Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18s and USAF F-15s conduct a NORAD patrol over the Beaufort Sea during an exercise in August 2020. (Photo: NORAD)
The Canadian government is allocating funding for the next five years to overhaul NORAD amid new-generation threats such as low-flying cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons.
Canada is committing federal funds to modernise North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) in the face of a renewed Russian assertiveness.
The federal budget, announced on 19 April, includes C$163 million ($131.4 million) over a five-year period from 2021-2022 to overhaul the ageing NORAD strategic missile warning system, which was set up in the 1950s.
Dutch airmen examine the wheel of an F-35A Lightning II. (Photo: USAF/Samuel King)
Honeywell-GKN pact answers the need for a dedicated European MRO facility for F-35 wheels and brakes.
Honeywell and Netherlands-based Fokker Landing Gear (part of GKN Aerospace) have signed a ten-year, non-exclusive licence and parts supply agreement to establish an authorised service centre for Honeywell wheels and brakes on the F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft.
GKN Aerospace will provide MRO services for wheels and brakes on all F-35 variants.
‘This agreement will substantially reduce the logistical footprint of supporting the regional fleet with a Netherlands-based depot, thus resulting in a lower cost of ownership for F-35 operators,’ Honeywell claimed in a 26 April statement.
Hensoldt and Leonardo already cooperate on programmes such as Eurofighter Typhoon. (Photo: Leonardo)
Leonardo aims to establish a strategic long-term presence in the German defence market.
Leonardo is set to become the largest single private shareholder in German EO and sensor specialist Hensoldt, having agreed on 26 April to acquire a 25.1% stake in the company from US private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts.
The German government also owns 25.1% of Hensoldt under a March 2021 agreement.
Leonardo also recently announced the acquisition of a 30% stake in Italian naval sensor company GEM elettronica.
Leonardo is paying €606 million for the Hensoldt stake and the transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2021, pending the usual regulatory approvals
AGM-88 HARM fired from a USAF F-16C. (Photo: USAF/Tech Sgt Michael Ammons)
The AGM-88 missile is one of several features in an FMS modification for Lockheed Martin to assist the Peace Phoenix Rising 2 programme for Taiwan.
The US Air Force Life Cycle Management Center has awarded a maximum $138 million sole-source FMS modification to Lockheed Martin, in connection with the Peace Phoenix Rising 2 programme for Taiwan.
Lockheed Martin will provide automatic ground-collision avoidance technology and the Raytheon AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), as well as improved radar software, an updated data acquisition system and advanced IFF for the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) F-16A/B Block 20 MLU programme.