NEW DELHI — India is likely to buy an additional 42 Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft and 71 medium-lift helicopters from Russia. The Su-30 MKI order will be in addition to the 230 aircraft of the type already contracted for, as the Indian air force (IAF) plans to raise 13 to 14 squadrons in the near future, according to a defense ministry official. The Sukhoi Su-30 MKI, a variant of the Sukhoi Su-30, is jointly developed by Russia’s Sukhoi and India’s state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) for the IAF.
A Mitt Romney administration would take an “incremental” approach to U.S. defense weaponry development while fighting cost growth and schedule delays with “strong civilian leadership” that heads off so-called “requirements creep” by program proponents in the military and industry.
Conventional prompt global strike (CPGS) has been a subject of more talk than action in the U.S. defense community for the past decade, but a new study by the hawkish National Institute for Public Policy (NIPP) argues that political and technological change favors a new look at the concept.
AMSTERDAM — The collapse of merger talks between EADS and BAE Systems raises serious questions about the future course of both companies and shows how much influence European governments have over EADS. The two companies called off their planned merger Oct. 10, hours before the expiration of a deadline set by a British takeover commission. Executives mustered last-ditch efforts to save the deal, but it had become increasingly clear since late last week that political reservations could not be overcome.
Aerospace & Defense Programs November 6-7, 2012 Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Ariz. Join top defense leaders for discussions on complexity, lessons learned, and affordability aimed at improving program performance! Themes for 2012 include: -- Complexity -- Driving improvement and the roles that innovation and technology play -- Value chain optimization
Airbus Military has teamed with Yellowknife, Northern Territories-based aviation services company Discovery Air to offer the C295 light tactical transport for the Canadian Forces’ Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue (FWSAR) program. Discovery has signed a memorandum of understanding to be the primary Canadian partner in the bid, providing in-service support. Other Canadian suppliers on the C295 are Pratt & Whitney Canada, CAE, L-3 Wescam and Vector Aerospace.
The effect to the Pentagon of an across-the-board budget cut will be 1.9% steeper than outlined by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last month, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee tells lawmakers in an Oct. 9 letter.
HOUSTON — Working ahead of schedule, astronauts aboard the International Space Station successfully grappled and berthed the unpiloted SpaceX Dragon re-supply capsule early Oct. 10, less than 60 hr. after the freighter lifted off. The three-member crew was scheduled to enter the supply ship on Oct. 11, or possibly late Oct. 10, for a 17-day, 2,675-lb. cargo swap (See charts pp. 6-8). The SpaceX mission marks the first cargo flight under the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company’s $1.6 billion, multi-mission NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract.
TEL AVIV — The allegedly Iranian-backed UAV that penetrated Israeli airspace last weekend was shot down 30 km from the Dimona nuclear reactor after flying 30 min. over Israeli territory. According to Israeli officials, the UAV was downed in the area of the Yatir Forest, in the northern Negev, so as to avoid damage to a civilian area.
The U.S. Air Force says it is looking for ways to compensate for gaps in integrated F-22 Raptor life support system testing highlighted by a recent service report investigating pilot breathing incidents. While the different components and equipment that form the stealthy fighter’s life support system all have been modeled and tested individually, there has been no such check of the entire integrated system, according to the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Report on Aircraft Oxygen Generation released last month.
LAUNCHING SCANEAGLE: A shipboard-capable system designed to support the launch and recovery of ScanEagle UAVs completed its final demonstration flight testing Sept. 27 at a testing range in eastern Oregon, the Office of Navy Research (ONR) says. The ONR-sponsored Compact Launch and Recovery System (CLRE) is meant to provide a small-scale system for operating the maritime surveillance aircraft. CLRE uses a compressed-air launcher to shoot the ScanEagle into the sky.
AMSTERDAM — The boards of EADS and BAE Systems were due to meet Oct. 9 to determine whether they should call off the planned merger of the two companies or extend a deadline that expires Oct. 10. The German government has been emerging as the biggest hurdle to an agreement on the massive deal. BAE Systems has to apply for an extended deadline by the afternoon of Oct. 10. Such extensions usually are granted, and would give the two companies 28 more days to forge a deal and come to terms with the three governments.
INTELSAT 23: Intelsat and launch provider International Launch Services are preparing for the launch of the Intelsat 23 satellite aboard a Proton M rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on Oct. 14 at 2:37 p.m. local time. Separation of the satellite is scheduled for approximately 9 hr. and 30 min. after liftoff. Intelsat 23 is scheduled to start service at 307 deg. East longitude in 2012, replacing the Intelsat 707 satellite.
TEL AVIV — Elbit Systems and Northrop Grumman are collaborating to develop a terrain-following/terrain-avoidance (TF/TA) system to improve tactical, low-level flight safety for military transports. The TF/TA system has already been selected for integration into an ongoing C-130 Hercules upgrade program. It could help pilots carrying out combat search and rescue or Special Operations Forces missions.
ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Boeing is expecting a sole-source contract for the initial U.S. Air Force purchase of Laser-Guided Small-Diameter Bomb (SDB) weapons, according to Kristen Robertson, who heads the program for the company. The service announced its intent Oct. 4, and the initial buy is for use on the AC-130W gunship employed by Air Force Special Operations Command.
The Defense Department’s needs for U.S. Navy intelligence have focused funding on aircraft — especially UAVs — and submarine-related programs, according to recently declassified and released budget documents. The military intelligence programs’ fiscal 2010 budget justification for Congress indicates long-term Pentagon interest and funding programs that likely persist not only through this fiscal year but into the future.
The Pentagon is wasting money because of the way it handles hundreds of millions of dollars invested in single-bid contract awards, a recent Defense Department Inspector General (IG) report says. “The services have not realized potential cost savings associated with increased competition and recompeting $390.9 million in contract modifications,” IG says in its Oct. 4 report. “DOD also cannot accurately assess the percent of improvements in DOD [by] achieving effective competition,” IG reports.
As a step toward a lightweight, multifunction radar for rotorcraft, Northrop Grumman will demonstrate a compact anti-brownout sensor using millimeter-wave active-array technology under a $33.2 million contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. To be demonstrated in 2014, the Multifunction Radio Frequency (MFRF) sensor will use silicon-germanium transmit/receive tiles arranged in modular sub-arrays that will be combined to produce an active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar operating in EHF band at around 90GHz.
