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Daily Rapid Fire

King Stallion Engine Issues Resolved | Germany To Withdraw Some Troops From Iraq | China Hints At Plans For Airborne Laser Attack Weapon

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Americas Kubernetes, an open-source container-orchestration system for automating application deployment, scaling, and management, was successfully installed on the F-16 fighter within 45 days by the US Air Force. It is part of an initiative by the Pentagon to improve its software development capabilities. The DoD Enterprise DevSecOps Initiative specified a combination of Kubernetes, Istio, knative and an internally developed specification for “hardening” containers with a strict set of security requirements as the default software development platform across the military. More than 2 million people work for the military, and most of them are not flying F-16s running Kubernetes. Engineers have mitigated an ongoing engine integration issue for the CH-53K King Stallion, the new heavy-lift helicopter from Sikorsky for the United States Marine Corps. It took 8 months of study and testing. The helicopter is designed to conduct expeditionary heavy-lift transport of armored vehicles, equipment and personnel to support distributed operations deep inland from a sea-based center of operations. The CH-53K is powered by three General Electric T-408 engines, but these engines created several integration issues in the aircraft, including exhaust gas re-ingestion (EGR). The King Stallion is an all-new heavy-lift helicopter that will expand the fleet’s ability to move more […]
Americas

Kubernetes, an open-source container-orchestration system for automating application deployment, scaling, and management, was successfully installed on the F-16 fighter within 45 days by the US Air Force. It is part of an initiative by the Pentagon to improve its software development capabilities. The DoD Enterprise DevSecOps Initiative specified a combination of Kubernetes, Istio, knative and an internally developed specification for “hardening” containers with a strict set of security requirements as the default software development platform across the military. More than 2 million people work for the military, and most of them are not flying F-16s running Kubernetes.

Engineers have mitigated an ongoing engine integration issue for the CH-53K King Stallion, the new heavy-lift helicopter from Sikorsky for the United States Marine Corps. It took 8 months of study and testing. The helicopter is designed to conduct expeditionary heavy-lift transport of armored vehicles, equipment and personnel to support distributed operations deep inland from a sea-based center of operations. The CH-53K is powered by three General Electric T-408 engines, but these engines created several integration issues in the aircraft, including exhaust gas re-ingestion (EGR). The King Stallion is an all-new heavy-lift helicopter that will expand the fleet’s ability to move more material more rapidly.

Middle East & Africa

Israel’s Defense Ministry announced on January 8 that it had achieved a breakthrough in laser weapon technology program which will become operational within a year and a half. The new laser-based system is built to intercept rocket, mortar, and artillery threats, drones, and anti-tank guided missiles. It will undergo testing in the coming months. The new technology was unveiled by the head of the Defense Ministry’s weapons development administration, Brig. Gen. Yaniv Rotem. The laser-based interception, which is silent and invisible, is based on electric laser technology rather than the chemically based lasers used up to now. The cost is less than $3.50 per interception, in contrast with Iron Dome, which costs about $49,000 per interception and makes noise on launch.

Germany will withdraw some of its troops deployed as part of the anti-Islamic State coalition in Iraq, the German defense ministry said on Tuesday. This is the latest fallout over the US drone strike that killed a top Iranian general. About 30 soldiers stationed in Baghdad and Taji will be moved to Jordan and Kuwait, a German defense ministry spokesman told AFP, adding that the withdrawal will begin shortly. Germany has deployed about 415 soldiers as part of the coalition, with about 120 of its troops stationed in Iraq. Germany’s move came after the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution asking the government to end its agreement with the US-led coalition.

Europe

The Falkland Islands have welcomed the arrival of new patrol vessel HMS Forth. British Forces South Atlantic Islands say that the ship has taken over the mission from HMS Clyde, which has offered protection to the Falklands and nearby South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands for the past 12 years. The long-term deployment of HMS Forth will see the ship act as the guardian and patrol vessel for the Falkland Islands and Britain’s South Atlantic territories. HMS Forth is a Batch 2 River Class Offshore Patrol Vessel and is fundamentally different in appearance and capabilities from the preceding Batch 1. Notable differences include the longer 90.5 meters long hull, a higher top speed of 24 knots, a Merlin-capable flight deck, a greater displacement of around 2,000 tonnes and greatly expanded capacity for accommodating personnel.

Asia-Pacific

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has issued an invitation to tender for the procurement of a laser-based weapon pod, the Global Times reports. The official website of the People’s Liberation Army, weain.mil.cn, published a notice called “tender announcement for a laser strike pod procurement project”. It indicates that further information about the planned acquisition is confidential. Although the detailed requirements for such equipment are unknown, it is likely to be a new type of tactical assault weapon, rather than laser guidance devices for missiles, which are already widely in use. The notice titles supported this idea, said Global Times.

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