Air Warfare Review 2024: Budget cuts and delays fail to dampen modernisation efforts in 2024
Sikorsky secured a $6 million contract from DARPA to outfit the US Army’s fly-by-wire UH-60M with its advanced flight autonomy system in October. (Photo: Sikorsky/Lockheed Martin)
From major platform upgrades, high-value contract wins and programme delays, Shephard reported on a mixed year for air warfare in 2024, as geopolitical tensions rose across Europe and the Middle East.
By and large, 2024 has proven to be a mixed year for the air warfare domain. Collaboration between manufacturers and defence ministries remained strong, with some noteworthy contract wins and much needed upgrade announcements for various nations air forces’ fixed-wing and rotary platforms.
It has also seen, however, continued programme delays, aircraft retirement announcements and budget cuts from governments looking to preserve cash, despite rising geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, across the Middle East and throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
Crucially, both the UK and US announced a swathe of large aircraft retirements and cuts this year.
The US cut its budget
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