Americas
The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory won a $73.2 million modification which exercises options to provide design analysis, testing, procurement, and manufacturing of interferometric fiber optic gyros, accelerometers, and associated Trident II Strategic Weapon System guidance subsystem material. Work will be performed in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Pittsfield, Massachusetts; and Clearwater, Florida, with an expected completion date of July 30, 2027. The Trident II Strategic Weapons System is an improved SLBM with greater accuracy, payload, and range than the earlier Trident C-4. It is a key element of the US strategic nuclear triad and strengthens US strategic deterrence.
The US Navy is testing the possibility of using their aging fleet of Aerial Refueling Store pods on their new air-to-air refueling tanker, the MQ-25 Stingray. Engineers at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) are testing the current pods to determine their potential for life-extension testing, potentially saving the Navy millions of dollars. Currently, the Navy’s Aerial Refueling Store pods are flown aboard naval aircraft like F/A-18 and are expected to reach their estimated end-of-life in 2025. Meanwhile, the MQ-25 will need dozens of pods delivered between now and 2035 as the Stingray heads to the fleet. Each of these pods carries 2,000 lbs. of fuel and can cost the Navy about $2.2 million each to replace.
Middle East & Africa
The Israeli military has carried out air strikes on targets belonging to the Palestinian militant group Hamas in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. The military said the attacks were a response to a barrage of 34 rockets fired from Lebanon into northern Israel on Thursday, which it blamed on Hamas. In Gaza, more than 10 Hamas targets were hit, including a shaft for an underground site to construct weapons, three other weapons workshops and an underground “terrorist tunnel”, the IDF said. During the strikes, at least 44 rockets were fired from Gaza towards southern Israel, Israeli media reported. Most were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system or fell in open areas, but at least one house in the city of Sderot was hit.
Europe
Elbit Systems UK announced that it has successfully upgraded its Interim Combined Arms Virtual Simulation [Deployable] (ICAVS(D) system with the Defense Virtual Simulation 2 (DVS2 advanced simulation software. This is the first complex British Army training capability to be fully integrated with DVS2 which utilizes Bohemia Interactive Simulations’ VBS4, VBS Blue Image Generator and One World Terrain.
Ukraine bought 100 Remote Weapon Systems (RWS) from Australia as part of a direct military sale worth $80.3 million. The procurement comes as the European nation continues to bolster its military capabilities to counter Russian aggression.
Asia-Pacific
South Korea and the United States on Wednesday staged joint air drills involving at least one US nuclear-capable B-52H strategic bomber, Seoul’s military said. North Korea views such exercises as rehearsals for invasion, and has responded to other recent drills with a spate of increasingly provocative banned weapons tests.
Today’s Video
WATCH: MQ-25 Stingray: A New American $155 Million Drone
