There is “very little risk” to delivering the software capabilities required for initial operational capability (IOC) of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Lockheed Martin F-35B in 2015, Joint Strike Fighter, program head Lt. Gen. Christopher Bodgan told a House Armed Services Committee hearing on March 26. Bogdan said he is more concerned about the ability to modify all of the Marine Corps’ aircraft “to the production-representative configuration needed to go to war. That will be more of a problem in 2015.”
China’s ongoing efforts toward territorial grabs in the Asia-Pacific region continue to worry U.S. military officials and defense analysts. “I would have never anticipated that there would be the kind of tensions in the vast South China Sea over territorial rights and fishing rights, or in the East China Sea,” Adm. Samuel Locklear, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, told the House Armed Services Committee earlier this month.
SANTIAGO, Chile — Despite mandatory funding cuts, the U.S. Air Force is trying to maintain strong ties with its counterparts in Chile. Sequestration in Washington, however, has put a strain on the number of exercises the American services can conduct with partners in the region. U.S. forces have had to cut roughly 200 activities with partners in the region because of the spending cuts, says Maj. Gen. Mark Nowland, chief of staff for U.S. Southern Command. This command has authority over U.S. activities in Central and South America.
Airbus Defense is working to increase its industrial ties to the local aerospace industry here with the signing of a cooperative agreement with a Chilean company to support aircraft in the area, including the C212 and C101.
NEW DELHI — India imports nearly three times as many arms as China and Pakistan, a Swedish-based research institute says, firming up its position as the world’s leading buyer of military weapons. India increased its arms imports by 111% over the past five years and now accounts for 14% of the world’s weapons imports, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) says. The second-highest importers, China and Pakistan, each account for 5% of international defense imports.
Proposals are being sought for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (Darpa) Tactical Boost Glide (TBG) program to demonstrate a rocket-launched hypersonic weapon capable of flying more than 1,000 mi. in 10 min. TBG is one of two new high-speed strike weapon efforts Darpa is launching with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The other is the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) program.
Marking its 2-millionth unmanned-aircraft flight hour, the U.S. Army is turning its attention to how the operation of its current UAS fleet needs to evolve. “We are post-development on all of our systems, and in production and fielding,” says Col. Timothy Baxter, project manager for unmanned aircraft systems. “The platforms we have are the platforms we will have for the foreseeable future,” he says.
Missile development and missile defense remain high on the list of concerns for commanders of U.S. and partner military forces in the Pacific. Chinese and North Korea continue to make advancements in missile technology that make them not only regional concerns, but global ones as well, military commanders say. Of the two, North Korea remains the most unpredictable and problematic as the U.S. develops better military-to-military relationships with China.
The U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) has completed the final operational flights of its Lockheed L-1011 Tristar transport aircraft. The air arm formally concluded the type’s 30-year career on March 24 when two aircraft were launched from the home base at RAF Brize Norton to carry out refueling sorties over the North Sea before conducting farewell fly-bys at airfields associated with the aircraft.
Alenia Aermacchi is building its own production-representative M-346 trainer to continue development and testing for the young program after two mishaps claimed two of three of its prototype aircraft, according to company officials. This new development aircraft will be a company-owned asset and will complete in the production cycle by year’s end, an Alenia official says.
South Korea is reportedly looking at acquiring 20-60 used Lockheed Martin F-16s from the U.S. to use as gap fillers while it awaits the delivery of fighters to replace worn-out F-4s and F-5s.
BEIJING — Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawks will enter South Korean service beginning in 2018, following the acquisition agency’s approval of the purchase. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) says it will sign a letter of acceptance with the U.S. government this month and then begin formal negotiations for four of the unmanned surveillance aircraft.
LONDON — The U.K. Royal Air Force expects to soon receive confirmation that its fleet of five Sentinel R-1 surveillance aircraft is to be retained in service. The airborne stand-off radar (ASTOR) system, operated by 5 Army Cooperation Squadron from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, was scheduled to be withdrawn from service in 2015, following the end of combat operations in Afghanistan.
BRUSSELS — NATO is taking steps to bolster the credibility of its defense guarantee to Eastern European members, most visibly with air power, in the wake of Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says, “Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine is the most serious crisis in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall,” and “follows a pattern of behavior of military pressure and frozen conflicts in our neighborhood: Transnistria, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and now Crimea.”
WORK RELEASED: The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to advance the nomination of Robert Work to replace Ashton Carter as the next deputy defense secretary. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had placed a hold on his nomination regarding questions he had about delays to Littoral Combat Ship mission packages and integration challenges. While McCain remains disappointed in the answers he received from Work, the hold on his nomination has been lifted, according to a congressional aide.
The U.S. Navy should keep 11 aircraft carriers for global needs and build up its amphibious fleet in the Pacific, says Adm. Samuel Locklear, commander of the nation’s Pacific Command. “The 11 carriers are barely making it today,” Locklear said March 25 during a Senate Armed Service Committee hearing on North Korea and Pacific issues.
Raytheon and Norway’s Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace have jointly protested the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (Darpa) plan to award Lockheed Martin a $175 million contract to complete the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (Lrasm) demonstration program. The Lrasm is a sea-skimming derivative of Lockheed’s stealthy Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile – Extended Range designed to counter heavily defended Chinese warships. Two successful flight tests were conducted in 2013 against moving ship targets.
As the U.S. Navy and nation consider whether to refuel or decommission the CVN-73 aircraft carrier USS George Washington, the chief executive of the company that does the work says skipping the fueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) on the ship will not disrupt the future carrier overhaul workforce.
With Seoul’s March 24 announcement of its long-held intent to purchase the F-35A, South Korea is likely securing an offset deal that will include a new military communications satellite and technical assistance in the country’s plans to develop an indigenous stealthy KF-X fighter.
Lower-than-expected reliability threatens the future of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, along with doubts as to whether the Pentagon can afford the planned production rate, according to the latest report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The program’s continued failure to develop and test mission software on schedule will also either result in delayed initial operational capability (IOC) dates, or in further reductions to the capability delivered at IOC, the report predicts.
