Monday, 22 November 2021

Lebanon Receives More MD-530F+ Attack Helicopters From US

stringfixer.com



JOE SABALLA  

NOVEMBER 17, 2021 

MD 530F Cayuse Warrior helicopter. Image: MD Helicopters


The Lebanese Air Force this week took delivery of six additional MD-530F+ light attack helicopters from the US amounting to $40 million.

Mounted with the Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System, the attack helicopters are designed to enhance scout attack and close air attack capabilities. The chopper features 62mm ballistic armor protection, FN Herstal .50 caliber machine gun pods, M260 7-shot rocket pods, laser designators, and Harris Falcon III radios.

The aircraft also boasts an all-glass cockpit that features Genesys Aerosystems LCD primary displays, Ares weapons management system, and Tek Fusion mission management system.

Delivery of additional six units of MD-530F+ helicopters to Lebanon is expected to bolster the country’s defense capabilities, especially along its border with Syria. 

Lebanon currently has a total of 12 MD-530F+ helicopters. The first batch of six arrived at Beirut Air Base in October.

‘Enduring Partnership’ With US

During an acceptance ceremony at Hamat Airbase, US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy C. Shea remarked that the American armed forces have been working closely with their Lebanese counterpart since 2017 to ensure efficient combat capabilities of military aircraft.

She also explained that the delivery of additional MD-530F+ helicopters and the other military assistance of the US to Lebanon only reflect the “enduring partnership” between the two countries.

“We remain committed to pursuing additional ways that we can help the [Lebanese Air Force],” the ambassador said. “We know your country is going through difficult times… We are working aggressively to help find solutions to those problems.”

In addition to new attack helicopters, the American government has pledged $67 million in annual Foreign Military Financing support to Lebanon. The Embassy also revealed that the US had already set aside $120 million for the Lebanese armed forces this year.



MD 530F Cayuse Warrior: Details
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Boeing delivers first P-8A Poseidon to Norway

Luftforsvaret


Boeing delivers first P-8A Poseidon to Norway - Chinadaily.com.cn

Xinhua | Updated: 2021-11-19 09:56


A Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft scheduled to be operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force makes its first flight in Seattle, the United States, on Aug 9, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]

SAN FRANCISCO -- Boeing announced on Thursday that the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA) accepted the first of five Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft that will be operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF).

Norway's first P-8A aircraft, named Vingtor, was delivered to the NDMA during a ceremony at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, U.S. state of Washington.

The milestone comes four years after the NDMA entered into an agreement with the U.S. Navy for the P-8A, and two years before the new aircraft are scheduled to begin taking over maritime patrol duties in Norway's high north, the announcement said.

Norway's four remaining aircraft are all in advanced stages of production and will be delivered to the NDMA in 2022. The five P-8As will replace the RNoAF current fleet of six P-3 Orions and two DA-20 Jet Falcons, according to the announcement.

The delivery to Norway also marks the 142nd P-8 aircraft delivered to global customers.


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Saturday, 20 November 2021

NGC Platform-Agnostic AN/ASQ-236 Dragon's Eye Pod Achieves 1st Flight on an Operational F-16

Photo by Berry Vissers via F-16.net


NGC Platform-Agnostic AN/ASQ-236 Dragon's Eye Pod Achieves 1st Flight on an Operational F-16
  • Successful flight demonstrates interoperability of the radar pod with the F-16 fighter



The Air National Guard has flown the Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) AN/ASQ-236 Dragon’s Eye Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar pod on an operational F-16 for the first time. The Air Force intends to deploy the pod operationally to both its Guard and Reserve F-16 fleets.

“The addition of the Dragon’s Eye to the F-16 Viper is a force multiplier, enabling warfighters to detect, track, identify and target faster in theater,” said Susan Bruce, vice president, advanced mission capabilities, Northrop Grumman. “This pod is rapidly adaptable to new platforms and it features advanced radar modes that can be shared across our fifth-generation radar portfolio.”

The AN/ASQ-236 Dragon's Eye pod is already operational on the U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle. It can be integrated on both large and fighter-sized platforms. Northrop Grumman has previously integrated the AN/ASQ-236 pod on an Air Force Special Operations Command AC-130 gunship and Air Force Global Strike Command B-52 bomber during a proof of concept demonstration.

The AN/ASQ-236 Dragon's Eye radar pod is a tactical Ku-band AESA radar surveillance pod that provides aircrew with all-weather, multi-target detection, track and engagement capability. Northrop Grumman’s sensors and electronic warfare systems give warfighters superiority across the spectrum and allow for faster, more informed decisions.

Northrop Grumman is a technology company, focused on global security and human discovery. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with capabilities they need to connect, advance and protect the U.S. and its allies. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our 90,000 employees define possible every day.

Source: Northrop Grumman Corporation
Date: Nov 18, 2021

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AN/ASQ-236 Radar Pod

USAF / Master Sgt. John Paxton - Released

Mission
The AN/ASQ-236 Radar Pod contains synthetic aperture radar that provides detailed maps for surveillance, coordinate generation and bomb impact assessment purposes. This technology provides Combat Air Forces with the ability to precisely geo-locate points of interest and conduct surveillance activities day or night, in adverse weather conditions.

Features
Operational on the F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft, the AN/ASQ-236 pod system is externally mounted and fully integrated with the aircraft. The radar pod is a self-contained system consisting of an antenna, inertial navigation system, and environmental cooling system. The antenna is attached to a positioner plate that allows it to move about the roll axis.

The pod design also incorporates a fully automated built-in-test, or BIT, that indicates the health of the system to the operator and maintenance crews. The BIT allows fault isolation to the line-replaceable module level enabling high system availability.

USAF / Master Sgt. John Paxton - Released

Background
Recognizing the need for an all-weather precision geo-location and reconnaissance system with the reliability and performance inherent in Active Electronically Scanned Array radars, the U.S. Air Force with Northrop Grumman embarked on a program in the late 1990s to design, fabricate, test and field a unique radar system known as the AN/ASQ-236.

Information concerning the design, development, and production of the ASQ-236 is classified to protect critical technologies and improved operational capabilities. By leveraging the technology development associated with the F-22 Raptor, the release of this new sensor will enhance all-weather precision geo-location and provide greater surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities supporting current and future operations.

General Characteristics
Primary function: Precision geo-location and non-traditional intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance
Prime Contractor: Northrop Grumman Corporation
Length: 130 inches (3.302 meters)
Diameter: 20 inches (0.508 meters)
Weight: 1, 000 pounds (454 kilograms)
Aircraft:  F-15E
Date Deployed: June 2009
Inventory: Classified

Source af.mil


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The Best Fighter Never Built? Northrop F-20 Tigershark - YouTube

F-20 / Northrop Grumman (cropped)



During the 1970s, a program was created to ensure that America's allies could face the Soviet Union’s air threat. 

The ensuing FX program would develop a unique model that could confront the MiGs without using any compromising technology that could fall into the wrong hands.

Thus, the Northrop F-20 Tigershark was born, a light fighter that met all the requirements. But as author Steve Pace pointed out, it was arguably "one of the best fighters that never went into production."





F-20 Tigershark: Details
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Friday, 19 November 2021

BMPT "Terminator" have created smart projectiles that can shoot down drones

Vitaliy Kuzmin



General Designer NPO "Pribor" Chizhevsky: smart missiles "Terminator" will be able to shoot down drones

© RIA Novosti / Grigory Sysoev

MOSCOW, November 15 - RIA Novosti. NGO "Device" (enters into holding " technodynamics " state corporations " Rostec ") designs for armored infantry support "Terminator" intellectual ammunition with remote detonation, he said in an interview with RIA Novosti Company Chief Designer Oleg Chizhevsky .

According to him, the creation of ammunition equipped with remote detonation systems is a global trend in the development of small-caliber artillery and grenade launchers. Thus, the effectiveness of the defeat of small-sized targets is significantly increased: tank-hazardous manpower and drones, including a small class.

“We have completed testing a complex of controlled remote detonation for the Terminator tank support combat vehicle,” said the general designer.

Chizhevsky noted that the use of the complex allows for high-precision air detonation of ammunition at a given point. This increases the effectiveness of artillery systems.

"The adopted scheme does not require the modification of the guns, which is a fundamental advantage in relation to other possible methods of programming the fuse. This complex has passed the stage of preliminary tests and transferred to state tests," the agency's interlocutor added.

The Terminator Infantry Support Fighting Vehicle entered service in 2018. It is armed with two 30mm 2A42 cannons, four 9M120-1 anti-tank missiles of the Attack type with a laser guidance system, two AGS-17 grenade launchers and a 7.62mm Kalashnikov tank machine gun.


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"Admiral Gorshkov" performed test firing of the "Zircon" rocket

TASS / Yuri Smityuk



The frigate "Admiral Gorshkov" performed test firing with a hypersonic missile "Zircon"
 
18 November 2021, 12:53
 
Photo: RIA Novosti / Press Service of the RF Ministry of Defense

The frigate "Admiral Gorshkov" launched a hypersonic missile "Zircon" at a sea target from the White Sea. This was reported by the RF Ministry of Defense on November 18.


“The crew of the Northern Fleet frigate“ Admiral of the Soviet Union Fleet Gorshkov ”, within the framework of the final cycle of tests of hypersonic missile weapons, fired another Zircon rocket. The shooting was carried out at a naval target position located in the waters of the White Sea, ”the message says.

According to objective control data, the flight of the hypersonic missile corresponded to the specified parameters. The target was hit by a direct hit. Surface ships and naval aviation of the Northern Fleet were involved in providing for the firing and closing the area.

Earlier, on November 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Zircon hypersonic missiles would begin arriving at the Navy from next year . The head of state added that the ongoing tests confirmed the uniqueness of the Peresvet (laser weapon complex) and Avangard complexes. The tests of "Zircon" are currently being completed.

On October 4, tests of the Zircon hypersonic missile from a submarine were completed . The commander of the Northern Fleet, Alexander Moiseyev, said that as part of the test program, rocket firing was carried out from a carrier rocket from the Severodvinsk submarine (a project 885 / 885M nuclear submarine).

In late June, Putin announced that the Sarmat ICBM, the Zircon hypersonic missile and the new S-500 air defense system would soon be on alert. According to him, hypersonic weapons - the Avangard and Dagger complexes - have already been put on alert.

Russian hypersonic weapons were presented in 2018. It includes the Avangard, Dagger and Zircon missiles.


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Thursday, 18 November 2021

Taiwan commissions advanced new F-16s as China threat grows

F-16V / 志翔科技有限公司


Taiwan commissions advanced new F-16s as China threat grows | Reuters

By Ann Wang

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen oversees the commission of the first squadron of the upgraded F-16V fighters in Chiayi Air Force Base, Chiayi, Taiwan, November 18, 2021. REUTERS/Ann Wang


CHIAYI, Taiwan, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen lauded military cooperation with Washington on Thursday as she commissioned the first combat wing of F-16 fighters upgraded with U.S. help to bolster the island's defences during rising tensions between Taipei and Beijing.

Frequent Chinese and U.S. military exercises in the region have raised fears of conflict touched off by a crisis over democratically-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory.

Tsai told a ceremony at an air base in the southern Taiwanese city of Chiayi to unveil the first squadron of its most advanced F-16s, the F-16V, that the project showed the firm commitment of the Taiwan-U.S. partnership.

"I believe that as long as we adhere to the values of democracy and freedom, there will be more like-minded countries standing on the same front with us," she said, speaking on the same stage as the top U.S. diplomat in Taiwan, Sandra Oudkirk.

The United States has no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is the island's main international backer and arms supplier, to Beijing's fury.

The T$110 billion ($3.96 billion) F-16 upgrade is led by manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) and Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC), and is the latest example of military cooperation between Washington and Taipei.

Taiwan has been converting 141 F-16A/B jets into the F-16V type, 64 of which have already been upgraded, and has additionally ordered 66 new F-16Vs, which have new avionics, weapons and radar systems to better face down the Chinese air force, including its J-20 stealth fighter.

The F-16Vs can carry Raytheon Technologies Corp's (RTX.N) advanced AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.

To a backdrop of dance music broadcast over the air base, the F-16s showed off their mettle with combat take offs and landings, and flying low in formation above the runway.

Tsai said that as more F-16Vs entered service, Taiwan's defences would be "even stronger".

Taiwan's air force is well trained but dwarfed by China's.

The United States in 2019 approved an $8 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the island's F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, the largest in Asia.

China has announced sanctions on Lockheed Martin for selling arms to Taiwan.

($1 = 27.7470 Taiwan dollars)

(This story was refiled to correct typo in paragraph 9 to "mettle")

Reporting by Ann Wang; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore

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