When originally proposed the intent of the Ascent prohram under the Lockheed Martin/Babcock team was to partner with the UK Ministry of Defence and begin supporting Advanced Jet Training operations.

Relevant to the Lead In Fighter Training requirements of the upcoming Air 5428 Pilot training System has been the upgrade of the RAAF's 33 Hawk 127, which Defence Minister Stephen Smith announced last year would be upgraded to a configuration based on the so-called new generation T2 model Hawk 128 flown by the UK Royal Air Force.

Issued by Airservices Australia on June 28, the RFT for the Airservices Australia and the RAAF requirement for a Civil Military Air Traffic Management System/Air 5431, also known as oneSKY AUSTRALIA, has attracted very wide interest with companies such as ITT Exelis, Lockheed Martin Australia and the incumbent TAAATS provider, Thales Australia, putting up their hands.

Sentient and CarteNav Solutions have announced that both Kestrel Land MTI and Kestrel Maritime automated target detection capabilities have been selected by CarteNav to enhance its AIMS-HD MMD and SMS, addressing urgent operational requirements in Latin America.

Questacon is giving students a glimpse into working in space through the launch of Mission Astronautica.

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Japan has unveiled its biggest warship since World War II, a $1.2 billion helicopter carrier aimed at defending territorial claims, drawing criticism from regional rival China which accused its neighbour of "constant" military expansion.

FireEye has released a new report titled, "Hot Knives Through Butter: How Malware Evades Automated File-based Sandboxes," that reveals several techniques used by advanced malware to sidestep signature-based defences during attacks.

Eurocopter has delivered the first NH90 NFH to the Belgium Armed Forces.

BAE Systems has won a contract from WZL2 to support the Polish Air Force C-130 fleet for upcoming Periodic Depot Maintenance requirements.

Lockheed Martin will offer a universal, highly adaptable and affordable mission equipment package to meet requirements for the JMR/FVL rotary wing program, with potential applications for other customers and platforms.

The full version of Defence Week Premium no.264 of 1 August 2013 can be downloaded here as a PDF. A separate PDF of the latest Defence tenders can also be downloaded here.

Three industry consortia have been selected to progress to the second stage of the tender process for the Domestic Munitions Manufacturing Arrangements Project which will establish successor arrangements to those currently in place under the Strategic Agreement for Munitions Supply and the Mulwala Agreement.

Boeing Defence Australia has taken over prime responsibility for supporting the RAAF E-7A Wedgetail fleet from its US parent which the company says ensures a continued high level of readiness for the command and control aircraft fleet.

The Navy's P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft is ready to be introduced into the fleet and is slated for its first operational squadron deployment in December 2013, initial operational capability in the first quarter of 2014 and eventually a fourth low-rate initial production award, according to a service spokeswoman.

Lockheed Martin will team with four leading air traffic management technology providers to offer its Skyline Enterprise solution for the Airservices Australia and Australian Department of Defence oneSKY Australia procurement.