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[BCNTM]

Spotted! First look at new Protector drone at RAF Lossiemouth

The new Protector drone that could join the UK’s front line of defence has been spotted taking its first flights from RAF Lossiemouth. Enthusiasts

www.pressandjournal.co.uk

looks like it's up tonight

have a look at flightradar it's now in the North Sea just east of Sunderland 21,000 feet

looks odd as it's showing as a 'x'

I am wondering if the ground controller lives in Keith

Gone past Hull - now just south of Grimsby

looks like it's heading for France............

 

[morris]

Greece, France to announce warship deal

The leaders of Greece and France are expected to announce a major, multibillion-euro deal in Paris involving the...

www.canberratimes.com.au

The leaders of Greece and France are expected to announce a major, multibillion-euro deal in Paris involving the acquisition by Greece of at least six French-built warships, Greek state ERT TV reported.
Greece planned to acquire three French FDI frigates - with the option of later buying a fourth -and another three corvettes, ERT reported on Monday.

Greece has already bought 18 French Rafale fighter jets and plans to purchase another six under a program to modernise its armed forces amid tensions with neighbouring Turkey.

 

[Redav]

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[BravoZulu]

Germany:
The Boeing Co., Seattle, Washington, is awarded a $756,634,580 fixed-price-incentive-fee modification (P00203) to a previously awarded contract (N0001914C0067).

This modification exercises an option for the production and delivery of five Lot 12 P-8A aircraft for the government of Germany. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington (98.15%); Huntington Beach, California (1.19%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (0.66%), and is expected to be completed in February 2025.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/2790164/

 

[BCNTM]

SAS secrets revealed by cut-and-paste error

Secret plans for a suite of enhanced weapons, potentially for use by Britain's Special Forces, have been revealed in an astonishing new security blunder by defence officials.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[morris]

Luftwaffe der Bundeswehr sent the first strategic reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle RQ-4E Euro Hawk to the military history museum of the Bundeswehr. The purchase of drones of this type (it was planned to purchase 5 units) turned out to be a complete fiasco for the FRG - the RQ-4E Euro Hawk did not receive permission to fly in European airspace. The total losses as a result of the failure of the project reached 785 million euros.

 

[muck]

I hope they create a special exhibition dedicated to that thing, ideally titled 'Examples of horrendous waste of tax payer money and excessive bureaucracy'. A mouthful, yes, but befitting the theme.

 

[Picanha]

Somebody should lose his pension over this...

 

[Junglejim]

I hope they create a special exhibition dedicated to that thing, ideally titled 'Examples of horrendous waste of tax payer money and excessive bureaucracy'. A mouthful, yes, but befitting the theme.

How can special flight permits cost 600 million Euros and how could flight permits destroy a promising military program that actually produced a fully functioning system?

 

[Picanha]

Its pure idiocy, and maybe also political, but EASA has extremely old fashioned rules regarding autonomous flight.

Its also very congested in the EU airspace. That was what I got the last time. Not so much the missions outside of EU but coming back or flying along the borders.

But I'm not really sure I couldn't be bothered with so much sillyness so I didn't follow up.

 

[Fish&Chips]

On another note, that thing is huge though. I had always thought it to be smaller until I got a perspective when I saw it sitting on that truck.

 

[uktabber]

SAS secrets revealed by cut-and-paste error

Secret plans for a suite of enhanced weapons, potentially for use by Britain's Special Forces, have been revealed in an astonishing new security blunder by defence officials.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Okay......there bad! Now, what's the cool weapons that they mentioned??? Let's hear it chaps?? ?

 

[muck]

How can special flight permits cost 600 million Euros and how could flight permits destroy a promising military program that actually produced a fully functioning system?

@Picanha gave most of the explanation. European law demands unmanned aerial vehicles above a certain weight class be equipped with two engines and a fail-safe connection to the ground control station, else they're forbidden from flying over inhabited areas.

The law may indeed be too strict, although to be fair throughout the years European armies have lost a number of Reapers and Herons under circumstances exacerbated by a lack of redundancy. I wouldn't want to see those accidents recreated with an aircraft the size of a Boeing 737.

The insane cost overruns were due to a lack of a strategy to salvage the programme, with consecutive ministers making decisions that conflicted with their predecessors'. New tech was added to the aircraft without testing, strategy papers were commissioned, and the Euros kept running.

 

[Picanha]

NATO flys them from Sigonella AB though.

They got an Italian certification.

2 Million pages of technical documentation we're needed to achieve that.

But they fly without ads-b and tcas. They fly over the EU in special corridors at 15 - 20 km height to reach their operation areas.

 

[Mike1976]

Female walrus Freya enters RNLMS Dolfijn, a Walrus class submarine of the Royal Netherlands Navy anchored in the port of Den Helder.

No doubt she gets her clams from the Russians
?

 

[Hiryu2.0]

French army gets ethical go-ahead for bionic soldiers | CNN

The French armed forces now have permission to develop "augmented soldiers" following a report from a military ethics committee.

edition.cnn.com

 

[IDF_TANKER]

Rafael's protection system installed on German tanks

en.globes.co.il

Rafael's Trophy system, which is fitted on Israel's Merkava Mark 4 tanks, provides tanks and armored vehicles with combat-proven protection against all rocket and missile threats.​

Israel's Ministry of Defense and the German Federal Ministry of Defense have announced the successful completion of trials of the Trophy tank protection system on Germany's Leopard 2 tanks. The trial was conducted in close cooperation between Israel's Ministry of Defense and the German Federal Ministry of Defense, supported by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., which manufactured the system and German company KMW.

 

[Hiryu2.0]

Norwegian Undersea Surveillance Network Had Its Cables Mysteriously Cut

The ocean observatory off the coast of northern Norway can detect submarine traffic and has been offline since April.

www.thedrive.com

 

[Hiryu2.0]

Dutch police using Chinese-made DJI drones the Defense Ministry rejected over security concerns: report

The Dutch police regularly use drones made by Chinese company Da Jiang Innovations (DJI), which the Ministry of Defense banned over serious concerns about data security. There are various indications that images and other data from the drones leak to the Chinese government, Trouw, De Groene...

nltimes.nl

 

[BravoZulu]

Spain:
The Spanish Ministry of Defence has signed the formal order for the acquisition of three Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft (MRTT).

Under the agreement, the handover of the first aircraft in transport configuration is scheduled in the coming days, followed by its conversion to MRTT in 2024. The handover of the first fully converted aircraft is scheduled in 2023 and the third and final unit in 2025.

The contract covers associated support such as spares, ground support equipment, training and in-service support until the end of the contract.

The aircraft, acquired from Iberia, will be converted into military tanker transport at Airbus’ Spanish headquarters in Getafe, Spain. It will be equipped with a state-of-the-art hose & drogue refuelling system and a specific Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) kit. The A330 MRTT fleet will be operated by the Spanish Air Force 45 Wing, based in Torrejón Air Base (Madrid).
https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/...efence-signs-order-for-three-airbus-a330-mrtt