Indian Navy launches ‘Operation Samudra Setu’ to bring stranded citizens home from Maldives
- Ships INS Jalashwa & INS Magar are enroute to Maldives to commence Phase 1 of evacuation operations which will begin from 8th May 2020.
- INS Jalashwa which is the bigger ship will reach Male on May 8 and INS Magar will reach on May 10. The evacuated personnel will be disembarked at Kochi, Kerala and entrusted to the care of State authorities.
Gen. M. M. Naravane visits Eastern Command’s Military Stations
- Gen MM Naravane visited Binnaguri, Sukna & Panagarh Military Stations on 04-05 May 2020. He reviewed the operational readiness and visited the COVID-19 facilities set up by the Indian Army.
Boeing Unveils First AI Drone “Loyal Wingman” Designed for Australian Air Force
- These are meant to provide fighter-like performance with the capacity to fly more than 2,000 nautical miles.
- The prototype unveiled today will now begin ground testing, with taxi tests and flight tests due later this year.
- The aircraft serves as the foundation for the Boeing Airpower Teaming System, or ATS, which is being developed for the global defense market.
Japanese military to buy additional twenty-first-century tank destroyers
- What are these? – Type 16 Mobile Combat Systems, also known as a Japanese twenty-first-century tank destroyers.
- Designed for light to medium territorial defense and tactical reconnaissance, the main role of this vehicle is to provide direct fire support for infantry units.
- Cost: $2.2 billion (¥23.7billion) for all of these.
- The Maneuver Combat Vehicle (MCV) is intended to help re-equip existing divisions and brigades reorganised into mobile (rapid reaction) divisions/brigades, as well as equip new dedicated rapid reaction regiments alongside (eventually) the Light-weight Combat Vehicle System which was also designed with defense of the outer islands in mind.
- Type 16 is armed with a 105 mm rifled gun. It is compatible with standard NATO 105 mm ammunition.
U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers conduct training in East China Sea
- A 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron B-1B Lancer lands at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, May 4, 2020, after completing a training mission in the East China Sea.
- The squadron is deployed to Guam for a Bomber Task Force deployment. BTFs support the National Defense Strategy objective of being strategically predictable and operationally unpredictable.
- According to the Air Force the bombers “were deployed to support Pacific Air Forces’ (PACAF) training efforts with allies, partners and joint forces; and strategic deterrence missions to reinforce the rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region”.
- The last time the B-1s were deployed to the region was in 2017. Bombers from the 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron supported missions from Andersen AFB, conducting multiple sequenced bilateral missions with the Republic of Korea Air Force and the Japan Air Self Defense Force.
- The B-1 can carry the largest conventional payload of both guided and unguided weapons in the U.S. Air Force.
German Army will receive new ground robots for explosive landmines detection
- The Route Clearance System, or RCSys for short, is a state-of-the-art system for detecting mines and improvised explosive devices.
- Under the contract, Rheinmetall will convert five Fuchs / Fox 1A8 wheeled armored transport vehicles into Operator Team vehicles and convert four Wiesel / Weasel 1 aircraft carriers to tracked detection platforms.
U.S. Army to integrate power cables into a tactical vest
- This new flexible cable is up to 50 percent lighter than the legacy version.
- (C5ISR) Center partnered with the CCDC Soldier Center to investigate integrated power solutions in support of programs across the Army which include Nett Warrior, Next-Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) and Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS).
U.S. Army UH-72 Lakota helicopters will assist in transporting COVID-19 tests
- 135th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment said that two UH-72 Lakota helicopters landed at the Iowa National Guard Readiness Center in Iowa City to train soldiers to support the 209th Medical Company in transporting COVID-19 tests to State Hygiene Laboratory in Coralville.
China’s New Stealth Bomber Expected to Make First Public Appearance Before End of Year
- According to an unnamed source in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), China’s new H-20 stealth bomber will likely make its first public appearance at the Zhuhai Air Show in November, assuming the event isn’t cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
