Americas
Rockwell Collins won a $103.6 million contract to acquire avionics support services and incidental materials for the UH-60M Black Hawk multifunction display avionics suite for UH-60M mission design series and variant helicopters. UH-60 Black Hawk is a multi-mission helicopter developed by Sikorsky that has been operational in the US Army since 1978. The primary mission of the Black Hawk helicopter is as a troop carrier and logistical support aircraft, but the helicopter can also be configured to carry out medical evacuation, command-and-control, search-and-rescue, armed escort, electronic warfare and executive transport missions. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order. Estimated completion date is September 15, 2025.
Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett announced the “e” series designation of digitally engineered planes and satellites on Monday. The U.S. Air Force and Space Force will designate experimental aircraft, weapons and satellites designed and tested by digital engineering before taking form as “e-planes” and “e-sats,” she said. The change ends a tradition of using “X” to designate experimental aircraft. Barrett announced the change at the Air Force Association’s Virtual Air, Space and Cyber Conference, where she was the lead speaker on Monday. Digital engineering employs computer modeling and simulation, as well as virtual and augmented reality, prior to construction of a physical prototype, to analyze how various configurations would work.
Middle East & Africa
The British Defense Secretary announced a $30.6 million investment in the UK logistics hub a Dugm port. This us part of a visit to Oman and Qatar to discuss shared security challenges and future collaboration. The UK and many of the Gulf states work closely together on counter-terrorism, sharing information and resources to tackle violent extremism. The port was used in 2018 for Exercise Saif Sareea 3 and the expansion will further support British Army training in Oman, say the MoD.
A group of US Navy aviators, aircrew, and maintainers selected to transition to the CMV-22B are now embedded with VMM-166 in the Middle East to pick up operational experience. The squadron currently serves as the Aviation Combat Element for Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command.
Europe
The Royal Navy has led a multi-national task group of warships and aircraft into the Arctic Circle for the first time in more than 20 years. According to a press release, the operation is designed to demonstrate freedom of navigation above the Arctic Circle. More than 1,200 military personnel from four nations took part, supported by US P-8 Poseidon and Danish Challenger Maritime Patrol Aircraft along with RAF Typhoons and a Voyager refueling tanker.
Asia-Pacific
The Republic of Korea Navy completed an upgrade of its command, control, communication, computer, and intelligence (C4I) system under a $124 million project aimed at eliminating redundancies and expanding the system’s capabilities for future operations. The new system, which is capable of handling three times as much data as the previous one, also enables the navy to transmit and share data with other units in real time, including data on ballistic missiles.
Today’s Video
Watch: Indian Defence Updates : 20 Tactical DEW Systems,HSTDV Phase-2,F-35A Cheaper Than F-15EX,VR Training
