The US Air Force’s KC-46 Tanker programme has reached a significant milestone, with the first test flight conducted from Paine Field, Washington, on 28 December.
The three hour and 32 minute flight was conducted by Boeing and the US Air Force, and declared a success by Boeing. The aircraft will receive its military systems following certification.
Boeing was awarded a contract in 2011 to design and develop the US Air Force's next-generation tanker aircraft. Boeing is building four test aircraft – two 767-2Cs and two KC-46A Tankers. The 767-2Cs will enter flight test as commercial freighters prior to receiving their aerial refuelling systems, while the KC-46s will fly as fully equipped tankers through the FAA and military certification process.
The contract will see Boeing deliver the first 18 of 179 KC-46 aircraft to the US Air Force by 2017.
The airborne three-domain, the two ground-based and the ¼ ATR OpenVPX-based cross-domain systems were engineered to provide real-time security across multi-domain operations.
DARPA’s Mission-Integrated Network Control (MINC) programme was set up to develop an autonomous tactical network and enable critical data flow in contested environments.
Why space is an essential part of modern military capabilities
Defence-secure mixed reality headsets can save hours, or even weeks, of travel time to fix defunct equipment or get subject experts effectively “on-site” where they are needed.
The Joint Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare (JCREW) counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) and Drone Restricted Access Using Known Electromagnetic Warfare (DRAKE) counter-UAS (CUAS) systems are mounted and dismounted RF jammers.
Adarga’s Vantage information analysis tool is in service with the UK MoD and individual UK forces. It builds on the company’s Knowledge Platform which processes, organises and analyses open source material, as well as information held by the user’s military, security and intelligence services.
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