The US naval and air bases on the western Pacific island of Guam are to receive a massive upgrade in the face of military advances and increased tensions in north-east Asia. The naval base there will be upgraded to accommodate a nuclear powered aircraft carrier. The island itself will receive a missile defence system and
Raytheon and Boeing have successfully completed test flights of a Joint Air to Ground Missile (JAGM) fixed wing launcher and instrumented representative missiles on a US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet. Boeing says the test flights are the first step in qualifying the missile for the Super Hornet. “The JAGM fixed-wing launcher is based on the
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has called for a slowdown in the decision making process for low rate production for the Lockheed Martin JASSM-ER. The decision on whether to commence low rate production of the 1000km range stand off weapon is due to be made in November, but the call comes amid claims the
The second A330 MRTT Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) for the RAF took flight from the Airbus Military facility at Getafe near Madrid on October 26. The aircraft, one of 14 aircraft for the RAF, joins the first aircraft in the flight test program. The FSTA aircraft, reportedly to be designated KC-30 in RAF service,
Raytheon says it has successfully flight tested a new precision Small Tactical Munition (STM) designed specifically for use from UAVs. The STM is 60cm in length and weighs just 6kg, and features a dual mode semiactive laser seeker and GPS guidance system for use against fixed and mobile targets in all weather conditions.
The Army’s two CH-47D Chinooks of the Rotary Wing Group detachment based at Kandahar, Afghanistan, returned home on board two RAAF C-17 transports earlier this month. Since deploying earlier this year, the two Chinooks flew 737 hours over 860 sorties, and carried 4700 troops and 691,000kg of supplies and equipment in support of the International
