DUBAI — Boeing is beginning work in Saudi Arabia to convert the country’s existing F-15S Strike Eagles into new-generation F-15SAs. The first modification kits for the conversion have arrived at the Al-Salam Aircraft Company in Riyadh, Boeing’s partner on the conversion program, while three of the new-build F-15SAs are now conducting test flights in the U.S.
The U.S. Air Force could cut up to 24 F-35As from its five-year spending plan if sequestration takes full effect in the coming years, Acting Air Force Secretary Eric Fanning says.
DUBAI — The British government’s efforts to help broker a deal to supply Typhoon fighters to the United Arab Emirates extend far beyond the Dubai air show. Changes to visa requirements and support for Dubai’s Expo 2020 bid form part of a comprehensive campaign to deepen defense ties between the Gulf state and the U.K.
DUBAI — Small but important orders for both the Hurkus turboprop trainer and the Anka MALE UAV are providing a critical business and confidence boost for Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). Engineers there are preparing to commence the next set of complex programs, including the development of the country’s first indigenous helicopter and potentially fifth-generation combat aircraft to supplement the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters being purchased by the Turkish air force.
SENSITIVE PEOPLE: The U.S. offices of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Director of National Intelligence are “close” to finalizing a rule that could “greatly expand” the number of positions across the federal government deemed sensitive to national security — meaning those with a potentially adverse effect on national security but that do not require a security clearance, according to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
DUBAI — Italian business aircraft manufacturer Piaggio is at the Dubai air show to garner interest for its Hammerhead medium altitude, long endurance (MALE) unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The P.1HH Hammerhead, which is due to fly by the end of this year, is being displayed in mock-up form for the first time here following its official launch at neighboring Abu Dhabi’s IDEX defense exhibition last February. Europe’s largest MALE UAV, Hammerhead is a derivative of Piaggio’s distinctive Avanti twin-turboprop executive aircraft.
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom departed Singapore’s Changi Naval Base Nov. 16 for the final time as part of its first overseas deployment to the Western Pacific. Freedom has used Singapore as a logistics and maintenance hub since arriving there April 18. Though Freedom was able to participate in regional naval exercise, the ship’s transit and deployment were marred by system breakdowns, and the LCS was sidelined on and off throughout its time at Changi.
DUBAI — Airbus Military’s marketing plan for the A400M airlifter will move into a new phase as the aircraft makes its Dubai debut. The first delivery to a Middle Eastern customer — Turkey — is imminent, and could happen during the show, Airbus officials say. Airbus Military’s decision to bring the A400M to the Dubai air show for the first time is a reflection of the maturity of the program, says Ian Elliot, the company’s head of defense capability market development.
DUBAI — The Storm Shadow cruise missile will make its first flight on board a Eurofighter Typhoon during the Dubai air show, the Eurofighter Consortium tells Aviation Week ShowNews. The weapon, a mock-up of which appears beneath the wing of the full-sized Typhoon model in the static display at the show, has long been part of the manufacturer’s plans for the platform.
DUBAI — Boeing will fly a demonstrator of its P-8 Poseidon-based Maritime Surveillance capability in a Bombardier Challenger next year. Partner Field Aviation has begun modifying the business jet to carry a Selex 7000-series radar, mission system, electronic support measures (ESM) system as well as an electro-optical camera, which will turn the aircraft into Boeing’s Maritime Surveillance Aircraft offering.
DUBAI — Modernization of the Patriot air and missile defense system continues, with manufacturer Raytheon highlighting a new U.S. development contract worth $71.7 million and the completion of a series of test firings by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) But a contract secured in the Middle East has proved to be the catalyst behind recent refinements to the system, company officials said during the Dubai air show.
Military airframers are expected to deliver close to 8,500 aircraft worldwide during the next decade worth more than $150 billion, although a variety of factors—drawdowns in Afghanistan and Iraq, sequestration-related budget impacts, and procurement snags in key markets—will hold overall in-service fleet totals to less than 1% annual growth.
OHIO CLASS: The U.S Navy has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $22.5 million contract to continue development of the Common Missile Compartment for the Ohio-class replacement and U.K. Successor ballistic missile submarines. Electric Boat will purchase and test equipment to be used in the production of the Common Missile Compartment. The contract modifies a five-year, $1.85 billion award made to Electric Boat in December 2012 for R&D work on the Ohio replacement, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2021.
U.S. allies and partners in the Asia-Pacific region have invested — and plan to invest — more for development of aircraft for air-warfare missions than any other known use, according to an Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis of data provided by Avascent Analytics. As a group, Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand will have spent about $39.5 billion between fiscal 2009-23 for air-warfare development, the analysis shows. (See chart p. 6.)
NEW DELHI — The INS Vikramaditya, a Russian-built aircraft carrier refitted for the Indian navy, will leave Russian territorial waters and head for India on Nov. 30 following a more than five-year delay, a defense ministry official says. The 44,570-ton, 284-meter-long (932-ft.) warship, a refurbished version of the Russian Kiev-class Admiral Gorshkov, is expected to take about two months to arrive in India after its Nov. 16 commissioning. It will be based in Karwar Naval base, in the southern state of Karnataka.
In the wake of a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report sparked by Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) stories, the U.S. Navy is striving for better cost estimates for its future Littoral Combat Ships (LCS).
The U.S. Air Force’s upcoming Operationally Responsive Space-3 (ORS-3) demonstration, poised for launch Nov. 19 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Va., is aimed at demonstrating a bevy of new technologies, as well as “commercial-like” launch processes that could reduce the cost of future national security space missions.
NEW DELHI — India has taken delivery of its second P-8I aircraft from Boeing, doubling its long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare capabilities. Boeing is building eight P-8Is for India and delivered the first in May. Based on the company’s 737 commercial airframe, the P-8I is the Indian navy variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing has developed for the U.S. Navy.
ALL BETS OFF: As the Pentagon continues forming its budget plans for fiscal 2015, it is preparing for the possibility of a second round of automatic budget cuts mandated by Congress, according to the Defense Department’s top budget official, Robert Hale. That’s a far cry from a year ago, before the first round of budget cuts known as sequestration had taken hold, when Hale bet Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a bottle of scotch that the cuts would never be realized.
AgustaWestland is in the process of certifying a new Lidar-based Obstacle Detection System for use on its AW139 medium twin-engined helicopter. The Obstacle Proximity Lidar System (OPLS) uses Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) sensors to warn the pilot both aurally and visually of obstacles in the vicinity of the blades of the helicopter acting like parking sensors on an automobile.
