Defense Technology Highlights Of 2020
Graham Warwick
Poland formally signed a contract in January to buy 32 Lockheed Martin F-35As valued at $4.6 billion, becoming the first NATO country bordering Russia to adopt the stealth fighter. In November, the U.S. State Department approved the proposed sale of 50 F-35As to the United Arab Emirates and Greece submitted a request to buy 18-24 F-35As.
France and Germany in February awarded long-awaited contracts totaling €155 million ($188 million) for the initial demonstrator phase of the Future Combat Air System program, covering the fighter (Dassault/Airbus), engine (Safran/MTU), unmanned remote carrier (Airbus/MBDA) and combat cloud (Airbus/Thales). In November, a contract was awarded to begin development of the distributed sensors.
United Aircraft Corp.’s Kazan Aviation in April delivered the first two modernized Tupolev Tu-160M bombers for state trials of the midlife upgrade ahead of a scheduled entry into service in 2021. In November, a Tu-160M completed its first flight with improved NK-32-02 afterburning turbofans.
Leonardo’s M-345 light jet trainer secured certification from Italian military airworthiness authorities in May, paving the way for service entry with the Italian Air Force as a replacement for its Aermacchi MB-339s.
Boeing flew the first of 72 Block III F/A-18F Super Hornets for the U.S. Navy on June 3. The Block III introduces large-format cockpit displays, a distributed targeting processer and high-bandwidth data link. Externally, the upgrade includes conformal fuel tanks and an infrared search-and-track sensor.
Aerospace Industrial Development Corp.’s (AIDC) AT-5 advanced jet trainer made its first flight on June 10 from Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taiwan. The AT-5’s design is based on that of the AIDC F-CK-1 fighter.
The first of nine Airbus A330s of the NATO Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Fleet arrived at its home base in Eindhoven, Netherlands, on June 30. All nine are to be delivered by 2024.
A U.S. Navy Boeing EA-18G Growler test aircraft flew on Aug. 7 with the first flightworthy Raytheon ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) Mid-Band pod. L3Harris Technologies and Northrop Grumman are now competing for the follow-on NGJ Low-Band development contract.
Airbus Spain in October revealed it is proposing development of a single-engine transonic jet trainer to support pilot training for the European Future Combat Air System. Powered by a Eurojet EJ200 or Safran M88, the Airbus Future Jet Trainer could replace Spain’s Northrop SF-5s beginning in 2027.
In October, the Japan Defense Agency contracted with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to begin development of the F-X fighter, aiming to begin deployment around 2035. The next step is selection of a foreign development partner, with BAE Systems, Boeing and Lockheed Martin expressing interest.
Airbus and Eurofighter in November signed contracts to build 38 Tranche 4 Eurofighters for Germany—the first follow-on order from a partner nation—under the €5.4 billion ($6.5 billion) Quadriga program to replace the country’s Tranche 1 aircraft beginning in 2025. Another partner nation, Spain, is planning an order to top up its Eurofighter Typhoon fleet in 2021.
Fighters made headlines in 2020, from critical orders for today’s combat aircraft to key milestones for future programs. Russian bombers, Taiwanese trainers and multinational tankers were also in the news.
