The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is playing a vital role in the deployment of the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle. Recently, RAAF personnel worked alongside their counterparts from the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy to facilitate the shipment of Forward Operating Base (FOB) equipment and a Mobile Remote Quick Look (RQL) trailer to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam in February.
Royal Australian Air Force Squadron Leader Stephen Grimmer, assigned to the Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Office (PMA-262) Triton – Cooperative Program out of Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, and Teresa Ruleman, Dayton T. Brown Inc. electrical engineer, attach a support to a Mobile Remote Quick Look trailer aboard a C-17 Globemaster III at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, Feb. 1, 2023. The RQL trailer was flown to Andersen AFB, Guam by a 3rd Airlift Squadron aircrew. (U.S. Air Force photo by Roland Balik)
On Apr. 10, Rear Admiral Supasit Buranatos, the commander of the Royal Thai Navy’s Air and Coastal Defense Command unit, along with his commanding officers, visited the military training grounds in Sattahip district, Chonburi province to observe the testing and training of the FK-3 medium-range air defense system.
The U.S. Navy is testing the possibility of using their aging fleet of Aerial Refueling Store pods on their new air-to-air refueling tanker, the MQ-25 Stingray. Engineers at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) are testing the current pods to determine their potential for life-extension testing, potentially saving the Navy millions of dollars.
A new report by Japan’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency has disclosed new acquisition numbers that the Japanese Ministry of Defense intends to procure over the decade.
According to this Italian news article, the Italian Navy will be sending a flotilla, including the aircraft carrier Cavour, a destroyer, a frigate, and a supply vessel, to the Indo-Pacific region.