The British MoD issued an Invitation to Negotiation to industry in August 2018, receiving submissions from teams led by Babcock Aerospace, Cobham Aviation Services, Leonardo and Thales UK. But instead the selection process continued to be delayed, pushing back operational timetables and forcing the cash-strapped MoD to rethink its plan.

The project would have seen pilots from across the British military receive training - most likely against aircraft types not in U.K operational inventories - in air-to-air combat, air-to-surface combat, joint terminal attack, electronic warfare, ground-based air defense and aerospace battle management, and live gunnery scenarios. The provision of contractor-owned and contractor-operated (COCO) aircraft would progressively replace existing contractor- and military-provided training services as they wrapped up.

Instead the MoD is going back to the drawing board to find an appropriate solution as carrier-borne air strike operations are scheduled to achieve Initial Operational Capability with the HMS Queen Elizabeth in 2020, followed by first operational deployment in 2021. Therefore time is of the essence.

Source:  Defense News
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A second source told the state-owned media outlet that specialists at the Voronezh Aircraft Production Association presently "are checking the aircraft's engines and its systems" in preparation for the flight testing. The aircraft will be accompanied by an An-26 transport during the test flight, which will "monitor the operation paraments of different systems," a source said.

Eventually, the Il-112V is to replace the An-26 in Air Force service.

TASS noted that it did not have official confirmation of the news. The first Il-112V prototype was rolled out in November 2018 and has subsequently conducted taxi tests. As the aircraft is a brand-new design, rather than a modern adaptation of an older model, the development process has seen some setbacks and timelines have been extended. Serial production is presently expected to start no sooner than 2020.

The Il-112V is expected to have a 5-ton carrying capacity and be able to fly at speeds of around 450 kilometers per hour. Russia will fit the aircraft with an onboard defense system from KRET to protect it from missiles.

Source:  TASS Russian News Agency
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Lead vessel Admiral Gorshkov was commissioned last year. Two further frigates in the class, Admiral Golovko and Admiral Isakov, are under construction. United Shipbuilding Corporation CEO Alexei Rakhmanov stated on March 20 that "a decision has been made to build two more frigates at the Northern Shipyard," seemingly indicating that another set of two Project 22350 frigates will be built before the shipbuilding industry moves to development of the larger Project 22350M version.

Severnaya Verf will also deliver a corvette, Gremyashchiy, and a logistics support vessel, Vsevolod Bobrov, in December 2019.

Rakhmanov also discussed the Project 885M submarines. The lead vessel, Kazan, is due to enter service this year, though according to Rakhmanov, the submarine's trials in 2018 were disrupted, meaning the delivery time frame may be pushed back. Kazan is due to test the Zircon hypersonic missile sometime next year.

Source:  TASS Russian News Agency
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