Middle-East Aviation News

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• July 2022: An agreement to establish a new joint venture to produce helicopter engines was signed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Safran Helicopter Engines.
• April 2022: HAL signed an agreement with Nigerian Army for Phase II Chetak Helicopter Training.
• April 2022: To transform Civil (Passenger) aircraft into Multi-Mission Tanker Transport (MMTT) aircraft in India, HAL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding.

• August 2022: The first Challenger 3500 Business Jet based in Europe has been firm ordered by Bombardier for use in charter operations with Air Corporate SRL.
• July 2022: The Kodiak 900 is launched by Daher.
• July 2022: Oyonnair, a French operator, orders a new Avanti Evo from Piaggio Aerospace.

• In October 2022, Jet2, a British airline, ordered 35 new A320neo family aircraft and retained an option to purchase an additional 36 aircraft. The deliveries will take place in 2031, and the approximate value of the contract is USD 3.9 billion. If the option for additional aircraft is exercised, the total value of the contract is expected to rise to USD 8 billion.
• In July 2022, the US State Department announced the foreign military sales (FMS) approval for up to 35 F-35A aircraft to Germany. The newly procured F-35 fighter jets are likely to replace its aging Tornado. Under the contract, Germany is expected to receive 35 F-35A aircraft, munitions, and related equipment for nuclear deterrence missions. The total value of the contract was USD 8.4 billion.

October 2022: Alaska Airlines placed an order for 52 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft with a plan to expand its fleet. The airline stated that by the end of 2023 it is expected to have an all-Boeing mainline fleet.

September 2022: Lockheed Martin announced that it has been awarded a firm-fixed contract by the US Navy to produce 12 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for the Royal Australian Navy. The OEM plans to deliver these 12 helicopters between mid-2025 and mid-2026.

• November 2023: Northrop Grumman Corporation successfully completed Thermal Vacuum tests on the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM), a two-satellite constellation designed to deliver broadband communications to the Northern polar region for the US Space Force and Space Norway.
• February 2023: The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency awarded Maxar Technologies a five-year contract worth USD 192 million to provide commercial satellite imagery to US allies. Maxar will also provide three-dimensional data services to the allies.

• September 2022: BSF launched a tear gas shell-dropping drone system that will be useful for security forces to control protesters and rioters. It can be used for launching shells from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
• June 2022: The Iranian police added nearly USD 10 million worth of anti-riot equipment to law enforcement agencies due to the growing wave of protests across the country. The deputy commander of the Iranian police stated that the new equipment would help security forces to better execute the mission and strengthen the security of the country.

In November 2022, SpaceX launched EUTELSAT HOTBIRD 13G satellite into Geostationary Transfer Orbit.

In March 2022, NASA announced that its first crewed landing of the Artemis program was delayed to 2026 due to the time needed to develop and test the human landing system and NASA's next-generation spacesuits.

• June 2022: Excelitas Technologies® Corp., a leading industrial technology manufacturer focusing on innovative photonic solutions, showcased its latest thermal imaging and camera technologies for military applications at the Close Combat Symposium. The exhibited DRAGON-S12 Non-Cooled Thermal Attachment Sniper Sight featured a 60Hz uncooled thermal sensor coupled with a near-silent aperture, providing exceptional sensitivity and uniformity. The PHOENIX-S product, designed for demanding ground-based sniper missions, demonstrated field-proven capabilities for early detection, recognition, and identification of targets at longer ranges, even in extremely poor light conditions. Its attachment configuration enables easy integration into a variety of firearm systems and optical riflescopes with a magnification of up to 25x.
• May 2022: Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) secured a contract to supply its MiniPOP electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) systems for the Philippine Navy's patrol vessels. As per company specifications and Janes C4ISR & Mission Systems: Air, the MiniPOP is an EO/IR system that can integrate four sensors into a single optical payload. It features a gyrostabilized single line-replaceable unit (LRU) housing a medium-wave infrared (MWIR) thermal imager with an XBn detector, a high-definition complementary metal oxide semiconductor (HD-CMOS) day color camera with continuous zoom, a laser rangefinder, and an IR laser pointer.

In April 2023, Russia deployed four Marker Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) to support its war efforts in Ukraine. The Marker is a three-ton, five-wheel UGV with a modular system that can mount heavy machine guns, anti-tank missiles, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) launch modules, grenade launchers, jammers, or other weapons. It is an anti-tank robotic UGV developed by Androidnaya Tekhnika, a robotics company based in Russia, to provide reconnaissance and destroy enemy targets.

In March 2023, the United Kingdom tested three heavy uncrewed ground vehicles (H-UGV) weighing over five tons to evaluate speed, terrain, and communication system capabilities. The newly tested ROBUST UGV was developed by Elbit Systems and launched at the Eurosatory Defense and Security Exhibition in June 2022. It was created with the Israel Ministry of Defense Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D). The UGV hosts a 30 mm autonomous turret and features the company's Iron Fist Active Protection System, fire control, and mission management systems.

• In April 2022, Airpro announced an investment of EUR 4 million to procure four Elephant e-BETA de-icers from Vestergaard Company. The equipment is expected to be delivered by winter 2022 and will be operated at Helsinki Airport. The company is expected to become the first ground handling company in Finland to deploy electric de-icing services following the delivery.
• In March 2022, Lufthansa LEOS, the ground handling subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, announced that the company became the launch customer of the all-electric towbarless aircraft tractor Phoenix E manufactured by Goldhofer. The new vehicle is battery-powered and can carry a weight of up to 352 metric tons.