BENGALURU — India expects to sign a contract to purchase up to 126 Dassault Rafale fighters by the middle of this year, the country’s air force chief says, trying to put to rest speculation that recently announced budget cuts could delay the acquisition. The government has cut defense spending for its current fiscal year ending March 31 by about 5% from the originally allocated 1.93 trillion rupees ($38.6 billion), mainly due to the ongoing economic downturn (Aerospace DAILY, Feb. 7).
LONDON — The U.K. defense ministry says it is studying options that would allow it to retain its Sentinel radar reconnaissance aircraft after 2015. The move comes as the Sentinel fleet — based on a modified Global Express business jet that carries the Raytheon-built Airborne Stand-Off Reconnaissance (ASTOR) radar — undertakes missions on behalf of French forces fighting insurgents in Mali, and continues to support the U.K.’s contributions to operations in Afghanistan.
UAE TANKERS: Airbus Military says it has delivered the first of three A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft to the United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAEAF). The UAEAF ordered three tankers in early 2008, and joins the Royal Saudi Air Force in operating the type in the region. According to Airbus Military, the remaining two tankers are in an advanced stage of conversion at the company’s facilities at Getafe near Madrid, and should be delivered in the middle of this year.
One of main selling points for the future fleet of Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) vessels is the unmatched speed they are slated to bring to the U.S. Navy warship force. And the Office of Naval Research (ONR) says it has developed a way to potentially provide even more speed more efficiently, through new waterjets.
AUSSIE ROMEO: The Australian navy is due to receive its first MH-60R in December, a Lockheed Martin official told Aviation Week on Feb. 6 on the sidelines of Aero India. George Barton, the company’s ship and aviation systems VP for business development, says one helicopter will be delivered that month and several MH-60Rs, destined for Australia, already are on the final assembly line. Lockheed is partnered with Sikorsky on the program. Australia ordered 24 MH-60Rs in mid-2011 and was able to get early delivery slots. The slots are thanks to the U.S.
BENGALURU — Eurocopter says it will establish a production facility in India to manufacture its AS550 C3 Fennec helicopters if it wins a contract to supply the helos to India’s army and air force. The European company is vying with Russia’s Kamov 226 Sergei for an estimated $2 billion deal to supply 197 helicopters to the Indian defense forces. Of the 197 helos, the Army is likely to get 133 and the Air Force 64.
BENGALURU — Alenia Aermacchi has told potential industrial partners in India that it is open to having a C-27J assembly line in India that will serve more than just the Indian market. India’s government has issued a request for information (RFI) for 56 military transport aircraft and asked that 40 be assembled in India. It has also said that those pitching for the business may work with private-sector Indian companies to fulfill the local production requirement.
BENGALURU — India’s navy is considering buying Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeyes to meet its requirement for four airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. One of the issues, however, is that the aircraft will have to be ground-based rather than carrier-based to begin with, as India’s aircraft carriers have no catapult. As a ground-based aircraft, it would have no need for folding wings, but may need additional fuel tanks for greater range. India has one of the world’s largest exclusive economic zones at sea.
STIMULATING SIMULATION: U.S. providers of military and aviation simulation services are taking heart over a newly enacted congressional requirement for the Pentagon to study simulator-based training for fighter aircraft in a sustained gravity environment. In an era of austerity when lawmakers and officers alike will be looking for cost savings, simulation advocates are eager to try to prove they have the right product at the right time.
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BENGALURU — Airbus Military sees potential to sell more C295s to India than just the 56 stipulated in the government’s current request for information (RFI) about a replacement for the Indian air force’s Hawker Siddeley HS-748 military transports.
One day after President Barack Obama offered a proposal for avoiding devastating across-the-board cuts to government spending, Republican lawmakers are making a counterproposal. The Down Payment to Protect National Security Act of 2013 would cut the federal workforce by 10% through attrition — including at the Pentagon. And it would freeze the pay of every member of Congress. The bill offers $85 billion in savings, which its authors call a down payment on sequestration for the entire government through September.
BENGALURU — India is trimming defense spending for its current fiscal year, which ends March 31, but Defense Minister A.K. Antony says spending on operational preparedness will not suffer. “The government is passing through a difficult phase. The recession is affecting us. There will be a cut in the capital and revenue budget. However, we will not cut the expenditure on operational preparedness,” Antony said Feb. 6 at the kickoff of the 9th Aero India exposition in Bengaluru.
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UNDEPLOYED: The U.S. Navy is delaying the planned deployment of the aircraft carrier CVN-75 USS Harry S. Truman and the cruiser CG-64 USS Gettysburg to the U.S. Central Command (Centcom) area of responsibility because of financial concerns, the Pentagon acknowledged Feb. 6. “Facing budget uncertainty — including a continuing resolution and the looming potential for across-the-board sequestration cuts — the U.S. Navy made this request,” Pentagon spokesman George Little says. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta approved the Navy request. “This prudent decision enables the U.S.
Former Thales CEO Denis Ranque is emerging as a strong contender for the position of EADS chairman. Ranque is one of 12 candidates nominated by EADS for its future board of directors, which is to be confirmed by an extraordinary general assembly around the end of March.
Brazilian arms manufacturer Avibras has become a stakeholder in Harpia Systems, the joint company formed by Embraer and Israeli-owned AEL Systems to develop unmanned aircraft systems. The Falcao medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft, under development by Avibras for the Brazilian air force, will become part of Harpia’s product line. The Falcao made its first flight in 2012.
The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) has delayed its vote on the confirmation of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) to be the next defense secretary. The vote, which was anticipated during a Feb. 7 SASC hearing on Benghazi, will be delayed as a growing number of Republicans on the committee await responses to questions about how speaking engagements and organizations for which Hagel worked were funded.
The U.S. Navy now wants bigger Fire Scout UAVs for its Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fleet. While the service says no design changes are needed, industry is studying whether the LCS-2 USS Independence-class version will require wider elevators.
