LONDON — The sustained growth in defense spending in the Asia-Pacific region could see it overtake European military outlays. After several years of convergence, the crossover point could come this year, says John Chipman, chief executive of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, in releasing “The Military Balance 2012.”
The FCC is extending the comment period until March 16 on a recent notice that LightSquared had not met the conditions set by the agency to begin operational deployment of a high-powered terrestrial 4G voice and data network in the L band. Citing concerns that the network would pose aviation safety risks by interfering with GPS units, the FCC last month indefinitely suspended LightSquared’s conditional waiver to operate the network in bands adjacent to those used by GPS (Aerospace DAILY, Feb. 16).
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden ran into a Capitol Hill buzz saw Wednesday regarding agency plans to cut funding for its internal development of the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion crew capsule, while adding more financial resources to support development of commercial crew transport vehicles.
LONDON — Cobham is evaluating several acquisition possibilities with an eye on businesses that could strengthen its commercial operations. “We have been very, very active on two or three acquisition possibilities,” CFO Warren Tucker says in releasing 2011 results. The deals are more likely to be in the commercial sector, although strengthening its security and surveillance portfolio also is in the cards, he indicates.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) are advancing a bill that would reiterate the U.S. commitment to Israel, including asking for a report no how to “improve” Israel’s purchase of Lockheed Martin’s F-35. The bill also provides non-binding support for deepening the already-close military ties between the two nations.
House appropriators seemed pleased to hear assurances from top U.S. Army officials that the development of new tactical vehicles is on track, but they’d also like it if the Army would keep buying Abrams tanks. The defense subcommittee had Army Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno at its fiscal 2013 budget hearing March 7. Most of the questions were about the Ground Combat Vehicle (GVC), the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) and the Abrams tank.
SPECIAL SPACE: The bipartisan Florida delegation to Washington is still trying to get the Space Coast designated a special zone in need of extra government assistance to develop businesses. The so-called Shuttle Workforce Revitalization Act, co-sponsored by Sens. Bill Nelson (D) and Marco Rubio (R), would designate Brevard County as a “historically underutilized business zone,” or HUBZone, since the shuttle program ended.
An ad hoc team of former program managers are calling on the Pentagon to adapt the 18 Global Hawk Block 30 UAVs, due to be mothballed under current budget plans, for boost-phase intercept (BPI) of ballistic missiles.
Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom is slated to sail for Singapore in a “demonstration” deployment to prove the LCS concept of operations and pave the way for the LCS vessels that the U.S. Navy intends to station there, according to Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations (CNO).
The European Commission has given the green light for France and Italy to financially support the Eurocopter X-4 and AgustaWestland AW169 development programs.
BANGKOK — Thailand wants to further boost its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), due to increasing land-based threats.
Unanticipated repair bills and other life-cycle expenses are driving up acquisition costs, and the Pentagon needs to plan better for such expenditures, a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says. “With the nation facing fiscal challenges and the potential for tighter defense budgets, Congress and the Department of Defense (DOD) have placed more attention on controlling the billions of dollars spent annually on weapon system operating and support (O&S) costs,” GAO says in its recent report.
LONDON — Thales expects a negative book-to-bill ratio this year, due to a decrease in defense orders and insufficient growth in commercial aerospace to make up for the shortfall. There are “many uncertainties,” with continued turmoil in the Middle East and Europe’s economic crisis showing no signs of letting up, says Chairman and CEO Luc Vigneron. Last year, order intake in France mitigated cuts in other parts of Europe, but this year’s presidential election in France will add variables, he notes.
LONDON — The German government has approved an upgrade of its CH-53 transport helicopters to improve operations during brownouts with additional sensors. Germany plans to upgrade 26 CH-53Gs/GEs to ease landings in difficult environmental conditions. Purchase of the sensor equipment is to be completed next year, with 5-10 helicopters to be upgraded per year for four years, the defense ministry says.
LOS ANGELES — Boeing’s ongoing efforts to revive the fortunes of its commercial space business received another boost with confirmation of an agreement with mobile satellite service Artel to distribute Inmarsat-3, -4 and -5 bandwidth to potential U.S. government users. The deal, signed between Boeing Commercial Satellite Services and Artel, is initially focused on providing Ka-bandwidth on Inmarsat-3 and -4 satellites. Inmarsat-5 global satellite communications will be available in late 2013, the manufacturer says.
The U.S. Navy recently finished a yearlong effort to better define some of its command-and-control (C2) procedures, as outlined in a recent tactical memorandum (Tacmemo) from Navy Warfare Development Command. It defines challenges for C2, provides a common lexicon and presents standardized processes for use by maritime operations center personnel.
The staff of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee is going to delve into the details of the U.S. Air Force decision to stop production of the Global Hawk Block 30 and put 18 of the unmanned aerial vehicles in storage, the panel’s top Democrat says. Fast becoming one of the most unpopular budget decisions of fiscal 2013 on Capitol Hill, the Air Force’s move to mothball its high-tech UAVs in favor of maintaining its fleet of U-2 intelligence-gathering aircraft drew fire from a number of members of the powerful spending committee at a March 6 hearing.
The fate of the Defense Department’s fiscal 2013 budget request is smack in the middle of a debate among Republicans on the House Budget Committee who are developing a spending resolution for the next fiscal year. Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, has “deployed” two subcommittee members, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), to hold the line on defense spending, keeping President Barack Obama’s budget request as a minimum point.
NEW DELHI — A Mirage 2000 fighter crashed in India’s western state of Rajasthan on March 5, prompting the Indian air force to ground the entire fleet. It was the IAF’s third aircraft accident in less than two months. The accident occurred at 12:30 p.m. local time, soon after the twin-seater trainer version of the aircraft took off on a routine sortie from Gwalior air base in Madhya Pradesh in central India. It crashed near Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan, according to a defense ministry official.
Three companies qualified to provide unmanned-aircraft intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services to the U.S. Navy are awaiting award of the first task orders under the five-year, $874 million contract vehicle. AAI Corp., Boeing Insitu and Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) have been awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts under which they will bid competitively for individual task orders to provide sea- and land-based ISR services
ATV LAUNCH: The European Space Agency (ESA) has set March 23 as the rescheduled date for the launch of the third Automated Transfer Vehicle, Edoardo Amaldi, on a five-month supply mission to the International Space Station. The liftoff from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, atop an Ariane 5 is scheduled for 12:31 a.m. EDT (4:31 GMT). Preparations leading to a March 9 liftoff were postponed on March 2.
