DID - Canada’s CH-148 Fleet Nearly Completely Grounded | Italy And Austria Enter G2G Deal For AW169s | IN Launches “Sandhayak”

Americas

Cracks have been found on the tails of Canada’s CH-148 fleet, the problem affects 19 out of the 23 helicopters. The issue surfaced on November 26 when one of the helicopter underwent scheduled maintenance and the cracks were discovered. Subsequent checks on three more rotorcraft also found cracks on those aircraft. So far only two were unaffected and two more are yet to be inspected.

Segers Aero won a $9.6 million contract action for the establishment of the T-56 Engine and Quick Engine Change Intermediate Level Maintenance Facility. The deal provides for training for the maintenance, repair and overhaul repairs of the T-56 engine. Work will take place Alabama and the Philippines. Estimated completion date is December 31, 2026.

Middle East & Africa

UK Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoons from 12 Squadron arrived in Qatar for their joint Exercise Fox Defender. Pilots and engineers from both nations will fly and maintain the Typhoon throughout the exercise. The pilots will be challenged to a range of air to air and ground to air training serials to further enhance interoperability with the Qatar Emiri Air Force, RAF said in a statement.

Europe

Italy and Austria have entered into a government-to-government agreement for the sale and procurement of 18 Leonardo AW169 multirole helicopters for the Austrian Bundesheer. Inked on December 2 at the Italian Ministry of Defense in Rome between Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini and Austrian Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner, the implementation phase of the agreement paves the way for a formal contractual agreement by 20 December and acquisition signature in mid-January 2022. Austria has earmarked between $340 million and $451 million for the programme.

Asia-Pacific

An H-6J bomber of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy participated in a live-fire exercise in the South China Sea. It practiced bomb dropping on islands and sea mine-laying. This type of aircraft was officially revealed by China’s Defense Ministry only last year. Affiliated with the Naval Aviation Force under the PLA Southern Theater Command, a regiment based in South China’s Hainan Province reportedly organized a drill involving the actual use of high-explosive aerial bombs and sea bottom mines.

Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) launched ‘Sandhayak’, the first of the four Survey Vessels (Large) project being built for the Indian Navy, in Kolkata. The contract for building four survey ships was signed between MoD and GRSE in October 2018 at a total cost of INR 2435 Crore (around $300 million).

Today’s Video

Watch: First AW169 Training Helicopter for Italian Army

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