KUWAITI CUSTOMER: The Kuwaiti air force is considering purchase of a C-17 transport aircraft. The proposed $693 million deal includes a limited electronic warfare suite of AAR-47 missile warning aircraft, ALE-47 countermeasure dispensers, and logistics and services.
An unexpected military cooperative exercise between China and Turkey has caught the eye of Washington-based analysts. The two air forces conducted a joint air exercise this week in the central Anatolian province of Konya, the first such exercise involving the air forces of China (People’s Liberation Army Air Force, or PLAAF) and NATO member Turkey. Part of the significance is that the PLAAF recently demonstrated major advances in long-range strike during their own “Peace Mission 2010.”
BENGALURU, India — Despite a lot of campaigning by various helicopter firms, India has yet to catch up with the rest of the world in using helicopters for medical evacuations in the civil sector, apart from some five-star hospitals that are offering the service to affluent patients. Bangalore hosted a one-day national meeting on Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) on Sept. 28. Participants from hospitals, industry and government stressed the need to use helicopters during emergencies.
COMMERCIAL STATION: A Moscow-based partnership that includes the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos and RSC Energia plans to build a man-tended commercial space station (CSS) that looks like an upgrade of the Soviet-era Salyut orbital stations. The CSS would be serviced by Soyuz and Progress vehicles, as is the International Space Station, and could serve as an orbiting refuge for station crews. Able to accommodate up to seven crewmembers at a time, CSS could receive commercial spacecraft from the U.S.
LONDON — The new Dutch coalition government has committed to keeping the country involved in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) phase but is cutting total procurement plans.
LONDON — France is facing the prospect of real capability gaps as the country adjusts its defense spending to try to bring down its mounting budget deficit. As part of its first concrete action, the government announced Sept. 29 it plans to curtail defense outlays by €1.3 billion (U.S. $1.77 billion) over three years. The move, expected for months, is nonetheless significant because it reverses several years of increasing defense spending, even if only modestly at times.
The House of Representatives passed the Senate’s version of NASA’s three-year authorization bill late Sept. 29. Although many representatives were not satisfied with aspects of the Senate bill, Democratic and Republican leaders voiced overwhelming support for passing any reauthorization bill before Oct. 1, when Fiscal 2011 begins.
BENGALURU, India – The Madras Engineer Group (MEG) of the Indian army is gearing up in the fight against improvised explosive devices (IEDs), especially radio-controlled IEDs. The MEG, which is also known as the Madras Sappers, has crafted a blueprint that is supposed to help boost preparedness for asymmetric warfare, as well as for upgrading equipment.
LONDON — A safety standdown of German Eurofighters has been completed. The German air force was among several to pause Eurofighter operations over concern that during an ejection the seat-belt could open. The safety action was taken Sept. 16 in the wake of the crash of a Spanish two-seat Eurofighter on Aug. 24 in which one of the crew members died. A modification to the belt harness is now being implemented.
German air force and helicopter crews are struggling to get support for a directed infrared countermeasures upgrade for their operationally deployed transport helicopters, but the government is apparently moving forward on an effort to equip its VIP fleet with such a device to defeat infrared-guided air-defense missiles.
BENGALURU, India — GE Aviation’s GE F414 has edged out Eurojet’s EJ200 to power the Mk-II version of India’s Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). The deal is estimated to be worth close to $800 million, after taking into account spares and other critical parts of the engine. Sources confirm to AVIATION WEEK that close to 100 Tejas aircraft will be powered by the GE F414 engine.
Initial flight testing of Japan’s Kawasaki XC-2 prototype airlifter has revealed good handling qualities and high-speed cruise performance, according to test pilots from the Japan Air Self Defense Force’s (JASDF) Air Development and Test Wing. The XC-2, formerly the C-X, is designed to replace the 1970s vintage JASDF Kawasaki C-1 transport. With almost four times the range, the Mach 0.8 C-2 also will provide Japan with its first tactical transport capable of operations in support of international disaster relief and emergency assistance.
ManTech International announced that it is buying Qinetiq’s Security and Intelligence Solutions (S&IS) for $60 million in cash. The proposed deal would expand ManTech’s presence in the defense intelligence market, ManTech CEO George Larsen says. “We see a solid pipeline of opportunities to provide full-scope security services to new and current ManTech customers,” he says. S&IS would be part of ManTech’s Mission, Cyber and Technology Solutions Group.
CAPE TOWN — Even if budget realities are likely to temper any major defense procurement efforts in South Africa in the near future, foreign and domestic suppliers still spot niche areas where they may be able to secure new deals.
ARMING B-52s: The U.S. Air Force has awarded Boeing a contract worth up to $11.9 billion for acquisition and sustainment activities to support B-52 weapon system modernization. The sole-source, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract covers an eight-year period.
LONDON — The Pentagon has spelled out details of its proposal to Sweden for a new transport helicopter in a competition pitting the UH-60M against the Eurocopter EC725. The Swedish government is looking to quickly field 15 new helicopters to meet the needs for deployed forces, with deliveries due by April 2013.
LONDON — Lufthansa Technik has won a key contract to build up its military MRO activities, having been named by Airbus Military to provide component support for the U.K.’s emerging fleet of 14 A330-based tankers. The deal is important for Lufthansa Technik’s military ambitions because it involves a foreign military rather than its traditional domestic German customer. Under the arrangement, Lufthansa Technik will provide component support for 10 years under the Future Strategic Transport Aircraft (FSTA) fleet program for the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF).
LONDON — Spain is considering a $155 million purchase of six SH-60F multimission maritime helicopters to add to its fleet of 12 SH-60s. The Pentagon says that Madrid has expressed interest in taking six of the helos as “excess defense articles” and putting them through a refurbishment program to make them operationally useful. The deal would also cover 12 installed T700-GE-401C engines plus a spare.
SEOUL — An emerging battle in Israel to acquire a new trainer aircraft is shaping up to have potentially far larger implications for the hotly contested advanced jet trainer market. The modernization effort also will mark the first time in decades when the Israeli Air Force (IAF) will acquire a non-U.S. aircraft.
ZULU EFFECTIVE: U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z helicopters are “operationally effective and suitable” and have been recommended for fleet introduction, Naval Air Systems Command officials announced Sept. 29. “This marks a significant milestone for the program,” said Col. Harry Hewson, program manager for Marine light and attack helicopters.
The full Senate ratified the U.S.-U.K. and U.S.-Australian Defense Trade Cooperation Treaties late on Sept. 29. The action follows the Senate Foreign Relations Committee resolution to ratify the treaties on Sept. 21, and the full House and Senate’s passage of so-called enabling legislation earlier this week.
PRAGUE — Sparring over International Space Station (ISS) spending is leading to a debate about whether the European Space Agency (ESA) should start work on an Advanced Reentry Vehicle (ARV), a proposed Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) spinoff that would provide both upmass and downmass services to the station, although planners still think detailed design at least can go ahead.
TWO MORE MONTHS: The continuing resolution (CR) considered by U.S. legislators will extend enacted Fiscal 2010 levels of funding for “most” federal programs until Dec. 3, Senate appropriations aides said late Sept. 29. Congress must pass, and the president sign into law, the CR before Oct. 1. The CR, nonetheless, “adjusts” the current rate for operations for the Foreign Military Financing program to include $965 million that was advanced for Israel, Egypt and Jordan in the Fiscal 2009 supplemental spending law.
