January 27-28, 2009 Sofitel Miami Miami, FL This in-depth, case study driven management forum will showcase Viable Strategies to Drive Meaningful Cost-Reduction and Improve Operating Efficiencies Learn more at www.aviationweek.com/conferences or call +1.212.904.4483. Click here to view the pdf
NAMING NAMES: President-Elect Barack Obama plans to nominate William J. Lynn III to be deputy secretary of defense, Robert F. Hale to be the DOD’s comptroller and chief financial officer, Michèle Flournoy to be undersecretary of defense for policy and Jeh Charles Johnson to be general counsel. The leader of the Senate, which will have to confirm the nominees, sounded a favorable response. “I am pleased with the high caliber of nominees for senior Department of Defense positions that the President-elect nominated today,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says.
ISR WINGS: The latest increment of the U.S. Air Force’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) transition involves redesignating the 480th and 70th Intelligence Wings at Ft. Meade, Md. — home to the National Reconnaissance Office — as ISR wings. The change broadens their scope beyond signals intelligence to include all elements of ISR for ground, air, space and cyberspace missions.
PRIME DIRECTIVE: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is allocating additional funding to support apprenticeships. During a visit to propulsion manufacturer Rolls-Royce in Derby last week, Brown announced that the engine company will take on a further 50 apprentices in addition to the 170 already planned for 2009. The cost of the further 50 will be met by the government. A further £140 million pounds ($212 million) is being made available to support apprenticeships, with the target to add 35,000 more places across industry.
GOOD DUTY: The U.S. Navy has decided where to base its 84 new all-jet Boeing P-8A Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft that will replace turboprop-powered Lockheed Martin P-3 patrol aircraft. Five standard and one fleet replacement squadron will be at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Fla. Four squadrons will fly out of NAS Whidbey Island, Wash., where the Navy also keeps its electronic attack fleet of EA-6Bs, EA-18Gs and EP-3Es. And three squadrons will operate from Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, and NAS North Island, Calif.
Boeing has seen a steady trickle of jobs leave its Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) unit since early 2008 while Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) experienced robust jobs growth last year. Now BCA will be a jobs loser in 2009.
NAVAL NET: DGA has contracted with EADS Defense & Security to supply a high-speed Internet communications system for French naval surface ships, aircraft and submarines. The €240-million award covers development and deployment of the Internet protocol network, modernization and digitalization of V/UHF assets and a five-year support package. The so-called Rifan 2 initiative will see the system installed on 116 vessels and 64 aircraft, including Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft, Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft and NH90 frigate helicopters.
UNDERSTANDING LIFT: The U.S. Air Force and Army may finally agree on the last of many iterations of the Initial Capabilities Document (ICD) for Joint Future Theater Lift (JFTL). This week, the Air Force will submit its ICD to the Army for review. Conflict between the two services has been ongoing — the Army wants a fully vertical JFTL, while the Air Force has been focused on a super-short takeoff and landing aircraft. But those issues “have been resolved” according to Bruce Tenney, associate director of the Army Aviation Technology Directorate.
HUNGARY’S GRIPENS: The Saab Gripen has been declared operational in the quick reaction alert (QRA) role by the Hungarian air force. Initially the Gripen will be operated alongside the MiG-29 Fulcrum, and will then replace it by the end of this year. The air force has 14 Gripen aircraft, 12 single-seat C-model aircraft, and two D-model two-seaters. The aircraft was formally declared operational in the QRA role at an event held at Kecskemet air base on Dec. 22.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicated new calendar listing.) Jan. 26 - 28, 2009 — 6th Annual Tactical Power Sources Summit, Hilton Alexandria Old Town, Alexandria, Va. For more information go to www.idga.org/us/tacticalpower
GO AHEAD: Boeing has formally received $234 million to begin production of the 6th Wideband Global Satcom satellite from the U.S. Air Force Space Command’s Space and Missile Systems Center. The order was placed in November 2007 by the Australian government as part of an agreement granting the Australian Defence Force access to the worldwide WGS constellation of communications satellites. At that time, the WGS network was limited to five spacecraft.
The U.S. Army is holding off on defining the scope of its Kiowa OH-58 life extension plan pending a decision on the currently stalled Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH).
The last scheduled flight of the space shuttle Discovery will carry a pressurized Russian module to help set up the International Space Station (ISS) for operations without NASA’s fleet of reusable orbiters. Planning for the flight, which probably will include Russian use of a commercial facility at Cape Canaveral to prepare the module for launch, comes as station managers start preparing to support a six-person crew on the ISS solely with Russian, European, Japanese and commercial spacecraft.
LANGLEY SUPPORT: NASA has picked Hampton, Va.-based firms Analytical Services & Materials Inc. and Analytical Mechanics Associates Inc. to provide support for NASA’s Langley Research Center. The blanket purchase agreements could be worth up to $100 million over five years.
URGENT UPGRADES: The British Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)) continues to be the focus of urgent upgrades to meet operational requirements, despite its age. The British army has just begun to take delivery of the first batch of the CVR(T) with an improved engine, gearbox and drives, as well as more efficient radiator and air cooler. Operational experience in Afghanistan is behind the urgent requirement, which is being implemented by BAE Systems. The army’s Light Dragoons will be the first unit to begin training with the upgraded vehicles early in 2009.
ORLANDO, Fla. The U.S. aerospace industry is running out of time to solve the growing crisis in recruiting to replace its aging workforce, and government action is needed for the U.S. to maintain world leadership, according to Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President for Advanced Development Programs and Strategic Planning Frank Cappuccio.
An agreement with Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) will protect Elbit Systems from claims brought against the two companies by minority owners and creditors of ImageSat International, operator of Israel’s Eros imaging satellites, that could lead to billions of dollars in damages.
A Jan. 7 article on how U.S. military vehicle makers are working on weight reduction and sustaining the Pentagon’s fleets incorrectly transposed attribution for quotes from BAE’s Tony Russell and Force Protection’s Damon Walsh.
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is reporting generally lower delivery totals for 2008 compared to a year earlier. In helicopters, new-build Apaches dropped to three from a high of 17 in 2007, but Chinooks edged up to 12 from 10 in 2007. In military fixed-wing aircraft, C-17 deliveries were steady at 16 for both years. There were 14 F-15 deliveries last year compared to 12 in 2007 and 45 F/A-18E/F and EA-18Gs compared to 44 the previous year.
The biggest obstacles to launching predictable cyber attacks – with an eye to making them operational military capabilities – are the lack of digital weapons that can be used by nonspecialists and the inability to duplicate networks so that attacks and exploitation can be planned and practiced. In turn, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has just awarded seven six-month contracts totaling about $25 million as the startup funding for a National Cyber Range (NCR).
THUNDERING AHEAD: The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex is ready to begin series production of the JF-17 Thunder fighter as soon as the government gives it the go-ahead. The complex can build 50 of the aircraft a year, according to its chairman, Air Marshal Khalid Chaudhry. The JF-17 has been developed in collaboration with China, where it is called the FC-1. Chaudhry says the complex can make 75 percent of the JF-17’s avionics and 58 percent of its airframe. The engine is the Klimov RD-93 from Russia.
CONTINUED MUNITIONS: The U.S. Defense Department has awarded Boeing two contracts totaling $217.1 million for continued production of Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail kits and Small Diameter Bombs (SDB). The JDAM contract, $106.9 million for Lot 13 production, includes more than 4,000 tail kits for the Air Force and Navy. Boeing will deliver the kits in 2010 and 2011. The SDB contract, $110.2 million for Lot 5 production, includes more than 2,500 weapons and associated carriages for the Air Force. Deliveries are scheduled for 2010.
