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The RAAF plans to spend at least A$9 billion on a fleet of turboprop transport planes and declines to say how many will be bought and when they will be delivered – or even why the decision has been made.
Australia took delivery of the first batch of 12 current-generation C-130Js in 1999, and as all aircraft eventually wear out, they understandably need to be replaced at some point.

The Turkish Navy has accepted delivery of its flagship helicopter landing dock (LHD) and unmanned aircraft carrier TCG Anadolu. The local media report this.
The first announcement of the handover of the Anadolu TCG was made in various Turkish defense media on March 05, 2023, which was considered somewhat surprising as there was no ceremony or official announcement by the Turkish Defense Agency (SSB). A day later, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced on Twitter that the crew of the TCG Anadolu had begun pre-deployment training.

PH3 Mac M. Thurston, USN

Ukraine is once again requesting access to U.S. stockpiles of controversial cluster bombs. However, this time around, Ukraine wants to essentially deconstruct the munitions and arm its drones with the cannibalized anti-armor bomblets. The re-emergence of Ukraine’s petition for these weapons comes as its forces struggle to fend off a Russian counteroffensive in Eastern Ukraine. 
Reuters was the first to report on Ukraine’s revived request for cluster bombs, citing information provided to the outlet by U.S.

AURORA, Colo. — The Air Force Research Laboratory has formed a new Digital Capabilities Directorate — and a virtual environment known as a “labverse” — to speed up its modernization pursuits and enable its scientists and engineers to explore and more efficiently collaborate via a growing suite of emerging technologies, AFRL Commander Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle announced on Tuesday. 
“We’re refocusing on how we are achieving digital transformation.

Ukraine declared on Monday that its troops were still fighting Bakhmut’s encirclement attempt, while Washington said that even if the eastern city fell to a Russian offensive, it would not necessarily give Moscow a boost in the war.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office said he had discussed the Bakhmut operation with the chief of the General Staff and the ground forces commander, who spoke in favor of “continuing to reinforce the positions in Bakhmut” to continue the defensive operation.

One of the UK RN’s seven Banshee RPAS air vehicles, pictured in a hangar at RNAS Culdrose. The Banshee is bringing a step-up in RN RPAS capability. (Dr Lee Willett)
The UK Royal Navy (RN) has purchased seven QinetiQ Banshee Jet 80+ remotely piloted air systems (RPAS), as the next step in building its unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capability.
The Banshees will support two primary tasks for 700X Naval Air Squadron (NAS), the maritime UAS centre of expertise.

“First, it’s about building remote pilots’ experience of operating that type of uncrewed system.

Last week, China released a position paper on the Russo-Ukrainian war that, while sparse on details, called for a “complete ceasefire” to “help the warring parties open the door to a political settlement as soon as possible.” and they were against the use or threat of nuclear weapons. But the Biden administration also said that China might send artillery and drones to help Russia with its supplies.
With China possibly getting more involved in the war, the war has moved into a new and crucial phase.

Russian MOD Screencap

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has claimed that more than 20 people have been arrested following a drone attack on a Russian A-50 Mainstay airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft at Machulishchy Air Base, Belarus, late last month. Lukashenko confirmed that an attack using a “small drone” did indeed take place but said the radar plane suffered only superficial damage.

Northrop Grumman

The U.S. Air Force says it is doing future airpower planning based around a notional fleet of around 1,000 advanced drones with high degrees of autonomy, as well as 200 Next-Generation Air Dominance stealth combat jets. This is the first time the service has given a real sense of the scope and scale of its plans for these two future aircraft types. We also now know that it is expecting that some F-35s will be paired with these advanced drones and have details about the general ratio between crewed and uncrewed assets involved in the initiative.

Embrace the chaos. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. The only constant is change.  These sayings aren’t just cliches—they’re pretty applicable to military life.  Sometimes it feels good to be understood. Especially in the chaos of military life. In this life, you must learn to be adaptable and accept a bit of […]
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