Tag: Airbus

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) came to prominence with its declaration of a worldwide caliphate in June 2014. Soon after, it occupied significant tracts of land in Iraq and Syria while performing acts of political violence beyond the Middle East. By the...

Generally associated with soldier modernisation and future technology programmes, efforts to reduce the burden on Dismounted Close Combat (DCC) personnel continue to proliferate globally, with a number of companies and armed forces engaged in such efforts. That said, while reducing the burden on DCC personnel...

The decision to discard the Airbus Helicopters/Eurocopter EC-665 Tiger-ARH (Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter) gunship announced in the Australian government’s Defence White Paper this February has left questions about the future of rotary attack in the country’s arsenal. The EC-665ARH attack helicopter programme can be seen as...

Satellite Communications or ‘SATCOM’ is nothing short of a communications miracle, offering high bandwidths over long ranges. Unsurprisingly, militaries around the world want this capability on their platforms, particularly their vehicles. The benefits afforded to military operations by SATCOM are well documented: They include the...

Airbus announced the delivery of the final two AS565 MBe Panther helicopters to the Mexican Navy on 6 December 2017. These are the last of an order for ten of the helicopters placed in 2014, with four AS565s previously delivered in 2016 and six...

Operation INHERENT RESOLVE (OIR), the ongoing US-led military operation against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) insurgent group which has occupied significant parts of both countries, has highlighted the lack of air-to-air refuelling capabilities among the participants. OIR commenced in June 2014 and...

Protecting aircraft from Radio Frequency (RF) and infrared threats remains paramount for air forces around the world, as illustrated by the high levels of activity in this regard which has occurred in this domain over the previous year.   Traditionally, several nations in the Asia-Pacific...

Helicopter armour that protects aircrew members and passengers from small arms fire is a proven requirement driven by recent, and ongoing, conflicts in the Iraq/Syria and central Asian theatres, meanwhile the drive towards lighter armour will continue. Armouring helicopters, more properly defined as adding ballistic...

Airbus’ A400M Atlas strategic turboprop freighter is a new aircraft at the forefront of developments in new technology for a large transport aircraft. It is designed to carry up to 37 tons of equipment and carry out all airlift-related missions, including inter and intra-theatre...

The radio portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is becoming an increasingly crowded place, with civilian and military communications, and radar, all increasingly squeezing available bandwidth globally. The radio spectrum spans a waveband of three hertz to three terahertz. This may sound like a lot, but...