Americas
Raytheon Missile Systems won a $10.6 million contract modification for Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile Production Lot 33 spares. The modification provides for the production Air Force and Navy spares. The AMRAAM missile is a versatile and proven weapon with operational flexibility in a wide variety of scenarios, including air-to-air and surface-launch engagements. In the surface launch role, it is the baseline weapon on the NASAMS launcher. In the air-to-air role, no other missile compares to the AMRAAM missile. The weapon’s advanced active guidance section provides aircrew with a high degree of combat flexibility and lethality. Its mature seeker design allows it to quickly find targets in the most combat challenging environments. Work will take place in Tucson, Arizona. Estimated completion date is in March 21, 2022.
Gen. John Raymond was sworn in as the highest-ranking leader of the newly-created U.S. Space Force Tuesday. Vice President Mike Pence swore Raymond in as Chief of Space Operations in a formal ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, just weeks after President Donald Trump signed a bill designating Space Force as the sixth branch of the military. “The first decision the president made after establishing the Space Force was deciding who should be its first leader,” Pence said. “I was around when the President made that decision and I can tell you, he never hesitated. He knew right away there was no one more qualified or more prepared from a lifetime of service than Gen. Jay Raymond to serve as the first leader of the Space Force.”
Middle East & Africa
Egypt now has the capability to aerial refuel combat aircraft, Janes’s reports. An official video released by the Ministry of Defense shows ‘buddy-buddy’ systems fitted to Air Force MiG-29M ‘Fulcrum’ fighters. The video is supposed to highlight capabilities of the Egyptian Armed Forces. It shows a pair of MiG-29Ms equipped with centerline hose-and-drogue units preparing to offload fuel to two Dassault Rafale combat aircraft. The ‘buddy-buddy’ system seen fitted to the MiG-29M in the video is called the PAZ-MK Refueling Pod. According to its manufacturer, Zvezda-NPP, it was designed to increase the range of carrier-borne MiG-29K/KUB aircraft, as flown by the Russian and Indian Navies.
Europe
The Royal Canadian Air Force is contributing to NATO’s Operation Reassurance Air Task Force enhanced air policing mission over Romania with five Boeing CF-188 Hornet fighters. Canada has aircraft, personnel, and resources standing by on quick reaction alert. NATO calls on the RCAF to scramble aircraft when it wants to identify or intercept an aircraft flying in the vicinity of NATO airspace over the Romanian flight information region. Canada’s Air Task Force-Romania had just completed its four-month NATO enhanced Air Policing mission in Romania. ATF-Romania is the air component of Operation Reassurance Canada’s contribution to NATO assurance and deterrence measures in Central and Eastern Europe.
Asia-Pacific
Lockheed Martin won a $32.9 million modification for contractor logistics support to the Taiwan F-16 Peace Phoenix Rising program. This modification provides for contractor logistics support, repair and return and diminishing manufacturing source management services for Taiwan F-16s Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar. The People’s Republic of China Air Force’s operates around 142 F-16 A/B fighter aircraft and is looking to expand its fleet. The RoCAF received the first upgraded aircraft in October 2018. The remaining deliveries are expected to be completed by 2023. Work will take place in Texas and Taiwan and estimated completion will be on December 31, 2025.
During a planned live-firing exercise by Russia, one of its Iskander-M ballistic missile flew beyond 600km and landed outside its designated target area. The missile is said to have been fired from Kapustin Yar for the Makat firing range in Kazakhstan. However, the missile ended up in the Bayganinsky district. The SS-26 Stone or “Iskander” is a road-mobile short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) with a range of up to 500 km. Using a common transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) and support vehicles, the system can also fire the 9M728 (R-500, SSC-7) and 9M729 cruise missiles. Russia began development of the SS-26 in the late 1980s to replace the OTR-23 “Oka” SRBM.
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