During a visit to the Dassault Aviation plant in Seclin, in northern France, the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, today announced the upcoming notification of the contract for the "Albatros" Maritime Surveillance and Intervention Aircraft (AVSIMAR) program, which will be based on the Dassault Aviation Falcon 2000LXS.
 

PARIS --- As part of last week’s awarding of the Phase 1A Demonstrators contract for the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), Airbus and Thales have signed an agreement for the development of the Air Combat Cloud which will enable the FCAS system of systems. 
 

Leonardo has revealed that two King Air 350ERs, equipped as Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA), have gone into service with an African Navy following their delivery by the Company, which acted as prime contractor and systems integrator for the aircraft. The MPAs, equipped with Leonardo’s ATOS mission system and full complement of sensors including its Seaspray E-scan surveillance radar, will be used for a range of missions including search and rescue, littoral security and the monitoring of illegal migration, fishing and pollution.

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio --- The Air Force Research Laboratory, along with partner Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., completed the successful fourth flight test of the XQ-58A Valkyrie low-cost unmanned air vehicle demonstrator Jan. 23, 2020, at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. 
 

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) announced today that it has been awarded a General Services Administration One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) task order to provide Persistent Multi-Role Operations (PMRO) support to the U.S. Air Force-Europe (USAFE) by the Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM). This task order will provide Contractor Owned-Contractor Operated (COCO) manned and unmanned airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) in support of Air Force requirements in the European and African theaters of operation. The task order has a base period of one year with four option years and a potential value of $954 million.

Leonardo has announced the maiden flight of its new Falco Xplorer drone aircraft. Falco Xplorer S/N0001 took off from Trapani Air Force base on January 15, cruised over the Gulf of Trapani in a dedicated fly zone, for around 60 minutes and then returned to base, landing safely. The maiden flight is a significant milestone which has been achieved through technical and engineering support, at the test flight planning stages and with other related activities, by the Italian Air Force Test Flight Centre. The Remotely-Piloted Air System (RPAS), which combines endurance of over 24h with a max payload of 350kg, will now embark on a series of flight campaigns which will assess the aircraft’s full range of capabilities including its integrated sensor system. These campaigns will also certify the Falco Xplorer against NATO’s airworthiness STANAG 4671, dramatically expanding the territory over which it can operate.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the arrival of two Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) remotely piloted aircraft at a ceremony in Sigonella, Italy on Friday (17 January 2020). 
 

On 30 December 2019, the French Armament General Directorate (DGA) awarded Thales and Dassault Aviation the contract to equip the French Army's future strategic intelligence aircraft with the CUGE universal electronic warfare capability. The contract covers the first two aircraft on the programme. CUGE will ultimately be deployed by three Falcon X aircraft, built by Dassault Aviation, to replace the two Transall C-160 Gabriel aircraft in service with the French Air Force from 2025.