Americas
Northrop Grumman won a $50.9 million contract modification, which provides for repair services for 36 critical common items for the RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-4C Triton. It will support reparable National Stock Numbers (NSNs) encompassing the air vehicle, multiple sensor packages, Mission Control Element, and Launch and Recovery Element. In addition, this effort includes support engineering services covered under the Engineering Delegation Authority for NSNs transferred to and under the 407th Supply Chain Management Squadron. According to Northrop Grumman, the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS) provides real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) over vast ocean and coastal regions.
The 355th Fighter Squadron at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska took delivery of four more F-35As on October 19. The 354th Fighter Wing is slated to have a total of 54 F-35As by the end of 2022.
Middle East & Africa
Sudan’s main opposition coalition has called for civil disobedience and protests across the country after the military, headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, dissolved the transitional government and seized power on Monday. The takeover came more than two years after protesters forced the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir. Former leader al-Bashir came to power in 1989 when, as a brigadier general in the Sudanese Army, he led a group of officers in a military coup that ousted the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi after it began negotiations with rebels in the south.
Europe
Saab AB, has entered a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate with ORBCOMM and AAC Clyde Space AB to develop the next generation of global maritime communication services based on a VHF Data Exchange System (VDES). The parties, collaborating under a new brand named AOS, aim both for services directed to end customers as well as for safety of navigation services. The goal of the consortium is to create a global maritime communication network enabling ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communication everywhere on the globe.
Asia-Pacific
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently conducted the first ever test where it destroyed a hostile high-piled wharf, a capability it can use in future combat for attacking enemy ports to cutoff their supply lines. The underwater explosion test was organized by an institute under the PLA Naval Research Academy at an undisclosed naval port, government-owned China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Saturday.
Chinese and Russian warships have conducted the first ever joint patrol in the western part of the Pacific Ocean. The patrols involved a total of 10 warships, five from each nation, and lasted a week, from Sunday, October 17 to Saturday, October 23, covering 1,700 nautical miles, according to the Ministry.
Today’s Video
Watch: China Conducts First Underwater Port Demolition Test
