“Gloves are off” as US Defense Secretary memo calls for sweeping drone procurement reform
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has promised to usher in a new era of “military drone dominance”.
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has selected Curtiss-Wright to provide complete Data Acquisition System (DAS) solutions to its new fifth-generation fighter aircraft.
The new aircraft is being developed under the Korean Fighter eXperimental (KF-X) multirole aircraft programme.
The fully integrated DAS will include the Axon miniature data acquisition unit (DAU) (pictured) along with the KAM-500 DAU, airborne network switches, a tri-band transmitter, an engineering unit processor, an L/S-band antenna, an airborne-rugged 5-inch diagonal display and an active GPS splitter.
Lynn Bamford, president of Defence and Power Segments at Curtiss-Wright, said that the company ‘offers the components and expertise needed to provide FTI [flight test instrumentation] customers with complete fully integrated FTI system solutions.’
Bamford added that ‘this contract represents the largest win to date for our industry-leading Axon DAS technology, as well as the first fifth-generation fighter jet deployment for Axon’.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has promised to usher in a new era of “military drone dominance”.
The possible sale for nine HH-60W makes Norway the first Foreign Military Sale customer for the rescue and combat helicopter and adds to the country’s ongoing acquisition of Sikorsky-made helicopters.
The programme first began in 2023 with Bell and Boeing’s concepts progressing to Phase 1B, in which testing has been carried out over the last year.
The report discloses that while the capability provided by the F-35 is superior to previous UK aircraft, delays from the UK Ministry of Defence on the programme have significantly impacted the country’s warfighting capabilities.
The new ‘Entente Industrielle’ will work on a range of other projects to boost the UK economy and defence industry, including joint development on new high-tech frequency weapons and extended range air-to-air missiles.
The E-7A is one of three aircraft submitted for the South Korean AEW&C II competition, which seeks to acquire four more aircraft of the type for its air force by 2028.