To better meet budget, mission and capacity concerns, the U.S. Navy is gearing up to keep its vessels at sea longer. Vice Adm. John Richardson told the Associated Press this month the Navy is considering deploying submarines — especially attack boats — for longer periods to deal with the expected fleet shortfall in coming years. “As you try and maintain the same presence with fewer hulls, there are all sorts of variables in that equation,” Richardson told AP. “One would be extending deployment lengths.”
To avoid direct military conflict with China, the U.S. should adopt a parallel strategy that strengthens the defense capabilities of China’s neighbors while inviting China into cooperative security endeavors that benefit both nations, according to a new Rand Corp. study. Rand says any military conflict between the U.S. and China would be disastrous for both, but such a battle is unlikely as long as the U.S. can “deter behavior that could lead to a clash.” Still, Rand says China will gradually achieve local military superiority.
ITT SPINOFF: ITT Corp.’s board of directors has approved the spin off of the company’s defense unit, ITT Exelis, effective Oct. 31. The move is part of a break up of ITT into three separate units: the defense company; Xylem, a water technology company; and an engineering and manufacturing firm, which will retain the ITT name.
The Hawker Beechcraft AT-6 light attack and armed reconnaissance aircraft, designed to meet the U.S. Air Force’s Building Partnership Capacity needs including those of the Afghanistan air force, continues to move through its end-to-end weapons validation testing with the launch of four 500-lb. GBU-12 Paveway II precision-guided bombs last week, says Derek Hess, director of the AT-6 program for Hawker Beechcraft.
Lockheed Martin recently started informal system development and demonstration testing for the U.S. Navy’s proposed Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (Canes) program, and is on track for formal tests later this month to complete the SDD contract by December, the company says.
AIR FORCE Battlespace Flight Services LLC of Arlington, Va., is being awarded a $104,179,468 firm fixed price/cost plus award fee contract modification to fund extension of contract for organizational maintenance support for the predator MQ-1 aircraft and related systems at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., and deployed sites worldwide. Air Combat Command Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Newport News, Va. is the contracting activity (FA4890-07-C-0006 PO0087).
Traditional Pentagon weapons — particularly many U.S. Navy ships — would likely become less useful in an escalation of hostilities with China, according to a recent Rand Corp. report.
ARMY BAE Systems, U.S. Combat Systems, York, Pa., was awarded a $270,825,641 cost-no-fee contract. The award will provide for the procurement of material for 245 Operational Desert Storm Situational Awareness vehicles. The work will be performed in York, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 30, 2013. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-10-G-0003).
POLITICAL INVESTIGATION: Rep. Lamar Smith, the third-ranking Republican on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, says he wants NASA’s inspector general to look into the supposed politicization of the space and aeronautics agency. “We should not play partisan politics with our nation’s space program,” Smith says in a statement from aides.
SINGAPORE — Airbus Military now has a C295 on a tour in Indonesia, part of its sales campaign to win over the nation’s air force and government. Reports in Indonesia show Deputy Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin inspecting the aircraft at Jakarta’s Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport. Indonesia is in the market to buy military transports to replace the air force’s Fokker F27s.
LONDON — BAE Systems has beat out rivals to supply the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter with night-vision goggle capabilities after developers discovered problems with the stealth fighter’s Vision Systems International (VSI) helmet.
SINGAPORE — Australia is allowing flight operations of its CH-47D Chinook helicopters to resume after grounding its fleet Sept. 30 in response to the ongoing investigation of the crash of an Australian Army Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan. According to a statement from the Australian defense ministry, Australian Army chief Lt. Gen. David Morrison lifted the precautionary suspension following airworthiness advice from the Technical Airworthiness Authority.
The U.S. Coast Guard has improved the management of its information technology (IT) systems, but the service still needs to make more progress, a recent Homeland Security Department Inspector General (IG) report says.
The Netherlands plans to join the Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) program to increase its satellite communications capacity. The U.S. Air Force’s WGS program also includes participation from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg and New Zealand, and will have nine satellites providing worldwide coverage in 2018.
Oct. 20-21, 201I Chicago, IL Join your peers for 2 days full of learning, information-sharing, networking, and technology demonstrations specifically designed to help you optimize your maintenance information systems. MRO I.T. will deliver effective maintenance technology solutions and systems to streamline critical operational needs. Learn how to deploy reliable intelligence to the right maintenance areas for optimal asset utilization and achieve greater revenue and profits
NEW DELHI — India’s defense ministry on Oct. 7 approved the offset proposals of the two short-listed vendors in its $11 billion Medium-Multi-Role Combat Aircraft program, paving the way for the opening of commercial bids. According to a defense ministry official, bids should be opened in the next few days for the Eurofighter consortium’s Typhoon and Dassault’s Rafale, though no specific time frame was given. The original tender was issued by the defense ministry in August 2007.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) OcT. 12 - 13 — Aviation Week 5th Edition, Lean Six Sigma for MRO Forum - Americas, Crowne Plaza San Francisco International Airport Hotel, San Francisco, Calif. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events
LONDON — As Norway sets a slightly increased level of defense spending for 2012, it also is allocating the first tranche of funding to finance an initial batch of Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to be used for training. Norway expects to see defense spending increase 1.3 billion Norwegian kroner ($224 million) over 2011 levels, with the top line reaching 40.6 billion kroner ($7 billion).
NEW DELHI — On Oct. 7, an Indian air force (IAF) MiG-21 combat aircraft went down, marking the sixth crash of the fighter for the IAF this year. The aircraft crashed in India’s western state of Rajasthan during a routine sortie around 11.30 a.m. local time while the pilot was preparing to land, a defense ministry spokesman says. The pilot ejected to safety. The IAF first purchased MiG-21s in 1961 and has operated more than 400 of the aircraft. More than 100 of the fighters were lost in crashes from 1993-2002.
HOUSTON — NASA’s twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (Grail) A and B spacecraft are on course to maneuver into lunar orbit on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, following initial course-correction maneuvers carried out over the past week, the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory reports. The identical Grail spacecraft began their $496 million, nine-month mission to probe the Moon’s internal structure on Sept. 10, with a launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard a Delta II rocket.
