Hanwha Aerospace and GA-ASI join forces to co-develop UAVs
The $510 million partnership will see Hanwha invest to co-develop and manufacture the Gray Eagle STOL, with a maiden flight test expected by 2027.
An EC-37B Compass Call arrives at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona on 17 August 2022. Compass Call suppresses air defences by preventing the transmission of essential information between adversaries, their weapon systems and control networks. (Photo: USAF/Airman 1st Class Vaughn Weber)
The first upgraded Baseline 3 Compass Call airborne standoff EW jamming system aboard USAF EC-37B aircraft will include ‘key components’ from BAE Systems, the company announced on 21 September.
BAE Systems stated that it has delivered final Baseline 3 hardware in preparation for initial flight tests in January 2023.
Baseline 3 offers additional EW capabilities and BAE Systems expects it to be fielded on an interim basis from mid-2024 while work continues on the Baseline 4 configuration.
The EC-37B is a new platform for Compass Call, as BAE Systems has provided the system for USAF EC-130H aircraft since 1981.
The EC-37B is based on the Gulfstream G550 commercial business jet. The EC-37B programme began in FY2017 with an estimated procurement cost of $1.45 billion for ten aircraft, according to Shephard Defence Insight.
There are 13 EC-130H aircraft in USAF service with an expected retirement date of 2025.
The $510 million partnership will see Hanwha invest to co-develop and manufacture the Gray Eagle STOL, with a maiden flight test expected by 2027.
The country was reportedly “months” away from an official aircraft selection, as of mid-March 2025.
The ongoing study was first announced by Embraer in late 2024 with the Brazilian Air Force, with this latest addition announced during the LAAD defence and security exhibition.
The potential sale, approved by the US to the Philippines, is for 20 F-16 Block 70/72 jets, days after US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth visited the country.
The acquisition of four C-390 aircraft follows the country’s signing of an MoU in 2023 and formal selection in 2024. It will join the existing contract held by the Netherlands and Austria.
The counter-UAS prototype, named Low-cost Air Defence or ‘LOAD’, will be used to combat kamikaze UAS.