Turkish missile manufacturer Roketsan has signed up to cooperate on the development and supply of Diehl Defense’s Interactive Defense and Attack System for Submarines (IDAS) missile system. The two companies, along with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, signed an agreement at the IDEF defense show in Istanbul on May 9.
ARMY The Boeing Co., Mesa, Ariz., was awarded a $26,067,485 modification (P00007), to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, foreign military sales (FMS) contract W58RGZ-12-C-0089, for training and support of the Apache Block III helicopter program. This FMS contract is in support of Saudi Arabia. The cumulative total face value of this contract is $216,229,550. Fiscal 2013 procurement funds are being obligated on this award. The Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
Raytheon has begun guided flight tests of an interceptor being developed for the U.S. Army under an accelerated effort to field a system to counter rocket, artillery and mortar (RAM) threats. The company has announced completion of two control test vehicle (CTV) flights under the Accelerated Improved Intercept Initiative (AI3) program and has moved into guided tests.
With little incentive for prospective competitors to exceed the baseline requirements, the restaged contest for the VXX presidential helicopter replacement is expected to come down to the same two contenders as the original competition: the AgustaWestland AW101 and Sikorsky S-92. If the aircraft are the same, the teams are slightly different this time around. Northrop Grumman will prime any AW101 bid and Sikorsky has teamed with Lockheed Martin, which won the first VXX competition with a U.S. version of the AW101, the VH-71A, beating out the S-92.
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SINGAPORE — There is little doubt about what is the star of the show at this year’s International Maritime and Defense Exhibition (Imdex) Asia 2013 – the buzz is clearly all about the first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1), the USS Freedom. From the huge billboard featuring Freedom’s picture on the road heading into the Changi Exhibition Center to the media board plastered with photographs and stories about the vessel’s arrival to the region, LCS is casting a long, large shadow.
ARMY Goodrich Pump and Engine Control Systems, West Hartford, Conn., is being awarded a firm-fixed-price, multiyear contract with a maximum value of $47,957,667 for the procurement of a maximum of 1,500 fuel controls applicable to the CH-47 helicopter. Fiscal 2013 procurement funds in the amount of $2,364,200 are being obligated on this award. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-13-D-0126). NAVY
HOUSTON — Two U.S. astronauts were preparing for a possible May 11 spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) in response to a significant ammonia coolant leak in the thermal control system radiator of the orbiting lab’s oldest solar power module. The NASA-led ISS Mission Management Team had scheduled a meeting for late May 10 to consider final approval for a 6-7-hr. extravehicular activity (EVA) to replace the suspected source of the leak, a pump and flow control system (PFCS) electronics box, or to carry out further troubleshooting.
C4ISR: The total market value of major western command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) programs over the next decade will reach around $50.76 billion, according to Forecast International. But the consulting group notes that the market is on a downward slope, projected to fall from almost $7 billion in sales this year to $3.71 billion annually in 2022 as countries keep defense budgets tight in the wake of the global recession.
Developing the right kind of technology and gathering the proper intelligence are becoming major factors in defeating maritime mines. But the possibility of non-state terrorists gaining access to mines makes the mission even more difficult.
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) has invited eight global aerospace companies to bid for co-producing 56 medium transport aircraft to replace its aging fleet of Hawker Siddeley HS 748s originally built under license by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). The deal mandates that the first 16 aircraft will be directly procured in flyaway condition from the chosen vendor, which will then have to partner with an Indian company that will manufacture the remaining 40. Out of those 40, 16 must comprise 30% indigenous components, while 24 must contain 60%.
ISTANBUL — Turkish defense electronics manufacturer Aselsan is awaiting a production contract for its new targeting pod, which will replace the Turkish air force’s (THK) Lantirn designator pods.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) May 13 — 25th Greater Washington Aviation Open (GWAO) Golf Tournament, "The Largest Aviation Charity in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Area," Lansdowne Golf Resort near Leesburg, Va. For more information call Ed Hazelwood, (202) 383-2358.
The U.S. Army has concluded the path forward for its Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) requirement is either a service life-extension program (SLEP) for the Bell OH-58D/F Kiowa Warrior or a new development program. After evaluating five off-the-shelf AAS candidates, “we did not find a single aircraft out there that could meet Army requirements,” said Lt. Gen. William Phillips, principal military deputy for acquisition, testifying before Congress May 8.
LONDON — The U.K. government’s decision to revert back to the short takeoff and vertical landing (Stovl) variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter cost £74 million ($114 million), according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO). In its May 10 report, “Carrier Strike: The 2012 Reversion Decision,” the NAO looked at the issues surrounding the government’s decision to go with the conventional carrier landing version of the F-35, the F-35C, before going back to the Stovl aircraft in summer 2012.
LOS ANGELES — U.S. Air Force efforts to improve space systems acquisition are showing clear dividends in terms of enhanced operations and cost savings, according to Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski.
