Digital Fleet Sustainment

12/12/2021
By Australian Defence Business Review Where once aircraft maintenance was conducted according to time passed and hours flown, the maturing field of digital fleet sustainment is delivering better maintenance with improved aircraft availability at reduced cost. This concept isn’t new, but the greater accumulation of data, coupled with a growing…

Finland Joins the F-35 Global Enterprise

12/10/2021
According to a press release on December 10, 2021 by the Finnish government, "the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II is Finland’s next multi-role fighter." The Government of Finland has 10 December 2021 authorised the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command to sign a procurement contract with the Government of the United…

French Arms Sales: A 2021 Update

12/09/2021
By Pierre Tran Paris - France expects to win arms export orders worth more than €30 billion ($34 billion) spread over this year and 2022, mainly due to sales of the Rafale fighter jet, Thierry Carlier, head of the international development department of the Direction Générale de l’Armement procurement office,…

November and December 2021: A Compendium of Our Articles

12/08/2021
In this report, we have included articles we have published in November and December 2021. They cover a wide variety of topics and the table of contents for the report is as follows: For a PDF version of the report, see below: [pdf-embedder url="https://sldinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/November-2021-Articles.pdf"] For an e-book version of the…

An Update on European Defense Industrial Cooperation: December 2021

12/07/2021
By Pierre Tran Paris - Airbus Defence and Space and Dassault Aviation are still in detailed talks for a development contract for a next generation fighter, a key element in a planned European future combat air system, said Michael Schoellhorn, chief executive of the Airbus unit. “Some points still need…

The Evolution of the Viper Attack Helicopter: JAGM Testing

12/05/2021
Recently, VMX-1 tested the Viper Attack Helicopter with the JAGM weapon, and for the purpose of enhancing the Marine Corps's capability to support maritime/littoral missions. This is how the December 2, 2021 USMC press release described the effort: HEADQUARTERS MARINE CORPS – Marines from Marine Operational Test & Evaluation Squadron…

Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2021 and Australian Defence

12/05/2021
By Justin Burke The announcement of the AUKUS partnership has prompted the old accusation that Australia is ‘trying to find its security from Asia rather than in Asia’ to resurface in public debate, most recently in former prime minister Paul Keating’s recent National Press Club address. The basis for this…

Moving Beyond Its Legacy Fleet of Mirages and F-16s: The UAE Adds Rafales to Its F-35 Buy

12/03/2021
By Pierre Tran Paris - The United Arab Emirates signed Dec. 3, 2021 contracts worth a total €17 billion ($19 billion) for 80 Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter jets, MBDA missiles, and 12 Airbus Helicopter Caracal H225M helicopters, the armed forces ministry said. The UAE Tawazun arms acquisition authority signed Rafale…