CHINA

The two “aircraft-carrier killer” missiles that China launched in August this year, travelled thousands of kilometres and hit their designated target, a moving ship, near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. This is the first time that China has revealed details of the missile launches which were first reported by the South China Morning Post in August. The news was later confirmed by the US military. The missiles were DF-26B and DF-21D and launched from separate locations.

EUROJET

Eurojet Turbo GmbH (EUROJET), the consortium responsible for the EJ200 engine installed in the Eurofighter Typhoon, signed a contract with the NATO Eurofighter & Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) to provide 56 new EJ200 engines for the German Air Force which covers EJ200 engines for a new order of Tranche 4 Typhoon fighter aircraft.

GA-ASI

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc, California, has been awarded an $81,866,402 cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price modification to contract for the UK MQ-9B Protector programme which provides for the design, development, integration and component-level testing of additional capabilities being added to the baseline programme. Work will be completed August 31, 2021.

ISRAEL AIR FORCE

Adir F-35I, designated for flight experiments, arrived at the Israel Air Force (IAF) Flight Testing Centre Squadron in Israel on November 11, 2020, which will greatly enrich the IAF’s independence in improving the capabilities of the fifth generation aircraft.

JAPANESE SDF

Japanese Self-Defense Forces began V-22 flight operations at Kisarazu Air Field on November 06 this year, marking the first international partner to fly the US military aircraft. The V-22 is critical to the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy of the US. For the US Special Operations Forces, the CV-22 supports longrange infiltration, exfiltration and resupply missions.

PHILIPPINE AIR FORCE

Philippine Air Force had contracted for 16 Sikorsky S70-i Blackhawk Helicopters from Polish company Polskie Zaklady Lotnicze Sp.z.o.o, which are being manufactured under license from Sikorsky USA. The project was procured through a government-to-government transaction with Poland. Six helicopters have been delivered and the remaining 10 units are expected to be delivered within the first quarter of 2021.

UNITED STATES

The US 379th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron recently won squadron innovation funds for the purchase and use of small unmanned drones at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, to train Airmen to detect and defend against similar unmanned systems used by the adversaries.