Saab is ready to put its V-200 Skeldar vertical-lift unmanned aircraft into production after testing an improved vehicle, with active bids in play and other requirements in the pipeline. The biggest active pursuit is a U.S. State Department procurement of UAVs for U.S. embassy security. “We expect a decision any day,” says Brian Lawrence, senior vice president for marketing and sales in North America.
MARKUPS BEGIN: The House Armed Services Committee will hold its first markup hearings this week on the fiscal 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1960). The subcommittees on strategic forces; intelligence, emerging threats and capabilities; seapower and projection forces; and military personnel will convene on May 22. The tacair and readiness subcommittees meet on May 23. The full HASC committee markup on the bill is scheduled for June 5.
NEW DELHI — Russia’s Rosoboronexport has proposed starting licensed production of its Ka-226T helicopter in India if it wins the contract to supply 197 reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters to the country’s military. “We are increasing exports both by deepening the relationship with traditional partners and expanding the geography of sales,” says Grigory Kozlov, head of helicopter exports at Rosoboronexport. “In particular, in India, where we are bidding the Ka-226T.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) may 20 - 22 — Armoured Vehicles UAE 2013, Armed Forces Officers Club, Abu Dhabi, UAE. For more information go to http://www.idga.org/events/ may 20 - 22 — Joint Personnel Recovery, "Assessing the future requirements for a whole government approach to personnel recovery," 76 Portland Place, London, U.K. For more information go to http://www.jointpersonnelrecovery.com/
NASA’s Ames Research Center will test a 10-in. high deployment system that can launch as many as 24 nanosats at once during piggyback rides on two Defense Department demonstration missions.
The U.S. Navy is seeking up to 90,000 gal. of alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) fuel to conduct testing and certification for use in naval aircraft. To be awarded in June, the contract will be another step along the path towards the Navy’s plan of meeting 50% of its fuel needs from alternative sources by 2020. The solicitation calls for delivery of 20,000 gal. of ATJ-5 fuel by September, with options for two further 10,000-gal. batches by January and March 2014 and up to another 50,000 gal. by March 2015. This will represent a significant scale-up in ATJ production.
With a record flight of more than 48 hr. on fuel-cell power under its belt, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is looking at how to transition its Ion Tiger unmanned aircraft from an experimental vehicle to a tactical system. The 35-lb. Ion Tiger completed a 48-hr., 1-min. flight on April 16-18 with an electric fuel-cell propulsion system using liquid hydrogen stored in a cryogenic tank. The aircraft flew for 26 hr., 2 min. in 2009 using compressed gaseous hydrogen.
ROME and TURIN, Italy — Italy’s air force is awaiting a second C-27J transport outfitted with an anti-improvised explosive device (IED) system, known as Jedi, and plans to buy a total of six of the specialized jammers.
SINGAPORE — The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom is scheduled to get under way May 17 for some of its initial operations here, says Cmdr. Tim Wilke, the vessel’s commanding officer. U.S. Navy officials say repairs were made to address power outages while the ship was in transit and coolant leaks when it docked in port. Asked to discuss any other existing or potential problems that could affect Freedom’s performance, officials declined, saying responding to such queries could endanger the vessel’s operational security.
LONDON — Trials to integrate MBDA’s Brimstone air-to-ground missile on the U.K.’s fleet of General Atomics MQ-9 Reapers are set to take place this fall, government ministers say. In written testimony on May 15, Philip Dunne, the under secretary of state for defense equipment, support and technology at the U.K. defense ministry, told Parliament that he expected the trials to “proceed in the autumn.”
SINGAPORE — Viking Air is developing a new surveillance variant of its Twin Otter Guardian 400 for the international market. The Canadian company has sold surveillance variants of the Twin Otter 400 before, but Joar Gronlund, non-executive director of Viking partner Field Aviation, argues the previous ones were really customized aircraft, and that Viking Air has decided to have a more standardized variant to make it easier and more cost-effective to support the aircraft later on.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has achieved its third successful test of the Raytheon SM-3 IB interceptor as well as its first flight demonstration of a new ballistic missile target designed by Lockheed Martin.
ARMS TRADE: The Obama administration expects to sign the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, according to Thomas Countryman, assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, although the U.S. may not be among the first countries to do so when the treaty opens for signatures in New York on June 3. “I do expect that we will sign it in the very near future,” he told an Atlantic Council audience May 15. Countryman is the U.S. diplomat who led a diverse delegation in negotiating the treaty, which the U.N. General Assembly passed April 2.
SINGAPORE — The U.S. government’s decision to deploy more of its forces to Asia, particularly to areas in and around the South China Sea, may prove to be a boon for the U.S. defense industry. Major U.S. defense companies such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin are hoping to derive more international sales to offset the decline in U.S. defense spending, and the U.S. Navy is already lobbying countries in Asia to ensure that their maritime vessels and equipment are interoperable with the U.S. Navy’s.
With first flight of the U.S. Navy’s Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton imminent, Australia has announced it will formally request cost, capability and availability information on the high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft. The potential boost comes as Northrop struggles to keep its RQ-4B Global Hawk program alive, with the U.S. Air Force cutting production and Germany announcing it will not procure Euro Hawk variants.
FURLOUGHS LOOM: The Pentagon is preparing its civilian workforce for up to 11 days of furloughs this year, starting the week of July 8, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says in a May 14 memo. Across-the-board budget cuts aimed at reducing the federal deficit drove the furloughs. Hagel says the Pentagon’s budget for fiscal 2013 was slashed by $37 billion, $20 billion of which hit personnel-heavy operations and maintenance accounts.
