Cobham Wants to Takeover Ultra Despite Government Concerns
US-owned Cobham wants to take over its rival company, Ultra Electronics. Ultra said it had received a takeover bid of £35 per share from Cobham.
Defence News
Investment
Sensors
Navy / Maritime
Investment
Turkish Aircraft Carrier at Preliminary Research Stage
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in January 2021 that Turkiye would build its aircraft carrier.
Navy / Maritime
Weapon / Missile
US Navy Ends Rail Gun Programme
The US Navy has ended the railgun project that fires projectiles at up to seven matches using electricity. The Navy’s plans to build an electromagnetic railgun.
Navy / Maritime
Weapon / Missile
French Navy’s Laser Weapon gets Prepared for 2022
French Navy is preparing to test the HELMA-P laser weapon system in 2020. The system has passed the trials on the ground recently.
Navy / Maritime
E/W
Turkish Electronic Intelligence Ship, Ufuk to Enter Inventory
The Sea Acceptance Tests (SAT) of the Test and Training Ship TCG Ufuk (A-591) are completed. The ship can be delivered to the Turkish navy anytime soon.
Navy / Maritime
Russia Tests Zircon Missile from a Nuclear-Powered Submarine
Russia will conduct a test launch of Zircon (Tsirkon) hypersonic missile from Yasen-class nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine Severodvinsk (K-560).
Navy / Maritime
Navantia Launches 4th Saudi corvette, Jazan 834
Spanish shipyard Navantia has launched the fourth of the five Avante 2200 corvettes built for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF), named “Jazan”.
Air
Tempest Goes GBP450 Million Budget Cut
The British Tempest project has been given an “amber/red” rating by the Infrastructure Project Authority (IPA).
Unmanned Systems
Romania to Manufacture Elbit’s Watchkeeper Drones
Romanian Aerostar signed the agreement with British company U-TacS, a joint venture between Elbit and Thales, to manufacture the drones in Romania.
Weapon / Missile
Russia Tests Hypersonic Zircon Missile
Russia has reportedly conducted a successful test launch of a hypersonic cruise missile, Zircon. Zircon is known in Russia as 3M22 and to NATO as the SS-N-33.
Air
Unmanned Systems
13 Additional Protector RG Mk1 for Royal Air Force
The U.K. has exercised the clause in its contract with General Atomics to deliver 13 additional Protector RG Mk1 that had previously been identified as options.
Weapon / Missile
Sarsılmaz Receives an Improvement on SAR9 METE
Turkish Land Forces and Sarsilmaz have announced that Sarsılmaz’s SAR9 METE gun rear slide plate cover will be altered with a new one.
Air
Bilateral Relations
First Dassault Rafale combat aircraft delivered to HAF
Hellenic Air Force (HAF) received its first French Rafale F3R aircraft with a handover ceremony held at Istres Merignac Air Base.
Land
Bilateral Relations
FNSS’s Pars 4X4 Seen in TRNC
Turkish Defence Company FNSS’s PARS type Armoured Anti-Tank Vehicles attended the military parade held in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Global Defence Trend Brief
- 15:00 US Army expands long-range precision fires production planning - The US Army is increasing investment in production capacity for long-range precision fires programme...
- 15:00 European air defence modernisation shifts toward integrated networks - European governments are increasingly linking national air defence assets into broader integrated ne...
- 15:00 China strengthens unmanned maritime surveillance capabilities - China continues expanding its portfolio of maritime surveillance drones to improve situational aware...
- 15:00 Japan accelerates hardened infrastructure development - Japan is investing in hardened facilities, protected storage sites and dispersed operating locations...
- 15:00 Autonomous underwater systems gain role in critical infrastructure security - Navies are increasingly deploying autonomous underwater vehicles to monitor and protect undersea cab...
- 15:00 Counter-drone systems increasingly combine kinetic and electronic effects - Military organisations are fielding layered counter-drone architectures that integrate electronic wa...
- 15:00 Hypersonic weapon proliferation drives demand for space-based tracking - Defence agencies are accelerating development of space-based sensor constellations capable of provid...
- 15:00 Military logistics automation becomes mainstream procurement priority - Armed forces are expanding procurement of autonomous logistics vehicles and AI-assisted supply syste...
- 15:00 Collaborative combat aircraft concepts reshape force structure planning - Air forces are increasingly designing future force structures around combinations of crewed aircraft...
- 15:00 Industrial resilience becomes strategic requirement for defence suppliers - Governments are placing growing emphasis on supply-chain security, surge production capability and m...
- 09:00 US Air Force expands Collaborative Combat Aircraft testing - The US Air Force is increasing flight testing and integration work for Collaborative Combat Aircraft...
- 09:00 European defence spending increasingly targets ammunition resilience - European governments are directing additional defence funding toward ammunition production, stockpil...
- 09:00 China advances military satellite constellation deployment - China continues expanding military satellite constellations designed to enhance communications, navi...
- 09:00 Japan strengthens distributed missile force posture - Japan is expanding deployment of mobile missile units and support infrastructure across remote islan...
- 09:00 Autonomous surface vessels gain importance in fleet operations - Navies are integrating autonomous surface vessels into surveillance, reconnaissance and maritime sec...
- 09:00 Counter-drone procurement shifts toward scalable architectures - Military organisations are increasingly procuring counter-drone systems built around open architectu...
- 09:00 Hypersonic defence programmes focus on persistent target custody - Defence agencies are prioritising sensor networks capable of maintaining continuous tracking of mano...
- 09:00 AI-assisted command systems gain momentum in military planning - Armed forces are accelerating adoption of AI-assisted command-and-control systems designed to improv...
- 09:00 Collaborative autonomy emerges as key defence technology trend - Military planners increasingly view teams of autonomous systems operating cooperatively as a major f...
- 09:00 Production capacity increasingly shapes defence export competitiveness - Countries evaluating defence acquisitions are placing greater weight on supplier production capacity...
