Americas
Anduril has clinched a $642-million contract to supply counter-drone technology for the US Marine Corps (USMC). Under the 10-year deal, the defense tech company will install, deliver, and sustain installation-counter small unmanned aircraft systems and related services to USMC bases worldwide starting this year through 2035. The California-based firm bested nine other unnamed competitors in the solicitation issued in February last year. It is expected to provide a network of defenses to detect, track, identify, and defeat small drones and other threats against USMC installations and personnel.
The US Air Force 53rd Test and Evaluation Group’s Detachment 3 recently conducted an operational taxi test at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, successfully integrating a US Navy AGM-84 Harpoon missile system onto an F-16 fighter. The AGM-84 Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-shipping missile system capable of being launched from aircraft, surface ships, submarines, and shore batteries. The Harpoon/F-16 combination is already in use as an anti-shipping platform by a limited number of international F-16 customers such as Greece and Taiwan.
Middle East & Africa
Turkish firm Aselsan has tested successfully a mobile laser weapon system, dubbed GÖKBERK, against first-person-view (FPV) drones, the company said today in a statement. GÖKBERK detected, automatically tracked, and destroyed FPV threats in different scenarios. The firm said that the system will play a “critical role in Türkiye’s national air defense system, Steel Dome.”
Europe
The European Union is upgrading a ground control center for its GPS satellite constellation as concerns over jamming of the vital signals by Russia run high. Europe operates its own constellation of global positioning satellites called Galileo. Made up of 27 operational satellites in medium-earth orbit, the system provides positioning accuracy down to 20 centimeters horizontally and proudly boasts of being “the world’s most precise GNSS program.”
Asia-Pacific
Czech manufacturers Aero Vodochody and Omnipol have completed delivery of the final batch of trainer and light combat aircraft to Vietnam. Hanoi ordered a fleet of 12 L-39 Skyfox aircraft in 2021 and received the first half in 2023, the year Prague also expressed interest in supplying the Southeast Asian country with dual-use radars, cargo aircraft, and more Skyfoxes. The aircraft will be used for Vietnamese People’s Air Force pilot training, in addition to the Beechcraft T-6C Texan II first received in November 2024.