October 2019 news

Air Forces - Aerospace and Aviation Defense Industry


UK takes delivery of first RAF Boeing P-8 Poseidon MRA1

The UK’s Ministry of Defence has taken delivery of the first Royal Air Force’s (RAF) Boeing P-8 Poseidon MRA1 submarine hunter.

International customer orders air defence systems from Rheinmetall

Rheinmetall has won an order from an international customer for state-of-the-art air defence systems. The contract, which is now official, is worth a total of around €210 million. Delivery is to be completed by 2022.

Elbit Systems awarded $50 Million contract by the Portuguese MoD to provide a complete EW suite for new KC-390 aircraft

Elbit Systems Ltd. announced on October 31 that it was awarded a contract valued at approximately $50 million from the Portuguese Ministry of Defense (MoD) to supply the Portuguese Air Force ("PtAF") with a complete Electronic Warfare (EW) suite and Customer Logistics Support for the new KC-390 multi-mission aircraft. The contract will be performed over a five-year period.

Lockheed Martin to provide enhanced electronic warfare capabilities to U.S. Army and coalition helicopters

Under terms of a recent contract, Lockheed Martin will provide the U.S. Army and foreign military customers additional electronic warfare systems that enable faster detection and identification of threats. The Modernized Radar Frequency Interferometer system identifies intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) emitters and allows the pilot to detect and engage a threat long before the aircraft becomes vulnerable, increasing aircraft survivability and lethality.

Lockheed Martin GPS Spatial Temporal Anti-Jam Receiver (GSTAR) system to be integrated in F-35 modernization

Lockheed Martin received a $25 million initial contract award for engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) for the GPS Spatial Temporal Anti-Jam Receiver (GSTAR) system that will be integrated into the F-35 as part of its modernization phase, also known as Block 4. The GSTAR system will replace the current Antenna Electronics Unit (AEU) and will provide enhanced capabilities including the next-generation, anti-jam solution and provide a significant weight and cost reduction to the aircraft.

US Army engineering center tests new unmanned aircraft system

The U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center's newly acquired unmanned aircraft system took to the skies for its first formal set of survey flights Oct. 1.

Pentagon and Lockheed Martin reach agreement reducing F-35A cost by 12.8 percent

The F-35 Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) finalized a $34 billion agreement for the production and delivery of 478 F-35s at the lowest aircraft price during the history of the Program. This contract includes all U.S., International Partners and Foreign Military Sales aircraft in Lots 12, 13 and 14.

Bangladesh orders Leonardo’s high-tech air surveillance radar

The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) has ordered Leonardo’s KRONOS LAND radar to provide air surveillance, allowing operators to detect and track targets in tactical environments. Leonardo has announced the contract at BIDEC (Bahrain International Defence Exhibition and Conference) tri-service exhibition, which is taking place at Manama (Bahrain) from 28 to 30 October.

US Air Force requests proposals for light attack aircraft

The US Air Force released final requests for proposal Oct. 24 for a limited number of Textron Aviation AT-6 and Sierra Nevada Corporation/Embraer Defense & Security A-29 aircraft.

Raytheon completed the first power generation flight test of the Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) completed the first power generation flight test of the Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band. The U.S. Navy will use the test data to inform the airworthiness authorization decision to fly NGJ-MB on the EA-18G Growler in the spring of 2020.

Zipline deploys medical delivery drones with U.S. Military

Zipline, a drone-delivery startup announced it’s testing medical supply drones with US military. Zipline, which already delivers emergency medical supplies in Rwanda and Ghana, is testing drone flights with the U.S. Department of Defense. Between July and September, Zipline partnered with the DoD and Naval Medical Research Center to deploy its drones during four multinational military forces exercises in Australia.

BAE Systems to develop advanced decoy countermeasures to protect aircraft from future threats

BAE Systems announced a $36.7 million contract from the U.S. Navy to develop and demonstrate a next-generation, dual band Fiber-Optic Towed Decoy (FOTD) to protect aircraft and pilots from advanced threats.

US Air Force Research Laboratory developing space solar power beaming

The US Air Force Research Laboratory is developing space-based solar power transmission capability using high-efficiency solar cells to collect the sun’s energy, convert it to radio frequency, and beam it to earth.

Russian Korsar drone may get a seaborne option

The Korsar drone may get a seaborne option, Director for foreign economic activities of Luch Design Bureau Oleg Filippov said.

F-35 fully loaded for first time on HMS Queen Elizabeth

A British F-35 Lightning stealth fighter ‘tooled up’ for the first time on the deck of a Royal Navy aircraft carrier. Loaded on to this state-of-the-art jet from 17 (Test and Evaluation) is the weaponry it would typically carry on a strike mission: 22,000lb of destructive and defensive power.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. gets $18M to weaponize French MQ-9

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $17,868,222 undefinitized contract action for the France MQ‐9 Block 5 weaponization and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Pod Integration effort. 

Czech Republic joins NATO Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet program

On October 24, the Czech Republic joined a multinational effort to acquire and operate new tanker transport aircraft – the Multi Role Tanker Transport Capability. This initiative was launched by the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 2016 and aims to boost the ability of European Allies to refuel aircraft in mid-air.

Lockheed Martin awarded contract for France's C-130-J support

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Corp., Marietta, Georgia, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $12,437,030 undefinitized contractual action contract for C-130-J support.  The contract will provide long term sustainment (LTS) for France's C-130-J aircraft.

EuroDASS consortium launches concept for future Typhoon defensive aids sub-system

The EuroDASS consortium (Leonardo, Elettronica, Indra and Hensoldt), which provides the Praetorian Defensive Aids Sub System (DASS) for the Eurofighter Typhoon, has launched its concept for the future of DASS, called “Praetorian Evolution”. The launch took place at the EuroDASS Future Capability user conference, which was attended by senior military and industry figures from the UK, Italy, Germany and Spain.

Airbus Helicopters delivers first NH90 Sea Lion to the German Armed Forces

Airbus Helicopters has delivered the first NH90 Sea Lion naval multi-role helicopter to the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw), with a further two to be delivered by the end of the year.

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