BENGALURU — India’s navy is considering buying Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeyes to meet its requirement for four airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. One of the issues, however, is that the aircraft will have to be ground-based rather than carrier-based to begin with, as India’s aircraft carriers have no catapult. As a ground-based aircraft, it would have no need for folding wings, but may need additional fuel tanks for greater range. India has one of the world’s largest exclusive economic zones at sea.
STIMULATING SIMULATION: U.S. providers of military and aviation simulation services are taking heart over a newly enacted congressional requirement for the Pentagon to study simulator-based training for fighter aircraft in a sustained gravity environment. In an era of austerity when lawmakers and officers alike will be looking for cost savings, simulation advocates are eager to try to prove they have the right product at the right time.
BENGALURU — Airbus Military sees potential to sell more C295s to India than just the 56 stipulated in the government’s current request for information (RFI) about a replacement for the Indian air force’s Hawker Siddeley HS-748 military transports.
India’s state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) is about to expand into civil aviation, the company’s top official says. According to HAL Chairman R. K. Tyagi, India authorities have asked the company to take a primary role in the proposed $14 billion national civil aircraft program to develop a regional transport aircraft. The same authorities also want HAL involved in the design, development and manufacture of unmanned aerial systems.
One day after President Barack Obama offered a proposal for avoiding devastating across-the-board cuts to government spending, Republican lawmakers are making a counterproposal. The Down Payment to Protect National Security Act of 2013 would cut the federal workforce by 10% through attrition — including at the Pentagon. And it would freeze the pay of every member of Congress. The bill offers $85 billion in savings, which its authors call a down payment on sequestration for the entire government through September.
BENGALURU — India is trimming defense spending for its current fiscal year, which ends March 31, but Defense Minister A.K. Antony says spending on operational preparedness will not suffer. “The government is passing through a difficult phase. The recession is affecting us. There will be a cut in the capital and revenue budget. However, we will not cut the expenditure on operational preparedness,” Antony said Feb. 6 at the kickoff of the 9th Aero India exposition in Bengaluru.
UNDEPLOYED: The U.S. Navy is delaying the planned deployment of the aircraft carrier CVN-75 USS Harry S. Truman and the cruiser CG-64 USS Gettysburg to the U.S. Central Command (Centcom) area of responsibility because of financial concerns, the Pentagon acknowledged Feb. 6. “Facing budget uncertainty — including a continuing resolution and the looming potential for across-the-board sequestration cuts — the U.S. Navy made this request,” Pentagon spokesman George Little says. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta approved the Navy request. “This prudent decision enables the U.S.
Former Thales CEO Denis Ranque is emerging as a strong contender for the position of EADS chairman. Ranque is one of 12 candidates nominated by EADS for its future board of directors, which is to be confirmed by an extraordinary general assembly around the end of March.
Brazilian arms manufacturer Avibras has become a stakeholder in Harpia Systems, the joint company formed by Embraer and Israeli-owned AEL Systems to develop unmanned aircraft systems. The Falcao medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft, under development by Avibras for the Brazilian air force, will become part of Harpia’s product line. The Falcao made its first flight in 2012.
The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) has delayed its vote on the confirmation of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) to be the next defense secretary. The vote, which was anticipated during a Feb. 7 SASC hearing on Benghazi, will be delayed as a growing number of Republicans on the committee await responses to questions about how speaking engagements and organizations for which Hagel worked were funded.
The U.S. Navy now wants bigger Fire Scout UAVs for its Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fleet. While the service says no design changes are needed, industry is studying whether the LCS-2 USS Independence-class version will require wider elevators.
After years of general officers arguing for a more robust helicopter to provide security for nuclear missile fields in the U.S., the Air Force Global Strike Command chief says he has shelved a plan to replace aging Bell UH-1Ns for now.
Former Thales CEO Denis Ranque is emerging as a strong contender for the position of EADS chairman. Ranque is one of 12 candidates nominated by EADS for its future board of directors, which is to be confirmed by an extraordinary general assembly around the end of March.
NEW DELHI — India’s indigenously developed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) needs additional modification to fly in high-altitude areas and will not be ready for operational service until 2015, India’s air force (IAF) chief says.
TEL AVIV — Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has expanded its “Ehud” Autonomous Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (AACMI) family to support Eastern fighter aircraft in addition to its Western-related advanced capabilities.
The budget mess in Washington may accomplish what potential adversaries and members of Congress have failed to do: knock a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered carrier out of the fleet rotation. The continuing resolution constraints and sequestration cuts — should they happen — would significantly delay the midlife refueling work and accompanying maintenance on CVN-72 USS Abraham Lincoln while also jeopardizing funding for the proposed next-generation CVN-79 Kennedy carrier, Navy officials say, unless the service gets authority to reprogram money for those projects.
LOS ANGELES — Production of the P-8 maritime patrol aircraft is at almost one per month, says Boeing, which anticipates a full-rate production decision from the U.S. Navy in July. The continued ramp-up comes as Boeing delivers the sixth aircraft to close out the first low-rate initial production (LRIP) batch of six P-8As for the Navy. A seventh aircraft, the first of seven more to be produced under LRIP-2, is set for delivery later this quarter, says the manufacturer, which also expects to hand over this year the first three P-8I variants to India.
President Barack Obama appealed to Congress to at least delay sequestration by passing a reduced package of spending cuts and tax reforms to buy still more time to reach agreement on how to bring down the federal deficit.
Despite opening procurement of small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS) to competition for the first time, the U.S. Army has no plans in place to buy vehicles other than the AeroVironment RQ-11B Ravens and RQ-20 Pumas it already operates. Instead, the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) umbrella contracts awarded to five companies in January are expected to allow other government agencies to acquire small UAS competitively through the Army’s procurement vehicle.
The U.S. Air Force should take actions to shore up its accounting of spare engines and uninstalled missile motors, the Pentagon’s Inspector General (IG) says. “Our examination disclosed deficiencies associated with aircraft and cruise missile engines managed by the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (Amarg),” the IG says in its January report. Amarg managed 694 — or 15% — of the 4,652 engines that the Air Force included in its spare engine assertion as of June 29, 2012, the IG says.
MONITORING AGENDA: The worldwide monitoring system set up to verify compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is a potential untapped treasure trove for science, according to the American Association for the Advancement Of Science (AAAS). “Science is only beginning to discover the value of this $1 billion system for uses beyond the detection of nuclear tests,” AAAS says in announcing a Feb. 17 panel on the subject.
The U.S. Army has evaluated more than a dozen bids to replace the engine in its widely used AAI RQ-7B Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft to address reliability issues. The proposals were received in response to a request for information on potential replacements for the Shadow’s 38-hp AR741 rotary engine, made by UAV Engines Ltd., which has suffered a spate of failures when operating in Afghanistan. “We broke [the engine] away from AAI and are competing it,” says Col. Timothy Baxter, Army project manager for UAS.
As the Pentagon notes improvements in the V-22 Osprey fleets, the program is getting bolstered by more investments in additional aircraft and engine work. While highlighting enhancements and upgrades to the Ospreys, the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Testing and Evaluation (DOT&E) says more work is needed for both the CV-22 U.S. Air Force and MV-22 U.S. Navy models in its annual report, released in January.
LONDON — British troops in Afghanistan have begun operating a rotary-wing nano-UAV purchased as an Urgent Operational Requirement. Troops began using the Norwegian-made Black Hornet this month following a series of operational trials in theater late last year. The tiny, 16-gram helicopter sits in the hand and is operated using a tablet and handheld controllers. It was purchased to give troops on patrol in Helmand Province greater awareness of their surroundings.
