NEW DELHI — India has cleared a proposal to buy more than 200 air-launched BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles for the Indian air force (IAF). “The federal Cabinet Committee on Security [on Oct. 18] approved a proposal worth over 60 billion rupees [$1.2 billion] for purchasing, testing and integration of the BrahMos missile on the Russian-made Su-30MKI aircraft of the IAF,” a defense ministry official says.
NEW DELHI — Slashing its requirement by a third, the Indian air force (IAF) says it will induct only 144 of the Fifth-generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) that it is currently co-developing with Russia. The new figure is a dramatic drop from the IAF’s earlier stated requirement of 214 fighters.
Sikorsky is positioning itself to offer the S-97 Raider, a follow-on to its X2 high-speed helicopter demonstrator, for the Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) competition — if the U.S. Army proceeds with it. The Army is expected to decide sometime in December whether it will hold a competition or instead extend the life of the Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warrior.
After spending “tens of millions of dollars” developing two options for the U.S. Army’s potential program to replace the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, EADS is hoping the service will move forward with an Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) development program quickly, says Sean O’Keefe, CEO of the company’s North America business. Company officials hailed the performance of the EC-145-based designs during a voluntary flight demonstration (VFD) test phase from Sept. 24-Oct. 3 in Alamosa, Colo.
PRODUCTION BOOM: Boeing’s KC-46A refueler program continues to move forward with the commencement of boom assembly at Boeing Field in Seattle this week. Boom assembly was originally slated for Boeing’s Wichita facility (where previous boom work was handled) until the company announced plans early this year to close that plant. The design is based on the KC-10 boom but incorporates fly-by-wire technology and allows for a wider envelope than its predecessor.
In the wake of recent pilot breathing problems in the U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptor cockpits, the U.S. Navy says there are no spikes in similar issues with its F-18 aircraft, even though an Air Force report cites such incidents. “The F-18 has experienced a significant number of hypoxia-like events over the past few years,” says the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Report on Aircraft Oxygen Generation completed earlier this year and released last month.
KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s navy is still lobbying the government for budget approval to buy six anti-submarine (ASW) helicopters, and also wants more submarines. The deputy chief of the navy, Vice Adm. Mohammed Noordin bin Ali, says the service still has to get government budget approval for the helicopter buy.
China is focusing on sea-centric ballistic missiles and nuclear warhead-hiding tunnels because the country lacks the kind of robust deterrent and warning systems to thwart a missile attack that the U.S. possesses, says Linton Brook, a former ambassador and retired U.S. Navy captain who was chief negotiator for the START treaty.
The U.S. UAV commercial market could very well take off as the Afghanistan war cools and new federal mandates spur business interest in the platforms, according to a leading aviation law firm.
NASA is considering a prize challenge to accelerate the integration of unmanned aircraft into civil airspace. Two competitions of increasing complexity would be run in late 2013 and 2014 with a combined prize purse of $1.5 million. Under its Centennial Challenges program, NASA has previously staged competitions designed to engage the public in advancing technology for space elevators, electric aircraft, lunar landers and regolith excavation.
KUALA LUMPUR — Australia’s navy, which has 24 Sikorsky MH-60R anti-submarine warfare helicopters on order, will start sending crews to the U.S. in January for training on the new type. Cmdr. Grant O’Loughlan, commander of the squadron that will operate the helicopter, says the navy is buying two full-flight mission simulators, but it will take time before the service is ready to start conducting its own MH-60R training courses.
After publicly pledging to bring back the F-22 Raptor, and then having campaign surrogates adjust his message in favor of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is now keeping “any and all options on the table” when it comes to the Air Force’s future fleet of tactical fighters.
The U.S. Navy continues to expand the mission envelope for its destroyer and cruiser fleets, proving in a recent exercise the vessels can handle evacuation operations normally done by much bigger ships. Guided-missile cruiser CG-64USS Gettysburg took part in a simulated, non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO) Oct. 8 off the coast of Scotland. The exercise included evacuating 11 Royal Navy midshipmen posing as citizens in simulated danger from Mallaig, Scotland, to the Gettysburg on two rigid-hull inflatable boats (RHIBs).
Textron has taken a $14 million third-quarter charge to cover increased costs on starting up unmanned aircraft fee-for-service operations for the U.S. Defense Department. In April, Textron company AAI Corp. won a contract to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services for U.S. Special Operations Command (Socom) using the Aerosonde small unmanned aircraft system.
F-35 MILESTONES: The F-35 program achieved two milestones this week. AF-1, an F-35A conventional takeoff-and-landing aircraft, jettisoned its first munition, a 2,000 lb. Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) Oct. 17 during a flight test at Edwards AFB, Calif. This is the second weapons drop for the program. While weapons testing continues, the U.S. Marine Corps is continuing to prepare for standup of its first operational F-35B squadron.
An information technology trade group foresees Pentagon spending declining about 3% in inflation-adjusted dollars during the next decade. TechAmerica Foundation’s latest annual forecast, highlighted in an Oct. 16 Washington briefing, sees base spending following a gradual downward slope from $525 billion in fiscal 2013 to $506 billion in fiscal 2023, as measured in constant 2013 dollars. Current projections from Pentagon planners and the White House Office of Management and Budget project a slight upward slope to $553 billion in the same period.
