Josef Campion

‘Tailored’ F-35 variant contract announced for mystery customer

A contract by the US DOD recently revealed that Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $49m contract to design and develop a tailored variant of the F-35 Lightning II for an unspecified Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customer

Netherlands reaches IOC with F-35

The Netherlands Ministry of Defence and Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) declared initial operational capability (IOC) for its F-35A fleet on December 27

Romania confirms the intention of purchasing Norway’s F-16s

Via a letter signed by the Romanian parliament on December 20, the acquisition of 32 ex Norwegian F-16 Fighting Falcons was approved

SAAB and FMV sign contract for Gripen E Equipment

A contract has been signed between Saab and the Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV) regarding new equipment for the Gripen E

MacDill AFB titled preferred location for next KC-46A Pegasus base

The US Department of the Air Force selected MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, for the preferred location to host the next active-duty KC-46A Pegasus unit on December 21

US DOD shows interest in 36 more TH-73A helicopters

The US Department of Defense has announced the award of a $159m firm-fixed price modification to AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corp

UK announce plans to develop joint future fighter engine demonstrator with Japan

The UK and Japan have announced plans to develop a future fighter aircraft engine demonstrator, and sign a memorandum of cooperation to enable future development between the two nations

USMC complete testing for next-gen air-to-ground missile

The USMC recently completed joint air-to-ground missile (JAGM) testing on the AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida

F-35A officially wins Finland’s HX programme

On December 10 the government of Finland authorised the Finnish Defence Forces to sign a procurement contract for 64 F-35A Block 4 multi-role fighters with the US Government

Belgium replaces Italy in Estonia for NATO Air Policing

Italy handed the Baltic Air Policing (BAP) baton at the start of December to Belgium, after a record-breaking detachment period