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NOVEMBER 2021 news
Defense Aviation and Aerospace Industry |
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After more than 30 years of dedicated service to the Royal Australian Air Force, Australia’s fleet of F/A-18A/B Classic Hornets has been farewelled, to make way for the fifth-generation F-35A Lightning II fighter.
According to a recent news release from Raytheon, the first-ever StormBreaker munition drop test from an F-35 was conducted in late 2021 to test the communication link between the weapon and a secondary aircraft.
Silent Arrow announced the United States Air Force, through the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), has awarded the company a contract entitled “Guided Bundle Derivative of Silent Arrow for Side Door and Palletized Swarm Deployment at High Speeds and Altitudes” effective November 12, 2021.
Textron Aviation Defense LLC announced a $143 million contract with the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) for an Integrated System in support of the 41st Wing light attack operations at Chiang Mai Air Base. The historic contract — for eight Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine aircraft, ground support equipment, spare parts, training and other equipment — establishes Thailand as the international launch customer for the USAF’s latest light attack aircraft. The work in support of this procurement will take place at the company’s Wichita, Kansas facilities.
Aero Vodochody and OMNIPOL handed over four overhauled L-39C aircraft to the Kazakh Air Force in October 2021. The overhaul also included an extensive modernization of the avionics. A government delegation from Kazakhstan has now visited the two companies and discussed in detail the deepening of this already successful cooperation.
The Technodinamika holding of the Rostec State Corporation has equipped the training center of the Federal Service of the National Guard of the Russian Federation with modern technical training aids. At the request of the Russian Guard, the specialists of TsNTU "Dinamika" have created an unparalleled complex simulator for the Il-76MD military transport aircraft.
Russia is carrying out state trials of the upgraded MiG-31 fighter-interceptor with a fly-by-wire control system, managers of the Sokol aviation enterprise reported to Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko during his visit to the production facility on November 25.
As part of its digitization strategy, Rheinmetall AG of Düsseldorf is taking over the activities of EMT, a well-known German unmanned aerial vehicle maker. An agreement to this effect has now been signed by both parties.
F-15E Strike Eagles from US Air Combat Command participated in Dual Capable Aircraft Nuclear Weapons System Evaluation Program at Nellis Air Force Base, earlier this fall.
At a ceremony attended by the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron and the Prime Minister of the Croatian Republic Andrej Plenković, the French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly and the Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation Eric Trappier signed in Zagreb, with the Croatian Minister of Defense Mario Banozic, two contracts for the acquisition of 12 Rafale fighters and associated logistics support.
The Lapland Air Force will organize the final exercise of the Air Force conscripts' mass training period (JPH 2/21) at the Oulunsalo base on 26 November ‒ 3 December 2021.
On November 24, Saab held a high-level meeting with authorities from Brazil and Sweden to present the first six serial production Gripen E aircraft, which have left the factory and entered the delivery phase. The delegations from both countries also had the opportunity to discuss joint activities that will be beneficial to the Gripen programme.
Boeing will build six more MH-47G Block II Chinooks for the U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command as part of a $246.48 million contract.
Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company and the Corporación de la Industria Aeronáutica de Colombia S.A. (CIAC) have signed a reseller agreement allowing CIAC to purchase Black Hawk helicopter spare parts from Sikorsky for resale to the Colombian Army, Air Force and National Police. Advance procurement and storage of the material in Bogota, including processing of component repairs, will enable CIAC to quickly fulfill orders when required by the services, which collectively have acquired 97 UH-60L and S-70i Black Hawk aircraft.
A detachment from the Royal Air Force (RAF) has completed a busy two-week flying programme in which over 112 sorties were flown involving UK and Omani Typhoons, RAF Voyager and Omani F-16 jets in the Air Exercise area in Dhofar Governorate, Oman.
EDGE, UAE’s leading advanced technology group for defence and beyond, announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales (GIFAS) to establish an environment of collaborative innovation between EDGE Group and French aerospace companies.
DroneShield has been selected by the Australian MoD for a Phase 2 (prototyping) Defence Innovation Hub Contract, as part of a $10 million Artificial Intelligence grant round.
The NASA and Lockheed Martin team behind the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) have recently removed the aircraft from its jig system, or external supports. The next step is proving the research aircraft is structurally sound and ready for final assembly.
Russian Helicopters Holding plans to complete the certification of the latest Ka-226T multirole helicopter in 2022, CEO Andrey Boginsky told TASS.
The permission for batch production of the world’s heaviest Mi-26T2V military transport helicopter will be obtained by the yearend, Russian Helicopters CEO Andrey Boginsky told TASS.
