An image of the URAL radio relay system on display at DSA 2024. (Janes/Rakend P)  Turkish company Aselsan has unveiled its latest radio relay system at the Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2024 exhibition held in Kuala Lumpur from 6 to 9 May.  The system, known as URAL, is an airborne software-defined radio relay operating in the very/ultra-high frequency (V/UHF) band.  URAL is designed for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other airborne platforms for surveillance, reconnaissance, and mapping applications.  It utilises Aselsan's advanced netw...

An infographic of Aselsan's Marlin USV, which is on display at DSA 2024. (Janes)  Turkey's Aselsan has for the first time displayed its Marlin unmanned surface vessel (USV) in its full anti-submarine warfare (ASW) configuration.  In this configuration – on show at the Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2024 exhibition in Kuala Lumpur from 6 to 9 May – the USV is integrated with the Mini-Düfas low-frequency active towed array and passive towed sonar system. Aselsan aims to operationalise the mini version of its Düfas towed active sonar for USVs, call...

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on 14 February 2024. (US Space Force)  The Pentagon's Space Development Agency (SDA) has awarded a USD414 million deal to build a series of new satellites, presumably capable of early warning and precision tracking of hypersonic missile systems.  Agency officials selected California-based Millennium Space Systems to construct the eight fire-control satellites as part of the SDA's Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (FOO...

An AFRL chart outlining the Battle Management of AI concept under development by the US Air Force. (US Air Force)  The US Air Force's (USAF's) main research and development (R&D) directorate is soliciting industry solutions to accelerate the air service's integration of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into its command-and-control (C2) and battle management systems.  Officials from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) issued a broad agency announcement (BAA) in March, seeking industry input on “development and application of AI t...

It is possible that Malaysia will acquire the latest version of the Lockheed Martin AN/AAQ-33 Sniper airborne targeting pod, with the capability improvements as detailed in this 2021 Lockheed Martin infographic. (Lockheed Martin)  The US Department of State has approved a possible sale of Lockheed Martin AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods (ATPs) for the Royal Malaysian Air Force's (RMAF's) Boeing F/A-18D fleet.  The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on 7 May that 10 AN/AAQ-33 airborne targeting pods had been approv...

An image of the SAR jamming system on display at QuanLian's booth at DSA 2024. (Janes/Rakend P)  Chinese manufacturer QuanLian T&E (Hainan) International Trade Co Ltd showcased a jamming system for synthetic aperture radars (SARs) at the Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2024 exhibition held in Kuala Lumpur from 6 to 9 May.    This is the first time the system is displayed outside the home country, the manufacturer informed   Janes  .   The system counters SARs and reduces the probability of detection. It provides warning of SAR...

This is the fourth order for the TRML-4D radar from the AFU in less than two years. The C-band ground-based air-defence radar (pictured) has been designed for near- to long-range ground-to-air detection and for weapon assignment. (Hensoldt)  Ukraine is receiving another batch of TRML-4D ground-based air-defence radars from Hensoldt to strengthen the country's air defence.  In total, six additional radars will be delivered later in 2024 to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) as part of a deal worth a EUR100 million (USD107.1 million), the compan...

Japan has delivered the TPS-P14ME air surveillance radar (pictured), manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, to the Philippine Air Force. (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation )  The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has received a mobile radar system from Japan to strengthen air surveillance.  Japan has delivered the TPS-P14ME radar manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Melco) to the PAF, the Philippine Department of National Defense (DND) announced in late April.  “[The TPS-P14ME radar] will provide high-resolution surveillance of a...

Kongsberg is developing the Thor tactical radio for the Norwegian Armed Forces under project Mime. The latest contract involves developing the Thor Remote Control Terminal. (Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace)  Kongsberg has been contracted by the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA) to develop the Thor Remote Control Terminal (tRCT).  The contract, valued at NOK255 million (USD22.9 million), is part of the Mime tactical communications and information systems (CIS) programme intended to digitise the armed forces, the company announced on 29 Ap...

The Belgian Navy's Modernised M (Karel Doorman)-class frigate BNS   Louise-Marie  (F 931) will join the EU's maritime security mission ‘Aspides' in the Red Sea in the coming week.  (Guy Toremans)  The Belgian Navy's Modernised M (Karel Doorman)-class frigate BNS Louise-Marie (F 931) has been declared operationally ready to participate in the European Union's (EU's) maritime security missions in the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz following a period of extended preparatory training in the Mediterranean, the service h...

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-...

UK company Spaceflux has been contracted to develop and operate a ground-based SDA sensor as part of Project Nyx Alpha to monitor objects in GEO for UK Space Command. (Spaceflux)  The UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is conducting three technology demonstrator programmes to explore the utility of novel space domain awareness (SDA) technologies.  The first programme is exploring the development of a Deep Space Radar (DSR) designed to monitor and protect geostationary orbit (GEO) assets such as the Skynet satellite communic...

A 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Lance Bombardier calls in artillery fire using Bowman during Exercise ‘Cougar Crawl' in Poland in 2020. (Crown Copyright)  The UK Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) Morpheus tactical communications programme is suffe...

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 Lo...

A computer-aided design model of the satellite that GalaxEye Space is developing to conduct Earth observation for defence forces. The satellite will be equipped with SAR and EO sensor for enhanced surveillance. (GalaxEye Space)  Bangalore-based GalaxEye Space is developing a satellite that can carry multiple sensors for Earth observation to support the requirements of the Indian Armed Forces.  Speaking to Janes at the Indian DefSpace Symposium 2024 held in Delhi from 18 to 20 April, Deb Jyoti Pal, senior vice-president of business developmen...

The UAE's fourth Saab GlobalEye was delivered on 18 April. (Ministry of Defence of the United Arab Emirates)  The Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced on 24 April that a reception ceremony for an early warning aircraft had been held at Al-Dhafra Air Base.  It cited Major General Ibrahim Nasser al-Alawi, the commander of the Air Force and Air Defence (AFAD), as saying the aircraft was a “qualitative addition” that will help protect the country's strategic interests.  The MoD released a video showing a Saab Glob...

Lockheed Martin has secured a AUD500 million contract to provide a Joint Air Battle Management System to the Australian Defence Force. (Lockheed Martin Australia)  Lockheed Martin has secured a contract worth AUD500 million (USD323 million) from the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) to build a Joint Air Battle Management System (JABMS) for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).  The JABMS will be built under the second tranche of the DoD's Project Air 6500 Phase 1, Lockheed Martin announced on 24 April.  According to the DoD, Project Air 6...

Seen being carried by a US Air Force F-16, the Sniper ATP is built in Florida in the US and Bedfordshire in the UK. Lockheed Martin is now ramping up UK component production to meet increased customer demand. (Lockheed Martin)    Lockheed Martin is building a new production line for AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) components at its Ampthill, Bedfordshire site in the UK, seeking to meet anticipated demand from NATO allies and other customers for the system, the company has told   Janes  .     The UK-based...

The Brazilian Navy wants to improve the radar capabilities of its OPVs. (Victor Barreira)  As part of an effort to update its Amazonas-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), the Brazilian Navy is acquiring a new air and surface search radar with identification friend-or-foe capability (IFF), according to the Navy Weapon Systems Directorate (Diretoria de Sistemas de Armas da Marinha: DSAM).    The Brazilian Naval Commission in Washington, DC, (Comissão Naval Brasileira em Washington: CNBW) on behalf of the DSAM has    requested a...

The IqAF is to equip all 34 of its F-16 combat aircraft with the AIDEWS electronic warfare suite. (Lockheed Martin)  Iraq is to equip its Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft with the L3Harris AN/ALQ-211 Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suite (AIDEWS) electronic warfare (EW) system, the US Department of Defense (DoD) disclosed on 22 April.  The DoD requires the retrofit of the AIDEWS system into 34 Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) F-16C/D Block 52M aircraft located at Martyr Brigadier General Ali Flaih Air Base (Ali Flai...