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00:00Who needs a tomahawk when you have a flamingo? Why a flock of them could be headed to Russia.
00:06The fury takes flight. What we know about Anduril's CCA and its fated voyage.
00:13And Christmas comes early for a tech giant. What it could mean for the Department of Defense.
00:24Hello and welcome to Weapons and Warfare. Our goal here on the show is pretty simple.
00:28We want to help you have an informed conversation about what's happening day in and day out with our nation's military.
00:35For Straight Arrow News, I'm your host, Ryan Robertson.
00:38And we start this week with what could be the Navy's new jet for training its next generation of aviators.
00:46The jet is the Beechcraft M346N and it's the subject of this week's debrief.
00:59At first look, the M346N looks and sounds every bit the kind of jet pilots would love to take for a spin.
01:08But it's in the air where its makers hope it's the kind of jet the Navy wants to replace an aging fleet of T-45 trainers.
01:16Some of the things you'll notice, there's two engines in this aircraft, so we have the redundancy of two.
01:21So this is a safety factor if there was some kind of bird strike or engine event.
01:24Plus, you allow the training for a two-engine platform.
01:28So if the students are going to go to the F-18 two-engine airplane, you have the ability to train to that in the advanced jet trainer.
01:34The Beechcraft M346N is a variant of the M346, originally designed by Italy's Leonardo.
01:42But it's been tweaked for the U.S. Navy.
01:45As Matt Hall, the North American Director of Sales, Training and Services for Textron Aviation Defense explains,
01:52his company sees the jet as the next chapter in its partnership with the U.S. Navy.
01:58We have a long history in naval aviation training stemming all the way back to World War II.
02:02So aircraft like the T-34, the T-6, the T-44, the T-54, and now we hope will be the M346N that the Navy will
02:12go ahead and go move forward with for purchase for the undergraduate jet training system.
02:17Textron and Leonardo teamed up to offer the Navy a platform they say delivers trainees
02:23everything they need to take the next step in flight training.
02:27The M346N comes with fully digital flight controls, fly-by-wire technology, and an advanced
02:34training system that includes a carrier landing simulator. Granted, all of that is pretty cool,
02:41but it's the data link that Matt says makes this a bird of a different feather.
02:46You could have aircraft flying with other aircraft, aircraft flying with simulators,
02:50and you could have those constructive forces, say, showing up on an air-to-air radar so a student can
02:54do an intercept. While in a real-time monitoring station on the ground then, what you would see
02:59is an instructor could sit there and inject new threats into the scenario the student may not
03:04have expected. So even with one aircraft airborne at a time, you could get a very complex training
03:09scenario for that student and really make the most efficient training possible.
03:14Another advantage the M346N brings to the table, a proven track record. Its predecessor has been flying for
03:21a decade with more than 150,000 flight hours to its credit. It's already being flown by more than half
03:28a dozen countries with more on deck. And it's only going to continue to get better. So when this,
03:34it's already gone through a number of iterations and updates to that system so that 10 years of proving
03:39out the platform, because any new platform takes time, right, to get all the bugs kind of worked out,
03:44no matter what it might be. Right. But that has now been done and then now they're able to leverage
03:49that, those improvements to even make the systems we've been talking about. One more unique feature
03:54the M346N offers, an improved vantage point for the pilots training the students. One thing you'll
04:02really notice is just the elevation difference between the front and the rear cockpits. So the
04:06visibility out of the rear cockpit when I flew last Thursday is just amazing. It actually felt like I was
04:11flying from the front seat. I forgot I was in the back. And for a training aircraft, why is it important
04:16that the, you know, the guy teaching can be able to see that vantage point? One of the main reasons
04:22for that would be in the landing pattern. That visibility over the top of the student's head in
04:27the front cockpit. This has a great capability for that. And in other aircraft where that visibility
04:33isn't as good, you wouldn't put a HUD there because you just wouldn't have the need for that kind of
04:38system because you would be looking at the back of someone's head.
04:42As for when you might start seeing the M346N flying in American skies, the Navy is set to hand
04:49out the contract for the undergraduate jet training system program in January, 2027.
04:58All right. I am joined now by senior producer and Air Force veteran Brett Baker for some headlines you may
05:03have missed. And Brett, we've covered the M346N a few different ways now on the show and the data
05:08integration that platform brings to bear is really impressive. It really is. It's kind of what
05:13separates it from maybe some of the alternatives. Just the fact that you can link up with, you know,
05:19other guys in the air or other guys on the ground and create kind of a full scenario plan for whatever
05:27training is, is needed really makes that thing kind of a standout project.
05:32Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, being able to augment reality and practice carrier
05:38arrested landings and everything like that, like good skills to have for a lot of, a lot of those
05:44guys. Right. So, all right, let's get to those headlines. Just a couple of weeks ago in this very
05:51segment, we talked about what the delivery and green light to use U.S. Tomahawk missiles would
05:57mean to the war effort in the defense of Ukraine. Well, now comes word from the Independent that the
06:04Ukrainian-made cruise missile, the Flamingo, surpasses the Tomahawk in several ways. Built by
06:11Firepoint, with a range of more than 1,800 miles and a warhead of nearly 2,500 pounds,
06:19the Flamingo can fly farther and pack a bigger punch than its American counterpart.
06:24Firepoint's chief technical officer, Irina Tarek, recently spelled out her company's goals
06:29when it comes to equipping Ukrainian warfighters.
06:33We are producing specific products. These products and overall things around this,
06:41we're trying to provide a service, something very user friendly, something very easy to use,
06:48not too complicated, not too expensive, refillable, and constantly present on the front
06:53line. Something that you could really rely on. And while discussing whether or not Shahed looks
07:01dangerous or not, what really is dangerous is a constant supply that never stops.
07:08That was at Defense Valley Tech 2025 in Lviv, Ukraine, an event we actually attended and got
07:14a good look at the Flamingo for ourselves, or a model representation of it, rather. Brett,
07:20Firepoint is really trying to fill a gap in Ukraine's arsenal, and I just saw that Mike Pompeo,
07:26the former U.S. Army officer and CIA director under Trump One, recently joined Firepoint's Board of
07:33Advisors. Right. Well, as far as the, I'm, you know, can't speak to that part of it,
07:39but as far as the Flamingo, you can definitely tell it's something like they're not going to wait
07:45around. They've got stuff they need to take care of. And if they can fill that void with something that
07:52they can reproduce in the country, then they're going to do it. I think they're taking some repurposed
07:57engines from some Russian era stuff to get this done. I don't know how long those engines will last,
08:03like how many they have, but it's definitely a clear sign that the Ukrainians aren't just going
08:08to be waiting to be helped out. They're doing a lot for themselves. Right, right. So Mike Pompeo,
08:15just real quick, Mike Pompeo was added as an advisor because there was some,
08:20Firepoint got some really good contracts really quickly, got a lot of money from Ukraine. So it's
08:26like, is this all on the up and up? There were some questions there because Ukraine, you know,
08:31does have a history, uh, under Soviet and Russian rule of having some, uh, less than
08:37honest people running things. Right. So, uh, they brought in Mike Pompeo to kind of, you know, help,
08:42um, you know, make sure that things are on board. Exactly. Exactly. All right. Let's get to the
08:49second headline. For the second week in a row, we're talking about Anderil and it's another biggie.
08:57Earlier this month, we got our first look at an airborne Fury. That's Anderil's entrant into the
09:03DOD's competition for the collaborative combat aircraft, also known as a loyal wingman. As Anderil's
09:09press release states, they went from clean sheet to first semi-autonomous flight of a CCA in 556 days,
09:17officially known as the YFQ 44A collaborative combat aircraft. Anderil built an incredibly
09:24complex machine in less than two years. Brett, we've been covering this thing since its inception,
09:30really kind of cool to see it in the air finally. Right? Absolutely. And yeah, that timeline,
09:35such a short window from, you know, blank sheet of paper to getting that thing up in the air,
09:41incredibly impressive for any group, let alone one that's doing as many varied and diverse projects
09:47as Anderil is doing. But it's a sure sign that the CCA project, you know, that the competition
09:54between the two entities is going to go strong, I think. I think it's good for both that they're both
09:59up and flying already. And then that, you know, that just brings whatever the decision
10:04the DOD eventually makes that much closer to the four. So, you know, we can move on forward with
10:11whichever one they select and make that a part of the fleet.
10:17And finally, will it be an early Christmas for Google? The tech giant has plans to build a
10:23significant artificial intelligence data center on Christmas Island, a remote Australian territory in
10:29the Indian Ocean. That news follows a cloud agreement with Australia's Department of Defense
10:35earlier this year. Reuters broke the story after reviewing some documents and speaking with officials
10:40involved in the project. Military analysts are suggesting the facility would be a strategic
10:46asset for the island, which is increasingly recognized by defense folks as a vital location
10:52for monitoring Chinese submarine and naval activities in the Indian Ocean.
10:58Brett, I was talking with a former admiral for a story about hypersonics in Hawaii a couple of weeks
11:04ago, and he said that they're starting to be able to track a submarine underwater based on the
11:12ripples at the surface. But in order to do that, the level of like computing power is off the charts.
11:18So, you know, maybe this Christmas Island data center is part of that. I'm not sure. I'm just
11:24kind of putting that information out into the ether, right? Yeah, it's hard to know what's what's going
11:29to be what, but I think it does speak to the interest that's going on in the Indo-Pacific.
11:34People not only maybe wanting to be a part of it, but be a part of the solution to whatever
11:41eventually happens and making sure that they've, you know, kind of staked out their claim.
11:45Obviously, you know, Google has got deep pockets. So to pull off a project like this doesn't seem
11:53beyond expectations. But yeah, it'll be interesting to see how all of this plays out and if that plays
12:00a role in anything, because strategically, it's certainly an important place.
12:04Right, right. Yeah, the People's Liberation Army Navy, we've talked about this kind of tailor-made to
12:10keep the U.S. out of the area. So if anything kicks off there, like, you know,
12:18U.S. is going to need partners in the region, right? And Australia, Japan, South Korea, and others,
12:24they all kind of recognize, you know, the better partner to have between the U.S. and China is the
12:30U.S. So, all right, Brett, really appreciate your time. As always, we'll see you next week.
12:35See you next week.
12:36It's time to break up with mainstream media and try something new.
12:41At Straight Arrow News, we're bringing back trustworthy journalism.
12:45Bringing you news, not noise.
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13:01For all the talk about future wars being fought by machines.
13:10The machines, they're starting to take over.
13:13Right now, one of the most persistent and growing threats on the battlefield
13:17is something far simpler. Cheap, off-the-shelf drones.
13:22These Unmanned Aerial Systems, or UAS, have become the new IED. Hard to spot, deadly, and everywhere.
13:31But what if the solution to a machine threat is an even smarter machine?
13:36That's where Aim Lock comes in and why they're the subject of our Weapon of the Week.
13:43For Aim Lock, the job isn't just trying to shoot drones down.
13:47It's about providing autonomous counter-UAS systems.
13:51An automated defense that can detect, track, and neutralize threats with both speed and precision.
13:59So, we use our Keystone core targeting module to accelerate target acquisition
14:05and calculate all of the advanced fire control.
14:08Most of the time, that's deployed onto a remote weapons turret,
14:11which is why you see so many variations of that.
14:13These just match up with the specific mission sets that our end-user customers have.
14:18But when we integrate into larger systems, that same module integrates radar sensors,
14:24camera sensors, and any other kind of effector like missiles and rockets as we need them.
14:29As Brian Bachman, the President and CEO of Aim Lock, sees it, the US military has a full arsenal
14:35of kinetic weapons, like machine guns, grenades, and rocket launchers, that are still effective,
14:41but risk becoming obsolete if they can't be used in the right place at the right time.
14:48Having all these uncrewed systems, whether they're aerial, or they're ground systems,
14:52or even sea surface systems, all of those new assets allow us to deliver the weapons to the
14:57right place at the right time. So we focus on building safe and secure autonomy to control these
15:02weapons so that the warfighter can focus on getting their job done.
15:06Bachman says Aim Lock took lessons learned from the dawn of the smart weapon era to deliver something
15:12that's more cost-effective and adaptable to new weapon systems that come online.
15:17So by creating modules, it allowed us to experiment, learn what we needed to learn,
15:22take advantage of whatever the circumstances are at the moment, and put together the right
15:26system for the right time. The great part about that is, as soon as one piece becomes obsolete,
15:31you can replace just that one piece, and the rest of the system keeps marching forward.
15:36You bet. Let's talk about distribution, clients, customers, all that kind of stuff.
15:40Yeah.
15:41Where are you guys operating? Who buys your stuff? That kind of thing.
15:45Right. Yeah, we've got a global market. The US State Department regulates the transfer of our
15:50weapons technology out to our partner nations. So all of NATO, Indo-Pacific, all of the partner nations
15:57in each of these areas are verified recipients of these export licenses. So Aim Lock works to
16:04make sure that the electronics, the software, and all of our manufacturing partners are properly
16:09licensed. We transfer the equipment to those nations, then train and sustain after that.
16:16As for what's next, Bachman says they've developed partnerships with Overland, AI MVP Robotics,
16:22and Teledyne to deliver on several experiments set for the next year. He tells us warfighters have
16:29already started taking delivery of these new systems so they can put them to the test and develop new
16:35ways to bring Aim Lock to the fight.
16:40All right, for Comp Check this week, we are checking in with Honeywell, talking about some new engines
16:45that they are making for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft Program. Here to talk a little bit more
16:49about that is Sarah Cooney with Honeywell. Sarah, thank you so much for joining us today.
16:53Well, thank you very much for visiting us.
16:55So from what I understand of this engine, it's used or it's made using components and procedures
17:00that Honeywell already has in place.
17:02So the Honeywell 1600 is actually based on years of experience that Honeywell's developed through
17:06all of our engine and our APU programs. Honeywell's produced over 115,000 engines and APUs, and in
17:12fact, we're the leading manufacturer of APUs in the world. So our technologies that we've used in the
17:17Honeywell 1600 are not only based on our experience, but also some new manufacturing techniques.
17:23So, you know, when we say CCAs, let's get into the nuts and bolts. How much thrust does this
17:29produce? How much does it weigh? What are some of the, you know, the basic characteristics of it?
17:33So this is actually a scalable engine. It's currently classified for what is called the CCA
17:39Class II Increment II category in terms of competition. This one has the capability of going
17:45from 900 to 1600 pounds. The model you currently see is roughly around 1200 pounds in its size and class.
17:52Other information about it is currently under wraps. Sure, sure. Got to keep the secret sauce secret, right?
17:57When we're talking about, you know, CCAs, it's kind of supposed to be for expendable,
18:03attritable technologies is kind of the word of the day. How does adding additive manufacturing into
18:08the process help bring down that cost curve to make this an attritable engine? So what you're
18:13looking at there is actually speed and speed of production. And because Honeywell currently has
18:18facilities that we are using additive manufacturing daily, we have a certification for some of our parts,
18:24and we actually have over a 25,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that is additive.
18:28So when you're looking at additive, which we're also able to do is also digital engineering,
18:33model-based engineering technologies also help speed that process for build.
18:38Honeywell is using technology and, you know, production facilities that are already in place.
18:43So how many of these are we going to be able to make if the contract comes through?
18:46So Honeywell currently produces well over 10 APUs a day. We have actually over 115,000 APUs and
18:54engines produced worldwide. So we have a very significant experience in that. And the answer
18:59to that question really is, is how much would you like me to scale to?
19:02Thank you so much for joining us today. I really appreciate it.
19:08All right, folks, for my wrap this week, since it's the week of Thanksgiving and all,
19:11I thought it was appropriate to spend a few moments expressing what I'm grateful for this year.
19:16My wife and kids, obviously. I love them more than anyone else on the planet, even when they're
19:20driving me bonkers. And I'm grateful for that. I'm also thankful for the guys working on this show.
19:27There are four of us here. We call ourselves the Quad Fathers. I trust them all implicitly,
19:32and they make me look like I know what I'm talking about every week. So obviously very thankful for that.
19:39And I'm thankful for you all out there on the interwebs watching this video right now.
19:45We make this show because we want to help you all have a better base of knowledge when it comes to
19:50our nation's military, national defense, and the like. But there would not be a show without you.
19:56So thanks for watching. And be sure to join us next week. We're talking counterintelligence with the
20:01US Army's top brass. In the meantime, though, for senior producer, Brett Baker, video editor,
20:06Brian Spencer, and motion artist Dakota Patio. I'm Ryan Robertson, Straight Arrow News, signing off.
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