An Australian Army Taipan helicopter made a dramatic emergency landing into the sea at Jervis Bay on Wednesday night during a counterterrorism exercise. All ten personnel on board, including special forces soldiers, escaped with no serious injuries. Eyewitnesses reported seeing sparks at the top of the rotor blades and an explosion before the Airbus-manufactured helicopter came down just after 9 pm. The incident has prompted a renewed focus on Australia’s troubled history with its European designed MRH-90 fleet.
UpMedia in Taiwan reports that Taipei was given the green light last year to purchase the Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB). However, Washington told Taipei that the current policy was to prioritize the delivery of this weapon to Ukraine and that production has just started. Thus, Taiwan will only be able to receive the GLSDB three years later.
On Mar. 15, 2023, during exercise Guerrier Nordique 23, a joint effort between the United States and Canada resulted in the first-ever platoon movement of its kind. Thirty-seven U.S. and Canadian soldiers were tactically inserted on Arctic Ocean ice east of Little Cornwallis Island in Nunavut, Canada, via an LC-130 Hercules.
U.S. Army and Canadian Soldiers practiced and conducted tactical insertion on an open ice skiway delivered by an LC-130 Hercules skiplane of the 109th Airlift Wing, New York Air National Guard, on frozen oceanic Arctic ice near Cornwallis Island, Nunavut, Canada, March 15, 2023. U.S. and Canadian Soldiers and U.S. Airmen participated in Guerrier Nordique 23 in Resolute Bay, Nunavut, Canada from March 6 to March 20, 2023. U.S. Soldiers and Airmen consisted mainly of National Guard units from Connecticut, New Hampshire, Utah, New York, and Vermont. U.S. Army active duty Soldiers came from the 11th Airborne Division out of Fairbanks, Alaska. Canadian Soldiers came mainly from the 35th Canadian Brigade Group. Guerrier Nordique is an annual training exercise hosted by the Canadians in different locations each year. The training usually focuses on domestic emergencies and responses. For the first time this year, the focus of the exercise focused on military tactics and lethality.
Boeing has announced a $1.9 billion contract to build 184 AH-64E Apaches for the United States Army and international clients, including Australia. The deal could potentially increase to more than $3.8 billion with future obligations. Among the orders, 115 Apaches will go to the U.S. Army, with 15 to be procured as options. The 54 additional aircraft will be delivered to partner nations as part of the Foreign Military Sales program.
Col. Shane Finison, commander of the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, flies an AH-64E Apache helicopter near Tacoma, Wash. on Jul. 11, 2022. This was the final flight for Col. Finison as the brigade commander. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Kyle Abraham, 16th Combat Aviation Brigade)
The Japanese government is expanding Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Ishigaki Garrison so that it can accommodate the Type 12 anti-ship missiles and Type 03 air defense missile system.
