US ARMY’s FUTURE ROTARY AIRCRAFT
The General Electric T901 Improved Turbine Engine finished First Engine to Test requirements. This engine will be used by Sikorsky Raider X that are in race for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft.
The US Army in 2020 has narrowed its future rotary aircraft choices to the Bell 360 Invictus and the Sikorsky Raider-X.
In March 2020, the designs from Bell and Sikorsky were selected to proceed to Phase 2 of the competition, and this phase will end with a government flight test evaluation no later than 2023.
The program was initiated by the United States Army in 2018, to develop a successor to the Bell OH-58 Kiowa scout helicopters.
The same two contenders are also in race to compete for the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, which will replace the Sikorsky’s UH-60 Black Hawk helicopers.
The Sikorsky Raider X is a compound helicopter concept with two coaxial rotors and a single pusher propeller. The Raider X concept was derived from the earlier Sikorsky S-97 Raider, and is designed to use a single General Electric T901 engine, that is expected to have a maximum speed exceeding 460 km per hour, with a service ceiling greater than 9,000 feet.
The cockpit uses side-by-side seats instead of the tandem seating typical of American attack helicopters. Internal weapons and sensors are mounted using a modular system, in accordance with programme specifications to anticipate future upgrades.
The Bell 360 Invictus use a single engine and a four-blade rotor that will have an articulated rotor system. The design shows a two-seat tandem cockpit, with sighting optics and laser designator, a 20mm cannon gun turret below the cockpit, and missiles mounted on integrated launchers. The General Electric T901 turboshaft will be the main powerplant, and will have cruising speed in excess of 330 kilometres per hour. Flight testing of these prototypes were expected to commence in October 2023 but now delayed to 2024.

AUSTRALIA ORDERS ANTI-SHIP MISSILES FROM NORWAY:
The Australian government announced it had ordered an unspecified number of Naval Strike Missiles through an accelerated acquisition programme.
The Norwegian defense company, Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace, will manufacture and supply the missiles that will be used from the Anzac-class frigates and Hobart-class destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy. The contract was worth 48 million US dollars. Naval Strike Missiles is a fifth-generation, long-range, precision strike missile. The missile uses composite materials that is meant to give the missiles stealth capabilities. Weighing slightly more than 400 kg and a range of 185 km, the missile is able to fly over and around landmasses, travel in sea skim mode, and then make random manoeuvres in the terminal phase, making it harder to stop by enemy countermeasures.

SOUTH KOREA’S KF-21 BEGAN RUNWAY TESTING:
Latest videos shows that the Korean defence manufacturer has started taxiing and engine tests on its first prototype KF-21 Boramae fighter jet. The first flight is expected to happen later this month.

The KF-21 Boramae is a South Korean 4.5 generation fighter aircraft development program that aims to produce an advanced multirole fighter for the South Korean and Indonesian air forces. The airframe is stealthier than any fourth-generation fighters, but does not carry weapons in internal bays like fifth-generation fighters, though internal bays may be introduced later in development.
The twin-engine prototype was officially unveiled in April 2021, is powered by two General Electric F414-GE-400K engines, is expected to have a maximum take-off weight of 56,300lb with a payload capacity nearly up to 17,000lb.
The first prototype is designated as aircraft 1, is scheduled for maiden flight in 2022 following ground testing. The aircraft will feature three hardpoints under each wing for weapons and external fuel stores, while missiles can also be externally carried under the fuselage. Production is expected to commence from 2026, with full-rate production following from 2028.

It will be armed with a range of European and US-made weapons, with planned integration of systems such as the Diehl Defence IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missile, and MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, Raytheon’s laser-guided Paveway II bombs, as well as several Direct Attack Munitions.

Korea Aerospace Industries is planning to develop a new ‘smart factory’ to support the production of the KF-21 platform, with an investment of around 87 million US dollars over five years. The ‘smart manufacturing system’ will leverage on 4th Industrial Revolution technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data analytics.
Korea Aerospace Industries aims to localise production of approximately 65 percent of KF-21 components, involving the participation of over 700 domestic companies.