

The Type 16 MCV (pictured above taking part in Fuji Firepower demonstration 2018 at the Combined Arms Training Center, Camp Fuji, Gotemba, Japan) is designed for high-speed self-deployment, enabling JGSDF rapid deployment regiments to quickly reach areas threatened by amphibious landings. (Janes/Kelvin Wong)    The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) will procure two new vehicles based on the Type 16 8×8 wheeled Mobile Combat Vehicle (MCV) in 2024, a Japan Ministry of Defense's (MoD's) Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA...

The US Navy's FY 2025 budget request continues to fund F-35 aircraft. (US Marine Corps)  The fiscal year (FY) 2025 US Navy (USN) budget requests include USD16.2 billion for the procurement of 75 aircraft, modifications, spares, and support equipment, including 13 F-35Cs, 13 F-35Bs, and 15 CH-53Ks, according to budget documents released on 11 March.  However, the FY 2025 request represents a slight financial retreat for the USN, which requested USD17.3 billion in FY 2024 for 88 aircraft, including 19 F-35Cs and 16 F-35Bs.  In addition, the USN...

An F-35 launches off the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS   George Washington  (CVN 73) in 2016. The US Navy intends to purchase 13 F-35Cs in FY 2025.  (US Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kris R Lindstrom)  The US Navy (USN) has requested USD16.6 billion in its fiscal year (FY) 2025 presidential budget request, intended to purchase 75 aircraft, down from USD17.3 billion in FY 2024.  The service intends to purchase 26 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters: 13 short take-off an...

The F-15C fleet is to be phased out in favour of the F-15EX. (US Air Force)  The US Air Force (USAF) is requesting to retire 250 aircraft in fiscal year (FY) 2025 as the service attempts to shed older aircraft to gear up for future purchases.  The largest intended divestment is of 65 Boeing F-15C/Ds, which have reached the end of their service lives. The USAF is in the process of replacing the 1980s-vintage F-15C/Ds with brand-new F-15EXs, which can fly farther, carry more, and come equipped with the latest electronics.  The service also hope...

The Pentagon's FY2025 budget request for Aegis ballistic missile defence would decrease spending compared to FY2024. (US Army)  The Department of Defense is requesting about USD1.3 billion for sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) in its proposed fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget, compared to about USD1.7 billion requested for FY 2025, according to budget documents released on 11 March.  The FY 2025 request includes 12 interceptors for USD491.4 million, compared to 39 interceptors for USD807.6 million requested in FY 2024.  The FY 2025 r...

The British Army has been experimenting with the Android Team Awareness Kit (ATAK) battle management application installed on a Samsung phone as a potential option for the DSA programme. (ATAK)    The British Army's Dismounted Situational Awareness (DSA) programme is delayed,   Janes   learnt at SAE Group's Future Soldier Technology conference, being held from 11 to 13 March.   According to Lieutenant Colonel Gareth Davies, SO1 Combat Systems and Bearers, British Army, the delay is primarily because the DSA team has not yet...