RAN Conducted Combat System Exercise in Southern California

 HMAS Sydney conducted a passage exercise with USS John Finn in the waters off the coast of Southern California in early April.Sydney has deployed to San Diego to conduct combat system sea qualifications trials on its Aegis weapons system with the US Navy.

Conducting live fire missile events will provide the data required for Navy senior leadership to assess Sydney for final operational capability, allowing all three of Australia's guided missile destroyers to be operationally deployed.Sydney arrived in Pearl Harbor on March 25 for a logistics port visit to replenish fuel and supplies, and provide her crew with respite ahead of transiting to the Southern California Exercise Area. 

John Finn was deployed as an integral part of a US carrier strike group in the north-east Indian Ocean before joining Sydney.The exercise improved interoperability between the two navies and enhanced the ability to plan, communicate and conduct complex maritime operations efficiently and effectively.

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Indonesia Receives First Batch of Chinese-Made AR-2 Missiles for its CH-4 UAVs

 The Indonesian military has received its first batch of Chinese-made AR-2 air-to-surface, precision-guided missiles (photo : Primasarana, Janes)

Information and images provided to Janes indicate that the weapons, which will be deployed on the Indonesian Air Force’s (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Udara: TNI-AU’s) CH-4 medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), arrived at the service’s main ammunition depot on the Iswahyudi Air Force Base on 8 April.

These images also indicate that the missiles, which were packed in crates of two projectiles each, were delivered in a shipping container that also included an undisclosed number of pylons and rail launchers.The AR-2 relies on its inertial guidance system for mid-course updates and on its semi-active laser (SAL) seeker for terminal homing. The weapon can carry a 5 kg armour-piercing warhead and has a maximum range of about 8 km.The TNI-AU currently operates a fleet of six CH-4 UAVs, the first two of which made their public debut in October 2019. The CH-4 variant supplied to Indonesia has an operating radius of between 1,500 km and 2,000 km and can be operated via satellite link.

The TNI-AU’s CH-4s were also seen armed with the larger AR-1 missiles during a 2019 exercise in East Java, Indonesia.

Pilot error likely cause for B-17G crash

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has published a new report into the fatal crash of a B-17G warbird at Bradley International Airport on Oct. 2, 2019.