Six pioneering Arab female researchers from the GCC, including Saudi Arabia, have been recognized at the 13th edition of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Middle East Program. Their work addresses pressing regional and global priorities, from infectious diseases and personalized medicine to water security, advanced materials and sustainable technologies.  Since its regional launch in 2014, the program has supported 69 Arab women researchers with more than SR4 million ($1.0

Arada, one of the world’s fastest-growing master developers, has announced the establishment of Arada KSA, a new real estate development company that will deliver large-scale communities across Saudi Arabia. The new entity was established in strategic partnership with XTOPIA, a community and lifestyle company developing integrated, mixed-use destinations across the region. Mohammed Al-Dhabaan, chairman of XTOPIA, has been appointed chairman of Arada KSA, underscoring the importance of the loca

The period from 2015 to 2019 is considered a time of absolute dominance for swipe culture in dating. New apps featuring the ‘swipe and meet’ mechanic appeared on the market, their audiences grew every day, and the number of swipes on popular versions reached up to 1 billion per day. The second wave of popularity for these apps came during the pandemic (2020–2021). Due to lockdowns and restrictions, the influx of users reached record levels. Today, this figure exceeds 360 million users. But 2026 is bringing significant changes to these impressive statistics.

Today, simply seeing a user’s photo is no longer enough to feel genuine attraction towards them and start communicating. The era of digitalisation has brought with it a lack of real-life communication. Users want to see, hear and feel each other. That’s why dating apps are introducing new formats into their functionality:

• voice messages;
• conversations with AI assistants;
• video.

The reason is clear: text allows you to think through every phrase, while a photo only shows a carefully chosen image. Voice adds intonation, pauses and spontaneous reactions. According to Hinge, 65% of surveyed users believe that voice helps them determine their interest in someone better than profile information. And connections made through voice messages are 48% more likely to lead to an in-person meeting. This explains why swipe mechanics are gradually giving way to real-time communication formats.

How voice platforms are disrupting swipe mechanics

Swiping is a search format that’s convenient when you need to look through dozens of unfamiliar profiles in a limited amount of time. It makes searching faster. But it doesn’t guarantee that a connection will be successful or progress beyond a simple greeting.

A photo and profile attract attention. Text maintains interest over several days. But these are only visual forms of communication that still don’t provide an understanding of how comfortable people feel talking to each other or whether there’s genuine attraction and mutual interest. Voice platforms offer a different approach: first get to know someone through conversation, and only then decide whether it’s worth meeting in person.

However, profiles aren’t disappearing completely. They’re evolving. AI matchmakers can be considered one form of this evolution. These are voice assistants that you can tell about your interests, personality, expectations and preferences through a real-time conversation. During such a conversation, you can clarify details that are often left unmentioned in standard profiles. For example, someone may value not only shared hobbies but also a similar daily routine, a sense of humour or attitudes towards free time. This is how Riya, the voice AI matchmaker in the Schmooze app, works. According to the company’s co-founder, Vidya Madhavan, user retention with the AI assistant is twice the average rate.

Another example is Known. The service uses voice AI to match potential partners, while users reveal their photos when both are ready to take that step. According to data cited in an industry publication, users accept 50% of suggested dates.

Voice helps make getting to know someone more meaningful even before meeting in person. Users don’t simply evaluate a profile; they express their thoughts, answer questions and hear their chat partner’s reactions. Swiping doesn’t disappear, but it stops being the only way to start communicating.

Why a video chat like Omegle app helps you understand someone better than a profile

The next level of information sharing after voice messages is video, which allows you not only to see someone but also to observe their non-verbal reactions. During a conversation, you can notice whether your chat partner is listening attentively, responding to jokes, able to keep the conversation going and how they behave when an awkward silence occurs. These details don’t provide a complete picture of someone’s personality, but they help create a more realistic first impression. That’s why, when meeting people through video chats, it’s so important to pay attention to several things:

• Communication style. Does the person ask questions, keep the conversation going and show interest, or do they only talk about themselves?
• Reactions to their chat partner. Do they listen to answers, respond to jokes and take other people’s points of view into account?
• Behaviour in awkward situations. Can they calmly handle a pause or an accidental slip of the tongue without turning it into a problem?
• Natural flow of conversation. Is it possible to communicate without constantly searching for the perfect words or feeling the need to fill every second of silence?
• Comfort during communication. Can you express your thoughts freely without fearing ridicule or disrespectful comments?

A major disadvantage of messaging is that your chat partner can edit their response at any moment or simply spend a little more time choosing the right words. In an online video chat, communication happens almost simultaneously.

The video format also helps you move more quickly from an abstract impression of someone to real communication. Instead of spending several days messaging, you can have a short conversation and understand whether you want to continue getting to know them. At the same time, the process of finding a stranger works in a way that’s similar to the familiar swipe mechanic. For example, on the well-known Omegle service, switching between users took just a few seconds. Chat partners saw each other, exchanged a few words, worked out whether it was worth continuing the conversation, and either carried on talking or switched to other users. This saves a significant amount of time and makes dating more productive. Despite the closure of the popular chat roulette platform, its mechanics continue to be successfully used by modern services such as Omegle.chat. This great Omegle app me alternative offers the opportunity for real-time communication without commitments or pre-planned scenarios.

Dating in 2026: less selection, more communication

The growing interest in voice and video formats reflects a gradual shift in the dating industry. Users still want to find suitable partners, but they’re increasingly unwilling to spend time endlessly browsing profiles. The opportunity to understand more quickly whether there’s mutual interest between people is coming to the forefront. Instead of dozens of text conversations that end after just a few messages, people are looking for formats that allow them to move towards meaningful conversations sooner.

Most projects are already showing growth in audiences interested in video communication. According to JPLoft, platforms that have introduced this mechanic into their functionality are already recording 35% higher user engagement compared with services that rely solely on text messaging. The key reason is that it helps bring people closer together. Video dating in chat roulettes doesn’t guarantee that someone will find their ideal partner within a few hours. But it allows them to get a quicker sense of whether a particular online encounter is worth pursuing and has the potential to develop further. Other reasons for the dating industry’s shift towards random video chats include:

• Safety at an early stage (there’s no need to share your phone number to make a call).
• The ability to check for basic chemistry and communication style.
• A higher level of protection against fake profiles.
• Psychological comfort and safety.

At the same time, we shouldn’t expect voice to completely replace text or video chats to replace traditional apps. Different formats serve different purposes. A profile helps communicate interests and basic expectations, messaging gives you time to formulate your thoughts, voice conveys intonation, and video communication allows you to observe more details of someone’s behaviour. These methods can complement each other rather than compete for the only place in the process of getting to know someone.

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DISCLAIMER – “Views Expressed Disclaimer – The information provided in this content is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, legal, tax, or health advice, nor relied upon as a substitute for professional guidance tailored to your personal circumstances. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of any other individual, organization, agency, employer, or company, including NEO CYMED PUBLISHING LIMITED (operating under the name Cyprus-Mail).

Methodological errors in structural verification rarely stop a calculation. The solver finishes normally, reports no numerical warning, and can still produce results that look plausible.

This article walks through six common technical mistakes that distort results while the software reports no failure at all.

1. Peak stress from the contour plot goes straight into the check

ASME BPVC Section VIII, Division 2, Part 5 works with categorized stress components. The stress field is decomposed along a stress classification line drawn through the thickness into membrane, bending, and peak parts, and each part is compared against its own allowable. WRC Bulletin 429 describes how to construct that line on a finite element model. The conditions for comparison are strict. Geometry, thickness, loads, point location, coordinate system, surface, stress components, and classification all have to match on both sides.

The scale of the discrepancy shows up in a worked comparison on a nozzle-to-shell junction. The WRC calculation gives 148 MPa. An aligned readout from the FE model gives 154 MPa, a difference of about 4%. The nodal peak at the weld toe in the same model reads 238 MPa, roughly 55% higher. That number does not enter the check until someone establishes what it represents: a converged structural stress, a fatigue quantity, a notch stress, or a numerical artifact.

Stress categorization is routinely confused with nodal averaging. Averaging smooths stress across adjacent elements to produce a continuous contour plot, and it belongs entirely to the post-processor. At a thickness transition or a material interface, that smoothing hides a real stress jump the structure actually has. Comparing the averaged and unaveraged fields separates a physical gradient from a plotting artifact.

2. Nonlinear results get combined like linear ones

Running several hundred load combinations usually relies on linear superposition. Base load cases are solved once, then scaled and summed at the post-processing stage. The method cuts solver time by a large factor, and it holds as long as the stiffness matrix stays constant.

Once contact, plasticity or large-deformation effects enter the model, the response is no longer generally proportional to the applied loads and can depend on the loading path. The dead load result added to the live load result no longer matches the result of both applied together in a single analysis.

The software still performs the addition and reports formal utilization ratios. The resulting stress field has no physical meaning and corresponds to no real state of the structure. In a nonlinear formulation, every governing combination needs its own solver run, which is a different task in computational scale.

3. ASD and LRFD mixed in one project

The two methods agree only over a narrow range. AISC 360 carries both, but the checks run along different paths. ASD compares service-level forces against nominal strength divided by Ω. LRFD compares factored forces against nominal strength multiplied by φ. The agreement between them is calibrated at a live-to-dead load ratio of three.

Away from that point, the two diverge. Under dead load alone, ASD demands about 25% more section capacity. With equal dead and live load, the gap narrows to 7%. At a ratio of five, LRFD becomes the more demanding of the two.

The divergence itself is not an error. Both methods are code-sanctioned, and either one used consistently produces a defensible design. The error comes from carrying a quantity across from one to the other. A beam sized by ASD under equal dead and live load runs at a utilization ratio of 1.00. Substituting the LRFD factored force into that same check, 1.2G + 1.6Q in place of G + Q, pushes the ratio to 1.40 and reports a failure the structure does not have. The reverse substitution, a service-level force checked against φRn, hides a real capacity shortfall.

4. The thickness correction is missing from the fatigue check

An S-N curve is calibrated at a reference thickness. For DNV-RP-C203 that reference is 25 mm, and a thicker plate performs worse at the same stress range: the crack front is longer and the through-thickness stress gradient is shallower.

The correction enters the check as a factor (t_eff/t_ref)ᵏ, with k = 0.20 for the D-curve in air. For a 40 mm plate, the allowable stress range is 9% lower than for 25 mm. At 100 mm it drops by 24%. The effect on calculated life is larger since stress range enters the cycle count to the third power. The 40 mm plate loses roughly a quarter of its fatigue life, and the 100 mm plate around 56%.

Another error sits inside t_eff itself. This is an effective thickness, and for welded joints it follows from the geometry of the connection, including the width of the deposited weld. Substituting the nominal plate thickness from the material list produces a correction that does not match the detail.

5. The check runs against the wrong National Annex

A Eurocode check rests on two documents. The CEN core text sets the form of the checks. The National Annex of the country where the structure is built assigns the numbers: partial factors γM, combination factors ψ, the mapping of buckling curves to section types, and climatic action maps. Values printed in the core text are marked as recommended, and without a National Annex they carry no binding force.

“Verified to Eurocode” with no country named is therefore an undefined statement.

Running the model against another country’s parameter set produces a properly formatted report that does not match the code enforced at the site. The question turns practical wherever a structure is fabricated in one country and installed in another. Offshore modules, port cranes, and bridge spans fall into that category routinely.

6. Assumptions stay outside the report, results stay outside the model

Building a model means accepting a series of assumptions: a joint treated as pinned, a panel edge treated as fixed. Each decision is justified at the moment of the analysis. Months later, it is often unrecoverable from either the model file or the report.

Exporting results to an outside spreadsheet adds a second problem, because the export breaks the link to the model. When the geometry changes, the exported data does not, and decisions get made on stale numbers.

The gap closes where the check is stored with the model. In structural analysis and code-checking software (https://sdcverifier.com/), check parameters attach to the entity the check applies to and print into the report alongside the result. A reviewer sees that the panel edge was taken as fixed and can argue with it. A spreadsheet cell holding the same value with no explanation leaves nothing to argue with.

The cost of a review that never happened shows up in accident investigations. In a UK tower crane collapse, 24 slew ring bolts failed, and metal fatigue was named as the cause. The same bolts had failed on that crane once before. They were replaced, the cause was never established, and the mechanism repeated.

What actually confirms a result

None of the six errors interrupts the software. The calculation completes without warnings, and a standard report comes out at the end.

Full traceability remains the only reliable criterion. The final utilization ratio has to decompose step by step back to its inputs: the load combination, the code parameters, the section properties, and the assumptions taken at the start. A ratio that will not decompose is not technically confirmed.

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DISCLAIMER – “Views Expressed Disclaimer – The information provided in this content is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, legal, tax, or health advice, nor relied upon as a substitute for professional guidance tailored to your personal circumstances. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of any other individual, organization, agency, employer, or company, including NEO CYMED PUBLISHING LIMITED (operating under the name Cyprus-Mail).

Cyprus is an island made for driving. The coastal roads between Larnaca and Paphos, the pine-covered bends of the Troodos mountains and the quiet villages of the Akamas peninsula are all hard to reach on public transport. Buses connect the main towns well enough, but the moment you want a hidden beach or a mountain winery, you need four wheels of your own.

That is why rent a car in Cyprus is one of the first searches many visitors make right after booking their flights. Before you sign anything at the rental desk, it helps to know how the roads work, what the rental desk will ask for and where the hidden costs usually sit. This guide covers all three.

Driving in Cyprus: the basics

Cyprus drives on the left

Traffic in the Republic of Cyprus moves on the left, as in the United Kingdom, and most cars have the steering wheel on the right. For drivers from continental Europe this takes a few hours to get used to. Roundabouts are the trickiest part: you go clockwise and give way to traffic already on the roundabout.

Speed limits

Motorways generally have a maximum of 100 km/h and a minimum of 65 km/h, other main roads usually 80 km/h, and built-up areas 50 km/h unless signs say otherwise. Always follow the posted signs, as limits change near schools, villages and road works.

Traffic cameras

The island has an extensive network of fixed and mobile speed and red-light cameras. Fines are issued to the registered keeper of the vehicle, which for a hire car means the rental company, who will pass the fine and often an administration fee on to you.

Other rules worth remembering

• Seat belts are compulsory for every passenger, front and back.
• Using a hand-held phone while driving is prohibited.
• Drink-driving limits are strict and checks are common, especially at weekends and on holiday evenings.
• Children must travel in a suitable child seat, which you can order together with the car.

The Troodos roads are beautiful but somewhat narrow and full of bends.

Car rental in Cyprus: what you need at the desk

Requirements differ slightly between companies, but most follow the same pattern. Here is what a typical car rental in Larnaca looks like, using the published terms of one provider as an example:

• Minimum age of 21 and at least two years of driving experience.
• A valid driving licence, plus an International Driving Permit if your licence requires one.
• A passport or official ID card.
• A bank card for the security deposit.

Always check the deposit amount before you book. Many companies set it by car class, and it is blocked on your card until the car is returned in good condition.

How much does it cost? A price table

Prices depend on the season, the car class and how far ahead you book. As a reference, these are daily rates published by Getmancar for its Larnaca fleet as of October 2026:

Car	Type	Per day	3 days	Good for
Mazda 2	Compact	€38	€114	Couples, city driving
Toyota Aqua	Compact hybrid	€43	€129	Low fuel use on long trips
Nissan Note / Suzuki Swift	Small hatchback	€60	€180	Easy parking in old towns
Nissan Serena	Minivan	€80	€240	Families with luggage
Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet	Convertible	€160	€480	Coastal drives, special occasions
Jeep Wrangler	4×4	€195	€585	Akamas tracks, off-road routes

All cars in this list are automatic, which is worth noting if you are not used to driving on the left: one less thing to think about.

Picking up your car: Larnaca airport or town?

Most visitors land at Larnaca International Airport, so renting a car at Larnaca airport is the obvious choice. You walk out of arrivals, sign the papers and drive straight to your hotel. Picking up in town can be useful if you only need a car for part of your stay, for example for two days of excursions in the middle of a beach holiday.

Collecting the car at the airport saves the cost of a taxi to your hotel.

A closer look at Getmancar in Cyprus

Getmancar is a car rental and carsharing service that works in eight countries, and it has operated in Larnaca since March. For travellers looking to rent a car in Larnaca, the practical details are straightforward. You can collect a car at the company office on Stadiou Street 78 or at Larnaca International Airport, and the network also includes pick-up and drop-off points at bus stations in Paphos, Limassol, Nicosia and Ayia Napa. Delivery to the airport or another address is available for an extra fee.

Every rental includes 250 km per day, which covers most round trips on the island, and insurance packages are chosen at booking and can be cancelled with a refund before the trip starts. The company says all its vehicles come with full insurance coverage. For stays of a month or longer, Getmancar offers individual rates on request, which suits expats and digital nomads who need a car for a whole season rather than a week.

Hidden costs to watch out for

1. Fuel policy. Ask whether you return the car with the same fuel level you received it with, and photograph the gauge at pick-up.
2. Mileage limits. Check how many kilometres are included per day and the price per extra kilometre.
3. Insurance excess. Basic cover often leaves you responsible for a significant amount after damage. Extended cover reduces it.
4. Extras. Child seats, GPS and a second driver usually cost extra, so book them in advance.
5. Crossing the Green Line. Many rental agreements do not cover travel to the north of the island. Ask before you plan such a trip.

Road trip Cyprus: three easy itineraries

Once you have the keys, here are three classic day trips from Larnaca:

• Larnaca to Lefkara and the Troodos foothills. Lace-making villages, stone houses and quiet roads, about an hour from the coast.
• Larnaca to Limassol and Kourion. The ancient theatre above the sea, followed by an evening walk along the Limassol marina.
• Larnaca to Ayia Napa and Cape Greco. Sea caves, cliff paths and some of the clearest water on the island.

Cape Greco is an easy drive from Larnaca and worth an early start.

Tips for a stress-free first drive

• Practise in a quiet car park for ten minutes if left-hand traffic is new to you.
• Keep to the left lane on motorways except when overtaking.
• Download offline maps: mobile coverage in the mountains can be patchy.
• In summer, never leave children, pets or electronics in a parked car.

Roundabouts take the most getting used to: go clockwise and give way to traffic already on them.

Frequently asked questions

Is driving in Cyprus difficult for visitors?

Not really. The main roads are in good condition and well signposted in Greek and English. The biggest adjustment for most people is driving on the left.

Do I need an International Driving Permit in Cyprus?

It depends on where your licence was issued. EU licences are accepted as they are; drivers with other licences should check with the rental company before travelling.

How much is car hire in Cyprus per day?

As a reference, Getmancar’s Larnaca rates started at €38 per day for a compact car as of October 2026. Prices change with the season.

Can I rent a car at Larnaca airport and return it in Paphos?

Some companies allow it. Getmancar lists points in Paphos, Limassol, Nicosia and Ayia Napa, but confirm one-way terms when you book.

The bottom line

Car hire in Cyprus turns a beach holiday into a real exploration of the island. Learn the left-hand rules, check the deposit and mileage terms, choose a car that matches your plans and keep an eye on the cameras. The roads will do the rest.

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DISCLAIMER – “Views Expressed Disclaimer – The information provided in this content is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, legal, tax, or health advice, nor relied upon as a substitute for professional guidance tailored to your personal circumstances. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of any other individual, organization, agency, employer, or company, including NEO CYMED PUBLISHING LIMITED (operating under the name Cyprus-Mail).

Saudi National Day celebrates the values that define the Kingdom: its identity, ambition and determination to build a better future for generations to come. This year’s theme, “Our Pride Lies in Our Nature,” reflected qualities that are also central to Saudi Vision 2030: confidence in what is possible, a willingness to embrace transformation and the determination to turn ambition into reality. Saudi Arabia is now living through one of the most significant periods of urban transformation in th

Across the Gulf, ambition and transformation is visible everywhere. Governments are diversifying their economies, investing in infrastructure and technology, strengthening human capital and building new industries designed to support growth for decades to come. But there is another investment that will increasingly determine whether that growth is sustainable: health. The Gulf’s economic ambitions depend on people being able to participate fully in the societies and economies being built around

If you are moving from Canada to the USA, ask prospective movers how they handle customs paperwork, what their quote includes and how delivery is scheduled. Those answers help you compare services, but your own admission to the United States and the entry of your belongings are separate processes. Confirm your immigration arrangements and prepare an inventory before committing to a pickup date.

Confirm your immigration arrangements before booking

Canadian citizenship does not automatically authorise employment or permanent residence in the United States. The documents you need depend on your citizenship, status and purpose of entry. For example, eligible Canadian citizens can generally seek TN professional status at a port of entry; Canadian permanent residence alone does not establish TN eligibility. See the State Department’s TN guidance.

Keep passports and the immigration documents relevant to each family member with you. Resolve uncertainties about admission or work authorisation before committing to a non-refundable moving date.

Check which belongings qualify for duty-free entry

Under CBP’s household-effects guidance, furniture and similar household furnishings can generally qualify for duty-free entry when used abroad for at least one year and not intended for someone else or for sale.

That does not make everything in a moving truck duty-free. A newly purchased dining set needs separate consideration even if it travels alongside older furniture. Flag recently acquired goods and retain receipts. Personal effects, including clothing and jewellery, have their own customs treatment; do not apply the household-furnishings rule indiscriminately. Ask CBP or your customs broker about uncertain items before loading.

Prepare Form 3299 for an unaccompanied shipment

CBP guidance on unaccompanied household goods calls for Form 3299, Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles, when you are not travelling with your belongings. Do not assume every self-driven move uses the same paperwork: confirm the procedure for your arrangement with the intended port of entry.

Separate your arrival details from the shipment details

The official Form 3299 instructions distinguish your arrival date and port from the shipment’s arrival and carrier information. If you fly while your furniture travels by road, those details will differ.

Check names, the U.S. address and transport references against the supporting records. Ask your mover or broker which identification and immigration-document copies they need, who completes each section, and whether authorisation is needed for someone to clear goods on your behalf. Never sign an incomplete declaration or guess an arrival date.

Make the inventory useful at inspection and delivery

CBP says that describing a shipment simply as household effects is insufficient; a complete inventory must be available on request. Build yours while packing, using matching numbers on boxes and the list.

For example: “Box 12 — used ceramic plates, six mugs and stainless-steel cutlery.” Give furniture separate entries. Record make, model and serial number for valuable electronics where practical, and photograph their condition before packing. These are useful recordkeeping measures, not a universal CBP requirement for every object.

Identify recent purchases and restricted items separately. Keep a digital copy and a printed copy accessible, then check delivered pieces against the same list.

Review food and plants before sealing boxes

Under USDA APHIS guidance for travellers from Canada, agricultural products must be declared. Permission depends on the product, origin and applicable restrictions. A supermarket purchase in Canada does not prove that produce was grown there. Keep original packaging and receipts, and check current restrictions shortly before departure.

That guidance applies to travellers crossing land borders, not commercial shippers. Confirm the applicable rules before putting food or plants in a mover’s truck.

Decide early whether plants are worth transporting

APHIS lists conditions for Canadian-produced live plants, including a Canadian phytosanitary certificate, bare roots or approved growing medium, and any applicable permit. Requirements vary by plant and origin. Check the species before paying to transport it; giving it away may be simpler.

Clean soil and debris from outdoor equipment and footwear before packing. APHIS warns that soil-contaminated articles, including tools and recreational gear, may be refused or destroyed at entry.

Keep vehicles and other regulated items on a separate checklist

A car needs its own import assessment. CBP’s vehicle guidance addresses EPA emissions and Department of Transportation safety requirements, including the relevant declarations. Check the particular vehicle before arranging permanent importation.

Flag firearms, ammunition, alcohol and tobacco before accepting a moving quote. Form 3299 instructions identify these categories for separate declaration and potentially additional requirements. Obtain item-specific instructions before packing them with ordinary household goods.

Agree on costs and a workable delivery window

When comparing moving services, request a written breakdown covering transport, packing, customs assistance and storage. Establish who pays if an inspection or delayed release creates extra handling or waiting charges. Clarify the damage-claim process and coverage exclusions.

Ask whether delivery is a fixed date or an estimated window, and arrange building access accordingly. Carry documents, valuables and essentials for the first few days yourself.

Check registration after arrival

After arrival, check your USCIS registration obligations. An I-94 issued on admission generally establishes registration; certain Canadian land-border entrants without evidence of registration may need to register for stays of 30 days or longer. Registration itself grants no immigration status or work permission. People subject to the registration requirement must also report address changes to USCIS within 10 days.

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DISCLAIMER – “Views Expressed Disclaimer – The information provided in this content is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, legal, tax, or health advice, nor relied upon as a substitute for professional guidance tailored to your personal circumstances. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of any other individual, organization, agency, employer, or company, including NEO CYMED PUBLISHING LIMITED (operating under the name Cyprus-Mail).

Some flavors you recognize before you even taste them, such as coffee by its aroma or fresh bread by the crunch of its crust. Seeds have their own signature: a crack, a brief pause, and your hand reaches for the pack again. People take them on the road, open them during a sports match, and share them with friends. But behind the familiar crunch, Golden Gift products hold something more. From the Tambov region to 37 countries AgroSouz has its own secret to building popular snack brands. Toda

Leonardo DRS has been heavily involved in mobile counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) efforts including the U.S. Army M-SHORAD (Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense) Increment 1 program, also known as SGT STOUT, which provides an air defense capability for ground maneuver forces against low-altitude aerial threats. The company is now preparing for the forthcoming M-SHORAD Increment 4 program, which requires a vehicle-agnostic, reconfigurable, palletized or “sled”-based air defense capability.

TWZ’s Jamie Hunter spoke in-depth with Joe Rolwes, Director of Business Development at Leonardo DRS, about how mobile air defense is evolving and the various technologies that are being employed.

The post Leonardo DRS Explains How Army Counter-UAS Mission Is Evolving appeared first on TWZ.

Airbus U.S. Space and Defense has been actively developing and iterating the technology for its Lakota Connector, an uncrewed, autonomous variant of the multi-mission UH-72B Lakota helicopter. This includes testing under Team Lakota Connector, that has brought together Shield AI, L3Harris Technologies, and Parry Labs in a prototyping phase for the U.S. Marine Corps.

TWZ’s Jamie Hunter spoke with Carl Forsling from Airbus U.S., at the AUSA 2026 trade event in Washington D.C. A former U.S. Marine Corps CH-46 Sea Knight and MV-22 Osprey pilot, Forsling explained the requirement for uncrewed logistics in contested theaters, and what’s next for Team Lakota Connector.

The post Airbus Details Progress With Lakota Connector Uncrewed Cargo Helicopter appeared first on TWZ.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and Hanwha Aerospace completed operations in a simulated battlefield scenario with the Mojave short take-off and landing (STOL) drone on September 16. The testing formed part of a Defense Drone Technology Exhibition and included Mojave operating from an austere short runway at the Seungjin Training Field in Pocheon-si. The flying portion of the trials also saw the Mojave operating down at low level to demonstrate its ability to terrain mask to avoid potential threats and to support ground forces at close quarters.

TWZ’s Jamie Hunter spoke to Matt Petraitis, senior manager of U.S. Army programs at GA-ASI, at the AUSA 2026 trade event being held this week in Washington D.C. about how the Mojave landed on a rough maneuver trail typically used by tanks and artillery vehicles, and about the company’s plans for Mojave in partnership with Hanwha Aerospace.

The post General Atomics’ Mojave Drone Completes Austere Testing in Korea appeared first on TWZ.

The UH-60 Black Hawk has been the rugged workhorse of U.S. Army aviation for nearly 50 years, with around 4,000 examples currently in service with 36 nations worldwide. Many of these helicopters, and new aircraft coming off the line, are set to fly as far out as 2070, and Sikorsky is curating a suite of upgrades to keep them valuable assets for the future fight. A new “digital backbone” is designed to underpin swift technological insertions such as launched effects, with related initiatives including the provision of more power to lug greater payloads, and the fully-autonomous U-Hawk cargo drone variant.

“As part of an overall “Black Hawk 2070” modernization effort we’re developing a number of complementary capabilities, including our U-Hawk uncrewed cargo variant, which we plan to fly later this year,” Jason Wrigley, Sikorsky’s director of business development for Black Hawk, told TWZ at the company’s Stratford plant in Connecticut.

“A new digital backbone for the Black Hawk is at an advanced design phase in our labs and it’s designed to provide interfaces throughout the aircraft that will provide power, data, a network, cooling and most importantly, open architecture interfaces that enable the easy integration of new equipment, such as sensors. We see this as a core building block for the next generation of Black Hawk, along with new engines and other airframe improvements designed to futureproof the platform.”

The new digital backbone is designed to work in concert with a modern, software-driven strategy that meets the Army’s Modular Open Systems Approach and the desire to add technologies cheaper, faster, and more easily. Wrigley says that as customers identify new capabilities and needs for their Black Hawks, the digital backbone will be sufficiently efficient to permit customization even on a mission-by-mission basis. Sikorsky is also introducing a new modular nose to the H-60, which is reconfigurable with sufficient volume to support even more sensors and electronics.

“There’s a big focus on open architecture and that ability to quickly plug-and-play,” says Wrigley. “The new modular nose will change the look of the Black Hawk up front to provide even more space for equipment that will work directly with the new digital architecture.”

The new modular nose will give the Black Hawk more than twice the internal volume of the original nose section and it’s designed to provide space for internal electronics and an integrated mount for external sensor pods. It is designed to provide sufficient space to accommodate electronics that enable roles such as search and rescue, drone control, and flying in degraded environments, and it will also house some of the equipment required as the Black Hawk’s autonomous capabilities expand.

Joshua Powers spent 22 years as an Army Aviation officer flying the Black Hawk, and he’s well qualified for his new role with Sikorsky handling business development for rapid capabilities insertions. “Army units know the Black Hawk inside out; how to fly it, maintain it, and use it to maximum effect. The upgrades we are developing will bring new capabilities faster, without time-consuming and complex changes to sustainment, training, and operations, plus we are adding more range, more payload, and more power to meet the demands of the Indo-Pacific region.”

“I find it amazing to pair new technology with a rugged platform like the Black Hawk. These new innovations are needed to meet the needs of the new complex battlefield. The fight I fought in Iraq is very different from the current operating environment and what future warriors are going to go up against, and what we’re asking them to do is very different from what came before.”

Bringing autonomous co-pilots to the Black Hawk

Autonomy is a central pillar of Sikorsky’s strategy for the future Black Hawk. The company’s MATRIX autonomy software is now being matured on a UH-60M variant, and while it’s not necessarily designed to completely replace pilots, MATRIX will assume some of their workload, making flying safer and simpler as mission sets grow increasingly complex and dangerous. “Pilots that are controlling collaborative drones, for example, need to be able to focus on the drone mission, and autonomy will help lighten their cognitive load,” explains Wrigley.

“The standard Black Hawk crew operates with two pilots. Adding our MATRIX autonomy system gives the operator options – a single pilot could fly without an unbearable workload and still fulfil a mission commander role, for example. The Army could then operate the Black Hawk with no pilots at all when that’s the appropriate option.”

Sikorsky’s MATRIX autonomy has been developed on the company’s UH-60A fly-by-wire Optionally Piloted Black Hawk, which has been tested by Sikorsky and Army aviators. MATRIX has accumulated more than 1,000 flight hours across 500 tests and demonstrations. It has already been integrated on over 20 different platforms, including on the Black Hawk for testing by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Army in multiple exercises.

“We delivered the first UH-60MX to the Army earlier this year,” says Wrigley. The delivery marked the first full authority fly-by-wire and optionally-piloted UH-60 in the Army fleet. “They are using it for testing and soldier feedback to develop tactics, techniques and procedures for the autonomous Black Hawk. We have since received a contract to deliver three more MX aircraft to the Army.” 

MATRIX autonomy kits have now been installed on all three U.S. Army Black Hawk models; the UH-60A, UH-60L and UH-60M. Sikorsky plans to incorporate autonomy options into all Black Hawks as they are built, plus the MATRIX system will be able to be retrofitted to existing examples.

Powers is well aware of the benefits autonomy will provide from complex combat operations to more mundane day-to-day missions. “Flying at night and seeing the tracer fire coming up at you, things like that, I honestly feel that’s not the big threat. It’s when you’re going to land and there’s just a big dust cloud. When you’re tired, you aren’t as focused. Having MATRIX, whether that’s with one, two, or no pilots, it’s about that reduced workload on the mission. Pilots won’t be as fatigued, plus they have the safety net of a fully autonomous aircraft that can, if needed, land in all of those difficult environments. It will give commanders more operational flexibility and the ability to mitigate risk in less-than-ideal conditions dictated by the enemy or weather.”

“The Black Hawk operation isn’t just about pilots, it’s also that integrated four-person crew. As a pilot, you’re relying on your senses and also on the guys in the back to watch out and tell you where you’re going. MATRIX is just going to help that team effort and put you in a better position to bring the crew back safely. It integrates all the systems and sensors and uses altitude, airspeed, radar altimeter, drift indications, and puts the fly-by-wire technology to where it can make rapid adjustments and changes based on what it’s seeing with the sensors.”

The volume of testing, the maturity, and the confidence in MATRIX helped Sikorsky to develop the S-70UAS, or U-Hawk, which was unveiled in 2025. The U-Hawk project essentially removes the cockpit and its associated equipment from a Black Hawk and replaces the front end with cargo doors to provide a huge internal space as a supply drone.

“We acquired a used UH-60L Black Hawk as the template for our initial U-Hawk. We added the clamshell doors and that was the actual aircraft that we showed at AUSA last year,” says Wrigley. “Since then we’ve been adding the fly-by-wire and integrating the MATRIX autonomy. It’s currently in our innovations hangar in Bridgeport, Connecticut, getting the final work done and it will make its first flight as a U-Hawk later this year.”

Sikorsky sees the U-Hawk as a natural evolution for the Black Hawk in contested logistics missions, when cargo needs to be moved but the threat is sufficiently high that it drives a need for uncrewed platforms to tackle the mission. 

“We’re spending a lot of time on the U-Hawk and its roles. As well as being an uncrewed cargo helicopter, it can also be a truck that can carry a large volume of launched effects,” explains Wrigley. “There are Black Hawk models on the market right now that are being divested, and we see those as being an ideal option for conversion to U-Hawk configuration to affordably introduce this capability to the market.”

Drone dispenser

The integration of small drones dubbed ‘launched effects’ into rotary-wing operations is a major initiative from the Army as a new means to collect intelligence for commanders on the battlefield, relay communications, jam and distract enemy emitters, and act as loitering munitions. These mini air-launched drones can be carried and fired from stub-wing-mounted launchers, with other concepts seeing larger volumes of them carried inside the cabin as a “mega-pack,” with Sikorsky seeing both as being highly-applicable to both the Black Hawk and the U-Hawk.

This is exactly the kind of capability that the digital backbone in the Black Hawk is intended to open the door to; installing plug-and-play drone command kits, which could enable the Black Hawk to act as a “drone mothership” to launch, task, and command swarms of multi-mission launched effects.

The Army tested its latest operational concepts for launched effects during the Project Convergence Capstone 6 demonstration event this summer. This annual exercise is designed to develop concepts and tactics as well as gather soldier feedback, as it works to transition new systems into service. The latest exercise built on previous launched effects testing on the Black Hawk, when a UH-60M deployed Anduril’s Altius-700 launched effects that then operated as an autonomous hunter-killer team to locate targets, share data on those targets, and then strike them, without the need for the Black Hawk to expose itself to threats.

“As a young Black Hawk pilot, the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior was the primary scout platform, but it was limited by range and its ability to be detected,” explains Joshua Powers. “Today, we launch small drones that can remain unseen and they can give us real-time feedback. Launched effects make our lift assets more capable.”

“We see the Black Hawk as the aircraft capable of carrying, deploying and then acting as an airborne mission command node for launched effects,” adds Jason Wrigley. “In the operational environment of the future, it’s really about the mass of those launched effects. This isn’t about carrying one or two of them, this is about carrying and controlling a large number of them.”

“We’ve tested them on the stub-wings, but we are also exploring what we call “quiver” – that large number of launched effects inside the cabin in that “mega-pack.” This creates additional opportunities for mass that we think is going to be really critical. We’ve done a lot of operational analysis in concert with the Army on what the right mix of launched effects might be to extend the standoff range of the aircraft to improve survivability – which is of course what it’s all about – but the right mix will ultimately come down to the mission. We have seen a lot of testing over the past few years, so we do believe this is a capability that can be introduced operationally soon on the Black Hawk.”

More power for more missions

To support the increased lift that might be needed for a missionized Black Hawk lugging large payloads, including an arsenal of launched effects, Sikorsky is well along in development of a new engine that is designed to create over 1,000 pounds of increased payload capacity and increased range for the Black Hawk. The T901 Improved Turbine Engine (ITE) from GE Aerospace provides 50 percent more horsepower over the existing T700 engines in the UH-60M.

“One of the key building blocks of the future of the Black Hawk are the twin ITEs as we look to expand the mission capability and the utility of this aircraft for decades to come,” explains Wrigley. Sikorsky began initial testing of the first UH-60M with ITE in January 2025. “We are actively in the test program right now at our test facility in West Palm Beach, Florida. The twin ITEs in each Black Hawk and that additional power translates into some pretty significant operational opportunities. Since our first flight with ITE in May 2025 we’ve flown the aircraft with the new engine for over 50 hours and up to 17,000 ft above sea level.”

Sikorsky is accompanying the addition of the new engines with a significant expansion of the fuel tank to increase capacity and range. This is being done without impinging on cabin volume and thus retaining the important ability to transport 11 combat troops, while increasing range by around 100 nautical miles. “The T901 also improves fuel efficiency and eases maintenance – so overall we are really improving the payload capacity of the aircraft. We’ll be getting to the milestone C production decision on ITE within the next couple of years, and at that point it will become a core element of the Black Hawk program going forward,” Wrigley explains.

Building Black Hawks

Touring the Black Hawk production line in Stratford, Connecticut, it’s a hive of activity. Many of the major components for each helicopter are manufactured here. The long final assembly line sees teams of workers busily constructing UH-60M and HH-60M medevac Black Hawks for both domestic and foreign military sales customers, along with new HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopters for the U.S. Air Force and MH-60R Seahawks.

“We’re designing all of these upgrades with the intent that they will all be available off the production line in new build aircraft, as well as in kit form for upgrades to existing assets in the field,” notes Wrigley. “Here in Stratford in what we call the “back shop” we build all the rotor blades, gearboxes, and many other components that go into each aircraft. We are already thinking ahead and we’ve invested significantly into additive manufacturing, with 11 parts on the Black Hawk today that are additively manufactured. It’s a great place to start, but there’s a long way to go and we’re working on qualifying more challenging components and load-bearing parts.”

Cohesively, the digital backbone, larger fuel tank, new engines, and the new modular nose will all be introduced on the production floor in the coming years to pave the way for that increased payload capacity to carry fully-equipped combat troops, supplies, and all the new kit needed for the future fight and the Black Hawk’s role as a multi-mission forward battlefield node. The autonomous U-Hawk and the optionally piloted flexibility afforded by MATRIX – all of these pieces of the future Black Hawk are presently coming together under an overarching effort.

“The future Black Hawk will be that complement to the future long-range MV-75 Cheyenne II,” says Powers. “These won’t be a one-for-one replacement for every Black Hawk currently in the fleet – the MV-75 has a specific purpose and function that the Black Hawk isn’t designed to do. What the Black Hawk can do with these new upgrades is shape the battlefield and with its autonomy be out there flying missions into contested environments.”

“Those homeland missions are equally necessary. I recall talking about this in flight school when choosing an aircraft to fly, how it’s one thing to be deployed on combat missions, but it’s also about being back in the homeland on disaster relief when you need the Black Hawk to go out and save lives, those kinds of missions the Army National Guard does – it really underlines the importance and versatility of the Black Hawk.”

Over the past 50 years and looking ahead to the next 50, continuing the proven legacy of the Black Hawk will mean constant evolution to meet new missions and needs. Sikorsky’s task is for all of these new elements to meld into a future Black Hawk that’s ready to roll off this production line soon, that still also provides the same dependable, rugged capability for the Army at home or overseas, well into the future.

The post Sikorsky’s “Black Hawk 2070” Strategy Includes Drones, New Engines, And Flying The Pilotless U-Hawk This Year appeared first on TWZ.

It is stunning to see the impact the USAF’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program has made on discourse surrounding the future of the Air Force since it was officially announced. There is still much to prove regarding the concept, but testing is accelerating and the USAF now plans on buying 500 CCAs by 2032. At the same time, the USAF is now hunting for a successor to the MQ-9 Reaper, with plans on procuring hundreds of those drones, as well, by early in the next decade.

With all this in mind, TWZ’s Jamie Hunter talked to Mike Shortsleeve from General Atomics on the show floor at Air, Space & Cyber 2026. The two discussed the latest progress for the company’s newly-named FQ-42 Vengeance Collaborative Combat Aircraft, as well as General Atomics’ new Wildfire platform designed to address the lower-cost Massed Modular Aircraft program that could replace the company’s iconic MQ-9 Reaper.

Check out the interview below or at the top of this post.

Contact the editor: Tyler@twz.com

The post FQ-42 Vengeance Fighter Drone Program Update appeared first on TWZ.

America’s nuclear weapons deterrent and how it is controlled is increasingly critical in the face of the rapidly-expanding arsenals across multiple adversaries. A new fleet of E-4C nuclear-hardened survivable airborne operations center aircraft is now in development, as is the U.S. Navy E-130J, which will provide next-generation communications with nuclear ballistic missile submarines deep beneath the waves. Focus is also turning to a mission that’s dedicated to emergency communications with the U.S. nuclear forces in times of crisis, a role known as Operation Looking Glass, which is also poised for updating under a program dubbed Looking Glass-Next.

The comprehensive modernization of America’s nuclear strike muscle involves three major elements – new B-21 Raider stealth bombers, the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program to replace Minuteman IIIs, and new Columbia-class nuclear ballistic missile submarines. A fourth facet that ties all these new elements, as well as existing ones, together is the next generation nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) architecture. It securely connects nuclear weapons systems to decision-makers. Without it, America’s nuclear deterrent isn’t a deterrent at all.

America’s nuclear modernization is set against a backdrop of rapidly-developing nuclear strength across adversaries and pacing threats, which could threaten not only U.S. fighting forces, but also the existing aging NC3 infrastructure. This could impede the collective responsiveness and effectiveness of the American nuclear enterprise. For example, a coordinated attack on NC3 could degrade the National Command Authority chain, which could prevent communications that are necessary to conduct a retaliatory strike.

If fixed underground command posts are targeted and rendered inoperable, the current strategy would involve turning to a set of highly-survivable air assets that are designed to be on hand to execute emergency war orders. This includes the U.S. Air Force’s E-4B National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC) “Nightwatch” aircraft, and the E-6B Mercury that is operated by the U.S. Navy.

A major recapitalization effort is already underway for the NAOC E-4Bs, which are being superseded under the E-4C Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) contract. It is being led by defense contractor SNC. The new SAOC aircraft are based on the far more modern 747-8i, and are planned to have a much broader mission set than the four E-4B Nightwatch types they are set to replace, as you can read more about here.

The Navy’s E-6B Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) aircraft have a primary role of strategic connectivity with the ballistic missile submarine fleet. These converted 707s also execute another mission known as the Airborne National Command Post (ABNCP), more recently renamed “Looking Glass.” For this they are manned by U.S. Air Force missileers and U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) battle managers who are responsible for running the airborne nuclear NC3 systems.

The joint service team on Looking Glass mirrors some operations performed by USSTRATCOM’s underground command posts, and a small portion of what the NAOC executes. The Looking Glass mission is really focused on performing an airborne backup mission solely for USSTRATCOM to ensure another means of communicating with fielded nuclear bombers, their assigned tankers, ICBMs and deployed nuclear submarines. It is best known for its ability to supply airborne communications connectivity to the USAF’s ICBM force on the ground and can command remote launches of those weapons if necessary.

Additional NC3-related modernization is coming on the heels of SAOC, with the new E-130J set to assume the Navy’s TACAMO role from the ageing E-6Bs, assuming strategic connectivity for nuclear ballistic submarines. It means that at some point roughly two-thirds of the E-6 current mission will go to the new E-130J aircraft – raising the question of what will fulfill the critical Looking Glass mission.

Since the E-130J is not planned to take on the Looking Glass role, the USAF is in the early stages of what’s dubbed Looking Glass-Next (LG-N), which presents the future pathway for USSTRATCOM’s mobile contingency operations. This could take on a number of forms, including NC3 communications functions being increasingly moved to space-based assets and more distributed operations across the ground, although an air platform is still likely to form a major part of the overall capability.

The need to modernize America’s NC3

Brian Golden is a retired USAF colonel who intimately understands nuclear command and control (NC2) and the associated NC3 equipment and processes from both a service and industry perspective. As a subject matter expert for SNC, he draws on his extensive experience as a former E-4B NAOC commander and he commanded much of the USAF’s multi-domain NC3 systems, including the Airborne Launch Control System onboard the current E-6B Looking Glass. He is also extremely familiar with all the nation’s continuity of government and continuity of operations missions for both Congressional and executive branches of the U.S. government.

“Everyone referred to the nuclear triad as the platforms that were controlled through the NC3 architecture,” Golden told TWZ during a detailed discussion. “Those platforms received their messages and executed their missions. But this isn’t just about that platform triad. The U.S. nuclear enterprise has four primary pillars, and nuclear command, control, and communications is a critical part of it. Without a robust NC3 system, it’s like having a brand new Bugatti Veyron but without the keys! It looks awesome on the driveway, but you can’t drive it.”

Golden explains that the current NC3 enterprise consists of a series of exquisite systems that are extremely reliable, but that are in need of modernization to stay ahead of the steepening threat curve, and stay in front of supply chain constraints. “What we have currently is very reliable, robust, and very survivable, but it can be difficult to maintain some of our legacy systems. Additionally, as threats evolve we must ensure our communications pathways also evolve. 

“Our nation’s industrial base engineers figured out extremely robust methods of nuclear communications when these systems were fielded. Looking at the overall command and control [NC2], and then the NC3 communications pathways, any new systems that we introduce must be sustainable, scalable and modular.”

The U.S. nuclear enterprise is facing greater threats than ever with adversaries challenging U.S. nuclear infrastructure in multiple domains: space, cyber, ground, air. Because of this, NC3 demands a continuous process of improvement.

Going forward, the NC3 enterprise will likely need to integrate upgraded proven legacy systems with all-new technology. “Sometimes the physics of radio waves may dictate the need for a legacy approach with upgraded systems, such as communicating with a submarine that’s very deep in the ocean.”

Golden’s view is that NC3 requires a layered, open architecture approach as modernization is evaluated. “Applying those same physics and then adding new layers such as artificial intelligence may determine a better way of doing things.”

Upgrading to SAOC

Golden points to the SNC-led E-4C SAOC program as a clear example of critical NC3 modernization, while emphasizing that the NC2 mission is far from being the primary role of the E-4B and its forthcoming successor. “Nuclear command and control is only a fraction of what the current NAOC does and what the future SAOC will do for our nation and our allies and partners.”

The E-4B initially featured just a handful of communications systems, which have grown over time, leading to what Golden calls the “King Kong” of communication capabilities today. The E-4 is not a battlefield communications platform, its mantra is all about supporting Presidential-level requirements across the board. It does possess an extensive NC3 suite, but it also serves the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) and the Department of Homeland Security, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in many other crisis roles. Another mission the E-4B fleet performs is to safely transport the Secretary of War on trips within the United States and abroad.

The E-4B NAOC and Looking Glass are two complementary tiers of the same survivable architecture. The NAOC (and future SAOC) is designed to anchor national-level decision-making and government continuity from the very top, while Looking Glass provides USSTRATCOM with the dedicated airborne command and battle-management capacity required to direct forces. Both roles are critical and non-negotiable.

“The new E-4C SAOC, like the E-4B before it, will deliver an expansive communications suite and increased capacity supported by a larger fleet,” Golden explains. “SAOC is built to ensure the President and national leadership can direct the entire country through any crisis. Looking Glass supports an equally vital and highly specialized mission. It is dedicated to USSTRATCOM’s operational needs, connecting directly to bombers, ICBMs and submarines. Attempting to merge these unique missions on a single airframe would compromise the unique, essential role that each was created to perform.”

Looking Glass-Next

The Looking Glass role and the platform that fulfills it is not classified as a national-level mission. As Golden alluded to earlier, it’s not assigned to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs or to the Secretary of War. It’s exclusively assigned to USSTRATCOM; however, without the Looking Glass mission being upgraded soon, America has a gaping hole in its nuclear architecture.

The commander of USSTRATCOM is the customer and ultimately the decision-maker when it comes to Looking Glass-Next, and the USAF has been tasked by the Secretary of War to develop and field it. SNC is looking at several options for the requirement, with some sort of air platform at its core, which Golden refers to as an “E-6C.” He endorses that the current E-6B is one of the “cogs in the wheel that has to be replaced,” but adds that this doesn’t mean the next-generation Looking Glass is just an aircraft.

“At SNC, we have significant expertise and experience with mission system integration,” says Golden, adding that SNC is evaluating what he calls “aggressively creative options,” for the modernization requirement. He further noted that the modern threat is driving a requirement for Looking Glass-Next to be very difficult to target and must be dispersed.

“Having an aircraft as the only option for this USSTRATCOM mission is a legacy mindset,” Golden states. “We have advanced multi-domain capabilities, including numerous space capabilities available through the Sierra Space Corporation. Future mission resilience requires a creative and integrated approach.”

“We believe a creative approach to provide NC3 options will ensure a robust, reliable, survivable and cost-effective solution.”

Golden endorses this approach to creativity and development and indicated that SNC will continue to inform and respond to the ongoing Looking Glass-Next requests for information that may result in a future program.

“SNC has leaned heavily into the nuclear command, control, and communications architecture and it’s a natural fit for us, building on our work with the Department of War and our subcontractors on the E-4C SAOC. Our Looking Glass-Next responses and inputs will leverage relevant work and experience gained from SAOC, but we are also focused on being creative. We’re small enough to be agile, but big enough to deliver. That’s why we think we’re very well positioned in the NC3 space.”

The majority of SNC’s work on the E-4C SAOC is being completed at the NC3 Center of Excellence, housed in the Aviation Innovation and Technology Center (AITC) in Dayton, Ohio. 

Golden believes the timing couldn’t be better to deliver bold and creative NC3 solutions. “The USAF is already asking the right questions, and industry is really able to innovate, which will result in a transformational era for nuclear command, control and communications.”

The post U.S. Nuclear Control Mission Could Dramatically Evolve Under Looking Glass-Next appeared first on TWZ.

It’s the dead of night when the buzz of the engines of a series of Shahed-136 one-way attack drones breaks the silence. Carrying their lethal payloads the drones slip into the darkness with a distant supply base as their target. Tracking, identifying, and then destroying this swarm of drones is no easy task.

The unmanned aircraft system (UAS) threat environment is changing rapidly with an increasing variety of killer drones that demand differing methods of tracking and identification to engage and defeat them. Operational users are learning from rapidly-evolving- conflicts, and modern air defense methods increasingly rely on scalable, layered, and persistent sensing teams that can detect and track small, fast, low-altitude, and even swarming, aerial threats in all kinds of complex situations, on land or at sea.

Ray Bischoff served active-duty with the U.S. Army for nearly 25 years, and he’s now the senior director of business development at Leonardo DRS, specialising in evaluating tactical formations and defensive requirements at all operational levels throughout the Department of War and allied nations. He is particularly focused on emerging threats from drones..

Bischoff spoke at length with TWZ’s Jamie Hunter about the use of tactical radar systems as part of a layered counter-drone system that is sufficiently versatile to tackle the toughest drone problems now, and what may come in the near future.

JH: Can you set the scene with regards to how you see the counter-UAS mission right now from a sensing perspective.

RB: The counter-UAS environment is changing and advancing very quickly. At the top level, we need to employ a variety of sensor systems – in this particular case we’re talking about tactical radars – but there are many other types of sensors, and at the highest end of the threat level it’s about connecting these together into a networked architecture.

Layering different systems in depth is vital, both from a communications architecture perspective and physically layering them in different places to protect different routes or avenues of approach, or sensitive facilities.

Look at the Strait of Hormuz, for instance, which is a vast area, with a layered and networked system to maximize the depth of coverage. The primary reason for this is that the biggest enemy in many situations like these is time. That networked architecture and having sensors in depth really gains you time, which gives you opportunities to make a better decision, time to reposition, to better evaluate. You need time to evaluate what different things in space are doing, where they’re going or where they’re coming from.

JH: When you say layered, are you talking about different systems that can look in different ways over different distances and systems in different positions that help you with that time element? What does layered actually mean?

RB: You can layer different types of sensors. Think of baseball. If all your players are home-run hitters, you probably aren’t going to do very well. You need to have different skills across your team to succeed, and it’s the same thing here. Layering of radar sensing bands, different types of technology such as electro-optic and infra-red that “see” in long, short and midwave, acoustic sensors, electronic warfare sensors to look for signals and other types of energy. It’s also about physically layering them in space, or depth.

We often see large exquisite sensors that have a lot of range and cover a large area. But this makes them susceptible to being targeted and destroyed. Layering sensors gives you redundancy, retaining the ability to defend. So, this is layering both in physical location, and in different types of technology.

This way, if one of your sensors is taken down by any means – for example by electronic countermeasures – your other systems can theoretically continue to operate. Just think how you can see, smell, touch, taste – it’s the same concept with layering different types of technologies, which is exactly what we at Leonardo DRS do and we integrate them so we can interact and share information to maximize the benefits of this layered approach. A team ultimately makes the sensors more effective across networks and architectures.

JH: Presumably you get good indicators on developments from the current operations in Ukraine. You already mentioned the Strait of Hormuz as well. What are the big lessons that you’re getting here about different types and sizes of drones?

RB: Without going into the details of combat operations, the bottom line is you have to advance your technologies at the rate or as close to the rate of the advancement of the weapons systems that are being utilized. We’re seeing a mixture of things when it comes to the UASs; that’s larger craft that are getting faster and can carry heavier payloads, or smaller ones with longer ranges that can move through areas almost undetected. 

There’s been so much investment in UAS technology, and they are becoming cheaper and easier to manufacture. People can 3D-print these things in their houses now. So, looking at this from a sensing perspective, that layering is becoming increasingly important.

We are looking to do things to counter these developments, such as maybe elevate the sensors to “see” across the top of the trees or place a sensor down in a valley – so that adds layering in altitude or elevation to remove blind spots. Just like the military, if you’re setting-up a defensive position, you have to cover what we called “dead space” where you can’t see with eyes or sensors from ground level.

JH: Can we dig further into the role of tactical radars in counter-UAS, specifically Leonardo DRS’ 202 Expeditionary Skid, which I believe is based on your Extended Multi-Mission Hemispheric Radar [exMHR].

RB: Radars “see” things that are physically present in space and time, and that’s why they are such great tools in the counter-UAS kit bag of sensors. That said, some radars are affected by weather and other factors, some work better in particular environments.

The 202 Expeditionary Skid is a new system from Leonardo DRS that uses our long-range exMHR, which is a software-defined AESA [Active Electronically Scanned Array] pulse-Doppler radar. It operates in the S-Band and that’s a very reliable band for all weather conditions including strong performance in dust storms and rain. When you get into K, Ku, and X-bands, they typically have smaller beams and therefore greater accuracy, but they suffer in poor weather and can become extremely degraded. S-band radar suffers significantly less degradation in that environment.

The 202 Expeditionary Skid, also known as U-KIT-0091, has a single radar panel that has a search area of 90 degrees by 90 degrees, so we often mount them in groups of four to provide full 360-degree coverage. Each panel has a really fast scan rate, much faster than a traditional spinning radar set. Plus, having multiple radar faces to make up a complete system is much more survivable. They can also overlap their field of regard without impairing each other.

We have sought to provide a solution that marries an appropriate level of range, accuracy, capability, and performance, that can still be very flexible in its ability to relocate or change mission sets. This is designed to be extremely versatile, meaning that it operates in different environments quickly. U-KIT-0091 has been purposefully designed to be mobile in a compact system that can either be used by itself or networked and fused together with other systems. Back to the baseball analogy, this is the kind of guy you really want on your team because you can use them wherever you need them.

The radar or set of radars sit on a small skid system that can slide into the back of a pickup truck, into the back of a tactical vehicle, onto a trailer, you can set it just about anywhere and it occupies a four-by-four-feet position. It has its own power generation, its own positional information that works in denied environments, basically it’s capable of working by itself from the get-go. The best part is that it’s truly mobile – the operator doesn’t have to stop the vehicle to make it work. You can turn it on and set-off. It’s working. If you come to a stop, it’s still working. It can be mounted on a ship, it can be taken airborne by an aircraft, so it’s got land, sea, and air applications. We’ve installed these on all types of ground platforms, water-based platforms, on top of a building or some sort of structure and it’s already in service, but I can’t specify where. It tracks drones very well, but of course it can track just about anything that can exist in that space.

JH: So you could strategically locate several of your radars to look in different directions or be positioned to look in a certain direction if you knew the expected paths that the threats would use?

RB: The system is designed exactly for things like that. Instead of putting all of your eggs in one basket, you disperse your eggs, and focus on different avenues or approach angles so that you can then have sensors strategically located where they can pick up these things and then as long as they’re networked back into weapons systems that have the overlapping fields of fire or bubbles – coverage areas – then you can protect your area. 

Any time you can decouple a sensor from a weapon system or multiple types of sensors from each other, you stand a far greater chance of survivability and optimizing accuracy. If you put all your eggs in one basket, and if you lose that basket, you lose everything. In addition, if you separate sensors, you gain accuracy because you have different angles and you can leverage simple geometry.

JH: Could you depict what an end-to-end engagement might look like using your tactical radar.

RB: The radar sensors will typically be emitting energy as they search for objects in a particular space. If something is detected and determined to be a valid target then the data is sent from the radar to some type of a command and control system, which may well be receiving information from other complementary sensors too. It then fuses that data and passes it to an effector, whether that’s a non-kinetic or a kinetic system, for engagement.

Meanwhile, the radar continues to track and it can determine whether that object was removed or if its path changed, and so on and so forth. But you know, a lot of these radars operate in a way whereby they can be turned on or off by different sensors to avoid them having to constantly transmit energy, they’re very customizable to meet the requirements and the emissions that are needed, whether that’s air defense, counter-drone, etc.

They can operate independently too, maybe covering a small area that needs to be protected, and integrated with a localized weapon system, or, as I already explained, they can be networked into a much larger set-up, they are modular, open system architecture and easily incorporated.

Most customers tend to choose their own command and control systems, which is why the plug-and-play part of our system is so important. It really doesn’t matter what they want to partner it with, what we provide enables that very easily.

JH: To be clear, your tactical radars could be deployed to defend the entire eastern seaboard of the U.S., they could be positioned to defend an air base, or they could be used to defend a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

RB: The architecture can scale geographically through a distributed, networked sensor approach. The specific coverage area depends on factors including sensor density, the threat environment, command-and-control integration, and the available effectors.

Customers can deploy multiple radars and feed them into a single command-and-control system, positioning sensors to optimize coverage for the operational need. For example, one radar set could cover a valley vulnerable to low-flying drone ingress, while another positioned on higher ground provides longer-range surveillance. The key is a modular capability that enables users to tailor coverage and layer sensors where they are most needed – without relying on one large radar system to see everything from a single location.

JH: I’m keen to know what you consider to be the most challenging drones to detect and track. Is the challenge the speed they’re traveling out at, maybe new low observable designs, or the fact they’re flying very low. What are the big issues you’re seeing?

RB: It’s really all of the above. The other really challenging problem is when something is flying very low to the ground. The lower they bring them in altitude, they are harder to track as an independent target.

The challenge with drone swarms isn’t detection – if you can see the drones, you can track them. The harder problem is managing those tracks, deciding which threats matter most, and assigning the right effector to each one.

If 100 drones are inbound, it’s not just about having 100 weapons available. It’s about coordinating a fast, cost-effective response across a large number of simultaneous threats.

Ultimately, pairing radars and electro-optical/infrared sensors together is the way to go, because each of those have their own strengths. One of those sensors is going to see the drone better than the other, plus you have the redundancy that at least a couple of them will “see” the threat and give you enough information in sufficient time to prosecute it. Fitting into that team, however it is constructed, is exactly how we position our 202 Expeditionary Skid U-KIT-0091 radar.

Contact the write: Jamie.Hunter@teamrecurrent.io

The post How Drone Detection Is Evolving To Counter Smaller, Faster, And Swarm Threats appeared first on TWZ.

As spades went into the ground to signal the start of construction of the new Building 47 at Lockheed Martin’s Munitions Production Center in Troy, Alabama, it marked a significant development in accelerating production of the company’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor, better known as THAAD. The expansion of factory space in Troy is a key element of the company’s $8-9-billion commitment to expand its munitions production footprint across the United States.

The Department of War’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy is part of a long-term plan that signals clear demand for critical munitions and it enables industry to confidently invest in facilities and workforce development, along with supply chain expansion and advanced manufacturing capabilities. In addition to enlarging the facility in Troy, Lockheed Martin is also growing its plant in Camden, Arkansas, which is another site that’s vital for building more munitions at a faster pace.

“My job is to interface and collaborate with the Department of War in achieving the call to action to produce these critical munitions, not only at speed but also at scale, multiplying the current production rates by two, three, or even four times the current rates,” Dan Nimblett, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for Munitions Acceleration Integration told TWZ on the ground in Troy during the groundbreaking event.

“Fundamentally what’s occurred changes how acquisition works [with] long term demand agreements. These long term procurement agreements enable Lockheed Martin and our supply base to make the necessary investments with confidence of the future demand. This allows us to make the investments not only in our people and our facilities, but in the technology necessary to build [these munitions] at a scale and a speed that’s relevant to the threat today,” explained Nimblett.

Lockheed Martin was the first company in the U.S. defense industry to announce a framework agreement with the DoW for munitions acceleration of high-demand missiles – initially tripling production capacity of the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor, followed by a second agreement to quadruple the production capacity of advanced THAAD interceptors. These two defensive missiles are cornerstones of a layered air and missile defense system, and both have been integrated together via Joint All-Domain Operations, including with the U.S. Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS).

In response to the DoW’s call to action, the company has already invested more than $2 billion in its production facilities and in the related tooling, its key suppliers, and its workforce in order to accelerate production rates.

Lockheed Martin plans to effectively double the factory footprint in Troy and dramatically increase the workforce. “We’re going to increase that [workforce] by drawing in college students, high school students, veterans, everybody’s welcome,” explains Jason Reynolds, vice president and general manager for integrated air and missile defense. “When they come to Lockheed Martin, they receive training, they get opportunity, and because these programs are on a ramp and in production in such high demand, this is where you come to start your career and you [can] work here for a long time.”

Lockheed Martin currently employs around 1,100 workers at its Camden site, but this is also growing. The Camden training center is seen as being critical in providing the swift increase in skilled operators needed to support this acceleration. “We work closely with the state of Arkansas as well on looking at what else we can do in the community and the infrastructure in that community to support people moving, hopefully into Camden as we ramp up,” says Reynolds.

“People here [in Troy] really know their work matters. It’s meaningful for both the community as well as for our national defense. So, we’re really proud of our employees and we’re on a growth trajectory. We’re hiring and we want as many qualified people to come join our team as possible.”

The Camden site is also accelerating its work on the long-range Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), which is also set to quadruple production over the next few years. Reynolds added that building missiles faster using automation and advanced manufacturing technologies, plus increasing the production line capacity, are some of the vital means for success.

“PAC-3 MSE and THAAD are the most capable air defense interceptors on the planet. They’re in extreme demand [and] we’re doing everything possible,” says Reynolds. “With PAC-3, we have been doubling that production over the last four years and now, like I said, we’re going to triple it. We’re working very carefully with our suppliers, with the U.S. government and with our partners and allies all around the world to get all the parts in and get them into factories like you see behind us today to assemble them and get them out to the warfighter as quickly as possible.”

Another way Lockheed Martin is accelerating the delivery of advanced air defense capabilities is the through the introduction this summer of the PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector, or PAC-3 ACE. This new missile leverages the PAC-3 fire-control system and provides for full integration with the Patriot weapon suite.

The main differentiator of PAC-3 ACE is that it would be produced at less than half the unit cost of MSE and first flight could occur within 18 months. A core part of the rapid fielding strategy is an international, joint-development model. Lockheed Martin is partnering with both American and European industry, sharing production lines, supply chains and expertise.

Lockheed Martin says PAC-3  ACE provides a “cost-effective, multi-threat solution.” The interceptor is engineered to engage a broad spectrum of air-breathing threats, cruise missiles, and both short and medium-range ballistic missiles. By offering a low-cost “kill” per-engagement, it is designed to address the current climate that demands deeper ammunition reserves without compromising on performance.

The keys to munitions acceleration

This year, Lockheed Martin has made significant progress in a series of production acceleration projects for munitions programs under its Missiles and Fire Control division. “I was supposed to retire last year. I’m here because this is the most exciting time in the 30 years I’ve been in this industry,” says Dan Nimblett. “These long-term agreements provide us the certainty to enable us to make these investments.”

“What recent conflicts have demonstrated is that Lockheed Martin and the American defense industrial base never lost the technological edge. The technology and the capability has always been there – we have the best systems in the world. We’ve proven that through real world performance.”

Nimblett explained that Lockheed Martin’s supply chain is following suit, and that they are all now investing in similar ways to ensure they meet the demand signals. “We’re evaluating how we produce and increase additive manufacturing and robotics. We’re also looking at how we develop, which I think is a fundamental part of getting capability into the warfighters’ hands at a speed and scale that’s relevant to the threat.”

Having received Milestone C approval from the U.S. Army in July 2025, PrSM manufacturing has relied on a high level of automation. PrSM was engineered from the start for automated, robot-driven production – automating tasks once done by hand – and that early-stage streamlining is paying dividends as Lockheed Martin seeks to accelerate output.

“We have a lot of robotics built into our munitions production,” explains Gaylia Campbell, vice president, Tactical Missiles. “A lot of times we use robotics to help increase the safety of the assembly, like an explosive charge that has to be integrated into a munition, and we have a robotic arm that places that and tests the placement. We also robotically paint and coat [PrSM]. So, we have a lot of robotics already in Camden and that’s really going to help us with this ramp-up in production – the fact that so much of it is [already] automated.”

Campbell emphasizes that PrSM entered production with a mindset of acceleration. “We got PrSM through preliminary and critical design reviews, and into first flight in times roughly half of what it would normally have taken us. We’ve been amazingly successful on all these flights. Those early [test] flights went off one after the other during the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when there were a lot of challenges for all of us in our daily lives, and yet we were able to continue to fly and prove the operational performance.”

Lockheed Martin is reshaping the munitions supply chain with an unprecedented slate of manufacturing initiatives that pull together new facilities, strategic partnerships, and workforce development. The company is also expanding a number of its other production facilities, such as a $60-million investment in its complex in Archbald, Pennsylvania, that will add 700 jobs in support of high‑priority programs including PrSM, THAAD, PAC‑3, and Apache sensors. In Orlando, Florida, three legacy paint bays have been merged into a high‑performance shop that can retool a work cell in hours rather than weeks, while Ocala’s new Progressive Work Smart Assembly Line has cut seeker and mission control unit build times by roughly 50 percent.

A partnership with General Motors will bring high‑rate commercial manufacturing expertise into Lockheed Martin’s production processes, and the new Rapid Fielding Center in Grand Prairie, Texas, is tasked to reduce traditional manufacturing development timelines. What once took years of design, testing and tooling is aimed to be prototyped, fabricated and validated in a matter of months.

Echoing endorsement of the DoW’s initiative, Campbell underscores that knowing what the demand signal will be is a critical differentiator when it comes to production ramp-up. “We can plan for some of those really critical rare earth minerals that we need, the batteries for example in our munitions, we need certain rare earth minerals for that. We need to know the total demand signal and that means we can negotiate with the suppliers and guarantee that we have access. That can really help us accelerate.”

To support the wider munitions efforts Lockheed Martin is also investing in solid rocket motor development and production, as well as lower-tier parts that go into solid rocket motors. “We’re working with different suppliers to develop new sources of supply for solid rocket motors,” says Campbell. “We’re investigating heavily right now in designing and prototyping several motors that we plan to test and take to production, and that really will develop a whole new supply chain and will really be critical for all munitions production.”

Having a five-year contract instead of annual contracts allows the manufacturer to have far more buying power to secure sub-components for a far better price point. “I can go and invest. Invest in more capacity, invest in my supplier’s capacity,” explains Campbell.

“Production is all about velocity. Keeping the line moving and not having to stop because we don’t have a part. Being able to order bigger quantities of things up front is really huge when it comes to acceleration.”

Contact the author: Jamie.Hunter@teamrecurrent.io

The post Site Expansions Underpin Lockheed Martin’s Munitions Production Ramp appeared first on TWZ.