On the day after the election, President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats saw their victories as confirmation of the fact that the U.S. wants higher taxes on its richest citizens. And Republicans see the vote as a mandate for guarding against tax hikes and doubling down on spending reductions.
TEL AVIV — Tel Aviv’s defenses against missiles and artillery are quickly getting tougher. The Israeli Air Force is in the midst of deploying yet another upgrade to its Iron Dome system that should be completed by year’s end, say officials associated with the program.
Adm. John Richardson relieved Adm. Kirkland Donald as director of Naval Reactors earlier this month to take charge of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, during a particularly vital moment for the Navy’s nuclear propulsion program. The nation’s Virginia-class SSN attack submarines are in block production as the country starts to design and plan for the replacement fleet for its SSBN ballistic missile submarine force. At the same time, the Navy is in the middle of honing and building its next-generation, Ford-class, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Russia’s defense industry plans to establish a service center in Indonesia to support Sukhoi fighters and Russian helicopters. “We know it is on the Indonesian agenda and we are now waiting for an invitation to have discussions on this,” Victor Komardin, deputy director general of Russian arms export agency Rosoboronexport, told Aviation Week Nov. 7 on the sidelines of the IndoDefense exhibition in Jakarta. “I think we will start talking about this next year,” he says.
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia has enshrined in law its offset policy for the purchase of foreign defense equipment, setting the level of offset investment at 35%, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro tells Aviation Week.
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is researching the possibility of using Rotating Detonation Engines (RDEs) to reduce fuel consumption in gas-turbine engines, says Kazhikathra Kailasanath, who heads NRL’s Laboratory for Computational Physics and Fluid Dynamics. There are now about 430 gas turbine engines on 129 U.S. Navy ships. These engines burn about $2 billion worth of fuel each year. By retrofitting these engines with rotating detonation technology, researchers estimate that the Navy could save about $300 million to $400 million annually.
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia still needs to reach a final agreement with Australia on the purchase of ex-Royal Australian Air Force C-130Hs. The Southeast Asian nation has agreed to buy six additional C-130Hs from Australia, “but the two national teams have to sit down and work out a budget price and price per unit,” Indonesia’s defense minister, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, told Aviation Week Nov. 6 on the eve of the IndoDefense exhibition.
LOS ANGELES — Boeing and NASA are preparing to start a new, potentially riskier phase of flight tests of the X-48C blended wing body (BWB) research aircraft at Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB in California. The unmanned aircraft, which notched up its 100th flight on Oct. 30, is a rebuilt, twin-engine derivative of the three-engine X-48B tested between 2007 and 2011.
MAPLE LEAF VEHICLES: Rheinmetall and Textron’s Canada subsidiary have signed a €160 million ($207 million) contract for the Canadian Forces Tactical Armored Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) project. The work will be performed by Rheinmetall Canada in Quebec. The deal, which runs from July 2014 to March 2016, also fulfills a portion of Textron’s participation in Canada’s Industrial and Regional Benefits Policy — i.e., local offsets — after the government’s purchase of 500 Textron TAPVs.
RIDLEY PARK, Pa. — As testing of modified CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters for Canada gathers pace, Boeing is adapting the design to provide the basis for the first new-build MH-47Gs to be produced for U.S. Army special operations forces. Canada’s CH-147F is a new-production F model with the larger, long-range sponson fuel tanks of the G, plus a new electrical system and other changes. Ottawa ordered 15 Chinooks in June 2009, with deliveries to begin in June 2013.
Boeing and NASA are preparing to start a new, potentially riskier phase of flight tests of the X-48C blended wing body (BWB) research aircraft at Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB in California. The unmanned aircraft, which notched up its 100th flight on Oct. 30, is a rebuilt twin-engine derivative of the three-engine X-48B tested between 2007 and 2011.
Four student pilots participating in an operational utility evaluation of the F-35A at Eglin AFB, Fla., have each begun the flying portion of their training, and officials there say they are on track for completion of the OUE in the next few weeks. “If we have good weather, we will be done in the next two weeks,” says Lt. Col. Lee Kloos, 58th Fighter Squadron commander at Eglin, where pilot training is taking place.
From the White House to the House of Representatives, the 2012 campaign is full of races that remain within the statistical margin of error. And a number of those too-close-to-call elections are for Senate seats in key defense industry states. Here are some to watch: Virginia: For more than three decades, one of Virginia’s senators was a former Navy secretary. In this election, neither Republican George Allen nor Democrat Tim Kaine has a military background.
Click here to view the pdf 2013 U.S. Defense Spending: Current Funding Outlook: Army RDT&ELines where 2013 request differs from the 2012 enacted amount by more than 20% ($ in thousands) 2013 U.S.
DEFENDING SHIPS: The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon a $22.5 million contract to continue development, test and integration of its Ship Self-Defense System (SSDS), and extend Raytheon’s support to fleet-deployed systems through fiscal 2013. The SSDS combat management system is in service on carriers and amphibious ships, including CVN, the LSD dock landing ship, LPD, LHA and LHD classes. The LHA variant is nearing initial deployment, a technical refresh of the LSD-class is almost complete, and system development is under way for the new CVN 78-class of aircraft carriers.
Answering the U.S. Navy’s call for a deeper dive into unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), Boeing is continuing to develop its Echo Ranger UUV. While many of the other UUV candidates for Navy programs are focusing on launching, operating and returning to vessels, the Echo Ranger anchors its missions from pierside. The Boeing UUV has a notably long range, though, and Boeing sees a ship-operated version of the Echo Ranger in future years, according to Mark Kosko, program manager for the company’s Unmanned Undersea Systems group.
Selected aerospace and defense contracts for the week of Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2012. AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Marietta, Ga., (FA8625-07-C-6471, P00140) is being awarded a $489,413,280 contract modification for the C-5 Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program Lot 6 material and fabrication effort. The location of the performance is Marietta The work is expected to be completed by July 17, 2015. The contracting activity is AFLCMC/WLSK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Marietta, Ga., (FA8625-07-C-6471, P00140) is being awarded a $489,413,280 contract modification for the C-5 Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program Lot 6 material and fabrication effort. The location of the performance is Marietta The work is expected to be completed by July 17, 2015. The contracting activity is AFLCMC/WLSK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
While the development of Chinese aircraft carriers may have garnered most of the public’s attention recently, naval defense analysts say the Asian giant’s amphibious fleet plans deserve a closer look given the vessels’ potential for far-flung missions.
