Defence`s Feeds

Americas

• Harris Corp. has received a series of contracts from the US Department of Defense (DoD) for wares totalling nearly $900 million. The first, announced last Friday, is the $133 million order for Lot 14 ALQ-214(V)4/5 integrated defensive electronic counter-measures jammers that will protect US Navy and Australian F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet aircraft. Harris said the equipment will be used on F/A-18C/D/E/F variants with deliveries expected to be completed by May of 2020. The second deal is a five-year, $765 million ceiling, single-award IDIQ contract to provide tactical radios and ancillary devices to the Navy and Marine Corps. It replaces a $300 million IDIQ contract that expired in August and includes the Harris AN/PRC-117G, AN/PRC-152A and the new AN/PRC-160 wideband HF/VHF radio, as well as peripheral attachments to support handheld, manpack, vehicular and base station mission needs.

Middle East & Africa

• Kuwait has been cleared by the US State Department to proceed with the purchase of M1A1 Abrams tanks. The proposed deal, which still can be blocked by US Congress, covers the supply of 218 tank hulls with 120mm guns and AGT-1500 engines from current US stocks. At an estimated cost of $29 million, the Kuwaiti purchase supports the gulf state’s M1A2 tank recapitalization program and includes transportation and other logistics support for the tanks.

• Boeing has been awarded a $240.2 million US Department of Defense (DoD) contract for the provision of an airborne warning and control system (AWACS) to the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF). The fixed-price-incentive firm contract calls for the provision of AWACS mission computing, navigation and communication upgrades and enhanced target acquisition systems to rapidly distinguish between friend or foe. Work will take place at Oklahoma City, Okla., with a scheduled completion date of February 2019. The sale comes under the first phase of of the RSAF’s AWACS recapitalisation program.

• The Commander of Bahrain’s Royal Guard, Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad El Khalifa, confirmed ongoing negotiations with Russia over the purchase of the S-400 air defense system, joining Saudi Arabia and Turkey as the latest governments in the region to look at the system. The three deals, which are at various stages of negotiation and payment, mark Russia’s brisk entry into the Arab Gulf market which has traditionally been loyal to buying big ticket items from the US and other Western suppliers. If the sale goes ahead, Bahrain will have a multi-layered land-based air defence system capable of engaging targets at up to 400 km, which will cut into Iranian territory, albeit at high-altitude.

Europe

• Airbus has selected Spanish defense electronics firm Indra to develop a tactical and integrated procedures simulation trainer for pilots of the former’s new A330 MRTT aerial refueling tanker. Indra’s Integrated Procedures Trainer (IPT) will be connected to the Partial Training system (PTT) used by boom operators to learn how to handle the refueling tube for supplying fuel to the aircraft, and will allow pilots to familiarize themselves with the systems of the A330 MRTT tanker and practice situations impossible to reproduce using a real plane, such as engine failure, aircraft stall and emergency landings. Previous work with Airbus has seen Indra develop simulators for Airbus’ commercial A320 and A330 aircraft and Airbus helicopters’ H135, H225, H175, H145 and AS350.

• Serbia’s Defense Ministry is looking to Belarus as the supplier for new fighter jets and an S-300 air defense system. A deal is expected to be signed in November during a state visit to Minsk by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic where he will meet with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko. While the ministry did not disclose how much the procurements would cost, Belgrade is seeking seven additional MiG-29 fighters to add to the six second-hand models recently handed over for free from Russia. The six Russian hand-me-downs are still in need of upgrading, with the bill to be fitted by Serbian taxpayers.

• The Royal Greek Air Force’s F-16 fleet has been approved for a potential upgrade program by the US State Department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). Costed at an estimated $2.404 billion, 123 jets will be modified to the Block V configuration by Lockheed Martin, however, only 26 jets will have their Advanced Self-Protection Integrated Suite (ASPIS) upgraded from I to II standard. The potential sale was announced the same day Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsirpas met with US President Donald Trump at the White House.

Asia Pacific

• Indonesia’s Air Force chief of staff announced his service’s desire to acquire a further eleven sets of the Skyshield air defense system. Manufactured by Oerlikon—now a unit of Rheinmettal Defense—four Skyshield systems are currently defending air bases in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Makassar, and Pontianak, and feature a 35 mm multirole cannon that can fire 1,000 rounds per minute and precision-guided shells that can down enemy aircraft. In 2016, Jakarta announced plans to forward deploy the Skyshield to the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea, where the Air Force has requested additional air defense systems for an expanded air wing at the nearby Ranai air base. The plan to expand the Ranai base has been considered since 2015, as a portion of China’s “nine dash line” claim passes through Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone extending from the Natunas, creating unease among defense officials that Beijing may in the future lay claim to oil and gas deposits in the region.

Today’s Video

• Greek PM Alexis Tsipras rides in a soon-to-be-upgraded HAF F-16D:

Saudi E-3
(click to view full)

The 707-based E-3 aircraft forms the backbone of American, British, French, and NATO airborne early warning and control (AWACS), monitoring large swathes of airspace from an elevated position to detect incursions by enemy fighters, missiles, and even UAVs. When coupled with communications systems that allow it act as an airborne relay and command post for the aerial fight, it becomes a uniquely valuable weapons system. Under the 1981 – 1986 “Peace Sentinel” program, Saudi Arabia bought 5 E-3 AWACS(Airborne Early Warning and Control) planes and 8 KE-3A aerial tanker and cargo aircraft. Up to 3 of the KE-3s were later converted to RE-3A TASS(Tactical Airborne Surveillance System) electronic eavesdropping planes, leaving 5 E-3As, 3 RE-3As, and 5 KE-3 tankers.

Most E-3s around the world are well over 20 years old, and American, British, French, and NATO aircraft have received ongoing upgrades. Like Boeing’s US, British, French, and NATO customers, the Saudis are now seeking upgrades to keep their aircraft up to date. Broadly speaking, Saudi jets are getting 3 kinds of upgrades.

Saudi E-3 Upgrades

Saudi E-3A
(click to view full)

The 1st set of upgrades is the most basic, and the most necessary. Saudi E-3 avionics need to be upgraded, in order to comply with international aviation rules. Those are often referred to as CNS/ATM (Communications & Navigation Systems/ Air Traffic Management) upgrades.

A 2nd kind of upgrades involves military communications, which can be improved by adding high-bandwidth transmissions, and better transmission security. The RSAF’s E-3As and RE-3As have no peers among the Gulf Cooperation Council states, and integration that let them work with the UAE’s new command and control infrastructure would create a powerful regional resource. The parties involved aren’t discussing that aspect.

The 3rd kind of upgrade involves surveillance electronics. Radar System Improvement Program (RSIP) kit upgrades improve the AWACS radar by boosting its sensitivity, toughening it against jamming, and improving its reliability. Related enhancements to the plane’s passive listening electronic support measures (ESM) system can help the plane detect, identify and track electronic transmissions from ground, airborne and maritime sources, in order to determine radar and weapons system types within its surveillance range.

A recent proposal would perform in-depth upgrades on the plane’s electronics, bringing the Saudi fleet all the way to the current E-3 Block 40/45 standard flown by the USA and France. Under those upgrades, mission computing hardware and software shifts from mainframe-based computing to a set of networked servers and modern displays. This provides the computing horsepower to automate some existing tasks, such as Automatic Air Tasking Orders and Airspace Coordination Order updates. It also makes future upgrades easier. Corresponding software and hardware upgrades replace existing buttons and switches with a point-and-click user interface and drop-down menus. RISP-upgraded radar equipment will be complemented by “multisource integration capability” that provides a coherent single picture from the radar, ESM emission detectors, Link-16, and other sources, creating a single picture view for detecting and identifying targets.

Contracts & Key Events 2011 – 2017

RSIP installation; Block 40/45 upgrade

Workstation: Before
(click to view full)

October 19/17: Boeing has been awarded a $240.2 million US Department of Defense (DoD) contract for the provision of an airborne warning and control system (AWACS) to the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF). The fixed-price-incentive firm contract calls for the provision of AWACS mission computing, navigation and communication upgrades and enhanced target acquisition systems to rapidly distinguish between friend or foe. Work will take place at Oklahoma City, Okla., with a scheduled completion date of February 2019. The sale comes under the first phase of of the RSAF’s AWACS recapitalisation program.

July 31/15: Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft have begun receiving new Interrogator Friend or Foe (IFF) systems, as part of the fleet’s Block 40/45 upgrade program. The $60 million upgrade will see the new IFF system rolled out across the Air Force’s fleet of 31 E-3s. The AN/UPX-40 systems include Mode 5 enhancements, with the Saudis also requesting Block 40/45 upgrades in August 2014, including 20 of the new IFF systems. France has also upgraded it’s E-3 fleet with Block 40/45 enhancements.

Aug 12/14: Block 40/45. The US DSCA announces Saudi Arabia’s official export request for E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System modernization to the most current Block 40/45 status, at an estimated cost of up to $2.0 billion.

The request includes 5 Block 40/45 open architecture Mission Computing Upgrade system sets at its core, including computers, servers, and new interactive displays. This will be accompanied by 20 Next Generation AN/UPX-40 Identification Friend or Foe systems. Ancillary products and services include communication equipment, an updated Mission Planning System, spare and repair parts, support equipment, repair and return services, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, and other forms of US government and contractor support.

These upgrades are a continuation of efforts to maintain interoperability with US and coalition forces, including Britain’s E-3Ds, and the E-3F/G Block 40/45s flown by France and the USA. Implementation of this proposed sale won’t require any extra US Government or contractor representatives in Saudi Arabia. Sources: US DSCA #14-11, “Saudi Arabia – AWACS Modernization Program”.

DSCA request: Full E-3 Block 40/45 upgrade

June 5/12: RSIP Installation. Boeing in Seattle, WA receives a $66.8 million (face value) firm-fixed-price foreign military sales contract, exercising priced options for the installation and check out of Group A and B RSIP kits in the Saudi fleet of 5 E-3s. That seems to bring installation costs to $107.2 million, or $21.45 million per plane.

Work will be performed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (50%), Seattle, WA (30%); and Baltimore, MD (20%). Work is to be complete by June 15/15. ESC/HBSK, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity (F19628-01-D-0016, Delivery Order 0080).

Dec 14/11: RSIP Installation. Boeing in Seattle, WA received a $50.4 million firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, time-and-material contract for installation and check out of Group A and B RSIP kits in the Saudi fleet of 5 E-3s. Work will be performed in Seattle, WA, and is expected to be complete in Oct 28/13. This was a sole-source acquisition, managed by the ESC/HBSK at Hanscom AFB on behalf of their Saudi client (F19628-01-D-0016, Delivery Order 0080).

2008 – 2010

RSIP installs; Requests: CNS/ATM and Communications upgrades.

RSAF E-3
(click to view full)

Aug 20/10: Hardware upgrade. Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems in Baltimore, MD receives a $9.8 million contract which will replace narrow band klystron power amplifiers with wide band klystron power amplifiers in Saudi Arabian and French E-3 AWACS fleets. At this time, all funds have been committed by the Electronic Systems Center’s HBSKI at Hanscom AFB, MA (FA8704-10-C-0007).

June 30/10: RSIP IIA kits. Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in Seattle, WA receives a $73 million contract for the Saudi RSIP program’s Phase II-A production requirements, totaling 5 aircraft. At this time, the entire amount has been committed by the 551st ELSG/PKI at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA (F19628-01-D-0016; Delivery Order 0070).

See Aug 7/08 for the RSIP’s phase 1, and Dec 7/07 for the original DSCA request to buy. With respect to the 2-phase CNS/ATM upgrades mentioned in the August 2009 DSCA release, a Boeing spokesperson told DID that his understanding “is that it’s still in the proposal stage.”

Aug 6/09: CNS/ATM request. The USA’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency announces [PDF] Saudi Arabia’s formal request to buy equipment related to a 2-phased upgrade to the Communication Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management systems for the Royal Saudi Air Force’s fleet of 13 E-3 aircraft. The upgrade could run up to $1.5 billion, and will enhance the Saudis’ ability to use a common architecture for efficiently communicating the gathered electronic data within the RSAF and with other regional coalition forces.

Phase 1 will include Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation Systems, 8.33 kHz Very High Frequency radios, Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems, Mode S Transponders, Mode 4/5 Identification Friend or Foe Encryption, High Frequency radio replacements, Multifunctional Information Display Systems for Link 16 operations, Have Quick II radios, Satellite Communications and Common Secure Voice encryption.

Phase 2 will include digital flight deck instrumentation and displays, flight director system/autopilot, flight management system, cockpit data line message and combat situational awareness information.

A U.S. prime contractor will be chosen after a competitive source selection, and will also have responsibility for spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publication and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment to include flight simulators, U.S. government and contractor engineering support, technical and logistics support services, and other related support.

DSCA: CNS/ATM civil compatibility

Aug 6/09: Comms. request. The USA’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency announces [PDF] Saudi Arabia’s formal request to buy a second set of equipment that aims to give RSAF the ability to use a common architecture for efficiently communicating the gathered electronic data, within the RSAF and with other regional coalition forces. The estimated cost is up to $530 million, and includes:

• 10 AN/ARC-230 High Frequency Secure Voice/Data Systems
  
• 25 AN/ARC-231 or 25 AN/ARC-210 Very High Frequency/Ultra High Frequency (VHF/UHF) Secure Voice/Data Systems
  
• 4 MIDS-LVT Link 16 systems
  
• 4 LN-100GT Inertial Reference Units
  
• 25 SY-100 or functional equivalent Crypto Systems
  
• 7 SG-250 or functional equivalent Crypto Systems
  
• 6 SG-50 or functional equivalent
  
• 10 CYZ-10 Fill Devices
  
• Plus modification of existing ground stations, a TASS equipment trainer, a mission scenario generator (simulator), and maintenance test equipment; spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, personnel training and training equipment, publications and technical documentation, modification/ construction of facilities, U.S. Government and contractor engineering and support services and other related elements of support.

The principal contractor will be L-3 Communications Integrated Systems Company in Greenville, TX. Implementation of this sale will involve up to 6 U.S. government and four contractor personnel to participate in program reviews at the contractor’s facility every 6 months. There will be approximately 6 contractors in Saudi Arabia providing technical assistance on a full-time basis until the system is integrated into the operational units.

DSCA request: Comms.

Aug 7/08: RSIP installs. Boeing in Kent, WA received an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, fixed-price delivery order contract not to exceed $42 million. In return, they will install the Radar System Improvement Program (RSIP) capability on 5 Royal Saudi Air Force AWACS jets. At this time $27.3 million has been committed. 551 ELSG/PKS at Hanscom AFB, MA manages the contract (F19628-01-D-0016, #0062).

This first phase includes a study to determine which parts are obsolete and no longer available, then locating and testing parts obtained from new sources. Phase one also includes purchase of many long lead parts and the start of software design. The next phase involves production and installation of the Radar System Improvement Program (RSIP) kits, software integration and testing, and crew training. Phase 2 was intended to be part of a 2009 follow-on contract, but actually arrived in June 2010.

The RSIP kit is built principally by Baltimore-based Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems under subcontract to Boeing. It consists of a new radar computer, a radar-control maintenance panel, and software upgrades to the radar and mission-system programs. Boeing release.

2001 – 2007

Link-16 upgrades; Repairs required; RSIP radar upgrade request.

Feb 28/07: Support. Ongoing maintenance is also part of the US-Saudi AWACS relationship. The RSAF’s 6th Flying Wing brings an E-3A aircraft to Tinker AFB, OK for repairs, and the 566th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron’s E-3 Maintenance Flight replaces a bearing between the rotodome and aircraft. A 6th Wing aircrew will perform aerial tests before returning the aircraft back to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Tinker AFB, OK sustains the RSAF Peace Sentinel fleet (E-3A and KE-3A aircraft) through a Letter of Offer and Acceptance and the 557th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron’s Mid East Support. USAF release.

Dec 7/07: RSIP request. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced [PDF] Saudi Arabia’s official request for 5 sets of Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and Command, Control and Communications (C3) mission equipment/Radar System Improvement Program (RSIP) Group B kits for subsequent installation and checkout in all 5 of its E-3A Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS). In addition, this proposed sale will include spare and repair parts, support equipment, publications and technical documentation, contractor engineering and technical support, and other related elements of program support. The estimated cost is $400 million, and the prime contractor will be Boeing Aerospace Company in Seattle, WA.

Implementation of this proposed sale will require the assignment of approximately four contractor representatives to Saudi Arabia to provide technical assistance to integrate the aircraft into the operational units. Also, this program will require U.S. government and contractor personnel to conduct annual, one-week Program Management Reviews in Saudi Arabia. The DSCA adds that:

“Saudi Arabia needs this additional mission equipment to continue its development of an extended Airborne Early Warning (AEW) capability, as well as enhanced command, control and communications (C3).”

While other Saudi weapon requests are drawing fire, the E-3 program is unlikely to find itself caught in that vortex due to the routine nature of the request, its non-offensive nature, and the value to the US of having additional AWACS surveillance assets to maintain key “orbits” in the region.

DSCA request: RSIP.

Nov 13/06: Link 16. Saudi Arabia purchases JTIDS Link 16 systems, which quietly transmit a shared picture to participating aircraft and ground stations. A contract to install them in the RSAF’s E-3 AWACS fleet was issued in September 2007. See “Link 16 for Saudi E-3 AWACS” for full details.

August 2001: Hardware & displays. Boeing began installing new mission computers and other hardware and software on the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) AWACS fleet, as part of a contract worth $60 million. Under the contract, Boeing upgraded the aircraft’s mission computer and software to the same level currently in use by the U.S. AWACS fleet and train Royal Saudi Air Force operators. That project was completed in 2003.

Additional Readings

• USAF – E-3 Sentry (AWACS).

• Global Aircraft – E-3 Sentry.

• Boeing – Saudi E-3 AWACS. 2012 snapshot.

• GlobalSecurity.org – E-3 Sentry (AWACS) Variants.

• DID – France Upgrading Their E-3F AWACS. Receiving Block 40/45 upgrades.

• USAF (Aug 15/14) – AWACS upgrade achieves initial operational capability. They’re referring to the USAF’s E-3G Block 40/45, with 6 delivered to the squadron. All USAF E-3s are scheduled to finish E-3G conversion in 2020.

The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus takes control of the CSeries medium-haul aircraft program of Canadian Bombardier. By this operation Airbus puts 50.01% of the flagship program of the family business in Quebec. A "win-win" operation Airbus shares took 4% on the Paris Stock Exchange.

The company that built the medium-haul jet was created in 2016 by Bombardier and the Government of Quebec to save the bankruptcy program. Ultimately, Airbus will take the majority stake in this company alongside family shareholders (31%) and Quebec authorities (19%). Indeed, under pressure from Boeing, the Trump administration, on the pretext of this subsidy, had overwhelmed the CSeries with an exceptional tax of 300%. A sort of death sentence for a program that has accumulated only 350 orders, but $ 450 million in losses in 2016. Yet the Quebec builder had spared no effort to try to sell his new plane. According to some analysts, the discounts could reach 75% for a device billed about $ 70 million at the list price.

Indeed, this program of medium-haul aircraft perfectly complements the range of Airbus. The CSeries is a 100 to 150-seat airplane of the latest generation, launched in 2013. It is located at the very beginning of the range of Airbus single-aisle aircraft, with 150 to 240 seats. It replaces an aging A319. Once integrated into the industrial aircraft of the European aircraft manufacturer, the CSeries should prove its full commercial potential.

Aircraft are expected to require more than 6,000 aircraft with 100 to 150 seats within 20 years. More importantly, the entry of the CSeries into the bosom of Airbus reinforces the dominance of the European aircraft manufacturer in the medium-haul segment. Airbus already holds more than 60% of a market estimated at more than 25,000 aircraft by 2037.

Tag: AirbusBombardier

For the first time, a fully fledged defence research project - initiated by the Croatian Ministry of Defence and supported by the European Defence Agency (EDA) - has been awarded EU co-funding under the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF). So far only ‘dual-use’ projects with both civilian and military applications had been able to secure ESIF funding.

The granting of ESIF funding to this Croatian project, which aims at developing a cyber conflict simulator, represents a landmark in EDA’s year-long efforts to open up EU funding opportunities for pure defence research projects, in addition to dual-use projects.

The news was welcomed by EDA’s Chief Executive, Jorge Domecq: “The fact that ESIF funding is now also accessible to genuine defence projects is an important signal that should help strengthen the European defence industrial base. The Agency will continue to exploit the benefits of wider EU policies for defence stakeholders and facilitate their access to EU funding possibilities”.

The cyber conflict simulator set to be developed under the Croatian project is meant to be fit-for-purpose and usable by MoDs straightaway, including in European and international military exercises. It will allow for multiple groups in different roles to collaborate or compete within a defined cyber space, in order to address potential cybernetic attacks. It will also enable the definition of a cyber terrain consisting of different objects, connections, threats, controls, which will be defined by a set of properties and functions connected in a variety of ways.

The project implementation is led by a Croatian small and medium enterprise. ESIF will fund 80% of the total project eligible costs.

The EDA is now looking forward to its Member States’ defence stakeholders applying further defence projects to ESIF. To facilitate interested stakeholders and provide them with best possible information, the Agency has set up an ‘ESIF web-platform’ as well as an ‘ESIF Success Stories’ webpage.

More information and useful links:

• Access to EU funding (EDA project page)
• ESIF web-platform
• EDA’s ESIF success stories
• COSME web-platform
• EDA’s industry info
  
  
  

Americas

• Brazilian aerospace giant Embraer has announced the firm order for six of its A-29 Super Tucano aircraft. The unnamed customer will start to receive the light attack, surveillance, and advanced trainer planes from 2018, however, no further details of the sale were given. Marketed as a durable, versatile and powerful turboprop aircraft capable of carrying out a wide range of missions, Super Tucanos have clocked over 320,000 flight hours and nearly 40,000 combat hours in during its ten years in service. In August, the aircraft faced off against three other competitors in a demonstration held for the US Air Force’s Light Attack Experiment (OA-X), with military officials from Canada, Australia, UAE, Paraguay, among others, in attendance. The USAF is hoping to combat test the aircraft in the Middle East, although no fixed date has been set.

• The US Navy has declared the network-enabled AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) C-1 fully operational, with all US Super Hornet squadrons now fitted with the air-to-ground weapon, giving them the ability to attack stationary land and moving maritime targets. Since receiving initial operational capability (IOC) in 2016, the program team has participated in a series of four fleet-wide exercises—RIMPAC 2016, Valiant Shield 2016 SINKEX, Northern Edge 2017, and Talisman Sabre 2017— that demonstrated the capabilities of the weapon in increasingly complex scenarios. This latest JSOW variant includes GPS/INS guidance, terminal IR seeker and a Link 16 weapon data link.

• New US Air Force Under Secretary Matt Donovan used his first interview at the Pentagon to say that a decision on the T-X trainer competition is likely to be made in March 2018, rather than the initial service plan to announce a competition winner by the end of 2017. “Source selection is never based on the calendar, it’s based on events that they finished the source selection, and they do expect that to be somewhere in the spring,” Donovan told Defense News, but did not offer any reason as to why a decision on the $2 billion program was pushed back. In August, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson acknowledged that the service would likely not be able to award a contract for T-X as long as a continuing resolution was still in place. The current CR expires on December 8.

Middle East & Africa

• Clashes broke out between Iraqi military forces and Kurdish Peshmerga troops as the central government moved to control facilities in the oil rich Kurdish-controlled city of Kirkuk. Baghdad-backed troops, which included militias supported by Iran, entered the city at the weekend in response to the Kurdish region’s independence vote on Sept. 25, which included a Kirkuk which has been controlled by Kurdish troops since taking it from the Islamic State in 2014. The US-led task force coordinating operations in the region urged for all sides to avoid escalations, but went so far as to downplay the movement of Iraqi military vehicles into Kirkuk as “coordinated movements, not attacks,” and called the predawn gunfire “a misunderstanding and not deliberate.” However, sterner words came from US Sen. John McCain, who warned of “severe consequences” if US-supplied military equipment that was intended to fight the Islamic State is misused by the Iraqi military in clashes between Iraqi forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga in northern Iraq. This could include a halting of Washington’s massive train-and-equip program for Iraqi forces, which has seen $4.8 billion in funding approved in 2016 and 2017.

• The Turkish Navy has conducted the maiden test-firing of its domestically developed Atmaca anti-ship missile (AShM). Comparable to the Exocet, C-802 and Harpoon anti-ship missiles, the Atmaca weighs 800 kg with a 200-kg warhead and can travel at subsonic speed to a range of up to 200 km. While powered by the Microturbo TRI 40 miniature turbojet engine, Ankara hopes to replace this with the domestic Kale 3500 engine, making the missile fully sourced from Turkish industry. It will be deployed onboard the Turkish Navy’s MILGEM Ada-class corvettes and G-Class frigates.

Europe

• Ukraine’s state-owned defense firm Ukroboronprom has unveiled its locally-made version of the M4 assault rifle— the WAC-47—as part of the military’s efforts to reach technical and operational alignment with NATO. In conjunction with the standard 5.56×45 mm NATO rounds, the WAC-47 can also be adapted to fire 7.62×39 mm rounds, which will allow the Ukrainian forces to utilize the plentiful supply of existing 7.62×39 mm ammunition stocks. The rifle will also come in 10.5”, 11.5”, 14.5” and 24” barrel sizes, allowing Kiev to use the platform in a variety of mission roles, from close-quarter combat to sniper or designated marksmanship. Following the completion of testing, the rifle will be manufacturered under license from the US for the Ukrainian armed forces with the potential for export to neighboring countries in Eastern and Central Europe such as Bulgaria and Romania.

Asia Pacific

• South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told lawmakers on Monday that the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) is developing an indigenous missile interceptor system similar to the Iron Dome. Seoul had initially looked into purchasing the Israeli-made system to counter North Korean long-range artillery threats—Pyongyang has some 14,100 artillery pieces including 5,500 multiple rocket launchers according to Seoul—but found that the Iron Dome was not designed to defend against the long-range artillery barrage that North Korea is expected to launch. “The Iron Dome is a defense system suitable to defend sporadic rocket strikes from irregular warfare forces such as the Hamas group. It is not designed to handle North Korea’s attacks using long-range artillery,” the JCS report said. Cost effectiveness and the mountainous terrain of the Korean peninsula were also given as reasons to go the indigenous route. The new system would be deployed as a countermeasure against the North conducting multiple strikes on South Korea’s key state and military facilities.

• After delays that have lasted over a year, India’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) has sent a formal letter of request to the US Defense Department saying it is ready to move ahead with the government-to-government sale of two ISTAR aircraft. Valued at $1 billion, the sale will see Raytheon install the intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) system onboard a Gulfstream platform and will come equipped with active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar that can scan more than a 30,000-kilometer area in a minute, and analyze data and identify the target in 10 to 15 minutes. A committee comprising of scientists from the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), officials from the Air Force, and MoD officials will form to finalize the mission software and critical equipment for the ISTAR aircraft. Initial delays in ordering the aircraft are believed to be over internal wrangling between the IAF and the DRDO over which of the two should be the technical evaluator on the program.

Today’s Video

• Ukraine’s multi-calibre WAC-47: