Americas
Sikorsky won a $9.8 million delivery order for H-53 hydraulic fluid tanks. The firm-fixed-price delivery order is a one-year contract with no option periods. Sikorsky will perform work in Connecticut. Estimated completion date is September 30, 2020. The Defense Logistics Agency Aviation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the contracting activity. H-53 is a family of heavy-lift transport helicopters built by Sikorsky. It includes the CH-53 Sea Stallion. The Stallion has mechanical flight controls which are backed by three independent hydraulic systems.
The US Air Force provides support for counter-narcotics efforts in the region of Curacao. The service will temporarily deploy an E-3 Sentry or AWACS to the island in the Caribbean for a counter-narcotics mission in close cooperation with the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Curacao. According to local reports, the recurring, multi-national counter-narcotics effort reflects the ongoing commitment to global counter-narcotics cooperation. In addition, the partnership will strengthen ties between the United States, Curacao and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The E-3 Sentry is nicknamed the „Eye in the Sky“ and is a combination flying command post and spy plane. It provides total situational awareness of friendly and hostile activity, real-time command and control of an area of responsibility, early warning of enemy actions and flexible battle management of theater forces. AWACS crews ease the burden on combat aircraft by coordinating various reconnaissance, weapons control, battle management and communications functions.
Middle East & Africa
The Advanced Jet Trainer and Light Attack Aircraft Hürjet project has been successfully finalized, reports say. Hürjet is a single engine, tandem-seater with modern avionics and high-performance features. The combat variant provides a battlefield force multiplier through a wide range of mission capabilities and an extensive payload. The Hürjet project has started to fulfill international and Turkish Air Force requirements by replacing aging T-38s as Advanced Jet Trainers (AJT) and F-5s as Acrobatic Team Aircrafts with a modern high performance multirole aircraft.
Europe
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev vetoed a $1.26 billion deal to buy eight new Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets on Tuesday, according to Reuters. The veto follows a debate in parliament on Friday that revealed divisions on the contract terms. The European country tried to purchase fighter jets since 2017 in order of replacing its outdated Soviet-era Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jets. They have considered buying secondhand F-16s from Portugal, Eurofighter Typhoons from Italy and Saab JAS Gripens from Sweden. Already back in May, it seemed Bulgaria would walk away from buying F-16s in exchange for Typhoons or Gripens. But in June, the US State Department approved a $1.7 billion deal, putting the American aircraft back in the running for a deal with Bulgaria.
Asia-Pacific
The Indian Navy has commissioned Indian Naval Air Squadron 313, the fifth Dornier maritime patrol aircraft squadron, at a ceremony on July 22, local news reports. The squadron will operate from Chennai International Airport. The squadron will operate Dornier multi-role short range maritime reconnaissance aircraft in a range of missions including maritime surveillance, search and rescue operations and providing targeting data to weapon platforms. The Dorniers are twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft. From 1981 until 1998 Dornier GmbH produced the aircraft. In 1983 Hindustan Aeronautics bought a production license and manufactured 125 aircraft. The Indian Navy is procuring 12 Dornier aircraft with improved sensors and equipment including glass cockpit, advanced surveillance radar, electronic intelligence, optical sensors and networking capabilities.
The Indian Navy also wants to upgrade its SU-30MKIs with the help of Russia to make the aircraft more lethal. The Su-30MKI aircraft will need new avionics and weapons, said Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa. Russia has already helped India upgrade MiG-21, MiG-27 and MiG-29 fighters. The Su-30 is a twin engine, twin seater, multi-role fighter that can simultaneously be operated as an intercepter, bomber and trainer. The IAF fleet of Su-30MKIs currently consists of around 200 aircraft. As of December 2018, HAL has manufactured 202 Su-30MKI aircraft in India. (The first 50 aircraft were built in Russia and delivered to India in fly-away condition.) The IAF is expected to deploy 272 Su-30MKI aircraft by 2021 grouped into 14 squadrons.
Today’s Video
Watch: U.S. Army Accelerates Its Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft Program – Bell V-280 Valor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjJYwCsCoOs
