MOSCOW — Irkut Corporation has begun flight tests of the twin-seat Sukhoi Su-30SM multirole fighter. The first aircraft made its 2-hr. first flight on Sept. 21; the second fighter joined the flight tests on Sept. 25, says Irkut, a subsidiary of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation.
TOULOUSE, France — With the proposed merger of EADS and BAE Systems facing serious opposition by the German government, which has indicated it may block the deal if its conditions are not met, EADS CEO Tom Enders is offering to negotiate further details of the transaction.
QUANTICO, Va. — The U.S. Navy is still interested in the platform concept and technology behind the Sea Base Connector Transformational Craft (T-Craft), but the service apparently has decided for now to skip buying the prototype. The T-Craft, proponents say, can serve as an inter-theater logistics connector, traveling at high speeds with significant payloads and capable of operating in austere ports and areas where there are no facilities available.
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) can focus more on taking care of business and less on the possible effects of sequestration thanks to the company’s shipbuilding portfolio, Citi financial group says. “Thanks to its long-cycle business, HII is focused on executing what we’re calling its 5x5 plan as opposed to being too distracted by sequestration,” Citi says in a recent note to investors.
NASA’s Langley Research Center, Mitre and several partners have completed the first in a series of inflight evaluations of cooperative automatic sense and avoid (SAA) algorithms for unmanned air systems (UAS), in large part to validate a new testbed that will be used for more advanced trials next year.
The U.S. has confirmed that Indonesia is seeking to buy eight Boeing AH-64D Apache attack helicopters and has also disclosed the weapons the Indonesians want. In a statement to Congress, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) says Indonesia has put in a request to buy eight Boeing AH-64D Apache Block III Longbow attack helicopters, a deal worth $1.42 billion.
NASA’s Langley Research Center, Mitre and several partners have completed the first in a series of inflight evaluations of cooperative automatic sense-and-avoid (SAA) algorithms for unmanned air systems (UAS), in large part to validate a new testbed that will be used for more advanced trials next year.
With the proposed merger of EADS and BAE Systems facing serious opposition by the German government, which has indicated it may block the deal if its conditions are not met, EADS CEO Tom Enders is offering to negotiate further details of the transaction.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan — Eurocopter Kazakhstan, a joint venture between Eurocopter and state-owned Kazakhstan Engineering, has received its first EC145 light utility helicopter kits, and expects to have eight kits to assemble by mid-November, says EADS Kazakhstan General Director Silvere Delaunay.
NEW DELHI — India inducted its frontline Sukhoi combat aircraft at its air force’s Halwara base in the northern state of Punjab, bordering Pakistan, on Sept. 25. The Su-30MKI, the Indian-built version of the Russian combat aircraft, will replace the now phased-out, Soviet-origin MiG-23 fighters in the 220 Squadron also known as “Desert Tigers,” a defense ministry official says. The first batch of Su-30MKIs was inducted into the Indian air force (IAF) in September 2002.
There is little political, deterrent or military value in either the U.S. or Israel bombing Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, say participants at this week’s Air Force Association air warfare symposium here. “If the Iranians really wanted a store of enriched uranium, they could buy it,” says a U.S. official with links to the U.S. military’s cyber and operations communities. “And they don’t have to process it themselves except for the national prestige it would give the country and to keep the international spotlight on Tehran.”
The U.S. Navy’s first Afloat Forward Staging Base (Interim) (AFSB(I)) USS Ponce is making its debut at the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 2012 (IMCMEX 12) through the end of this month. Designated as an amphibious transport dock (LPD) more than 41 years ago, Ponce was converted and reclassified as an AFSB(I) in April and arrived in Bahrain for duty on July 6, to fulfill a longstanding U.S. Central Command (Centcom) request.
Belarus plans to add more Russian-made military aircraft to boost its border patrol capabilities. “We discussed many issues related to the air force. I asked for assistance and I got it,” the president of the former Soviet Republic, Alexander Lukashenko, told reporters following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
FRANKFURT — Germany’s federal government is voicing serious concerns internally about the planned merger of EADS and BAE Systems. A Ministry of Economics and Technology report, destined for the federal parliament’s economics committee, points to a series of issues that puts the proposal’s viability in question.
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) plans to deploy nearly 15 airborne warning and control systems during the next 10 years. “India is planning additional airborne warning and control system projects with radars atop larger aircraft such as the IL-76, Boeing 777 or Airbus 320,” according to a defense ministry official. The announcement comes on the heels of the arrival of the first of three Embraer 145 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft from Brazil’s Embraer Defense and Security on Aug. 17.
AIR FORCE Raytheon, McKinney, Texas (FA8620-06-G-4041, DO 001211), is being awarded a $44,032,247 contract modification for the Reaper/Predator Program. This contract modification is for Multi-spectral Targeting System, Target Location Accuracy, High- Definition Video and Targeting Improvements. The location of the performance is McKinney, Texas. The work is expected to be completed by July 17, 2015. The contracting activity is AFLCMC/WIIK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
Talk of restarting the production line aside, the true financial focus now and in coming years for the U.S. Air Force will be aimed at maintaining the nation’s stealthy F-22 Raptor. For fiscal 2012, for example, the Air Force is spending about $803.4 million to modify and sustain the Raptor, compared to $132.2 million to produce the F-22, according to data provided by Avascent050, an online market analysis toolkit for global defense programs.
Boeing has confirmed a $1.9 billion U.S. Navy order for 11 P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, which the company describes as a “stepping-stone to full-rate production.” The order represents the manufacturer’s third low-rate initial production award, and follows two in 2011 that combined for 13 aircraft. The new order will take the Navy’s total fleet to 24, as part of an overall plan to acquire 117 as replacements for the Lockheed Martin P-3.
