HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, officially opened a permanent UK military facility on an airbase in the United Arab Emirates on 6 March. (Crown Copyright)  The United Kingdom has opened a permanent military facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 6 March.  Named Donnelly Lines, the facility at Al Minhad Air Base (AMAB) was officially opened by the UK's Princess Anne and senior military and political dignitaries from both countries on the same day as the announcement.  “The siting of Don...

One of the first three F-16 Block 70 aircraft bound for Bahrain departs the Greenville production facility in the US on 6 March. (Lockheed Martin)  The first Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft for Bahrain departed the United States for the Gulf on 6 March.  The manufacturer announced the milestone, saying the first three of 16 jets had left the Greenville production facility in South Carolina bound for Bahrain.  To date, Lockheed Martin has produced five F-16 Block 70 jets for Bahrain, with the additional 11 in vari...

A file photo of AASM Hammer guided bombs (in their imaging infrared seeker configuration) of the type Russia now claims to have intercepted over Ukraine. (Safran)  Russia has claimed to have intercepted a Safran Armement Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM) Hammer launched at its forces in Ukraine.  Russian state-controlled media reported the claim on 6 March, quoting the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation as saying that ground-based air defences had shot down a single guided bomb “in the zone of a special military operation”.  The report cam...

A model of the AW249 attack helicopter was displayed for the first time at DIMDEX 2024 in Doha. (Janes/Ajay Shankar Pandey)  Leonardo showcased its AW249 attack helicopter with a scale model displayed at the DIMDEX 2024 show held from 4 to 6 March in Doha.  The event marks the first time that the Italian manufacturer has displayed its developmental “heavy” attack helicopter to the public, and comes one-and-half years since the type made its maiden flight in August 2022.  With two prototypes now flying, Leonardo told Janes that it expects a fu...

Albania used the occasion of the opening of the Kuçovë Air Base to showcase its newly acquired Bayraktar TB2 UCAVs. (Albanian MoD)  The Kuçovë Air Base (Baza Ajrore Kuçovë) in Albania was officially inaugurated as NATO's first tactical airbase in the western Balkans, with an opening ceremony on 4 March.  The work for transforming the Warsaw Pact-era MiG base into a modern facility to support NATO air transport, logistical support, and air policing missions across southeast Europe was first announced by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Augu...

Three Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawks of the Indian Navy in operation in February 2024. (Indian Navy)  The Indian Navy has commissioned its first Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk multirole helicopter squadron.  According to the navy, the new unit, Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 334, was commissioned on 6 March at Indian Naval Station Garuda in the southwestern Indian city of Kochi.  In a video of the commissioning, the Indian Navy displayed four MH-60Rs (serial numbers IN751, IN752, IN753, and IN755). However, the unit likely had at least six MH-60Rs at th...

An artist's conceptualisation of a swarming drone capability being developed by 216 Squadron. However, since being formed in 2020, the unit, which is tasked with testing future drone swarm technology, has completed no tests or trials either in-house or with industry, the government has disclosed. (Leonardo)  The United Kingdom's effort to develop and field an unmanned ‘swarming drone' capability is being stymied by “competing resource priorities”, the government disclosed on 4 March.  Answering questions in the House of Commons, Minister of S...

The Gaza UAV scale model displayed at DIMDEX 2024. (Janes/Ajay Shankar Pandey)  The Iranian defence industry displayed its multirole Gaza-armed intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at the DIMDEX 2024 exhibition held in Doha, Qatar, from 4 to 6 March.  The Gaza UAV is a turboprop-powered remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) designed for military and civilian missions. It has an endurance of over 24 hours at minimum payload, with a maximum speed of 350 km/h, a cruising speed of 215...

The Boeing P-8A Poseidon in Canadian markings. (Boeing)  The US Navy (USN) has ordered 17 Boeing P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft on behalf of foreign customers, according to the US Department of Defense's (DoD's) 29 February contract announcement. The Royal Canadian Air Force is to receive 14 P-8s, while the remaining three are destined for Germany. The Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract is worth USD3.4 billion.  Canada and Germany ordered P-8s to replace their respective fleets of P-3 Orions (designated CP-140 Auroras i...

US marines conduct cold-weather training in preparation for NATO Exercise ‘Nordic Response 2024' in Setermoen. (US Marine Corps)  With the kick-off of Exercise ‘Nordic Response 2024' in February in the Norwegian Arctic, NATO is including Finland forces for the first time as a new official allied member and has transferred the Land Component Command headquarters for the exercise to the US Marine Corps' II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF), another first.  The component, including Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish division forces, will exercise...

CASIC is enhancing its Sky Hawk low-observable UAV for improved stealth characteristics and greater range. This graphic is based on the most recent imagery of the UAV, from February 2024. (Janes)  China's Tianying (Sky Hawk) tailless low-observable, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has started flight-testing following upgrades to its “main parameters”. According to Chinese state-owned media, the changes improve the UAV's “stealth” characteristics and “endurance”.  Janes has assessed video imagery of the Sky Hawk conducting a test flight aired by...

An Anka MALE UAV equipped with sensors and weapons at IDEX 2023, Abu Dhabi. This UAV was armed with MAM-L munitions and a ŞİMŞEK aerial target on the port hardpoint (not visible in this photograph). (Janes/Akshara Parakala)  The Indonesian Air Force (Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Udara: TNI-AU) has announced that it will add two additional unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) squadrons to its operational forces.    State-owned media said on 29 February that the two new units will be deployed at Anang Busra Air Base in Tarakan in North Kal...

The RTAF is seeking to replace its ageing F-16A/B combat aircraft fleet since 2020. These aircraft have been in service from 1988. (Janes)  The Royal Thai Force (RTAF) has detailed plans to acquire a wide range of unmanned capabilities, missiles, and a priority procurement of new fighter aircraft in its 2024 White Paper.  The new White Paper – released on 29 February – lists a series of short-term acquisitions and improvements. It includes a plan to procure between 12 and 14 new fighter aircraft to replace Lockheed Martin F-16A/B aircraft ope...

The US Army wants to add more robust cold weather survival equipment such as tents to the survival pod on its AH-64 Apache and other helicopters. (Janes/Meredith Roaten)    In the High North, fast winds can steer rotor blades while icy precipitation can reduce visibility. This makes it difficult to perform the 150 miles deep attack with Apache AH-64 helicopters at the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) 24-02 training rotation held from 12 to 22 February at Fort Greely, Alaska, Major General Brian Eifler, commander of th...

Discussions on work share agreements for the sixth-generation GCAP fighter aircraft are scheduled to start in March 2024. (BAE Systems)  Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom are in talks on the preliminary design of the sixth-generation Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) aircraft, with discussions on the division of responsibilities for the overall programme expected to start in March.    A spokesperson for Japan's Acquisitions, Logistics and Technology Agency (ATLA) told   Janes   on 29 February that the three countries “have...

An artist's rendition of Sierra Space's T2TL low Earth orbit satellite prototype for the PWSA. (Sierra Space)  Arizona-based sensor payload company GEOST is betting big that improved focal plane fidelity, coupled with artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled imagery processing at the edge, will be the solution for the new fire-control payload being developed for the Pentagon's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA).  GEOST – a subsidiary of LightRidge Solutions – and the Space Development Agency (SDA) in February reached a deal for GEO...

The XQ-67A in flight (location unknown). (GA-ASI)  General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has flown the XQ-67A unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for the first time, the company announced on 29 February.  “Flight demonstration of this system is a major first step towards showing the ability to produce affordable combat mass,” said Trenton White, Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL's) Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) programme manager, in a statement announcing the flight.  The flight took place on 28 February at GA-ASI's Gray Butte Flight...

The first KC-130J for the Luftwaffe departs the Marietta production facility in the US, bound for the joint Franco-German C-130 squadron in France. (Lockheed Martin)  The first Lockheed Martin KC-130J tanker-transport aircraft for the Luftwaffe was delivered to the joint Franco-German C-130 air-transport squadron at Évreux-Fauville Air Base in northern France on 28 February.  The first of three German KC-130Js departed the company's Marietta production facility in Georgia for the ferry flight to France, where it joined three Luftwaffe C-130J-...

A Royal Australian Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft takes off with a payload of GBU-12 bombs during an exercise in 2021. Singapore is procuring eight F-35A airframes in addition to the 12 F-35Bs announced earlier. (Commonwealth of Australia)  Singapore will procure eight conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) variants of the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fighter aircraft in addition to the 12 F-35B short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) versions it is acquiring.  The matter was confirmed by Singapore's Defence Minister Ng Eng...

Leonardo and Bell are to leverage their respective AW609 (pictured) and V-22/V-280 tiltrotors for the NATO NGRC programme. (Leonardo)  Leonardo and Bell signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on 29 February geared at evaluating tiltrotor options for the NATO Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC) programme.  The European and US companies will pool their combined tiltrotor knowledge on the AW609 and V-22 Osprey/V-280 Valor respectively, as they look to secure the fifth concept study of the NGRC effort to develop the next generation o...