LOCATIONS
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20 Feb 15. The Honourable Anthony Roberts MP, representing the Premier of New South Wales and Consul General Hugo Llorens, representing the U.S. Ambassador to Australia, joined Rockwell Collins executives on Friday to celebrate the expansion of the company’s Sydney facility where F-35 Lightning II Distributed Aperture System (DAS) optical assemblies will be manufactured. In 2014, Rockwell Collins signed a long-term agreement with Northrop Grumman Corporation to produce optical assemblies in Australia for the DAS on the Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft. The DAS is a multifunction infrared system that provides passive, spherical battlespace awareness for F-35 pilots by simultaneously detecting and tracking aircraft and missiles in every direction, as well as providing visual imagery for day/night navigation. DAS imagery projected onto the pilot’s helmet-mounted display provides the capability to, in effect, look virtually at terrain and the rest of the outside world, through the floor and wings of the aircraft. The DAS works in conjunction with the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-81 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and other onboard systems to give pilots an unprecedented degree of situational awareness.
19 Feb 15. Building on a decade of cooperation in Poland, Airbus Helicopters expanded its in-country presence by opening an engineering design office at Lódz, which will employ approximately 100 engineers. This new Airbus Helicopters Polska facility is to be assigned a wide variety of mechanical design activities, with a focus on future breakthrough technologies in such areas as rotorcraft drive systems and equipment. Design work in the office will cover military and commercial helicopters, new-design platforms, and modernization of existing rotorcraft types.
19 Feb 15. The East of England will receive a further boost as the hub for the UK’s future combat aircraft fleet, with hundreds of millions of pounds invested to help prepare for the arrival of the UK’s first F-35B Lightning II front-line fighter jet squadron. More than £300m will be invested at RAF Marham, funding extensive work on infrastructure and facilities which will begin by the end of the year. This will create up to 1000 new additional jobs directly in the construction phase and a further 700 in the supply chain. The East of England will also become the heart of US European Joint Strike Fighter operations. Alongside the UK F-35s based at RAF Marham, RAF Lakenheath on the Norfolk-Suffolk will become home to the first two US F-35 squadrons in Europe, with the first aircraft due to arrive in 2020. The move means that for the first time in decades the US Air Force and the RAF will operate the same type of aircraft from the UK. This highlights the strength of our shared commitment to transatlantic security and paves the way for the next generation of continued close collaboration between our respective forces. (Source: U.K. MoD)
15 Feb 15. DCI opened of a brand new helicopter international training centre (H-CIF) registered in Dax and located within the French military pilot training centres (Dax and Luc-en-Provence). The H-ITC courses are taught in English or in French and jointly with the French Army Aviation (ALAT) and Helidax. This new training centre is meeting a fast growing demand from friendly countries regarding pilot training, from initial level up to complex mission management. These trainings are performed on the Helidax 36 EC120 equipped with modern features such as Glass Cockpit or on military aircrafts, when appropriate. During his training and stay in France, each trainee benefits from a customised support provided by DCI and covering accommodation, food and transport
MARITIME
15 Feb 15. Taiwan set to put new ship types into service. Key Points:
* The RoCN is expected to put a new missile corvette and fast combat support ship into service next month
* Reports of the corvette, a catamaran design, having seaw