The U.S. Army thus far this fiscal year has dramatically cut down on the number of Class A aviation mishaps – the most costly in terms of financial losses, injuries or fatalities – even as the need for the service’s helicopters or other aircraft has increased, service officials say. The Army reported 1,452 Class A mishaps through July 27 of fiscal 2011, compared to 1,905 for all of fiscal 2010, even though, Army officials say, the need for Army aviation aircraft has increased with the transition to Afghanistan. (See chart p. 6.)
HOUSTON — Cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev will team outside the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) on Aug. 3 for a scheduled 6-hr. spacewalk that will prepare the 10-year-old Pirs docking compartment for a future departure to free docking space for a new Multipurpose Laboratory Module.
LONDON – EADS is augmenting its Astrium space activities through the acquisition of Vizada, a provider of mobile satellite services. The $960 million deal with private equity firm Apax France is only the latest in a series that EADS has undertaken in recent months to grow the share of its services business and become less focused on Airbus aircraft sales. The deals are made possible by EADS’s huge cash pile, which topped €11 billion ($15.7 billion) at midyear.
NEW DELHI — India has finally signed a contract with two French firms to upgrade its 51 Mirage combat jets that were acquired in the 1980s. “Thales and Dassault Aviation on Friday [July 29] signed a contract for the upgrade of the Indian Air Force’s Mirage 2000 fleet,” the two companies said in a statement. The federal cabinet committee on security had approved the $2.4 billion deal two weeks ago. India’s government has been negotiating the cost factor with the French companies for almost five years.
Results from studies to determine whether composite materials would fit well with Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) construction should be ready soon, says Joe North, vice president of littoral ship systems at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems & Sensors business. Lockheed is building one type of LCS. Another contracting team led by Austal USA is building the other. The two ship designs are significantly different and there are only a handful of common construction concerns. The possible use of composite materials is one of them.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Aug. 1 — Brid Ex, The 3rd Brunei Darussalam International Defence Exhibition & Conference 2011. For more information go to www.bridex2011.com/events AUG. 1 - 5 — Military Aviation Museum’s Warbirds and Wings Aviation Summer Camp, Virginia Beach, Va. For more information call (757) 721-7767 or go to www.militaryaviationmuseum.org
AAI is flying testbeds for next-generation developments of its RQ-7 Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft that are now in the final stages of design. Two Shadow Technology Test Beds (STTB) have been modified with a larger fuselage able to accommodate dual payload bays. In addition to the Shadow’s electo-optic/infrared/laser-designator payload “we are working with SAR [synthetic-aperture radar] and sigint [signals intelligence] packages,” says Steve Reid, AAI senior vice president and general manager for unmanned aircraft.
HIGH FIDELITY: While Navy SEAL training is infamously tough and realistic, it can be difficult to replicate some missions — such as close-air support for combat. But the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Command has come up with just the thing to help train NSW personnel who call in close-air support during those missions. The command this month demonstrated its Joint Terminal Attack Controller Virtual Trainer dome, which stands 15 ft. high with a 16-ft. diameter.
Are you a federal contractor wondering what to do if Washington suddenly starts choosing who to pay and who not to pay come Aug. 3? Elizabeth Ferrell and Jim Schweiter, partners with McKenna Long & Aldridge’s government contracts and government affairs practices in Washington, say to do three things now.
NEW DELHI — Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. plans to pursue multiple opportunities in the Indian defense market, and has responded to the Indian navy’s recently issued Request for Information (RFI) for a second batch of multi-role helicopters, a top company official says. “We don’t know the numbers” of aircraft needed, says A.J.S. Walia, Sikorsky’s executive vice president for India and South Asia. The company has the option of offering its S-70 Bravo or the MH-60R “Romeo” helicopter, which it offers jointly with Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy.
EADS RESULTS: Strong order intake has caused EADS to partly improve its guidance for full-year business performance, with a promise that earnings will improve materially next year. The updated outlook is largely driven by strong Airbus order bookings. Revenue for the first half was up 8% to €21.9 billion ($31 billion), yielding net income of merely €109 million (net income stood at €189 million at the half-year point last year).
If the U.S. Congress defaults on its debt obligations by failing to raise the debt ceiling by an Aug. 2 deadline, cash flow could become a problem — for the government and for contractors, a Pentagon official says.
SALES SETBACK: Asian growth could prove crucial to the future of U.K. defense exports, which dropped in 2010 over 2009 levels. Nevertheless, the U.K. still maintained its position as the second largest exporter of defense products and services. The U.K. Trade and Investment (UKTI) department reports that U.K. business won around £6 billion ($9.8 billion) in business last year, down from more than £7 billion in 2009. Last year’s figures already saw strong growth from Asia, with Indian sales representing 17% of the total. South Korea also was a key market.
As defense budget cutbacks in the U.S. and Europe begin to bite into corporate sales and profits, military contractors have a choice of two paths. They can seek new avenues of growth by making acquisitions and selling their technologies into other markets. Or they can become smaller but more focused by spinning off underperforming business units.
GETTING PERSONAL: The U.S. Air Force has more four-star generals than any other armed service, and former Marine Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and the likely next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff could be looking into it. At Army Gen. Martin Dempsey’s nomination hearing last week, Webb said he will call a hearing later this year to examine why the Air Force has one general or flag officer for every 1,000 active-duty members, while the Marines have one every 2,300 and the Army every 1,800.
Just days after the U.S. Navy confirmed it had reached a deal with Bath Iron Works to build the next two DDG-1000s, the service sent further signals that the next-generation destroyer still is important for the surface ship fleet despite cuts to the program.
BIG TABLE: Pentagon officials keep saying that “everything is on the table” to revamp the Defense Department and help cut costs. While that mindset has mostly been applied to acquisition, it seems that certain U.S. Navy and Air Force operations also are up for review. New Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is taking another look at the Air Force-Navy battle concept directed by the Pentagon last year to deal with China and its expanding military muscle, Vice Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert told Congress last week.
DEFICIT DEALS: With a dearth of details in the deficit reduction proposals on Capitol Hill, analysts are left guessing and doing a little bit of math to figure out just how the Pentagon might fare if the bills ever come to pass. The bill floated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) proposes capping security spending at $606 billion in fiscal 2012 and $607 billion in fiscal 2013.
