Assembly of 1,000th F-35 Started | DoS Approves HIMARS Sale To Poland | Japan Might Replace Military Aircraft with Drones

Americas

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has sought proposals for a counter-anti-access(A2)/area denial (AD) drone swarm command and control (C2) system. The Pentagon agency wants the Autonomous Multi-domain Adaptive Swarms-of-Swarms (AMASS) to steer thousands of disparate drones, enabling US and coalition forces to penetrate adversaries’ theater-level A2/AD bubble. The system is intended to let unmanned platforms operate independently in A2/AD environments without requiring constant communications, which might not be possible in such scenarios.

The final assembly of the 1,000th Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has begun, with BAE Systems announcing the delivery of the aft fuselage section on 7 February. BAE Systems announced the milestone delivery from its Samlesbury facility in the North of England, noting that it came about 18 years after it shipped the first aft fuselage to Lockheed Martin in 2005.

Middle East & Africa

Iran’s army on Tuesday unveiled its first underground base for fighter jets designed to withstand possible strikes by US bunker-busting bombs, state media reported. The base – named Oghab 44 (“Eagle” in Persian) – can accommodate “all types of fighter jets and bombers, in addition to drones,” the official news agency IRNA said, releasing images and videos from inside the base.

Iranian naval ships will be allowed to sail through the Panama Canal as long as they abide by international norms, Panamanian authorities said Tuesday following reports that Teheran was sending vessels to the strategic waterway. An Iranian military presence in the Canal would anger the United States, which built the channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at the beginning of the 20th century, and Washington has warned that it is closely monitoring Teheran’s activity in the Western Hemisphere.

Europe

The United States on Tuesday announced its approval of a $10 billion sale of 18 HIMARS precision rocket launchers plus ammunition and other equipment to Poland, a NATO ally that borders conflict-hit Ukraine. “The proposed sale will improve Poland’s military goals of updating capability while further enhancing interoperability with the United States and other allies,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.

Asia-Pacific

The Japanese ministry of defense is considering replacing several manned aircraft with unmanned platforms. The “scrap and build” approach includes decommissioning 12 Ground Self-Defense Force AH-64D combat helicopters, 47 AH-1S anti-tank attack helicopters, and 33 OH-1 observation helicopters, Yomiuri Shimbun revealed, citing sources.

Today’s Video

WATCH: The Insane Engineering of the F-35B