USAF Seeks Interim 500 lb Bomb with Moving Target Capability for F-35

The US Air Force (USAF) is seeking an interim 500 lb-class weapon with a moving target capability for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

Watch: DARPA's Tern Phase 3 Concept Video

Tern, a joint program between DARPA and the US Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR), seeks to greatly increase the effectiveness of forward-deployed small-deck ships such as destroyers and frigates by enabling them to serve as mobile launch and recovery sites for specially designed unmanned air systems (UASs).

IAI to Launch BGUSAT Nanosatellite

BGUSAT (Ben Gurion University SATellite) nanosatellite, a joint venture of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the Israel Space Agency (ISA) in the Ministry of Science, is to be launched shortly, as part of a scientific mission by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The satellite, whose dimensions are 10 cm x 10 cm x 30 cm, approximately the size of a milk carton, and which weighs only 5 kg, is equipped with special cameras able to identify various climatic phenomena, and with a monitoring system that allows the choice of areas to be imaged and researched.

Watch: The North Korean Pukguksong-2 Missile Launch

 

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Elected President of Germany

Steinmeier, a member of the Social Democratic party, had guaranteed the support both of his own center-left bloc and Angela Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Party, who between them hold a majority of 923 seats in the assembly.

In his acceptance speech, Steinmeier, 61, said Germany should be an “anchor of hope” while democratic institutions were under threat across the globe. “As the foundations are shaking elsewhere, we have to prop up those foundations even more strongly,” he said

Trump’s Economic War against Germany and the Euro

Just a week after his official installation at the White House, Donald J. Trump lashed out at China, accusing it of manipulating its currency to "win the globalization game." He also lashed out at Germany, which, as the President of the new National Trade Council Peter Navarro said, "is exploiting both its neighbors and the United States with the euro."

The accusation is not new. In the early 1970s, the United States accused the old European Monetary System (EMS) of keeping the currencies adhering to it artificially high.

Watch: DARPA's SideArm Captures a UAV

In December 2016, Aurora Flight Sciences successfully tested a full-scale technology demonstration system that repeatedly captured a 400-pound Lockheed Martin Fury UAS accelerated to representative flight speeds via an external catapult. The system is capable of recovering aircraft up to 1,100 pounds – exceeding DARPA’s design objectives – and furthers the project’s goal of supporting larger UASs up to 1,320 pounds.

Between Trump, Freud and a Nuclear War

"Fools, visionaries, sufferers from delusions, neurotics, and lunatics have played great roles at all times in the history of mankind, and not merely when the accident of birth had bequeathed them sovereignty. Usually, they have wreaked havoc." (Sigmund Freud)

Israel's Southern City under ISIS Fire

On February 8, 2017, four rockets were launched from Sinai to the area of Israel's southernmost city – Eilat. Three of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile-defense system. One of the rockets landed in open space. No injuries or damage were caused. However, Yoseftal Medical Center in the area said that four were being treated for shock. It is the first time that the Iron Dome intercepted rockets headed for Eilat since Operation Protective Edge in 2014 – Israel’s war with the Islamist Hamas in Gaza.

IDF Confirms Skylark 3 UAVs will be Rolled Out at Brigade Level

The Israel Defense Forces' Skylark tactical unmanned aerial vehicle unit is preparing to deploy Elbit's Skylark 3 platform in the near future, a development that will significantly expand its operational capabilities, a senior military source has told Jane's.

When it was first unveiled in February 2016, Elbit said the new UAV had been selected by a customer that it declined to identify.