South Korea may move quickly to order the Lockheed Martin F-35 for its derailed F-X Phase 3 competition for 60 fighters—and yet again, it may not. In a program that has become chaotic and unpredictable even by the standards of fighter acquisitions, a range of outcomes is in the offing.
The B-52H crew were trying to thread a needle through an invisible point in the sky to hit the correct launch conditions for the test flight of the X-51A Waverider hypersonic demonstrator.
Hundreds of applications for aircraft operations and repair stations are held up, stymied by the FAA's inefficient certification processes, a government watchdog finds. FAA is juggling 1,029 such applications, Jeffrey Guzzetti of the Transportation Department's Inspector General's office, recently told Congress. The situation is so bad, one applicant has been in limbo since August 2006. And it is about to get worse, as requests from NextGen technologies and unmanned aircraft flow into the system.
The most conspicuous exhibits at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) show in Washington in late October were a pervasive sense of unreality and a newfound Army paranoia that rivals that of the Marine Corps.
Embraer’s defense and security business grew to more than 20% of the company’s net revenues in the third quarter, as continued market growth coincided with a decrease in commercial aircraft deliveries. Formed in 2010, the Brazilian manufacturer’s Defense & Security segment had net revenues of $266.8 million in the third quarter, up from $256.6 million a year earlier. This was 20.7% of the company’s total net revenues for the quarter.
SEOUL — South Korea may move quickly to order the Lockheed Martin F-35 for its derailed F-X Phase 3 competition for 60 fighters – and then again it may not. In a program that has become chaotic and unpredictable even by the standards of fighter acquisitions, a range of very different outcomes is in the offing.
U.S. Marines recently field-tested a wearable solar-powered system to extend the battery life of crucial electronic devices during a recent field exercise, Navy officials say. Sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and assembled at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, the Marine Austere Patrolling System (MAPS) combines solar power and an individual water purifier to help lighten the load of Marines conducting lengthy missions in remote locations with few or no options for resupply, Navy officials say.
SLOW START: The second so-called super committee of congressmen and senators set up to find a way out of the almost quarterly budget wars in Congress gathered publicly Oct. 30 to read prepared statements, and then adjourned until Nov. 13. House and Senate Budget Chairs Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), respectively, are now aiming simply for a bicameral spending blueprint for fiscal 2014, which started Oct.
SEOUL — Curtiss-Wright Controls is working to turn South Korea from a customer to a supplier, exploiting the progress local manufacturers have made in gaining technology. Perhaps the most prominent opportunity is in actuation, the equipment that, for example, moves flight control surfaces, says Curtiss-Wright Controls Vice President Christopher Thomson. “South Korea has been a good market, growing faster than our other segments,” says Curtiss-Wright’s Tom Quinly. “We want to take it to another level.”
Defense analysts and U.S. Navy officials say further fleet reductions of Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) are impossible if the nation is to meet its stated nuclear deterrence requirements. “The number of boats you need is not necessarily related to the number of warheads, but geography,” says Ronald O’Rourke, naval specialist at the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
The Pentagon Inspector General (IG) says the U.S. Naval Air Forces needs to do a better job reporting mission capability rates and readiness for its MV-22 squadrons. “From fiscal 2009 through fiscal 2011, MV-22 squadron commanders computed the Naval Aviation Maintenance Program MCR (mission capability rates) for five of the six squadrons using erroneous aircraft inventory reports and work orders,” the IG says in the executive summary of its report, released Oct. 23. The full report is classified.
LONDON — Norway will decide next week whether the AgustaWestland AW101 or the Eurocopter EC725 will become the country’s next long-range search-and-rescue helicopter. A decision on the Norwegian All-Weather Search and Rescue Helicopter (NAWSARH) program is expected on Nov. 8, and is set to come after the two European manufacturers were downselected by the country’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security — the government department running the program — back in July. Both companies delivered their final offers to the department in early October.
BEIJING — Chinese rotorcraft maker Avicopter has slipped the development schedule of its proposed 3.1-metric-ton (6,800-lb.) helicopter, while revealing more data about the type and confirming its designation as AC332.
The U.S. Army and Alcoa are studying an unexpected potential solution to the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs): a solid aluminum ground combat vehicle body. The U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the world’s largest aluminum producer announced recently that they have launched a cooperative effort in the battle against roadside bombs and other improvised explosives used by terrorists and insurgents.
Austria’s defense ministry has ordered six Tracker mini-unmanned aircraft systems from France’s SurveyCopter, which is owned by EADS defense company Cassidian. Canada, meanwhile, has awarded MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates (MDA) a C$11.3 million ($10.8 million) contract to provide AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven B hand-launched small unmanned aircraft. The hand-launched, short-range Trackers are the first mini-UAV to be deployed by the Austrian Armed Forces, Cassidian says, adding that a further procurement is planned between 2016 and 2017.
Click here to view the pdf Selected Asia-Pacific Countries'Defense Aviation Acquisition Plans, Fiscal 2009-2023 Selected Asia-Pacific Countries' Defense Aviation Acquisition Plans, Fiscal 2009-2023 Country Size of Existing Inventory (as of 2012) Acquired Fiscal
Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the U.S. chief of naval operations, emphasized the Navy’s commitment to harnessing the electromagnetic spectrum and honing its cyber warfare skills during a keynote speech Oct. 29 at the Association of Old Crows national conference on electronic warfare (EW). “We’re using the electromagnetic spectrum as a domain and as a means, and we understand and grasp it,” Greenert says. “We have to figure out how we can beat things electronically first. Why do we spend all this money kinetically if we can jam, spoof or do otherwise?”
