ASSET wins $292m WSISS V Deal | NATO Leans Towards E-7 | India Flies Tapas

Americas

A Black Hawk helicopter crashed in northern Alabama, killing two crew members who were part of the Tennessee National Guard. The aircraft went down on Highway 53 near the intersection of Burrell Road in Madison County during a routine training mission. The crash sparked a fire that left the helicopter a “total loss,” according to the Madison County Sheriff’s office. First responders found the helicopter “engulfed in flames” upon arrival, and given the visible extent of the damage, they determined there were no survivors.

DCS Corporation and New Directions Technologies (NDTI) joint venture ASSET has received a $292-million contract to support the US Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD). Under the five-year agreement, the company will provide research, development, engineering, logistics, and data management for the division’s aircraft-integrated product teams. Work for the contract will be conducted at Eglin Air Force Base, China Lake, and Point Mugu, California, and other US states.

Middle East & Africa

The UK Royal Navy has launched its latest unmanned minehunting boat in the Arabian Gulf. The development supports the British government’s continued efforts to strengthen its military cooperation with partners in the Middle East. Called the Harrier, the vessel was developed to replace the UK’s aging mine-countermeasures (MCM) fleet in the region.

Europe

Ukraine’s Western backers pushed at a meeting on Tuesday to keep the huge amounts of ammunition and arms Kyiv needs flowing to the battlefield, as Russia ramps up its assaults. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has knuckled down on his plea for Western aircraft after securing commitments for tanks, air defense, and precision missiles. But allies insist they are scrambling to ensure his forces have the ammunition and heavy weaponry they need on the ground to push back renewed Russian offensives.

NATO might lean towards an eventual procurement of Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail aircraft to gain an initial operating capability (IOC) for its planned multidomain Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (AFSC) capability, according to allied officials. AFSC is supposed to replace NATO’s ageing fleet of Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACSs) by 2035. AFSC’s design principle aims for a multidomain, system-of-systems open architecture of air, ground, and space assets seamlessly exchanging and analysing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance data.

Asia-Pacific

India conducted its maiden public flight of the Tapas-BH-201 unmanned aerial vehicle this week. The indigenous platform covered 180 kilometers (112 miles) during the flight at Aero India 2023.  The aerial display was live-streamed from an altitude of 1,500 feet (457 meters). The Defense Research and Development Organization began developing the system over a decade ago, flying it for the first time in 2016.

Today’s Video

WATCH: TAPAS BH 201 to complete by 2023