US Marines, NATO. Tanks and armoured vehicles during military exercises in Sweden - YouTube - MIL 3010 - 10 NOV 2024

Abrams tanks by General Dynamics Land Systems (GD),UH-60 Black Hawks by Sikorsky Aircraft (Lockheed Martin subsidiary) (LMT),M4 carbine by Fabrinet (FN)*Rotational deployment of U.S. Marines to Sweden enhance interoperability and integration with a key Ally,improving deterrence and defence.

U.S. Army. AH-64E Apache attack helicopters during combat exercises in the Republic of Korea

Swift Response 22:Expansive NATO Airborne Drills

Exercise Swift Response 22 began on 2 May and runs through 20 May.It demonstrates the U.S. Army Europe and Africa's ability to conduct near-simultaneous airborne operations from the Arctic Circle to the Balkans.About 9,000 service members from 17 Allied and Partner nations are taking part,USAEURA said in a press release,including some 2700 US Soldiers and Airmen.The drills test the Army's ability to rapidly deploy beside European multinational forces on short notice across the globe.It presents combat credible Army forces and enhances readiness by building airborne interoperability with European Allies and Partners.Over the course of 96 hours,there are to be five near-simultaneous Joint Forcible Entries (airborne operations).* Paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade and 82nd Airborne Division,along with Allied airborne units,conducted separate JFEs into Italy,Lithuania and North Macedonia,the newest NATO Ally.Upon completion of the airborne assaults,each brigade task force is to conduct land tactical operations and follow-on training such as rotary wing deep-strike attacks;air assault operations;live-fire drills and field-training exercises.* On 8 May 2022,elements of the British Army's 16 Air Assault Brigade deployed with the US Army's 1st Air Cavalry Brigade,1st Cavalry Division and the UK 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team boarded 1st Air Cavalry UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters for an air assault mission.This was at Krivolak Military Training Centre,North Macedonia.Also taking part was the British Army's 1 Aviation Brigade Combat Team.The US and British Soldiers planned and drilled as a multinational team.Also involved were US and UK CH-47 Chinook and UK AH-64 Apache helicopters.The Chinooks and Blackhawks demonstrated personnel deployments and air assaults,and the UK Apaches executed attack and defence manoeuvres.* Swift Response is an annual exercise for the Allied and Partner airborne troops.According to NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu,the defensive drills were: planned well before Russia's brutal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine,but they help to remove any room for miscalcualtion or misuderstanding about our resolve to protect and defend every inch of Allied territory.*

UH-60V Black Hawk With Northrop Grumman’s OpenLift Cockpit Gets Airworthiness Certification - Aviation Today

UH-60V Black Hawk With Northrop Grumman’s OpenLift Cockpit Gets Airworthiness Certification - Aviation Today: Northrop Grumman said Monday the UH-60V Black Hawk, which is a retrofit of the UH-60L upgraded with the company’s ‘digital cockpit’ suite and OpenLift architecture, has received official certification to fly in all conditions. The Army Systems Readiness Directorate granted an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) Airworthiness Release for the UH-60V as the program heads into …

DARPA Taps Northrop Grumman To Develop AI ‘Assistant’ For Black Hawk Pilots - Aviation Today

DARPA Taps Northrop Grumman To Develop AI ‘Assistant’ For Black Hawk Pilots - Aviation Today: DARPA has tapped Northrop Grumman to develop an artificial intelligence solution that could serve as an “assistant” to UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilots, the company said Tuesday. Northrop Grumman, in partnership with the University of Central Florida, will build an AI prototype, called the Operator and Context Adaptive Reasoning Intuitive Assistant (OCARINA), that’s designed to be embedded …

Afghan War Briefing:US Helicopter Crashes;Australian Troops Withdraw

A Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed about 4pm Tuesday local time in Zabul Province,Afghanistan,killing six US troops and injuring the sole survivor,defence and local officials said.Preliminary indications are that the chopper experienced mechanical difficulties before crashing.*
The Shojae District of Zabul is mountainous,forested,and frequented by the enemy,according to Ghulam Jilani Khan,Provincial Security Chief.The survivor was rescued by a US/Afghan quick reaction force.Taliban militants claimed responsibility for the crash,as is their custom regardless of the facts.Although they have brought down some US helicopters,the main cause of such mishaps throughout the Afghan War has overwhemingly been mechanical or weather-related.The crash is under investigation,and brings the ISAF death toll for 2013 to 139,including 109 US soldiers.Last year,the toll was 394,and 297 of them were American.The improvement is because ISAF turned over security operations to Afghan forces last summer,with coalition troops assuming an advise and assist role.*
Meanwhile,Australia has withdrawn its last combat troops from the ISAF Tarin Kowt Base,their headquarters in Uruzgan Province,where they were providing security training to an Afghan National Army brigade and police.Australia was the leading contributor of non-NATO forces to the war effort,sending about 1550 troops to the conflict,40 of whom were killed.About 400 Australian soldiers will remain through 2014 as trainers in Kabul and Kandahar.*
About 43,000 American troops remain in Afghanistan.They are to withdraw by the end of 2014.According to a deal approved by the Afghan national council,the Loya Jirga,10,000 US soldiers will remain for 10 years after that in an advisory and special operations role.Afgahnistan's mercurial President Hamid Karzai is refusing to sign the pact because he says the US is applying "colonial pressure" to him.He wants his successor,who is to be elected in April 2014,to sign the pact.
Nonetheless,Ambassador James Dobbins,US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan,said the US is nowhere near deciding to withdraw completely.Afghan Defence Minister Bismillan Khan assured Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on 7 December that the deal will be signed in a timely manner.