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11 Jul 24. US F-35 jet deliveries to resume soon with truncated software upgrade. Deliveries of F-35 jets to the U.S. military are set to resume shortly without the complete TR-3 software upgrade, the head of the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) said on Thursday.
The delays in delivery to the Pentagon were linked to the lingering issue on the TR-3 tech refresh, which refers to a series of software and hardware improvements to the F-35 giving the jets better displays, computer memory and processing power.
The decision to move forward without complete implementation of the TR-3 software was made in coordination with the various stakeholders, according to the JPO.
“We made the decision to move forward with the truncation plan for TR-3 software,” said Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, program executive officer at the F-35 Joint Program Office.
Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), opens new tab, the aircraft’s manufacturer, was left with F-35 jets in its inventory as a result of the delays. The advanced fighter jet contributes 27% of the company’s sales.
Despite the resumption of deliveries, the Pentagon will continue to withhold some – if not all – of the final payment for each jet, a person familiar with the agreement said.
About $7 m of the final payment for each jet has been withheld to date, but the source did not say how much may be withheld when deliveries resumed.
Lockheed said the delivery of the first jets with the TR-3 update was an important milestone, but did not respond to a request for comment on the payment details.
During an earnings call in April, Lockheed CEO Jim Taiclet had said that delivery of the first TR-3 combat training-capable aircraft was expected in the third quarter, with a full transition to combat-capable aircraft expected by 2025. (Source: Reuters)
08 Jul 24. Discussions About Ukraine’s Defense Loom Large During NATO Summit. President Joe Biden is hosting leaders from 38 countries in Washington this week for a summit that marks the 75th anniversary of the NATO alliance.
White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said today there will be a meeting of the NATO Ukraine Council on Thursday, after which Biden will host an event with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and nearly two dozen allies and partners, including the United States, who have security agreements with Ukraine.
Since the passage of the supplemental military assistance package in April, Biden has authorized a total of seven security packages to help Ukraine, including five drawdowns of munitions and equipment.
Since those packages were delivered, the situation on the ground has stabilized, Kirby said.
Ukrainian forces have successfully stopped Russia’s attack north of Kharkiv, denying Russia the ability to take that city and limiting Russian gains to areas just across the border, and elsewhere, he said, including in Zaporizhzhia.
“Throughout these last three months, the Russians have attacked relentlessly across all … fronts, and the price that they have paid for the few meters that they have gained here and there has been extensive: heavy casualties, destroyed equipment, disrupted supply lines, degraded morale. The people of Ukraine have, yet again, demonstrated that when supplied and when supported by the international community and the United States,” they can hold off the largest army in Europe, he said.
Russia continues to bombard frontline towns with massive and low-accuracy glide bombs and missiles, harming civilians, he said.
The United States and several of its allies will have several big announcements at this week’s summit regarding strengthening their military and political partnerships with Ukraine, he said. (Source: U.S. DoD)
09 Jul 24. Security review of foreign land purchases underscores rising hostility to foreign investment. On 8 July, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) announced a major expansion of its security review authority over real estate purchases by foreign entities near US military bases. A total of 56 facilities across 30 states are now under review. CFIUS also proposed expanding its jurisdiction over land deals within one mile (1.6km) of 40 other military sites and 100 miles (160km) of 19 further sites. In May, CFIUS required a Chinese-linked company to sell purchased property near a US Air Force base in Wyoming within 120 days. In the short term, foreign-headquartered firms operating in areas of concern will likely come under elevated scrutiny, raising the potential for major operational disruption. Furthermore, firms looking to establish operations in the US are likely to face heightened hostility to foreign investment. In the near term, it remains a realistic possibility that the authorities will enact further restrictions intended to curb Chinese investment in critical sectors due to widespread support for such measures in Congress. (Source: Sibylline)
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Founded in 1987, Exensor Technology is a world leading supplier of Networked Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS) Systems providing tailored sensor solutions to customers all over the world. From our Headquarters in Lund Sweden, our centre of expertise in Network Communications at Communications Research Lab in Kalmar Sweden and our Production site outside of Basingstoke UK, we design, develop and produce latest state of the art rugged UGS solutions at the highest quality to meet the most stringent demands of our customers. Our systems are in operation and used in a wide number of Military as well as Homeland Security applications worldwide. The modular nature of the system ensures any external sensor can be integrated, providing the user with a fully meshed “silent” network capable of self-healing. Exensor Technology will continue to lead the field in UGS technology, provide our customers with excellent customer service and a bespoke package able to meet every need.
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