Asia-Pacific
L3 Technologies won a $587.4 million contract for the design, production and delivery of electronic warfare test articles and fleet prototypes to include 11 pod simulators, eight operational prototype pods, four jettison mass model pods, two captive mass models, two mission system prototypes, and two technique development systems as well as engineering support, integration, test and maintenance resulting in a low-band capability in support of engineering and manufacturing development of the Next Generation Jammer Low Band program for the Navy EA-18G Growler and Royal Australian Air Force. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
A Cessna 208B utility aircraft flew more than 3,900 miles without a pilot during a recent US Air Force demonstration. Part of the Agile Flag military exercise, the demo allowed the plane to showcase Joby Aviation’s autonomy system in conducting a remote cargo transport operation. According to the company, the aircraft traversed various military bases and public airports across California and Nevada while being monitored by a “safety pilot.” It also completed an autonomous taxi, take-off, and landing at nine different locations, including those it had not visited before.
Middle East & Africa
The White House said Monday that Gaza truce talks in Cairo have made progress and were expected to continue at a working level for several days despite clashes between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. “There continues to be progress, and our team on the ground continues to describe the talks as constructive,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “So despite the rocket and drone attack by Hezbollah over the course of the weekend, which Israel did a terrific job defending against, it has not affected the actual work on the ground by the teams trying to get this ceasefire deal in place,” Kirby said. The United States has repeatedly voiced optimism for talks on reaching a truce proposed by President Joe Biden in the more than 10-month conflict, despite repeated differences voiced between Israel and Hamas.
Europe
The 68th Electronic Warfare Squadron (EWS) recently collaborated with Danish and Norwegian counterparts to upgrade F-16s destined for Ukraine. The squadron’s expertise was critical in reprogramming the aircraft’s electronic warfare (EW) subsystems to counter evolving Russian threats in the electromagnetic spectrum. The 68th EWS tackled the challenge of reprogramming unfamiliar EW systems on the F-16s to counter evolving Russian threats. The squadron sent a team overseas to work directly with partner nations. This EW system was not part of the US military’s inventory, requiring the squadron to rapidly learn its intricacies. Additionally, the tight timeline for the aircraft’s delivery posed a significant hurdle, as the EW systems needed to be optimized before the F-16s reached Ukraine.
Asia-Pacific
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense announced Monday that it has begun the process of building two Harpoon missile bases to bolster its defenses against China. A competitive bid was opened to potential contractors from June to mid-July this year, with a new navy command leading the initiative. A contract for the first Harpoon missile base in the southern city of Tainan was awarded on August 22, though the ministry has not disclosed the cost or which vendor won the tender.
