FORT WASHINGTON, Md. — During this quarter, the first DDG-1000 Zumwalt destroyer should start look even more like the new U.S. Navy warship it is planned to be, as contractors prepare to marry the vessel’s composite hangar with its hull.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The industrial cooperation package that manufacturers can offer Malaysia appears to be the key to winning government support in the country, which has a competition under way for the purchase of 18 fighters.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Boeing’s UAV subsidiary Insitu has secured a contract to supply its ScanEagle UAV to Malaysia, for help in monitoring territory off the north coast of the state of Sabah. Malaysian company Unmanned Systems Technology (UST), a subsidiary of Malaysian composites parts manufacturer CTRM, has a government contract to provide UAV surveillance covering sections of land and sea in and around Sabah. At the Defense Services Asia (DSA) exhibition in Kuala Lumpur this week, UST signed a contract with Insitu.
BEIJING — South Korea has announced the deployment of two types of surface-to-surface weapons, one a cruise missile and the other ballistic. The Tomahawk-like cruise missile, which must be the previously reported Hyunmu 3C, has world-class precision, good enough to fly through a window, says Maj. Gen. Shin Won-sik, director general of planning at the defense ministry, who did not name either weapon. Its range is 1,500 km (930 mi.), he says.
KUALA LUMPUR — Eurocopter aims to deliver the first of 12 EC-725 tactical transport helicopters ordered by the Malaysian air force by the end of the year. Training starts in July, Eurocopter Malaysia President Pierre Rossignol tells Aviation Week on the sidelines of the Defense Services Asia exhibition in Kuala Lumpur. He also says an EC-225/725 training simulator will be coming to Malaysia and will be stationed here.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Apr. 23 - 25 — Aviation Week NextGen Ahead Air Transportation Modernization Conference, Washington Marriott at Metro Center, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events
It’s time for the U.S. to start funding and fielding directed-energy weapons such as high-energy lasers and high-power microwave, a new study argues, and not just because they are cheaper than one-shot kinetic weapons. The cost per shot for interceptor missiles is not only expensive—at least $9 million each—it puts U.S. forces on the bad side of what is called the “cost-imposition curve,” says Mark Gunzinger, author of “Changing the Game: The Promise of Directed-Energy Weapons,” the latest report from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Analysis.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems is offering two field-retrofittable options to extend the loiter time of its Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper medium-altitude unmanned aircraft. As the results of an internally funded endurance enhancement study, Option 1 calls for adding two fuel pods to the existing 66-ft.-span wing, increasing endurance to 37 from 27 hr. ; Option 2 sees the wing replaced with an 88-ft.-span unit and adds the two underwing fuel pods, increasing endurance to 42 hr.
Robert Wall (Santiago, Chile), Michael Mecham (Sao Jose Dos Campos, Brazil)
As Western aerospace and defense (A&D) companies flood into Latin America to establish ties to help them win military business, local firms have to decide what long-term gains they might garner from the arrangements. For Embraer—the region's industrial heavyweight—the goal is clear. It is interested in gaining access to new markets and securing development work that can boost its industrial capacities. This is especially true in Brazil's biggest defense project involving foreign suppliers, the F-X2 fighter program.
Robert Wall (Santiago, Chile), Michael Mecham (Santiago, Chile)
When Eurocopter inaugurates its new final assembly line in Brazil at its Helibras facility, it will signify how much Western aerospace companies are banking on the Latin market's potential.
Brazil is unusual among top-rated emerging markets because it can support manufacturing, services and natural resource development simultaneously. This is due, in part, to its low external and public debt, low unemployment, an enviable 90% literacy rate, expanding capital markets and declining poverty. And to top it off, the country is self-sufficient in water, food and energy. Brazil recently passed the U.K. to become the world's sixth-largest economy. By 2040, Goldman Sachs expects it to be fourth behind China, the U.S. and India.
Brazil's new entrants in aviation design and manufacturing are specializing in niche markets for domestic consumption and are receiving support from industry, academia and government agencies.
Steve Jobs once said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” Unfortunately, there are too many followers in today's defense industry.
For a self-professed naval power, the U.K. has seen surprisingly large gaps develop in its maritime surveillance capability in recent years, a trend the Defense Ministry is setting out to reverse.
Argentina's modest aerospace ambitions have centered on FAdeA (Fabrica Argentina de Aviones), its main aircraft manufacturer, but have been on the brink of extinction for some time. The country is hoping that FAdeA's nationalization in 2010 will breathe new life into the business and put it on a sustainable footing. Many of Latin America's arms makers were built as national prestige projects during eras of military leadership, and they have seen sharp declines in recent years as democracy has broadened.
The first flight of the U.K.'s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter sets in motion a process that should see the first two international buyers begin to take possession of their aircraft. Lockheed Martin on April 15 completed a 45-min. mission of BK-1. It is the first of two F-35Bs the U.K. is to due receive this year, with delivery expected during the summer. The test aircraft will be used eventually by the U.K. at Eglin AFB, Fla., as part of the training and operational test program there. The U.K. is buying three test aircraft. BK-1 and BK-2 have been built.
In Japan, it was last year's earthquake and tsunami; manufacturers worldwide are still recovering. In the U.S., a swarm of tornadoes ripping across Kansas—and striking Spirit AeroSystems—brought another reminder of just how vulnerable and vastly inter-connected the aviation's supply chain is to natural disasters.
Investors seem to believe that Textron Inc.'s darkest days are behind it. The share price of the 89-year-old parent company of Cessna Aircraft, Bell Helicopter and Textron Systems rose more than 50% during the first quarter of 2012. And while the stock has declined a bit in April, it has recovered from a slump that began a year ago, when it became apparent that a rebound in the lower end of the business jet market was further off than anticipated.
Now it is official. Amid mounting evidence that China is serious about curing its weakness in engine technology, Avic says its highest priority in the coming years will be propulsion. The group has set a budget of 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) for aero-engine work over five years, though that figure is probably only a fraction of actual spending.
The Brazilian air force's requirement that KC-390 tanker/transports serve civil and military markets is underscoring prime contractor Embraer's approach to the airplane's product strategy.
Gone are the days when Brazil's munitions makers were content with building bullets and projectiles. And as the arms industry's technical expertise grows, more complex precision-weapon projects are under way. The first wave of such initiatives is due to come to fruition in the next two years, with industry poised to then tackle the thornier challenges of developing and building sophisticated cruise missiles, air defenses or long-range air-to-air missiles.
