Amid questions about America’s nuclear posture—particularly the role of the country’s ballistic missile submarine fleet—the U.S. Navy says it continues to prove the reliability of the Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missiles (FBMs) carried by the subs. The service conducted successful flights April 14 and 16 of four Trident II D5 FBMs built by Lockheed Martin. The Navy launched two unarmed missiles each day from the submerged submarine USS Maryland (SSBN-738) in the Atlantic Ocean.
MALMEN AIR BASE, Sweden — The Swiss air force is likely to field the MBDA Meteor ramjet-powered, beyond-visual-range, air-to-air missile and could buy additional PC-21 trainers to support its Gripen E/F fleet, which is due to be fielded at the end of the decade, says service chief Lt. Gen. Markus Gygax. Initially, the fighter will likely use the Raytheon AIM-120 Amraam now used for air-to-air tasks on F/A-18s. But eventually Meteor will replace the U.S. weapon, Gygax said on the sidelines of the Aerospace Forum Sweden 2012.
SINGAPORE—Boeing anticipates that South Korea will decide before year’s end on a winner in its F-X3 fighter competition, and the winner also could become a partner in KFX, the country’s indigenous fighter program. Companies battling for the F-X3 must include in their proposals information about how they could later help South Korea develop the KFX, says Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. He spoke to Aviation Week and other media in a June 1 briefing here.
SINGAPORE — Boeing is proposing its KC-46A to meet the Singapore air force’s requirement for aerial refueling tankers. “Earlier this year Singapore issued a request for information [RFI] for tanker options,” says Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, and the company is responding. Aviation Week reported in February that Singapore had issued an RFI for six aerial refuelers. The other contenders are the Airbus Military A330 MRTT and the Israel Aerospace Industries 767 Multi-Mission Tanker Transport.
SINGAPORE — Boeing is sounding the alarm about U.S. defense budget cuts, saying that if they go beyond what has already been announced, there will be a huge impact on jobs.
MALMEN AIR BASE, Sweden — The Czech Republic is due to make decisions this year on two of the air force’s main equipment projects: how to extend the country’s fighter capacity and when to deploy its tactical airlifters. The Czechs currently operate 12 single-seat and two dual-seat Gripens under a lease deal that expires in 2015. The goal is to complete negotiations on preserving the nation’s fighter inventory.
HOLD THE LINE: Boeing hopes it can secure enough orders to keep its C-17 production line going into 2016 and possibly 2017. So far, the company has secured only enough orders to keep the line going to third-quarter 2014, but it sees opportunities to sell more of the airlifters to international customers and keep the line open for 2-3 years beyond that, says Boeing Defense, Space & Security President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg at a media briefing in Singapore June 1.
Bids have been submitted to build and operate the aircrew training system for the U.S. Air Force’s KC-46A tanker/transport, which is being competed separately from development and production of the KC-135 replacement. Boeing, CAE and Lockheed Martin all confirm they have submitted bids. FlightSafety International and L-3 Link Training & Simulation, which already operate other aircrew training systems (ATS) for the Air Force, also are expected to have bid.
The call for more U.S. Navy unmanned platforms across the spectrum of the service’s operations is starting to rise to a higher pitch, although Navy officials say such capability is still decades away. “[The] U.S. Navy should prioritize investment in cutting-edge technologies that offer new means of projecting naval power, such as stealthy, unmanned long-range strike platforms and autonomous undersea vehicles,” the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) think tank says in a report released earlier this week.
Click here to view the pdf 2013 Markup: House Appropriators Add Money For Advanced Video Sensors 2013 Markup: House Appropriators Add Money For Advanced Video Sensors Description Request HASC HAC
REORG PLAN: Hawker Beechcraft is facing a June 30 deadline to file its reorganization plan and disclosure statement, and is expected to confirm its reorganization by November. The Wichita airframer is hoping to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by the end of the year under new ownership through a restructuring plan that would eliminate $2.5 billion of the company’s debt and $125 million in annual interest expenses. Last year the company lost the U.S.
The newly discovered Flame and the 2010 Stuxnet computer worms indirectly highlight the U.S. lack of centralized coordination, legal structure, funding and policies to counter similar cyberattacks with offensive capabilities of its own.
U.S. House appropriators have added $142 million for high-definition full-motion video (FMV) sensors on eight airborne programs, including the MQ-1, MQ-9 and U-28 airframes.
GENOA — To reduce its debt and take a step to strategically reposition the company, Finmeccanica has reached an agreement to disinvest its 14% stake in Avio and have an Italian state fund buy it. The transaction coincides with Avio’s planned initial public offering (IPO), which is expected to happen this year.
The U.S. Marine Corps expects the results of its analysis of alternatives (AOA) for a replacement of the 1970s-era Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV) within a couple of months. The analysis was prompted by the recent cancellation of the Marines’ initial choice of AAV replacement — the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) — due to cost growth and other concerns.
SHIP DEAL: The U.S. Navy awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding unit a $2.4 billion, fixed-price-incentive contract May 31 for the detail design and construction of the multipurpose amphibious assault ship LHA-7 Tripoli. LHA-7 is the second America-class amphibious assault ship. Measuring 844 ft. long and 106 ft. wide, Tripoli will displace 44,971 long tons. Featuring a gas-turbine propulsion system, the ship can travel at speeds greater than 20 kt.
HOUSTON — The Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Dragon capsule has concluded the first International Space Station (ISS) resupply mission flown by a U.S. commercial provider, finalizing a significant upswing in private sector capability to shoulder U.S. civil space activities, with a May 31 splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the southern California coast.
After years of complaints about the U.S. having no cyber-attack plans, policies, weapons or legal guidance, the White House and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) are both announcing new initiatives. Plan X is a broad program being launched by Darpa to create cyber-attack schemes, define their operational employment and deflect counterattacks. The program is expected to put $110 million into research over the next five years to support offensive military operations.
MALMEN AIR BASE, Sweden — India will build a stealthier version of its Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), but in the near term it is getting ready to build the Mk. 2 version of the aircraft, with the goal of reaching operational clearance in 2016.
The U.S. Air Force may have stopped work on its Blue Devil 2 surveillance airship, but the U.S. Army says Northrop Grumman is making progress in assembling its hybrid-airship Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV). Without giving a date for the first flight, originally expected in mid-2011, Army Space & Missile Defense Command (SMDC) says “the team is assembling the airship and integrating motors and electronics onto and into the vehicle.
LONDON — Ultra Electronics has resumed its process of making niche acquisitions with the purchase of satellite communications terminal provider Giga Communications. The price of the deal, £12.4 million ($19.3 million), could rise by another £24.6 million depending on earnings delivered in the next two years. Ultra expects the deal to start adding to its bottom line this year.
