Defence`s Feeds

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

Americas

Boeing won a $75.1 million contract modification, which exercises options to provide aircraft inspections, modifications and repairs as well as inner wing panel (IWP) modifications and repairs for the F/A-18 E/F and EA-18G series aircraft. These efforts restore the aircraft and IWP to meet service life projections in accordance with new design specifications. The US Navy F/A-18 E and F Super Hornets are twin-engine, carrier-capable multirole fighter aircraft. Super Hornet is about 25% larger than its predecessor the F/A-18C/D, but contains 42% fewer structural parts. The single-seat F/A-18/E and the two-seat F/A-18/F fly greater ranges with heavier payloads, have more powerful engines and provide greater survivability. Work will take place in Florida, Missouri and California. Estimated completion will be in September 2021.

Boeing won a $21.9 million contract modification, which exercises an option for test and evaluation support for Next Generation Jammer integration on the EA-18G aircraft. The Next Generation Jammer is a program to develop an airborne electronic warfare system, as a replacement for the AN/ALQ-99 found on the EA-18G military aircraft. It will reach Initial Operating Capability in 2021. The EA-18G Growler is an airborne electronic attack (AEA) aircraft, capable of operating either from an aircraft carrier or from land-bases. The Growler was developed as a replacement for the US Navy EA-6B Prowler aircraft that entered service in 1971 and retired in March 2019. Work will take place in Missouri and estimated completion will be in September, 2021.

Middle East & Africa

Lockheed Martin has awarded Israeli defense company Elbit Systems – Cyclone a contract to supply additional complex composite structural assemblies for forward equipment bay assemblies on all F-35 variants. The deal is in an amount that is not material to Elbit Systems and will be performed over a period of four-years. The contract calls for Elbit Systems to supply assemblies for the F-35’s Forward Equipment Bay – made from composite materials and the associated structures – for all F-35 aircraft variants. Elbit Systems will deliver more than 1,400 components to Lockheed Martin during the contract period.

Europe

Germany is establishing a new multinational unit to operate the Airbus A400M transport aircraft, with Hungary committed as its first partner. The Bundeswehr announced that the Multinational Air Transport Unit (MNAU) was being established at Wunstorf Air Base in northern Germany, home to the Luftwaffe’s A400M force. This new international unit will relocate to Lechfeld Air Base in the far south of the country with 10 of the Luftwaffe’s 53 contracted A400Ms, as well as additional A400Ms that might be provided by partner nations.

Russia’s Western Military District reports that a Su-30SM had crashed in the Tver region on September 22 during a training flight. Both pilots were able to eject safely. Later in the day, a post on Telegram said the jet has hit by cannon rounds fired from a Su-35 during dogfight training. The rounds were not remove from the Su-35 and as the pilot pulled the trigger to record the kill, the cannon fired and hit the Su-30SM.

Asia-Pacific

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visited the airbase on Penghu island today and the IDF detachment there displayed the Wan Chien cruise missile for all to see. The Wan Chien is an indigenous land attack missile similar to the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon. It is carried by the IDF. The significance of the indigenous Wan Chien missile within the ROCAF armory in particular is its ability to be launched from F-CK-1C/Ds operating above the Taiwan Strait and hit targets on the Chinese mainland.

Today’s Video

Watch: USAF’S U-2 ‘DRAGON LADY’ HAS SUCCESSFULLY GATHERED INFORMATION ON CHINESE MILITARY DURING DRILL !

Kosovar war veterans say that an unidentified man has again handed them files from a war crimes court in The Hague probing alleged crimes during and after the 1998-99 war, in what appears to be a security breach exposing protected witnesses.

Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs R. Clarke Cooper and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu met virtually September 23, 2020, to discuss bilateral security cooperation at the eleventh U.S.-Vietnam Political, Security, and Defense Dialogue.

Saudi Arabia's king expressed support for peace in the Middle East at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, but did not suggest that Riyadh was likely to soon follow the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in normalizing relations with Israel.

China aims to push back against the United States by reopening talks with 10 Southeast Asian nations on a code of conduct that would help prevent mishaps in a crowded, disputed Asian sea, political scholars say.

India and China have agreed to not send more troops to a disputed border region in the Himalayas, where their respective troops engaged in deadly hand-to-hand fighting in June.

Pakistan and India have reported "intense" cross-border clashes in the disputed Kashmir territory a day after the United States reiterated its offer to facilitate peace talks between the South Asian rivals.

For the first time since former President Ronald Reagan's Administration, the Marine Corps is fielding a new service-wide pistol replacement.

The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday (23 September 2020) and commended the Spanish people for their resilience during the COVID 19 crisis. Highlighting that Spain "has not stood alone" during the COVID 19 crisis, he said that NATO's disaster relief centre coordinated assistance for Spain and that NATO Allies delivered medical supplies, helping to

A Chinese military spokesperson said the Chinese and Indian military officials held the sixth round of commander-level talks on Monday.

China and India held the sixth commander-level talks at the border personnel meeting point in Moldo on September 21, and the two sides made a joint press release after consultation, said Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday.

A bomb explosion has targeted a logistics convoy belonging to the US-led coalition forces in Iraq's northern province of Salahuddin.

A number of Taliban prisoners who were released by the Afghan government as a condition for peace talks have returned to the battlefield, lead Kabul negotiator Abdullah Abdullah has said.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko claimed the formal beginning of his 6th presidential term in office on Wednesday — holding a secret inauguration ceremony in defiance of mass demonstrations demanding an end to his 26-year rule in the wake of controversial elections last month.

Aleksander Lukashenko has taken the oath of office as the president of Belarus in an official ceremony in the capital city, Minsk.

Riot troops used truncheons and a water cannon and detained dozens of protesters as clashes escalated in Minsk and other cities on September 23 following Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's surprise swearing-in for a sixth term despite weeks of unprecedented public calls for his exit.

Lukashenko garnered the support of 80 percent of voters in the 9 August election, according to the official results, which were widely rejected by the opposition as falsified. The controversial outcome of the vote has caused nationwide protests.

China's discipline inspection and supervisory authorities have made public six cases on gang-related corruption and "protective umbrellas" that shelter gangs.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command, responsible for the Taiwan Straits and one of the most exercise-intensive PLA commands this year, has disciplined a soldier for leaking classified intelligence by mobile phone, the command recently revealed.