LONDON — Israel Aerospace Industries’ ELTA unit has started exploring potential use of the Gulfstream G280 as an intelligence-collection platform, even as it presses ahead with work on the G550-based Multimission Airborne Reconnaissance Surveillance System (MARS2).
ATHENA PAD: Lockheed Martin has picked Alaska’s Kodiak Launch Complex as its dedicated West Coast site for Athena rocket launches. The company has been working with the state of Alaska and Alaska Aerospace Corporation on expansion plans for the new medium–lift launch pad to support potential Athena III launches. The company says it is “positioned to expand the Athena II program as it continues to evaluate the business case for Athena III launches from Alaska.” Lockheed Martin and partner ATK announced the resurrection of the Athena line in 2010.
Rep. Norm Dicks (Wash.), who was a tireless advocate for Boeing’s bid to win the U.S. Air Force tanker competition, will retire at the end of this 18th term. “It is my intention to work very hard over the next several months, as the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, to conduct our committee’s hearings and to complete work on all of the [fiscal] 2013 appropriations bills,” Dicks said in a farewell statement.
LONDON — Finland’s defense ministry has approved the purchase of Lockheed Martin AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff missiles for use on Boeing F/A-18s. The program is to cost €178 million ($235 million), with missiles due to be delivered in 2016. The funding also covers upgrades to the F/A-18s, although some of the integration work to the missiles from older-model F/A-18s has been accomplished for Australia, where the missile system has reached initial operational capability.
LONDON — The U.K. expects to start employing Brimstone 2 air-to-ground missiles from Tornado GR4s next year. Brimstone 2 effectively replaces the Dual-Mode Brimstone used heavily during last year’s NATO-led air operations against Libya, as well as in Afghanistan.
SEATTLE — The U.S. Navy is poised to take delivery of the first production version of Boeing’s P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, opening the way for the start of fleet training at Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida.
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NEW DELHI — The Indian army has approved an order to buy 100 artillery guns from a state-owned defense manufacturer, the first such procurement of howitzers in almost two decades. “The army has placed orders with the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) for procuring 100 155-mm, 52-caliber howitzers and this will be developed on the basis of transfer of technology,” says M.M. Pallam Raju, junior minister for defense.
Citing concerns with the procurement process, the U.S. Air Force has canceled Sierra Nevada Corp.’s (SNC) $355 million contract to supply 20 Embraer AT-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft for operation by the Afghan air force. The decision to set aside the contract is a victory for Hawker Beechcraft (HBC), which took the Air Force to court after its offer of the AT-6 aircraft was disqualified, leaving SNC as the only bidder for the Light Air Support (LAS) program.
LONDON — EADS Cassidian is exploring a more mobile version of its Spexer security surveillance radar, as well as a potential aerostat application of the system. The X-band radar family currently includes the Spexer 2000, a coastal surveillance version of the system, and the smaller Spexer 1000. A new member of the family will be launched this year that will weigh less and allow for greater mobility, says Stefan Jack, head of sales for security radars at Cassidian. The goal is also to add a lower-cost offering to the sensor family.
BALLOONING: Near Space Corp. (NSC) is to begin construction this spring on a $6.9 million, 31,000-sq.-ft. commercial high-altitude balloon launch facility at its home base of Tillamook, Ore. NSC is one of seven suborbital flight providers in NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program and the only one not using rockets. The company expects to launch 10 research missions this year to altitudes exceeding 130,000 ft. Depending on their size, NSC’s balloons can support payloads up to 1 ton. NSC’s Eric Byers says the balloons typically have a loiter time of 3 hr.
NEWPORT, Wales — EADS researchers are examining what the emerging threat from tactical high-energy lasers and high-power microwave weapons could mean for the company’s own systems. The question being asked is “What can we do to protect against those weapons?” says Aimo Buellte, vice president and head of research and technology at EADS Cassidian’s defense unit. “How do we harden our equipment” is the problem being looked at, he adds, with avionics, radar systems land and maritime systems.
Singapore — Japan’s air force has a requirement for more aerial refueling tankers, while the navy is moving ahead with plans to phase out its NAMC YS-11 transports.
LONDON — Sweden needs to retain a fleet of at least 60-80 JAS-39 Gripen fighters, the country’s military has told the government in a new report. As part of the effort to retain the combat capability, modernization of the fighters should begin in 2020 and run through the next decade. The modernization will take place in partnership with another country, which the Swedish military has not identified. That partner would be Switzerland, after the country’s decision last year to acquire 22 Gripen NGs.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. Air Force is assessing whether the health of three UH-1Ns from the Marine Corps is suitable to introduce them — and as many as 22 more — into the nuclear support and executive lift helicopter fleet, says Lt. Gen. James Kowalski, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command.
LONDON — As part of its large border surveillance contract with Saudi Arabia’s government, EADS is considering the potential of using unmanned aircraft to monitor the vast desert. The thinking could lead to collaborative technology development with Saudi Arabia, says Aimo Buellte, vice president and head of research and technology at EADS Cassidian’s defense unit. An autonomous system may be the best method to monitor such a large area, he notes.
NEW DELHI — India will soon acquire a Hercules WC-130J aircraft and an unmanned aerial vehicle to ensure improved monitoring of cyclones, a senior government official says.
The U.S. Air Force has begun reducing the number of bases at which it plans to eventually house the new F-35 in an attempt to reduce the estimated life-cycle cost of the single-engine, stealthy fighter. Last year, the Pentagon disclosed an estimate of more than $1 trillion to operate the fighter for the next 50 years, raising significant concern from customers, including the U.S. Navy and Air Force. Since then, the services have been working to refine their plans to operate the jet in hopes of curbing operations and sustainment (O&S) cost.
NEW DELHI — India will induct its homegrown Akash surface-to-air missile (SAM) into the Indian air force (IAF) on March 3. “The Akash weapon system [AWS] was indigenously developed by [the] Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) as part of the integrated guided missile development program and is an all-weather, medium-range, surface-to-air missile system,” a defense ministry official says. “It provides multidirectional and multitarget area defense.”
As part of its effort to demonstrate technologies that are designed to allow unmanned aircraft to operate in commercial airspace, EADS is planning another flight-test campaign using its Barracuda unmanned aircraft technology demonstrator. The trial will take place at Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada, during the summer, says the head of flight guidance at EADS’s Cassidian defense unit. The company would not disclose the demonstration’s technology goals.
SINGAPORE — Japan has called on the U.S. to stick to the agreed-upon price to purchase Lockheed Martin F-35s or it may cancel its order. “Our position is [for the U.S.] to adhere to its proposed price,” Japan Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka told journalists in Tokyo. “We are strongly requesting this.” The ministry also said it has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Defense warning that if the price of F-35s increases dramatically, the procurement may be canceled.
The U.S. Air Force has cleared the F-35A for initial flights at Eglin AFB, Fla., kicking off a process that will eventually lead to airborne pilot training.
