The British military appears to be in the market for “disposable” one-way drones that can carry electronic warfare (EW) and kinetic payloads, “signature managed” aircraft that could offer “reduced detectability” against integrated air defense systems and “autonomous solutions.”
“This level of investment is critical in the current geopolitical situation,” said Micheál Martin, Irish deputy prime minister and defence minister
The network transport architecture for NGC2 could be a hybrid approach that combines high assurance communications with 5G, WiFi, and multi-orbit satellites.
Advances in RPA technologies signal a future where aircraft could operate from a variety of austere locations, making it much more difficult to find and target large air bases.
Gen. Angus Campbell also defended the conduct of the Australian military after a recent run-in with Chinese helicopters.
“Since the formation of 216 Squadron in 2020 there have been no completed tests or trials conducted either in-house or with industry,” said James Cartlidge, UK minister for defence procurement.
Leonardo UK and 2Excel recently won a $150 million contract for the converted 757 aircraft to be packed with tech.
Why edge and endpoint security can’t be an afterthought.
The Royal Air Force is set to become the world’s first operational user of the MQ-9B SkyGuardian, the world’s most advanced medium-altitude, long-endurance RPAS.
Mosquito had been scheduled to fly by the end of 2023, supported by a consortium of US firms Northrop Grumman and Spirit AeroSystems, along with UK company Callen-Lenz.
Acquiring the Wedgetail "gives us a path" while the service awaits a space-based capability, Air Force Chief of Staff CQ Brown said, as "an option to be able to get the capability much faster than if we were to start a new start from scratch."
The MQ-9B is the latest in a line of highly successful and well-proven remotely piloted aircraft operated by a number of other sophisticated allied air forces, from those of the United States to France to Italy and beyond.
The GPS network continues to prove its unmatched reliability, and it’s only getting stronger.