Tag: BAE Systems

In recent months Qatar defense officials were busy dealing in shopping for fighter jets to expand their minuscule air force into a significant, modern air power. If those deals are fulfilled, in less than five years the Qatari Emiri Air Force (QEAF) will increase its order of battle from the current nine Mirage 2000-5 fighters to 96 modern combat jets, armed with the latest weapons the Western world can offer.

The four River class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) operating with the Royal Navy are expected to reach the end of their service by the end of the decade. They will be replaced by five new River Class ‘Batch 2’ boats. The first – HMS Forth will be delivered in 2018.

Australian Navy will introduce a new class of frigates in the next decade, under a program, known as 'SEA 5000 Phase 1'. Facing the...

The most recent Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR) published in 2015 confirmed the British government intends to maintain the current sea power. Eight Type 26 frigates and Five Type 31 general purpose ships will replace the fleet of Duke class frigates over the next 15 years.

HMS Queen Elizabeth II arrived today at its home port at Portsmouth, following its first sea trial last month; With its sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, the new carriers will become the centerpiece of the Royal Navy.

The Spearfish heavyweight torpedo used with all classes of Royal Navy submarines is undergoing a comprehensive upgrade, improving the propulsion, homing, tactical systems and warhead. The fleet will begin receiving the improved torpedoes by 2020 and complete the upgrade in four years and prepare the weapon to challenge future threats.

BAE Systems was awarded £3.7 billion to build the first three Type-26 boats. Work on the first frigate, HMS Glasgow, began in July 2017. According to schedule, the Glasgow will be commissioned in 2021 and the 8th of this class is expected to enter service in the mid-2030s.

The construction of Astute class attack submarines is ongoing, in April 2017 MOD announced the conclusion of negotiation of the contract to build the Agamemnon, the sixth of seven Astute class attack submarines that will cost £1.4 billion.

Almost 50 unmanned systems from the UK, USA, Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, and Austria participated in a month-long war game for robots, organized by the Royal Navy. Spanning air, surface and the undersea domain, ‘Unmanned Warrior 2016’ (UW16), has been in the making for almost two years, with dozens of players from different nations invited to take part in this unique operational demonstration, held as part of NATO’s Joint Warrior exercise.

India's Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the acquisition 145 M777 ultra light weight howitzers from the United States. 25 of the howitzers will be delivered from the US and 120 delivered from an Indian assembly and integration facility created in India by Mahindra. The contract is expected to be worth about $750.

The US Navy is gearing to take its futuristic Railgun out of the lab where it has been tested for to past eight years. In the next biennium, these mighty weapons will be tested in open firing ranges and eventually at sea, where the futuristic electromagnetic gun will be able to demonstrate its full capacity to fire projectiles at targets 50-100 nautical miles (92 - 185 kilometers) away.

Currently in its third year of full rate production, BAE Systems' APKWS rocket is the only U.S. Department of Defense fully qualified guided 2.75-inch rocket. Following the Navy and Marine Corps, the US Army has also ordered the rocket for its Apaches. Since the weapon has been cleared for export the US NAVY program has received 13 formal letters of request (LORs) from international customers expressing interest in acquiring APKWS.

Defense ministers of France and the United Kingdom endorsed today the plan to develop a full scale 'Future Combat Air System' operational demonstrator. Launched next year, the Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) could begin flight testing as early as 2025.

The Indian defense industry in the government sector alone, employs nearly 200,000 workers and thousands of engineers and scientists. There are studies that show that even a 20 to 25% reduction in imports could directly create an additional 100,000 to 120,000 highly skilled jobs in India.