http://www.janes.comA special collection of articles covering C4ISR Systems.en-gbCopyright: (C) Jane's Information Group. All rights reserved.http://www8.janes.com/public/images/janes_rss.gifhttp://www.janes.comVisit http://www.janes.comhttp://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41514.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWUK military chiefs now aim to use a portion of this money to buy "up to 30" more Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters by the middle of the next decade, to bring the UK Chinook fleet to "around 70" airframes. Under 'Vision 2020' a major shake-up in the basing of all the UK's military helicopters will occur and the Royal Air Force's (RAF's) AgustaWestland Merlin HC.3/3A transport helicopters would be transferred to the Royal Navy. Under 'Vision 2020' the basing of all UK helicopters ... - 2009/11/20 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41472.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWUS private equity firm JF Lehman & Company has agreed to sell guidance and navigation systems specialist Atlantic Inertial Systems to Goodrich Corporation for USD375 million. Atlantic will be integrated within Goodrich's Sensors and Integrated Systems business within its Electronic Systems unit. Atlantic Inertial Systems comprised BAE Systems' Inertial Products business (which was housed within what was then the Electronics & Integrated Solutions unit). - 2009/11/20 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41499.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWThe Indonesian government has commenced a programme to draw up a comprehensive list of armed forces requirements over the next decade and beyond in a move partly aimed at boosting domestic defence industry development. Commodore Sudi Haryono, director for technology and industry in the Indonesian Ministry of Defence's Directorate General of Defence Facilities, told Jane's on 19 November that the inventory is expected to be completed in the next few months. "For equipment in the inventory that... - 2009/11/20 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41503.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWThe army is starting the Hellfire flight tests with an eye towards the deployment of the first Hellfire-armed QRC-2 Sky Warriors to Iraq or Afghanistan in August 2010. Sky Warrior QRC-1 aircraft - which, like QRC -2, consist of four UAVs and two ground stations - deployed to Iraq in August, flying alongside Sky Warrior Block 0 aircraft that were already in theatre. The first army unit (a combat aviation brigade) will be equipped with the programme of record Sky warrior aircraft - including 12... - 2009/11/20 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jni/history/jni2009/jni73271.htm@current&Prod_Name=JNIWith ageing single-role auxiliary vessels nearing the end of their lives, smaller navies are seeking to retain their blue water capability by replacing them with cheaper multipurpose logistic ships, combining strategic sealift and replenishment capabilities. The programme for a new support ship - the Joint Logistiek Ondersteuning Schip (JLOS - Joint Logistic Support Ship), more usually referred to as the Joint Support Ship (JSS) - started to take shape in 2003-04. - 2009/11/20 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jni/history/jni2009/jni73257.htm@current&Prod_Name=JNIHS Ypoploiarchos Mikonios and HS Plotarchis Blessas should have been handed over in July and September 2008 following modernisation by Elefsis Shipyards in Elefsina, near Athens. New equipment fitted in the Batch 1 vessels includes Thales Nederland's TACTICOS combat management system, LIROD Mk 2 tracking radar and optronic gun-control system, Mirador electro-optical tracking system and Scout Mk 2 radar; and Northrop Grumman's Bridgemaster E navigation radar. - 2009/11/20 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jni/history/jni2009/jni73268.htm@current&Prod_Name=JNIThe keel for the first next-generation aircraft carrier for the US Navy (USN) was laid by shipbuilder Northrop Grumman at its Newport News yard in Virginia on 14 November. Construction of Gerald R Ford (CVN 78) is taking place under a USD5.1 billion detailed design and manufacturing contract awarded to Northrop Grumman in September 2008. Gerald R Ford has a new island superstructure, a dual-band radar, electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) in place of steam-powered catapults, a Joint... - 2009/11/19 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41475.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWThe C-295 MPA fleet is fitted with the Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems AN/APN-241 navigation radar; Elta Systems EL/M 2022A(V)3 maritime surveillance radar; FLIR Systems Star Safire IV thermal-imaging, night-vision and infrared camera system; a Swedish Space Corporation Ericsson side-looking airborne radar, an Elisra Electronic Systems radar warning receiver; panoramic windows; life rafts; and a pod-mounted searchlight system. Three of the aircraft will be fitted with Airbus Military's ... - 2009/11/19 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41479.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) will purchase two Saab 340 airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft for a total of SEK1.5 billion (USD21 million), the company announced at the Dubai Air Show on 17 November. The Saab purchase fills a long-standing capability shortfall of the UAE Air Force and Air Defence; strategic air-defence requirements including airborne intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) emerged in the mid-1990s but were delayed over funding issues. - 2009/11/19 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdin/history/jdin2009/jdin80133.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDINIsrael's Elbit Systems has completed its acquisition of BVR Systems Ltd for GBP34 million (USD57 million), it was announced on 19 November. Located in Rosh HaAyin, Israel, BVR Systems develops and produces training, simulation and debriefing systems for air, sea and ground forces. The four years since saw Elbit purchase a minority stake in Mikal Group; nuclear, biological and chemical systems specialist Kinetics; Shiron Satellite Communications; a minority stake in defence navigation and ... - 2009/11/19 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jni/history/jni2009/jni73269.htm@current&Prod_Name=JNIShipbuilding and ship repair company Kockums has been contracted by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration to undertake a life-extension refit for the Royal Swedish Navy's 25-year-old intelligence-gathering vessel (AGI). Built by the Karlskronavarvet shipyard (which merged into Kockums in 1989) and commissioned by the navy in June 1984, the 1,400-ton HMS Orion is equipped with a comprehensive signal intelligence suite to monitor, analyse and record radar emissions and communication ... - 2009/11/19 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdin/history/jdin2009/jdin80128.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDINThe Indonesian government has commenced a programme to draw up a comprehensive list of armed forces requirements over the next decade and beyond in a move partly aimed at boosting domestic defence industries' development. Commodore Sudi Haryono, director for technology and industry in the Indonesian Ministry of Defence's Directorate General of Defence Facilities, told Jane's on 19 November that the inventory is expected to be completed in the next few months. "For equipment in the inventory ... - 2009/11/19 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41502.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWAfter the Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) was conceived, approved and funded in just three years, the SAC's 12 nations are now scrambling to train the HAW's operational and technical staff and to fill administrative posts. Borch's agency exploits the same complementarities where possible with other allied agencies too, such as BICES (Battlefield Information Collection and Exploitation Systems), NC3A (the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency) and NCSA (NATO Communication and ... - 2009/11/19 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/idr/history/idr2009/idr12643.htm@current&Prod_Name=IDRRockwell Collins has awarded ARINC Engineering Services a contract to upgrade the US Air Force's (USAF's) two Boeing OC-135B observation aircraft. ARINC announced on 19 November that it will install new navigation systems and communications equipment on the two aircraft that have been in service since 1962. The company will initially develop the installation plan and strategy for the upgrade, then install the Rockwell Collins Block 40 Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) navigational upgrade ... - 2009/11/19 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/idr/history/idr2009/idr12639.htm@current&Prod_Name=IDRThe Polish Air Force is due to formally accept the first production PRP-25 Gunica transportable passive air surveillance and electronic intelligence (ELINT) system in early December. PIT characterises Gunica as a system that "combines the capabilities of the well-known Czech Vera and BORAP systems". The Gunica is intended to be integrated with the Polish Air Force's PIT-developed Wolczenica EW command-and-control system, and in particular with that system's SDKR-10M command post. - 2009/11/19 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdin/history/jdin2009/jdin80136.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDINScience Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has won a follow-on task order from the US Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) to provide professional and engineering support services to the Army Aviation & Missile Research, Development & Engineering Center (AMRDEC) Software Engineering Directorate (SED). The work, which was awarded under the AMCOM Expedited Professional & Engineering Support Services (EXPRESS) contract, will be performed as required at Redstone Arsenal in ... - 2009/11/19 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41464.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWUS Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has announced the creation of a Department of Defense (DoD) task force to focus on countering the improvised explosive device (IED) threat in Afghanistan. The DoD is also considering buying additional M-ATVs if President Barack Obama decides to send more troops to Afghanistan. "If the president makes a decision to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan, we would look at this in terms of whether we needed to buy more [M-ATVs]," said Gates; 6,644 ... - 2009/11/18 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41469.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWWhile details of the latest talks were not available, Tauscher has previously hinted that the command centre for a revised ballistic missile defence (BMD) system could be based in the Czech Republic. A defence co-operation work group headed by Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Alexander Vershbow arrived in Prague on 6 November to discuss the inclusion of the Czech Republic in the revised architecture of the proposed BMD shield. "The Czech Republic, within the ... - 2009/11/18 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/idr/history/idr2009/idr12640.htm@current&Prod_Name=IDRIsraeli vehicle armouring specialist Global Shield is developing a new 4x4 light armoured vehicle and is planning to unveil it in March 2010. The platform is rapidly adaptable to different applications, able to accommodate a guided weapons firing post, a tactical communications suite, a remotely operated weapons station, long-range observation sensors or a medical evacuation kit. Computer-generated image of Global Shield's Omer armoured troop carrier, which is due to make its debut in March ... - 2009/11/18 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdin/history/jdin2009/jdin80120.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDINThe services include systems engineering, computer program development, ship integration and test support to deliver a variant of the company's Aegis Baseline 7 Phase 1 system, according to the US Department of Defense on 17 November. Work will be carried out in the US and South Korea and is expected to be complete by December 2010. Yulgok Yi I was launched in November 2008 at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering in Okpo, South Korea, and is scheduled for delivery in 2010. - 2009/11/18 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jni/history/jni2009/jni73266.htm@current&Prod_Name=JNIThe US Navy (USN) has awarded Boeing a USD275,000 study contract associated with its plans to operate the MagEagle Compressed Carriage (MECC) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from its P-8A Poseidon multirole maritime patrol aircraft, a company spokesperson told Jane's on 17 November. The contract, which was originally announced on 11 November, will see Boeing undertake a study of the magnetic noise associated with the heavy-fuel propulsion system of the magnetic anomaly detector (MAD)-equipped ... - 2009/11/18 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41461.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWThe Australian Defence Force (ADF) has released an update of its Network Centric Warfare (NCW) roadmap, showing progress but also some delays in a range of programmes aimed at ensuring the ADF is a fully networked force by 2030. The initial networked air combat force achieved IOC in 2008 as planned, but IOC for a networked combat support force has moved from 2011 to 2016 with FOC in 2018. In the joint force area, the IOC of a networked deployable joint task force headquarters has moved from ... - 2009/11/18 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41478.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWAs Alan Way, International Business Development Manager of Spirent Communications, explained in a recent UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) IP Security Seminar: "Today's network security needs a holistic approach in which endpoint or perimeter security could be potentially the weakest link. However well designed the defences, the very complexity of communications networks means they must be exhaustively tested against every known type of attack and also under a whole range of ... - 2009/11/18 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdin/history/jdin2009/jdin80112.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDINUS private equity firm JF Lehman & Company has agreed to sell guidance and navigation systems specialist Atlantic Inertial Systems to Goodrich Corporation for USD375 million, representing a USD235 million premium in comparison with the USD140 million JF Lehman paid for the former BAE Systems subsidiary in 2007. Atlantic will be integrated within Goodrich's Sensors and Integrated Systems business, within the Electronic Systems unit. Atlantic Inertial Systems comprised BAE Systems' Inertial ... - 2009/11/18 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41456.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWThe Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) has taken delivery of its third Cessna AC-208B Combat Caravan, Alliant Techsystems (ATK) announced on 16 November. ATK, which is responsible for converting the utility aircraft to the IQAF's military specifications, has now delivered 11 modified C-208 Grand Caravan aircraft to Iraq, including three Hellfire air-to-surface missile armed AC-20Bs. On 11 November, the US Air Force announced that an IQAF Combat Caravan had launched a Hellfire missile for the first time. - 2009/11/18 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdin/history/jdin2009/jdin80115.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDINFinmeccanica subsidiary DRS Technologies has won a USD14 million indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) award from the US Navy (USN) to provide a modernised integrated voice communications system (IVCS) for Aegis cruisers and destroyers. The deal includes options which, if exercised, could continue the work until 2014 and bring the cumulative value of the contract to a total value of USD59 million said DRS, in an announcement released on 16 November. This contract award was the result... - 2009/11/18 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdin/history/jdin2009/jdin80110.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDINEurofighter has signed a EUR600 million (USD892 million) contract with the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) to provide support for the Italian Air Force's (Aeronautica Militare Italiano - AMI) Typhoon fleet. The contract will support AMI technical and logistical support activities at Grosseto and Gioia del Colle airbases and at the 1st RMV (Reparto Manutenzione Velivoli) at Cameri, the air force's main logistics base. On 21 June the air wing obtained NATO's certification... - 2009/11/17 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdin/history/jdin2009/jdin80109.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDINLockheed Martin has reshuffled its Electronic Systems business unit and announced a series of new senior appointments. Operational changes include the move of the ground vehicle line of business (which includes the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle programme effort) from Systems Integration-Owego to the Missile and Fire Control business. Systems Integration-Owego covers systems integration and support; airborne electronics; training and simulation; material handling; processor design and ... - 2009/11/17 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/idr/history/idr2009/idr12612.htm@current&Prod_Name=IDRThe USMC's command, control, communications, computing and intelligence (C4I) capability is no exception. At present for the USMC, at the tactical level much of this is voice communications; data capability will come in due course. The SWAN programme has provided a significant increase in satcom capability to the USMC. - 2009/11/17 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41452.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWAt least one of the US Navy (USN) MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) currently undertaking anti-piracy patrols from the Seychelles has been equipped with a previously unseen equipment fit a 4 November 2009 US Africa Command (AFRICOM) photograph has revealed. The photographed UAV is also equipped with the AN/DAS-1 Multi-spectral Targeting System (MTS) - B electro-optical target detection, ranging and tracking turret and may have provision for an AN/APY-8 Lynx Block 20 ground moving ... - 2009/11/17 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41474.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWEurofighter has signed a EUR600 million (USD892 million) contract with the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) to provide support for the Typhoon fleet of the Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiano - AMI). The contract will support AMI technical and logistical support activities at the Grosseto and Gioia del Colle airbases and at the 1st RMV (Reparto Manutenzione Velivoli) at Cameri: the air force's main logistics base. On 21 June the air wing obtained NATO's ... - 2009/11/17 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41466.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWThe US Navy (USN) has awarded Boeing a USD275,000 study contract associated with its plans to operate the MagEagle Compressed Carriage (MECC) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from its P-8A Poseidon multirole maritime patrol aircraft, a company spokesperson told Jane's on 17 November. The contract will see Boeing undertake a study of the magnetic noise associated with the heavy-fuel propulsion system of the magnetic anomaly detector (MAD)-equipped MECC. Boeing will begin testing the MECC sensor ... - 2009/11/17 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdin80102.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWFrench aerospace and defence systems group Safran and United Arab Emirates (UAE) technology house Bayunda Aviation Technology (BAT) have signed accords creating two joint venture (JV) companies with an eye on the Middle East market. Snecbat Engine Technologies (a JV of Safran's propulsion subsidiary Snecma and BAT) and Sagembat Defence (a JV between Safran's defence and security unit Sagem and BAT) were signed into existence on 15 November by Snecma chief executive Philippe Petitcolin, Sagem ... - 2009/11/17 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/idr/history/idr2009/idr12610.htm@current&Prod_Name=IDRThis called for a full overhaul of the hull and machinery, together with the insertion of the AIP system hull plug (using the same Siemens PEM fuel cell technology already adopted for the Type 214 submarine) and a comprehensive combat system modernisation. As conceived, SUBTICS brought together DCNS and Thales' shared experience of French Navy submarine sonar, command and weapon-control systems - specifically the TSM 2233 sonar suite, TITAC tactical data system and LAT-NG weapon-control ... - 2009/11/17 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41465.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWThe first conventional variant of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) to be 'optimised' with an improved structure and aerodynamics has made its inaugural flight, the company announced on 16 November. The aircraft, known as the AF-1, is the second conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) fighter to roll off the F-35 production line. During the test-flight on 14 November, the optimised AF-1 took off from Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth production facility in Texas and... - 2009/11/17 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdin/history/jdin2009/jdin80108.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDINSaab has signed an SEK1.5 billion (USD220 million) contract with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to supply two Saab 340 airborne early warning systems, it was announced on 17 November. The accord covers the provision of Saab 340 aircraft equipped with the Erieye radar system. "We've been conducting discussions with the UAE for several years concerning an airborne surveillance system," Saab President and Chief Executive Officer Ake Svensson added. - 2009/11/17 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/idr/history/idr2009/idr12633.htm@current&Prod_Name=IDRAgustaWestland's AW159 Lynx Wildcat (formerly Future Lynx) helicopter took to the air for the first time at the company's Yeovilton facility in southern England on 12 November. The British Army, which will operate 34 Battlefield Reconnaissance Helicopter (BRH)-variant Lynx Wildcats, will, in addition to battlefield reconnaissance, use the aircraft for command-and-control, transportation of troops and light stores, special forces fire control, to offer force protection and military aid to ... - 2009/11/17 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41451.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWThe AgustaWestland AW149 multirole utility helicopter made its maiden flight on 13 November, the company has announced. According to the company, the first prototype is fully representative of the AW149's final configuration with respect to the airframe and avionics, while the second prototype will fly in the final configuration incorporating two 1,490 kW (2,000 shp) GE CT7-2E1 turbines with Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) and a new transmission system. The AW149 will be capable... - 2009/11/16 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdin/history/jdin2009/jdin80102.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDINFrench aerospace and defence systems group Safran and United Arab Emirates (UAE) technology house Bayunda Aviation Technology (BAT) have signed accords creating two joint venture (JV) companies with an eye on the Middle East market. Snecbat Engine Technologies (a JV of Safran's propulsion subsidiary Snecma and BAT) and Sagembat Defence (a JV between Safran's defence and security unit Sagem and BAT) were signed into existence on 15 November by Snecma chief executive Philippe Petitcolin, Sagem ... - 2009/11/16 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2009/jdw41454.htm@current&Prod_Name=JDWA Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) Panavia Tornado IDS strike aircraft crashed on 15 November, according to local media reports. The RSAF has been involved in a comprehensive upgrade of its ground attack Tornado fleet known as the Tornado Sustainment Programme (TSP). RSAF Tornado TSP aircraft have been seen operating from BAE Systems' Warton site in the UK carrying test versions of the Storm Shadow long-range cruise missile and Brimstone anti-armour weapon, as well as the Air-Launched ... - 2009/11/16 00:00:00http://www8.janes.com/JDIC/JDET/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/mags/idr/history/idr2009/idr12635.htm@current&Prod_Name=IDRUK forces operating in Afghanistan are set to receive a 'top-up' of 1,300 extra Javelin missiles in an undisclosed contract with the Javelin Joint Venture. Javelin has proven popular with UK and US forces in Afghanistan since 2001, with over 2,000 missiles fired on operations. Javelin's Command Launch Unit (CLU) has also been extensively used for 24-hour surveillance and target acquisition (STA) missions by troops, who are then capable of identifying enemy targets with its thermal-imaging ... - 2009/11/16 00:00:00