PARIS — The “War on Cost” is a priority at Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, made more difficult as U.S. military budget constraints stretch out the delivery schedule for the F-35 Lightning II fighter and its PW F135 powerplant. “We face stronger headwinds,” says P&W Military Engines president Bennett Croswell. “But we continue to make progress.”
The U.S. Navy took major strides with two major unmanned underwater vehicle programs this month by finishing reliability testing for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) remote minehunting system (RMS) and deploying the first MK18 Mod 2 Kingfish unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) for operations in the 5th Fleet area of responsibility.
NEW DELHI — In a blow to India’s state-owned airframe manufacturer, the Indian air force (IAF) is expected to exercise options with Swiss firm Pilatus for 38 PC-7 Mk-II basic turboprop trainers in a deal worth about $275 million. The agreement adds to the 75 Pilatus aircraft the IAF ordered in May 2012 for $520 million and follows a combination of developments, chiefly the failure of state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) to meet timelines and projected costs for its own concept trainer.
PARIS — Italy’s Finmeccanica expects to return to profitability this year as the restructuring of the aerospace and defense conglomerate over the last 18 months begins to reap rewards. Progress was slowed by goodwill write-downs in 2012 on its U.S.-based DRS and Europe-based Selex ES defense electronics businesses, and the removal of top management in February amid allegations of corruption that the company strenuously denies.
LE BOURGET — GE Aviation’s helicopter engine business is bringing in $1 billion a year, with sales weighted 70% to the military. But a resurgence of interest in its civil CT7 is expected to swing sales to 70% commercial by 2016. The quantities will remain the same – around 800 engines a year, says Jean Lydon-Rodgers, VP and General Manager of GE Aviation’s military systems. The engine in question is the 2,000 shp-class T700, which powers all Black Hawk and Apache helicopters.
Air Transportation Modernization Conference September 9-11, 2013 Washington, D.C. Re-Defining NextGen: Setting Priorities • Implementing Capabilities • Delivering Benefits Join industry experts including airlines, government agencies and leading technology providers as they answer: What’s next after sequestration? Learn more and register now at www.aviationweek.com/events/nextgen
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) june 24 - 27 — AIAA Ground Testing Conference, Sheraton San Diego Hotel, San Diego, Calif. For more information go to https://www.aiaa.org/EventDetail.aspx?id=16551 june 25 - 27 — JEC Asia Composites Show & Conferences, "An International Exhibition With A Strong Foothold In The Asia Pacific MEA Area," Singapore. For more information go to www.jeccomposites.com/events/jec-asia-2013
President Barack Obama’s call to cut the U.S. operational, strategic nuclear warhead arsenal by up to a third below the New Start treaty’s 1,550 cap, along with the announcement that he is seeking related negotiations with Russia, is drawing criticism from conservatives and even skepticism from some peace advocates.
U.S. federal contractors — particularly primes for the Pentagon and intelligence community — could see hundreds of millions of dollars less in annual profits if lawmakers and the White House lower the cap on how much the government reimburses contractor salaries.
JSF BUY: The Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program will undergo a review after this summer to decide whether there should be a planned increase in production starting in fiscal 2015, according to the Pentagon’s acquisition chief, Frank Kendall. The Defense Department’s 2014 budget request plan, which does not assume another round of sequestration budget rescissions, outlines total 2014 purchases of 29 F-35s, increasing to 42 for 2015 and 62 for 2016.
Aviation Week 2013 MIlitary Fleet & MRO Forecast! The MRO Fleet, Forecasts and Data you need to accurately plan and strategize for the future. See for yourself with a free demonstration: AviationWeek.com/FleetMRO Aviation Week Intelligence Network Click here to view the pdf
NEW DELHI — Eyeing a potential $2 billion domestic market, India’s state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which recently carved out a separate unmanned air systems (UAS) division as part of a comprehensive diversification drive, wants to ready platforms quickly to meet a raft of current and expected requirements from the armed forces, police and paramilitary.
Aviation Week NextGen Ahead Air Transportation Modernization Conference September 9-11, 2013 Washington, D.C. Re-Defining NextGen: Setting Priorities • Implementing Capabilities • Delivering Benefits Join industry experts including airlines, government agencies and leading technology providers as they answer: What’s next after sequestration?
While the current developing concept of Air-Sea Battle (ASB) has come to mean many things to many people, one key underlying principle is the need to communicate both before and during operations, according to a recent report by the Pentagon ASB Office. “In the ASB Concept, networked actions are tightly coordinated in real time by mission-organized forces to conduct integrated operations across all domains without being locked into service-specific procedures, tactics, or weapons systems,” the office says.
LE BOURGET — AgustaWestland will add a diesel engine to its Project Zero technology incubator program to boost the endurance of the electric vertical-lift aircraft. The off-the-shelf diesel engine purchased from a car manufacturer is now being modified to reduce weight and will be ready for installation into the demonstrator during the coming year.
LE BOURGET — Certification of Eurocopter’s EC175 medium helicopter will be delayed by at least another four months, as the company tries to mature its troubled Helionix avionics system. The company confirmed the delay during the Paris air show. Eurocopter’s head of engineering, Jean-Brice Dumont, told journalists that the European Aviation Safety Agency is now likely to certify the aircraft in early 2014.
ABOARD THE USS ENTERPRISE — The “Queen of the Seas” looked nearly naked without her crown — the upper mast of antennae and other combat accessories normally towering above her flight deck — but her carrier number “65” scrawled out in lights near her shorn top shone as brightly as ever against the dawn. Aircraft carriers are always a beehive of activity — from their gestation days at the Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding yard to the day, like today, when CVN-65 USS Enterprise gets ready to be “deactivated,” or essentially dismantled.
LE BOURGET — The U.K. Royal Navy will operate the Boeing/Insitu ScanEagle UAV from its warships. The service’s contract deal, worth £30 million ($46 million), was announced on June 20 and is the first purchase of a UAV for operation from British naval ships. ScanEagle has been operated from U.K. navy vessels in the past during capability trials.
LE BOURGET — Alenia Aeronautica is preparing for the second phase of flight testing—including the integration of precision-guided munitions—on its palletized MC-27J gunship kit. The concept is driven, in part, by U.S. Air Force interest, though the Italian Air Force also has interest in a C-27J gunship version.
