SINGAPORE — Pratt & Whitney warns of mounting difficulties in its effort to control costs on some of its key military engine programs because of reductions in annual purchases of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s F135 engine and other powerplants. “As volumes reduce, it becomes more of a challenge” to reduce costs, says Pratt & Whitney Military Engines President Bennett Crosswell. However, he adds, so far the “need to reduce volumes has not resulted in increased cost.”
HOLDING PATTERN: The U.S. Army will await results from a forthcoming flight demonstration of candidate Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) helicopter designs that use existing technologies before setting aside AAS funding. Service officials hope to start the flight demonstration this spring using fiscal 2012 money. However, the fiscal 2013 budget request does not include any additional funding for a buy of AAS systems.
March 7, 2012 Andrew Mellon Auditorium Washington, D.C. Aviation Week’s 54th annual Laureate Awards will recognize individuals and teams for their extraordinary accomplishments. Their achievements embody the spirit of exploration, innovation and vision. Join us when we celebrate their significant contributions and the inspiration they provide. Reserve your place today.
SINGAPORE — As the Indonesian air force works on its plan to field around 150-160 combat aircraft in 12 squadrons, it is starting to consider how to replace its fleet of F-5s. Current plans represent merely a “minimum essential force,” with the actual air force needs being much greater to provide the full range of military capability for a country the size of Indonesia, ACM Imam Sufaat, the service’s chief of staff, tells Aviation Week during the Singapore air show. The current force counts seven squadrons equipped with combat aircraft.
The FCC is indefinitely suspending LightSquared’s conditional waiver to operate its proposed 4G voice and data network in bands adjacent to those used by GPS, citing concerns that potential interference with GPS units could pose aviation safety risks. “The commission clearly stated from the outset that harmful interference to GPS would not be permitted,” the FCC says. “Consequently, the commission will not lift the prohibition on LightSquared.”
The proposed U.S. Navy fiscal 2013 budget would reduce the service’s fleet battle force to 284 ships from the fiscal 2012 level of 288. In the 2013 fiscal year, the Navy anticipates seven battle force ships to be delivered: one Virginia-class attack submarine; a LPD transport dock ship; a T-AKE dry-cargo ammunition vessel; a Littoral Combat Ship (LCS); a mobile landing platform (MLP); and two Joint High-Speed Vessels (JHSVs). But the service also plans to retire 11 ships: an aircraft carrier, six FFG frigates and four CG cruisers.
The Pentagon’s Special Operations Command and the U.S. Coast Guard are both exploring whether to take on the Air Force’s C-27J aircraft, which have been proposed for early retirement. This could be an opportunity for special operators to resurrect the defunct concept of modifying the C-27J into a gunship variant, dubbed the Stinger II, according to an industry official.
Concerns are being aired by military analysts in the U.S. and bloggers in the Middle East that Syria is sending its surface-to-air missiles and long-range ballistic missiles to Lebanon’s Hezbollah-controlled Bekaa Valley for safekeeping. U.S. defense officials say such moves might be “plausible” if the regime of President Bashar al-Assad is truly threatened, but so far no significant shift has been observed.
INTELLIGENCE REQUEST: The Obama administration is requesting $71.8 billion for national and military intelligence programs in fiscal 2013. The total budget in fiscal 2010, the last year of fully released figures, was $80.1 billion. The total budget comprises the National Intelligence Program, covering the CIA and other agencies, and the Military Intelligence Program, covering the National Security Agency and others. For fiscal 2013, the administration is asking for $52.6 billion for the former and $19.2 billion for the latter. Details are largely classified.
SINGAPORE — Lockheed Martin has unveiled the F-16V, a new variant and upgrade package that includes datalinks allowing the aircraft to operate alongside the F-35 and F-22. In a separate development, Lockheed Martin is developing new variants of the C-130, including the XJ (Aerospace DAILY, Feb. 13).
Click here to view the pdf Winners & Losers In the U.S. Air Force 2013 U.S. Budget Request (Base Request + OCO, $ in thousands) Winners & Losers In the U.S. Air Force 2013 U.S.
SINGAPORE — Airbus Military’s effort to sell C295 tactical airlifters to Indonesia has finally come to fruition, with a deal for nine of the military aircraft. The contract comes after Airbus has committed itself to work with Indonesia to help rebuild the country’s aerospace industrial expertise. Deliveries will begin this year and run through to 2014.
The U.S. Navy’s proposed fiscal 2013 budget and longer-term spending plan includes a slight boost in funding to develop the proposed Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) and shifts some of the delivery dates for the Flight III DDG-51 Arleigh Burke destroyers meant to support the radar suite. Uncertain, though, is whether the Navy spending plan will sufficiently address AMDR and Flight III development needs, as a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report cites risks and hurdles for both programs (Aerospace DAILY, Feb. 13).
The U.S. Air Force requirement for a new bomber—part of the Long Range Strike family—could be as high as 200 aircraft as the bomber replaces aging B-1s and B-52s, according to defense analysts. The problem with containing cost is how to take advantage of new technology without breaking the budget or generating so much political backlash that the bomber program is reduced or canceled. The B-2s ended up costing more than $2 billion each because the program was closed down so early.
LIFE SUPPORT: The U.S. Army is slicing $1.6 billion from the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile project through fiscal 2017 as part of a service-wide proposal to save money in the fiscal 2013 budget plan. “The program remains at minimal funding to determine if it is possible” to insert JAGM guidance, warhead or motor technology into other U.S. missile systems, according to Pentagon budget plans.
Making a virtue of necessity, the U.S. Navy Department is asking to push 69 F-35B/Cs out of the future years defense plan (FYDP) to contain the unplanned costs generated by concurrency in the program and to cut its overall planned spending. The goal is to cut yearly spending on the Joint Strike Fighter in the near term and to further reduce the amount the sea service will have to spend to refit early production aircraft to meet the program’s final operational configuration.
EMARSS TRUNCATED: The U.S. Army has decided to truncate its planned buy of Enhanced Medium-Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance (Emarss) aircraft, purchasing only the four developmental aircraft already under contract with Boeing. The company is working under a $323 million development contract, and the goal is to field the first Emarss aircraft in Afghanistan in 18 months. The Army axed a 28-aircraft follow-on buy as a cost-cutting measure.
NAVY BAE Systems, Land & Armaments, L.P., U.S. Combat Systems, Minneapolis, is being awarded an $8,747,878 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-09-C-5394) for technical and engineering services in support of the MK 41 Vertical Launching System. The work will be performed in Minneapolis (82%), Brea, Calif. (17%), and Aberdeen, S.D. (1%), and is expected to be completed by December 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
The U.S. Air Force garnered $2.4 billion worth of “savings” from the KC-46A aerial refueling tanker program because the contract came in lower than the service had anticipated, David Van Buren, the service’s top acquisition official, tells Aviation Week.
SINGAPORE — The U.K.’s Royal Air Force is about to formally take delivery of its first A330-based Multirole Tanker Transports from the AirTanker service consortium. The handover of the so-called Voyager aircraft is “days away, not weeks away,” Ian Elliott, a marketing official for Airbus Military, said this week during the Singapore air show. The handover will involve the first two of 14 aircraft on order.
SINGAPORE — Key elements of the newest generation of Boeing’s F-15 fighter — the digital electronic warfare system and fly-by-wire flight controls — are set to begin flight trials on F-15SAs for Saudi Arabia this year. The two technologies are also key elements of Boeing’s pending F-15 Silent Eagle bid in South Korea’s fighter competition.
The $15.1 billion F-35 restructuring — including a cut of 179 fighters through fiscal 2017 — is not expected to trigger a Nunn-McCurdy unit cost overrun, according to the Pentagon’s top procurement officer.
