V-22 Osprey safety upgrade moves towards wider fleet installation under $35.5 million deal
Bell Boeing will supply 73 additional ODSSHI kits as NAVAIR prepares to introduce predictive drive-system monitoring across US and Japanese V-22 fleets.
The RAF took delivery of its final Poseidon P-8A aircraft in 2022. (Photo: Crown Copyright)
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed an eight-year £300 million (US$401 million) contract with Ascent Flight Training to modernise flight training for the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy (RN) rear crew personnel.
The contract is part of the Future Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) and Rear Crew Training System (FIRCST) programme. Ascent, a joint venture between Babcock and Lockheed Martin, is responsible for delivering the UK Military Flight Training System (MFTS) alongside the MoD.
Ascent first explored and opened up the competition for the new synthetic training system in 2022.
Captain Polly Hatchard, UKMFTS
Our news & analysis is now part of Defence Insight®
A Basic-level or higher Defence Insight subscription is now required to view this content.
Bell Boeing will supply 73 additional ODSSHI kits as NAVAIR prepares to introduce predictive drive-system monitoring across US and Japanese V-22 fleets.
The US Air Force is evaluating demonstrators for uncrewed cargo missions as it considers logistics requirements across the Pacific and other contested environments.
Between 2026 and 2032, almost a quarter of EU aircraft spending is expected to come from Germany. While crewed programmes seek modernisation and replacement, uncrewed opportunities look to introduce entirely new capabilities, with both highlighting sovereignty and domestic production.
European counter-drone developers are securing early orders in the Middle East while slow domestic acquisition processes threaten to redirect production capacity, expertise and investment away from Europe.
With IMRH and DBMRH potentially years from service, India faces a widening rotary-wing capability gap that could drive further foreign purchases even as HAL and Safran build the foundations of an indigenous successor.
Two new uncrewed aircraft concepts target very different US military requirements, from massed long-range strike to autonomous logistics. Shephard spoke with executives from Swarm Aero, Textron Aviation and Merlin Labs at this year's AFA Air, Space & Cyber conference to learn more about their capabilities.