Defense

For the U.S. Defense Department, however, the next 12 months will form a long-awaited crucible of testing on several of the pillars of the weapon systems and rapid acquisition processes introduced by the Trump administration.

The first battlefield and naval warfare variants of the NH90 helicopter on order for Qatar have made their first flights.

Michele Evans, Executive Vice President-Aeronautics of Lockheed Martin, has passed away.

The Italian Air Force has taken delivery of its first two Leonardo M-345 jet trainers as part of a modernization of the country’s fast jet training fleet.

NASA will invest nearly $110 million in a pair of solar science missions, one teaming the agency with the Japanese and European space agencies to study eruptive solar activity and another assessing electrical currents within the Earth’s atmosphere linked to auroral activity.

The White House has issued an interagency strategy for protecting the Earth and other planetary bodies from cross contamination of potentially harmful biological entities.

Israel’s Ministry of Defense has delivered the second Iron Dome system to the U.S. Army to serve as an interim defense capability against cruise missiles and other aerial threats.

Uncertainty surrounds NASA’s Artemis initiative as the new year begins.

Tunisia is to be the first foreign customer for Turkish Aerospace’s (TAI) Anka medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air system.

Switzerland now has armed aircraft on duty around the clock for air policing duties, boosting the readiness of the country’s air force.

Michele Evans, the executive vice president for Aeronautics at Lockheed Martin, died on Jan. 1, the company said.

COVID-19 may force companies to change their supply chains, workforces and digital resilience.

Jordan will soon get a new F-16 air combat training centre and related equipment from the United States for an estimated cost of US$60 million.

Al-Shahbab militants have stepped up anti-aircraft attacks in the Bay area of Somalia close to the Ethiopian and Kenyan borders. The latest attack on a transport aircraft on approach to Diinsoor Airport was reported yesterday.

The 81-13 vote by the Senate easily exceeded the 67-member majority needed for the chamber to override a presidential veto and follows a similarly overwhelming vote by the House of Representatives.

AUSTRALIA announced plan to acquire two more P-8As from Boeing via FMS contract with US Navy, increasing fleet to 14.

AUSTRALIA has declared Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for its F-35As, and is the seventh country to do so; RAAF currently has fleet of 33 F-35As

Arianespace has successfully delivered the French CSO-2 Earth observation satellite into Sun-synchronous orbit aboard a Russian-built Soyuz ST-A medium-lift launch vehicle.

The fiscal 2021 defense policy bill veto override vote has been delayed in the Senate because it is instead focused on passing additional COVID-19 relief for individuals.

The first Su-57 Felon fighter appears to have been handed over to the Russian Ministry of Defense this month, with reports from spotters as the only confirmation.

If successful, the deal bolsters Lockheed against large primes while providing the best outcome for AJR after overhaul in recent years.

The House voted 322-87 on Dec. 28 to override President Donald Trump’s veto of the $740.5 billion fiscal 2021 defense policy legislation, and the Senate plans to vote on the measure Dec. 29.

Lockheed Martin announced on Dec. 28 that it had delivered 120 F-35As in 2020, a year complicated by supply chain disruptions of the program’s global production system.

All Defense Department offices have been ordered to comb through five years of internal costs related to FMS cases, according to a Defense Security Cooperation Agency memo.

With just seven days before the end of the Brexit transition agreement, the UK and the European Union have finally agreed on a future trading relationship.