Americas
* ATK Tactical Propulsion and Control has been contracted by the USAF to produce SR-116 motors for the AIM-9P Sidewinder missile. The $67 million deal supports planned foreign military sales to Bahrain, Egypt and Taiwan and work is expected to be completed by February 27, 2022. In addition, Sidewinder munitions were recently approved by State Department officials to be sold to South Korea.
* Lockheed Martin has introduced their latest direct attack, Dual Mode Plus laser-guided bomb. Dubbed Paragon, the munition integrates an inertial navigation system and GPS all-weather moving-target capability while maintaining the same dimensions, mass properties and outer mold line of Lockheed’s LGB, allowing for easy integration with aircraft that uses existing LGBs or similar munitions. Paragon has already been integrated on the F/A-18 Super Hornet and flight testing is expected to continue with test flights for the F-16 scheduled for later this year.
Middle East & North Africa
* The Turkish government has cancelled an engine development contract for the Altay main battle tank (MBT) with Tümosan after the company’s failure to secure a new design and development partner to replace AVL List GmbH from Austria. Tümosan’s need to find a new partner came about in January after they were forced by Ankara to cancel the deal with AVL List GmbH due to Turkey’s concerns with emerging political and regulatory issues in Austria, namely the Austrian government’s insistence on issuing export licenses with conditions. Speaking on the announcement, Tümosan cited reluctance from supplier governments to transfer technology and intellectual property and Turkey’s post-coup political events as major challenges in their ability to secure a new partner.
Africa
* The first ever Nigerian Army “Research and Innovation Summit” has unveiled a host of indigenously-made weapons and equipment for the Nigerian Army. Showcased at the event were: an Infantry Patrol Vehicle (IPV) that carries three crew members including the driver and two gunners; A Combat Fighting Motorcycle (CFM) based on a civilian model armed with either an AK-47 or light machine gun; and locally-made UAVs that have yet to be field-tested. The Nigerian Air Force also announced that they are in the final stages of completing a plant that will produce liquid oxygen for their combat aircraft fleet.
Europe
* Britain’s Royal Navy has fired the Sea Skua anti-ship missile for the last time. The event was conducted in the Atlantic Ocean from a Lynx helicopter deployed on the HMS Portland and marks just the third time the missile has been fired this century after extensive use during the Falklands and Gulf wars. Both the Lynx and the Sea Skua will be retired later this month to be replaced by the Lynx’s successor, the Wildcat, which will carry the Sea Venom heavy anti-ship missile as well as the smaller Martlett to be used against RIBs and small boats.
* Opposition parties in the Austrian parliament have agreed to the setting up of an inquiry into the 2003 purchase of Eurofighter jets. The parliamentary inquiry formally announced on Friday by the Greens and far-right Freedom Party (FPO) comes just a week after Austrian prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into allegations of fraud against Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium, based on a complaint by the defense ministry. This is the second parliamentary inquiry in relation to the deal. The first, in 2006, sought to find reasons to cancel the contract but only resulted in the order being scaled back while the new investigation will examine the terms of that settlement and seek to claim back any monies it finds to have been wrongly paid out.
Asia Pacific
* Bangladesh has released a new tender for the purchase of eight brand new twin-engine multi-role fighter aircraft. The specifications request that manufacture is to commence within a year of contracts being signed and come equipped with an electronically-scanned array radar with an air-to-air range and air-to-surface range of 150 km and 50 km, respectively; an integrated electronic warfare (EW) and electronic countermeasures (ECCM) suite; infrared search and track (IRST) system with a target tracking range of at least 50 km; helmet-mounted display and sight (HMD/S) system with cueing; head-up display (HUD) and modern glass cockpit. Front runners expected in the competition all come from Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), with the Su-35, MiG-35 and Su-30SM all valid options.
* Taiwanese engineers have announced plans to have a new fighter prototype developed within the next ten years. While funding still needs to be approved by lawmakers, work on a new turbofan engine based on the Honeywell/ITEC TFE-1042-70 is set to commence in 2018. Taipei plans to develop the advanced fighter jet to replace its aging fleet of combat aircraft, which is made up mostly of F-16s, Mirage 2000-5s and indigenous IDFs.
Today’s Video
* Russian Su-24s buzz the USS Porter in the Black Sea:
