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News - USAF
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Air Warfare
Japan explores missile launching from cargo planes
26th July 2023
Japan is considering the use of cargo planes to launch missiles, aiming to diversify its launch platform options. The introduction of the Rapid Dragon system, tested by the USAF, could expand the capabilities of the JSDF's stand-off missile arsenal.
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Uncrewed Vehicles
USAF successfully flies Angry Kitten jamming pod on MQ-9 UAV
24th July 2023
The USAF has integrated the Angry Kitten ALQ-167 EW countermeasure pod onto a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 UAV.
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Digital Battlespace
BAE Systems Australia secures deal to maintain RAAF's E-7A Wedgetail aircraft fleet
19th July 2023
BAE Systems Australia has secured a two-year contract extension to sustain the electronic warfare systems of the RAAF's E-7A Wedgetail aircraft.
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Air Warfare
Updated: Pratt & Whitney's F-35 engine upgrade gets another boost
18th July 2023
The extra money for Pratt & Whitney's F-35 Core Engine Upgrade programme reinforces its position as the preferred solution for advanced Block 4 capabilities. The impact on the future price of the fighter remains uncertain, but Lockheed Martin is confident in maintaining or potentially lowering costs going forward.
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Air Warfare
Raytheon and Northrop Grumman awarded follow-on contract for hypersonic systems
18th July 2023
Raytheon and Northrop Grumman have won a follow-on contract from DARPA to advance air-breathing hypersonic systems. The partnership aims to enhance Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) flight vehicles and deliver critical capabilities for warfighters.
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Air Warfare
Australia, UK, US join forces on E-7 Wedgetail development
17th July 2023
The agreement signed by Australia, the UK and the US signifies a commitment to cooperation on E-7 Airborne Early Warning and Control capability development, testing, interoperability, operations, and training.
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Defence Notes
Why China seeks to penetrate the First Island Chain (Opinion)
16th July 2023
In a risky scenario for the US and its Pacific allies, China has both political and military reasons to conquer and capture Taiwan.
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Air Warfare
Metrea makes history with commercial air-to-air refueling for USAF
14th July 2023
Metrea achieved a milestone by providing commercial air-to-air refuelling to USAF RC-135 and E-3 aircraft during exercise Resolute Hunter, marking the first time the force has used commercial aerial tankers.
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Digital Battlespace
US can win networking fight, says air force battle management boss
12th July 2023
US forces are still struggling to connect with each other, but change is on the way according to one USAF general, as a determined effort to unlock the full power of a range of platforms and systems using an agile architecture begins to bear fruit.
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Defence Notes
US Congress to cut budget of hypersonic programmes
12th July 2023
The House Appropriations Committee’s proposal would affect the US Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) and the US Air Force’s Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) efforts.
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Air Warfare
Final flight test of latest AMRAAM missile successful
11th July 2023
The USAF and Raytheon have concluded testing of the AIM-120D-3 AMRAAM variant, ensuring increased functionality, performance, and production capabilities for warfighters.
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Air Warfare
China’s J-20 fighter hits milestone with suspected first flight with WS15 engines
7th July 2023
The consensus amongst the open-source community is that China has test-flown a J-20 powered fully by WS15 engines for the first time.
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Air Warfare
Japan receives its full complement of Global Hawks
4th July 2023
All three of Japan's Global Hawk HALE UAVs have now come home to roost in the Asian nation.
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Training
Boeing launches T-7 Red Hawk EMD phase with US Air Force test flight
30th June 2023
The successful test of the T-7A Red Hawk trainer jet by Boeing and the US Air Force is a significant milestone for the beleaguered T-X programme.
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Air Warfare
Georgia air force base set to host F-35 fighters as Congress debates A-10 Warthog retirement
28th June 2023
Amidst ongoing deliberations in Congress regarding the retirement of a portion of its A-10 Warthog fleet, the US Air Force has initiated the replacement of the A-10 with the F-35 at Moody AFB.
Programme Results - Defence Insight
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small
RQ-20B Puma (USAF)
Programme Background Requirement According to the AeroVironment Vice President and product line general manager, Trace Stevenson, the USAF Security Forces requires a small UAV to ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE
MQ-9A Reaper (USAF)
Programme Background Procurement & Inventory According to the USAF FY2019 Budget Estimate document, the USAF set aside funds to acquire 433 MQ-9 Reapers by the end of ...
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APCs/IFVs - 4x4, Reconnaissance/patrol vehicles
JLTV Oshkosh Contract (US Air Force)
As of November 2020, the US DoD had signed 14 contracts with Oshkosh Defense covering the delivery of approximately 17,731 JLTVs to all branches of ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE
Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) [Japan]
Programme Background Vision The USAF envisages several UAVs working alongside a single-crewed aircraft, such as the future sixth-generation fighter or the F-35. Each uncrewed platform ...
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AEW&C
E-7A Wedgetail (USA - Forecast)
Programme Background Speaking on 21 September 2021 during the annual Air Force Association (AFA) Meeting in Washington DC, USAF Chief of Staff Gen Charles Brown ...
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Transport/tanker aircraft
KC-Y Tanker Aircraft (USA)
Programme Background The USAF is replacing its fleet of 396 KC-135 Stratotanker refuelling aircraft, built in the 1950s and 60s, and 59 KC-10 Extenders, which entered service ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing
Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) [USAF]
Programme Background Requirements The programme's requirements are based on the USAF's belief that it requires mass to compete effectively with an adversary in symmetrical warfare. However, ...
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AEW&C
E-7A Wedgetail (USA)
Programme Background Speaking on 21 September 2021 during the annual Air Force Association (AFA) Meeting in Washington DC, USAF Chief of Staff Gen Charles Brown ...
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Transport/tanker aircraft
KC-46A (USA)
Programme Background The first four Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) KC-46A aircraft were delivered to McConnell AFB in Kansas in January 2019. As of December 2020, a ...
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Fighter - multirole
F-15EX - USAF (Contracted)
Programme Background USAF is looking to procure 144 F-15EX fighter aircraft, including two RDTE configurations and six low-rate initial production aircraft. F-15EX will replace ageing ...
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Fighter - multirole
F-15EX - USAF (Announced)
Programme Background The F-15EX will be based on the 2-seat F-15QA (Qatar) configuration upgraded with USAF-only capabilities, including the Eagle Passive Active Warning and Survivability ...
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Light attack, Trainer
T-X / T-7A Red Hawk [USAF]
Programme Background Goal The T-X programme aims to acquire a two-seat jet trainer aircraft to replace its Northrop Grumman T-38 Talon. The programme could be worth ...
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ISR/special mission
EC-37B Compass Call [USAF]
Programme Background The retirement of the EF-111A in 1990 left the USAF largely out of the operational and tactical level radar jamming business. Lockheed Martin EC-130H ...
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APCs/IFVs - 4x4, Reconnaissance/patrol vehicles
JLTV Future Procurement (US Air Force)
Programme Background According to the FY2021 USAF budget request documents, the USAF procured 103 JLTVs in FY2019, 146 in FY2020 and 142 in FY2021. The ...
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Fighter - multirole
F-35A Joint Strike Fighter - USAF Future Procurement
USAF has ordered 400 F-35 aircraft until FY2020, the remaining 240 out of 1377 fighters will be acquired at a rate of 48 per year ...
Equipment Results - Defence Insight
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE
EX-3 Revenant
The EX-3 Revenant is a developmental fixed-wing aircraft being developed by Exosonic. It is a Mach 1.2 supersonic UAV designed to be a 5th-generation representative, modular, autonomous ...
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Land: Radio and SATCOM
Next Generation Survivor Radio
The Next Generation Survivor Radio (NGSR) is a software-defined radio being developed by General Dynamics Mission Systems. It is expected to enter into service after June 2026.
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Air: transport/tanker simulators
USAF KC-135 ATS
The KC-135 Aircrew Training System (ATS) programme delivers initial qualification, requalification, continuation and upgrades training for USAF KC-135 aircrews, including pilots, co-pilots and boom operators. ...
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Major networking projects
C2 ConstellationNet
According to David Tillotson, director of C4ISR architecture AF/XI, in a report to Congress: 'The ConstellationNet is the communications network – air, space and terrestrial ...
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Fighter - air superiority
F-22A Raptor
F-22A Raptor is a fifth-generation stealth air superiority fighter with limited air-to-ground attack capability. It was developed by Lockheed Martin to meet the requirement of the ...
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Air: aerial targets
QF-16 FSAT
The QF-16 Full Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) is an optionally piloted supersonic aerial target developed to replace the QF-4 in USAF service. Retired F-16 fighters are ...
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Major networking projects
DCGS 10.2 Upgrade
Raytheon’s Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) Block 10.2 upgrade allows intelligence data to be posted to the network for immediate use by analysts and warfighters, ...
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Bomber
B-2 Spirit
The B-2 Spirit is a multirole stealth bomber manufactured by Northrop Grumman for the USAF. The Spirit is a flying wing aircraft, meaning that it ...
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Combat Search and Rescue
HC-130P/N
HC-130P/N is a SAR aircraft developed as extended-range version of C-130 Hercules transport airframe to execute all weather personnel recovery operations from austere airfields and ...
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Air: AEW/fire control radar
AN/APG-83 SABR
The AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) is being developed as an upgrade option for the F-16. It is designed to replace the existing AN/APG-66 ...
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Transport/tanker aircraft
KC-135 Stratotanker
The KC-135 entered service in 1957 with the USAF, which plans to keep the type flying beyond 2040 when it will be replaced by the ...
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EW test systems
JTE
The Joint Threat Emitter (JTE) is a multi-threat, high-fidelity simulator with realistic ERP levels, which simulates single- and double-digit surface-to-air and anti-aircraft artillery radar systems. ...
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Data links
MIDS JTRS
The ViaSat Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) terminal combines the network-centric communications capability with a real-time operating picture. The four-channel ...
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Military helicopters - multirole, Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical
Hexa
The Hexa, or LIFT Hexa, is a rotary-wing aircraft developed by LIFT Aircraft for military and commercial markets. Due to its configuration and triple redundant autopilot ...
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Transport/tanker aircraft
KC-10 Extender
The KC-10 Extender is a tanker/transport aircraft developed for the USAF by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). It was derived from the company’s three-engine ...