While some defense analysts have criticized the “small footprint” concept underlying the rebalancing of Pentagon forces to the Asia-Pacific, leaders from U.S. allies in the region seem to embrace the idea.
French defense electronics group Sagem and the Kamov Design Bureau have announced plans to develop an enhanced version of the Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopter. Revealing the plans at the MAKS 2013 air show in Moscow on Aug. 28, the two companies said the work will “address a requirement expressed by several countries.”
Airbus and VSMPO-AVISMA, its major Russian titanium supplier, have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop new alloys and processes. The deal was signed at the Moscow air show (MAKS 2013). VSMPO-AVISMA has become one of Airbus’ most important suppliers of raw materials and semi-finished products since the 1990s. It currently provides 60% of the titanium needed by Airbus and its parent EADS. A broad framework contract between the companies was signed in 2009 and expires in 2020.
Russian Helicopters has achieved civil certification of its Kazan Ansat twin-engine medium helicopter. Kazan initially designed the Ansat with fly-by-wire controls, but the company struggled to have the aircraft certified for civil use, so instead it developed a new version with hydro-mechanical controls. The new version was awarded type certification from the Aviation Register of the Interstate Aviation Committee (AR IAC) at the MAKS air show near Moscow on Aug. 28.
The U.K. Defense Ministry has canceled a three-week-long training deployment of Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft to Cyprus because of sensitivities over the deteriorating situation in Syria.
Click here to view the pdf U.S. Air Force Procurement Funding Shifts:2013 Plan for Fiscal 2014 Compared to Actual 2014 Request (Then-year dollars in millions) U.S.
When it came time to make the 2014 budget request, Pentagon planners made large cuts to major U.S. Air Force airlift programs compared to spending estimates in the 2013 budget plan. In the 2014 request, lines for the C-130J, MC-130J, C-17A and C-5 programs were all cut more than 40% when compared to the 2013 plan for the 2014 outyear. However, two modification lines for the C-130 airframe got big increases. (See charts pp. 6-11.)
LONDON — Switzerland’s purchase of 22 Saab Gripen fighter aircraft has moved a step closer, after the program was given a green light by ministers sitting on the country’s national security policy committee. Committee members voted in favor of the 3.1 billion Swiss franc ($3.3 billion) program with 14 votes to nine and two abstentions on Aug. 27.
LONDON — A German subsidiary of European missile manufacturer MBDA has successfully tested technology which could deliver a “dial-a-yield” capability to conventional weapons.
Looking to reduce its $8 billion annual fuel bill, the U.S. Air Force is seeking ideas for coatings and surfaces that could reduce drag on its current aircraft fleet, and potentially also benefit commercial operators. The Air Force Research Laboratory has posted a request for information (RFI) on engineered surfaces and coatings that would promote and protect drag-reducing laminar on wings, tails, fuselages and nacelles on current and future aircraft.
MOSCOW — The unique containerized version of Russia’s Novator Club missile system, integrated by the Agat company, is being developed for export with a new passive sensor. It is understood that Malaysia is the first export customer for the Club-K, which is built into modules that are outwardly indistinguishable from standard shipping containers, according to an Aug. 27 announcement at the MAKS air show at Zhukovsky, outside Moscow.
The unexpected appearance of a U.S. Navy P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft over Yemen’s capital of Sana’a starting Aug. 6 has focused new attention on the covert war against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) that has been unfolding in the nation’s hinterlands for more than two years.
Seeking ideas from nature on how to make air vehicles more autonomous, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) plans to establish a center of excellence for nature-inspired sciences. The center will investigate novel sensory systems such as smell, sound, magnetic and chemical sensing, and understand how to process their output and fuse the information to control air vehicles.
In an effort to demonstrate that unmanned aircraft can be integrated into civil airspace, NASA is planning a competition next year that will challenge contestants to complete a series of missions while ensuring their UAVs remain well clear of other aircraft and obey the same rules as other air traffic.
Airbus and VSMPO-AVISMA, its major Russian titanium supplier, have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop new alloys and processes. The deal was signed at the Moscow air show (MAKS 2013). VSMPO-AVISMA has become one of Airbus’ most important suppliers of raw materials and semi-finished products since the 1990s. It currently provides 60% of the titanium needed by Airbus and its parent EADS. A broad framework contract between the companies was signed in 2009 and expires in 2020.
Wind tunnel tests on a high-power, air-driven generator designed for the U.S. Navy’s Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) pod have been completed and its developer is looking for other applications, including power generation on unmanned aircraft. The high-power ram-air turbine (Hi-RAT) developed by Advanced Technologies Inc. (ATGI) was flight tested by one of the NGJ bidders, but the Raytheon jammer selected by the Navy uses a different power-generation system.
APACHE SALE: In what the Pentagon calls a “first-of-its-kind” deal, the U.S. has agreed to sell eight new Apache AH-64E attack helicopters and Longbow radars worth about $500 million to Indonesia, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel confirms. Hagel provided details about the deal Aug. 25 during a joint news conference with Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro. The U.S.
ARMY AAI, Hunt Valley, Md., was awarded a firm-fixed-price, no-option, non-multiyear contract modification (P00111) of $11,798,626 with a cumulative maximum value of $1,530,786,418 for purchase of six Shadow unmanned aircraft vehicles and auxiliary equipment. Performance location will be at Hunt Valley, and funding will be from fiscal 2012 other funding. One bid solicited and one received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Redstone Arsenal (Aviation), Redstone, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-08-C-0023).
