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What's inside this edition:

COMMENT

Even though the full industrial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has yet to be felt, the manufacture of advanced aircraft such as the fifth-generation F-35 has already taken a hit. How will the sector cope with slowing production rates and the prospect of customers cancelling orders?.

Features include:

THE PRICE OF GAS

Against a backdrop of ageing legacy KC-135 and KC-10 fleets and the well-publicised delays to KC-46 deliveries, USAF planners are looking to industry to meet the service’s flight refuelling gap.

Other features include:

GETTING WITH THE PROGRAMMES

With the ability of even the largest Western European nations to single-handedly fund and execute a new combat aircraft programme now firmly a thing of the past, cooperative efforts are the only way forward to field a meaningful capability without reliance on US imports.

RIGHT TO STRIKE?

A controversial issue since the technology first made it possible, when and where to deploy armed UAVs remains a hot topic for defence planners across the world’s militaries as such systems proliferate..

AWAITING THE CALL

Weaponised crop dusters and turboprop trainers continue to be put forward by many OEMs as low-cost solutions for light attack missions. Shephard examines the market as US DoD interest shifts from the air force to US Special Operations Command.

HEAVYWEIGHT DEFENCE

As operators of heavy-lift helicopters look to address acute threats from more lethal enemy air defences, how will their EW packages stand up to such challenges? Shephard assesses the scene and examines how Germany and Israel are building towards buying new aircraft in this category.

CONVERSION POTENTIAL

Once regarded as a way of ‘using up’ legacy rockets, guidance kits are now seen as a versatile asset in their own right..

THE PERSISTENCE OF VISION

Manned ISR aircraft are critically important assets for armed forces around the world, with current trends favouring installation of collection suites and secure digital data transmission capability aboard proven, economical, civilian business platforms.