Americas
Lockheed Martin won a $79.3 million deal for AEGIS modernization (AMOD) and guided missile destroyer new construction production requirements. The contract combines purchases for the US government; and the government of the Commonwealth of Australia under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. The Aegis Combat System is an American integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and now produced by Lockheed Martin. It uses powerful computer and radar technology to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets. Work will take place in New Jersey, Florida and is expected to be finished by March 2025.
US Northern Command executed the second in a series of Global Information Dominance Experiments earlier this spring, according to a Tuesday announcement. The experiment took place March 22 and 23 and was designed to enable cross-combatant command collaboration using artificial intelligence, said a NORTHCOM press release. “If we’re able to measure success, the ability, for the first time, to have all COCOM’s operating in one collaborative environment combined with a live fly event is monumental,” Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander, NORAD and NORTHCOM, said in the release.
Middle East & Africa
Divers from the US and Tunisian navies recently completed the first bilateral dive engagement between the two countries in nearly a decade, the US Navy announced. The engagement featured supplied diving, underwater welding, recompression chamber operations, hydrographic survey techniques and maritime infrastructure assessments, according to the Navy.
Europe
US Air Force Airmen and F-16C Fighting Falcon aircraft assigned to the 31st Fighter Wing at Italy’s Aviano Air Base have arrived in Greece for a multinational field training exercise. INIOCHOS 21, which is led by the Hellenic air force and which will take place from April 12 through April 22, is intended to enhance combat readiness and fighting capability, while also offering the opportunity to plan conduct complex air operations in a multinational, joint force environment, according to an Air Force news release.
The first of three new E-7 Wedgetail aircraft for the UK Royal Air Force is about to start conversion work. STS Aviation will convert three Boeing 737 airliners into E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft at its facility at Birmingham Airport. Wedgetail is an airborne early warning and control system, commonly known as AWACs or AEW&C. They are designed to track multiple targets at sea or in the air over a considerable area for long periods of time. This aircraft is replacing the E-3D Sentry, pictured below.
Asia-Pacific
The US 7th Fleet announced that the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group had entered the South China Sea on April 4, to conduct “routine operations.” This would be the second time this year that the strike group – consisting of flag ship carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, Carrier Air Wing 11, the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, Destroyer Squadron 23, and the Arleigh Burke Class guided-missile destroyer USS Russell – has entered that body of water as part of its tasking within the 7th Fleet’s area of operations.
Today’s Video
Watch: ATop 10 Iconic RAAF Aircraft – 6: E-7A Wedgetail
