COM DEV INTERNATIONAL agreed to acquire U.K.-based MESL MICROWAVE (high-reliability components/subsystems) for £12.8m. SAAB extended deal with Sweden’s FMV to provide support/upgrade of 14 Gripen fighters for Czech Republic for 12 more years. ELBIT SYSTEMS OF AMERICA and OGDEN AIR LOGISTIC COMPLEX teamed to offer support services for fighter aircraft. LOCKHEED MARTIN opened collaboration center in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, for innovation and security systems in the UAE.
In settling on a new Small Surface Combatant (SCC) ship that will be derived from the existing Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) template, the U.S. Navy is going back to LCS basics. Keeping the weight down has always been a mantra for LCS, and that mindset is proving to be key in developing what might best be called LCS-Next. (See story p. 4.) One of the “cardinal rules” from the LCS concept of operations (conops) going back to the previous decades says: “Do not add weight to LCS. For anything added, something else must be removed.”
The U.S. may be leading the world in UAV technology, but lawmakers worry companies may take their research and development to other countries where it will be easier to test them. Road builders in Germany and farmers in France are using UAVs, says Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R), chairman of the House Transportation aviation subcommittee. “If the Germans, French, and Canadians can do some of these things today, then why can’t we also be doing them,” he asks.
LONDON— A model helicopter or unmanned air vehicle came within 20 ft. of colliding with an Airbus A320 airliner as it made its final approach into London Heathrow airport, investigators have revealed. Detailing the incident on July 22 this year, investigators from the U.K. Airprox Board, which examines the causes behind air proximity incidents in British air space, said the incident posed a serious risk of collision.
The U.S. desire to keep 11 aircraft carriers in its Navy fleet will help maintain a force structure that closely resembles current levels, especially when it comes to the service’s larger capital vessels, says Michael Petters, CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), the country’s biggest military shipbuilder. There appears to be a “strong commitment” at the highest government levels to keep an 11-carrier structure, Petters said Dec. 10 during an event sponsored by the Atlantic Council.
LONDON—A series of complex weapon integration programs planned for the Eurofighter Typhoon are making progress, according to the consortium partners involved in the four-nation program.
As climate change continues to reshape the Arctic, it is also revamping how the U.S. Navy perceives its missions in the region. “We in the Navy have a particular interest [in the Arctic] because our responsibilities increase as the Arctic changes,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus says. “As sea levels rise, as ice melts, our role in terms of freedom of navigation, in terms of search and rescue and in terms of scientific exploration, increases pretty dramatically.”
The U.S. Navy is going with a recommendation to develop a modified Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) to serve as the service’s next Small Surface Combatant (SSC). The decision was expected by many observers. LCS was slated to fill the SSC role and the Navy is planning to build 32 of them. But Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel directed the service to develop an SSC that is more survivable and packs a bigger punch than LCS.
As the U.S. ramps up its rebalance of its naval and other Pentagon resources to the Asia-Pacific, America is putting even greater stock in its regional partners and allies. “Partnerships matter and our alliance with the Republic of Korea is very important,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. “We receive great support from the people of Korea, which allows the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to be where it matters and when it matters, to sustain our alliance, and maintain stability and peace throughout this region.”
BEIJING—Uncoordinated assertion of maritime territorial rights by Chinese government agencies is heightening the risk that one of the periodic confrontations in the South and East China Seas could turn into a crisis, according to an Australian think-tank’s assessment of the country’s behavior in pursing its claims.
The Pentagon is a little thin on the details it provides to Congress to help lawmakers make the best decisions for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. ( Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) dec. 15-18 — Special Operations Summit, Hilton Tampa Downtown, Tampa, Florida. For more information go to www.specialoperationssummit.com/
Dubbed Project Loon, the fleet of balloons would be carried by winds some 18 to 20 km above the Earth – higher than commercial airlines and weather – and powered by solar panels.
