Leonardo signs contract on Austria’s M-346 aircraft order
The first of the 12 M-346 aircraft are expected to be delivered to the Austrian Air Force by 2028, according to the company.
EW pod undergoing maintenance at Montgomery Regional ANGB, Alabama. (Photo: USANG/Airman 1st Class Hayden Johnson)
The US Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) has awarded Global Technical Systems (GTS) an $81.34 million IDIQ contract for one lot of DLQ-9 pods for EW simulation, the DoD announced on 13 August.
One other bidder competed against GTS.
The contract also includes hardware for DLQ-9 pod modifications, and data required to simulate EW threats.
The pods and associated equipment will support work by the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division on EW threat simulation for weapons development, test and evaluation, fleet training and target applications.
Work will be performed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is expected to be completed in August 2026.
DLQ-9 carriage system pods are used to carry EW countermeasures and emitter modules.
According to NAWCWD, the pods are used ‘throughout a weapons system’s life cycle, from rack units used in laboratories and hardware in the loop facilities during development, to airborne pods for use on manned aircraft for testing and fleet training’.
The first of the 12 M-346 aircraft are expected to be delivered to the Austrian Air Force by 2028, according to the company.
Qatar and Indonesia followed the US’s high spending on new uncrewed aerial vehicle contracts across 2025, while MALE and micro drones and loitering munitions were particularly popular subcategories this year.
With all 31 aircraft set to be delivered by 2030, the helicopters will gradually replace the ageing Sea Lynx fleet which are due to be retired in 2026.
How RTX is equipping the military airspace – for today’s fleet and tomorrow’s fight.
German, French and Spanish leadership set an end-of-year deadline to decide the fate of the Future Combat Air System programme which has struggled with a political stalemate for the latter half of 2025.
The order for the extra helicopters comes from an agreement penned in December 2023, with the German Army receiving the bulk of the platforms.