Author: Defenceline Webdesk

COLORADO SPRINGS — Lockheed Martin’s new contract worth up to $105 million for modernizing the ground control system for Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites covers not just the birds on orbit today, but also early operations for the future GPS IIIF variants, according to a company announcement Thursday. “The new contract expands on a decade of work under the Space Force’s Architecture Evolution Plan, during which Lockheed Martin has steadily modernized the GPS ground segment. Under the agreement, the company will support launch, early orbit, and disposal operations for GPS IIIF space vehicles,” the announcement elaborated. The contract, awarded April 8, comes…

NASHVILLE—The Army’s next-generation spy plane will begin flight tests this summer, then be delivered to the first units later this year—two years after the Army awarded Sierra Nevada Corporation $1 billion to turn its Bombarder 6500 business jet into an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platform that will replace the Army’s legacy turboprop fleet.The service wants to combine the inherent range of the High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System—HADES for short—with launched effects, Andrew Evans, the director of strategy and transformation in the Army’s headquarters intelligence office, told reporters Friday at the Army Aviation Warfighting Summit. A year ago, he said he…

India has taken a decisive step towards building a domestic semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem with the approval of a special economic zone (SEZ) for TATA Semiconductor Manufacturing Private Ltd. The commerce ministry confirmed that TATA plans to invest approximately ₹91,000 crore in the project, which will be spread across 66.16 hectares and is expected to generate around 21,000 jobs. This development follows reforms introduced in June 2025 that reduced the minimum contiguous land requirement for SEZs in the semiconductor and electronics components sector from 50 hectares to 10 hectares. The policy change was designed to accelerate investments in chip manufacturing, a…

Dunford, et al., RCD America and China are racing for technological supremacy, and the margin is razor thin. Today, tech supremacy is increasingly synonymous with artificial intelligence… Source link

NASHVILLE — The Army wants companies to “burden share” costs when it comes to testing and development of programs, a senior aviation leader said. The comments come days after General Electric Aerospace’s statement that the company would need more money to wrap up qualification testing for the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) in the next 12-18 months. “I’ll say this in general about programs out there, the Army wants to burden share with the developers, right? It shouldn’t be the Army always putting all the upfront money,” Maj. Gen. Clair Gill, program acquisition executive for Maneuver Air, told reporters Thursday…

Cyberattacks against critical infrastructure from groups sympathetic to Iran appear to be ticking up, as the federal government warns that hackers may exploit vulnerabilities.Last week, pro-Iranian hacking group Ababil of Minab claimed responsibility for a March hack on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, publishing claims on Telegram that they said showed them accessing LA Metro’s internal systems. The transit agency shut down access to some of its network after its security team found unauthorized activity, although officials said bus and rail service was unaffected.The group’s claims may be false. It is an “emerging” group “with a limited public profile and…

The inter-stages of Vikram-1 are far more than simple connectors between rocket stages. Within their carbon composite structures lie flight computers, navigation sensors, power systems, stage-separation mechanisms, and retro motors, all engineered to operate with exacting precision.These retro motors are timed to fire within milliseconds of stage separation events, ensuring flawless transitions during ascent.At the very top of the vehicle sits the Orbital Adjustment Module (OAM). This module carries the responsibility for the final and most precise act of the mission: placing each satellite into its exact orbit. Its role is critical, as orbital accuracy determines the success of the…

The WarZone The Army and Bell have pointed to the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray drone tanker as an example of what could be on the horizon. Source link

NASHVILLE — The Army is weighing the possibility of creating a requirement to provide air refueling to the service’s Bell-made Cheyenne II MV-75 tiltrotor fleet, a senior Army aviation official said.  Maj. Gen. Clair Gill, program acquisition executive for Maneuver Air, said Thursday that the Army is exploring the option of adding a refueling kit similar to ones designed for a different variant of the MV-75. “We’re also thinking creatively about if we put aerial refueling, which you’re gonna see on the SOCOM variants, if we put that on a conventional variant, then how do we refuel it?” Gill said…

NASHVILLE—When Army leaders talk about their new tiltrotor platform, the first thing they tout are its speed, range and load capacity, all eclipsing the UH-60 Black Hawk whose missions it’s destined to take over. But bringing the MV-75 Cheyenne II online will also force changes upon the service’s aviation community—including, perhaps, an entirely new aircraft just to refuel it.“Certainly, you’re not going to be able to take a conventional rotorcraft with an MV-75, but a fixed-wing can go with an MV-75,” Maj. Gen. Clair Gill, who leads the Army Aviation Center of Excellence, told reporters Thursday at the Army Aviation Warfighter…