NEW DELHI — Pakistan on June 5 successfully test-fired a multi-tube, indigenously developed, nuclear-capable cruise missile, the Hatf-VII (or Babur), which has a range of 700 km (435 mi.). “[The] Babur cruise missile is a low-flying, terrain-hugging missile with high maneuverability, pinpoint accuracy and radar-avoidance features,” a Pakistan defense ministry official says. “The missile can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads and has stealth capabilities.” This was the fifth missile test by Pakistan since late April.
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy is investing in research that could make its submarines even stealthier, using cloaking technology that seems to come straight out of a Tom Clancy thriller or Star Trek script. Developed by New York-based Weidlinger Associates with U.S. Navy Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding, the technology involves the carving up and altering of aluminum to give it “elastic properties” — a form of what the company calls “metal water,” according to Jeffrey Cipolla, a Weidlinger senior associate.
A new report attempting to cut through the persistent vagueness and wide variation in U.S. nuclear weapons spending estimates has arrived at a figure of at least $30 billion spent annually. The study, “Resolving Ambiguity: Costing Nuclear Weapons,” was released June 5 by the Stimson Center’s Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense project. Russell Rumbaugh says he and co-author Nathan Cohn hope the report’s methodology and data granularity can set a starting point for budget and policy discussions about U.S. nuclear weapons spending.
SINGAPORE — As Japan seeks to become an exporter of military aircraft, the government is careful to stress that its equipment should be used only for peaceful missions.
LOS ANGELES — Boeing plans to open up the performance envelope of the Phantom Eye UAV following a successful first flight of the hydrogen-powered demonstrator at Edwards AFB, Calif., on June 1. The 150-ft.-span vehicle completed a 28-min. flight after lifting off at 6.22 a.m. PDT from the desert base using a specially designed launch cart. The aircraft climbed to 4,080 ft. and a speed of 62 kt. Boeing says that after returning to land, the vehicle “sustained some damage when the landing gear dug into the lakebed and broke.”
SINGAPORE — U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is downplaying the prospect of so-called “sequestration” cuts to the Pentagon’s budget. “Sequester is not a real crisis, but an artificial crisis,” Panetta says, adding that Congress deliberately “put a gun to its head” with the Budget Control Act, which forces across-the-board spending cuts if lawmakers fail to make sufficient progress in reducing the U.S. federal budget deficit.
RISING SUN: The U.S. and Japan are working on new areas of defense cooperation, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. “The U.S.-Japan alliance will remain one of the corne rstones of regional peace,” and the two countries are enhancing their ability to cooperate militarily, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told delegates June 2 at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue here.
SINGAPORE — Mongolia is considering ordering the Lockheed Martin C-130 for its air force, a potential sale that would be highly significant as the Asian nation has traditionally bought defense equipment from Russia, its major ally. An official from Mongolia’s defense ministry tells Aviation Week on the sidelines of the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue here that a team from the ministry recently visited Lockheed Martin in Atlanta to discuss the airlifter, which is assembled in Marietta, Ga.
SINGAPORE — U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says he intends to visit China and is keen to discuss space- and cyberspace-related issues. “We must establish and reinforce agreed principles in space and cyberspace,” he says. He plans to visit China later this year, at the invitation of the Chinese government.
ARLINGTON, Va. — While the U.S. Navy embraces big-picture technological breakthroughs, the service also is looking for companies to help Navy programs make smaller technology strides, says Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, the chief of naval research. “Everyone wants to hit the home-run ball,” Klunder said June 4 during his keynote luncheon speech at the annual 2012 Navy Opportunity Forum in Arlington, Va.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) june 5 - 6 — AUSA ILW Mission Command Symposium, "Mission Command and The Network," Marriott Kansas City Downtown, Kansas City, MO. For more information go to www.ausa.org june 11 - 15 — AUSA's USA Pavilion Eurosatory 2012, Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center, Paris, France. For more information call Amy Frankenstein at (703) 907-2413 or go to www.ausa.org
U.S. lawmakers tend to treat the White House budget proposal as a suggestion, and then proceed to do what they want. But in the fiscal 2013 request, House appropriators changed Navy procurement lines disproportionately more than the other services.
