DID - USAF Tests WC-130J With New Satellite Capabilities | Israel Deploys New Aerostat | Loyal Wingman Engaged Landing Gear For 1st Time

Americas

Mint Turbines won an $11.4 million deal for the T-53 depot-level engine maintenance, which provides for maintenance, repair and overhaul repairs of the T-53 engine. The T53 powered the Bell UH-1 Iroquois (Huey) and AH-1 HueyCobra helicoptersWork will take place in Oklahoma. Expected completion date is November 30, 2031.

The US Air Force’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Hurricane Hunters are testing WC-130J aircraft – designed to provide data vital to tropical cyclone forecasting – equipped with new satellite communications capabilities. Hurricane Hunters are stationed at Keesler Air Force Base. As one of their WC-130J Super Hercules powers through a hurricane, a loadmaster is in the back, preparing and launching dropsondes (weather device dropped from an aircraft at altitude over water to measure and track storm conditions as the device falls to the surface) that collect atmospheric data.

Middle East & Africa

SIBAT, the International Defense Cooperation Directorate at Israel’s Ministry of Defense (IMOD), has agreed to develop a land surveillance system for Cyprus. The agreement was signed when Director of SIBAT Brigadier General (Res.) Yair Kulas visited Cyprus on Thursday. The two parties discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in the field of defense and security.

Israel is deploying a new aerostat for the first time this week, as it moves closer to having a new missile sensor capability. Developed jointly by Israel’s Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) and the American Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the aerostat is known formally as the High Availability Aerostat System (HAAS) and is, essentially, a blimp tethered to the ground with a long-range radar developed almost entirely from annual Foreign Military Financing funds provided to Israel from the US.

Europe

The Israeli Ministry of Defense announced that it and its German counterpart had completed the first series of live firing tests in Germany of the Trophy active defense system integrated into a Leopard 2 main battle tank (MBT). The tests, conducted in co-operation with Rafael and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, demonstrated the integration of Trophy into the Leopard 2, with a threat interception success rate of over 90%, according to the Israeli MoD.

Asia-Pacific

Boeing Australia said one of the two Loyal Wingman aircraft (Airpower Teaming System) taking part in separate flight missions at the Woomera Range Complex recently engaged its landing gear for the first time. The flight tests of aircraft one included the first time the landing gear was raised and engaged, Boeing announced today. RUAG Australia supplied the landing gear systems to the aircraft, and BAE Systems Australia was integral in the design, supply and support of the flight control and navigation systems tested as part of the flights.

Today’s Video

Watch: Hurricane Hunters 2020: ‘World’s Most Powerful Meteorologist’, The WC-130J Collects Critical Dat

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