AIRLIFTER DOWNED: A Transaviaexport cargo aircraft, likely an Ilyushin-76, was shot down over Mogadishu, Somalia, by a missile, wire reports said March 23. The aircraft, which was taking off, was believed to be carrying 11 passengers and crew. On March 9, another Transaviaexport flight in Somalia also was hit by a ground-fired missile but landed safely. According to State Department estimates, shoulder-fired missiles have downed at least 25 airplanes and killed more than 600 people since the 1970s.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz, commander of U.S. Transportation Command, reiterated his service's perennial request for more authority to retire aircraft during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee last week. "It is very challenging for the Air Force to manage the fleet in a way that optimizes their support of my mission," Schwartz said March 21, referring to congressional limitations on the retirement of older aircraft such as the KC-135 and C-5. 'Excessing old platforms'
INTEL TAKEOVER: Iraqi troops and security forces are within two to three months of taking over full intelligence gathering operations in certain parts of the country, says U.S. Army Col. Stephen M. Twitty, commander of the 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. The Iraqis already have been conducting some of those missions and acting on the intelligence they obtain to find weapons caches, Twitty said March 23 during a Pentagon briefing. But in many cases, Iraqi and U.S. forces work in tandem. U.S. personnel are training the Iraqis to do the missions on their own.
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio - The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is getting ready to launch a new planning process that should provide combatant commanders and other Pentagon strategists a better idea of the capabilities likely to be fielded in the future.
Ronald Sega, undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force and the Pentagon's executive agent for space, promised the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee on March 23 that none of the Defense Department's space programs should incur new Nunn-McCurdy cost or schedule breaches in the near term. Sega attributed the supposed new program stability to space officials' "back-to-basics" development and acquisition effort started more than a year ago as Congress sliced requested funds from ballooning space programs.
EW LOSING OUT: Airborne electronic warfare (EW) equipment and operations are getting shunted aside in favor of immediate and near-term funding plans because of rising war costs and the price of recapitalizing and modernizing other assets, EW industry and military sources say. Other urgent wartime needs are eating into any interest in further developing or deploying the airborne EW capabilities, the sources say. The U.S. Air Force still has no concrete plan for airborne EW. The main airborne EW thrust is being borne by the U.S.
ANTI-MORTAR TECH: NATO is going to take a close look at possible anti-mortar technologies this week. The alliance has been highlighting various different technologies in recent months under its Defence Against Terrorism (DAT) technology effort. The Defense Against Mortar Attacks road show, to take place March 27-28 in Germany, is the latest of these. Although set in Germany, the activities are actually led by the Netherlands and involve a dozen countries. Military operations in Afghanistan, where NATO forces have been mortared, and the experience of the U.S.
NOT BOLD: The Pentagon's Mobility Capabilities Study was not "bold," says U.S. Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz, commander of U.S. Transportation Command. Rather than providing a wide range for large airlifter requirements, "it would have been more satisfying, I think, to all of us, had the study given us an objective," Schwartz says. He believes that roughly 300 large airlifters is the right target, along with 400 C-130-class aircraft, and a tanker fleet in the neighborhood of 400-500 aircraft.
GPS MISSILES: South Korea plans to develop Global Positioning System-guided missiles by 2012 with a 43 billion won ($45 million) investment, the Korea Overseas Information Service says. Currently-used fighter jet missiles would be equipped with the system, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. South Korea also plans to produce 18 additional sets of K-9 155mm howitzers by 2009. The K-9 howitzer is the country's chief arms export.
JSF PROPOSAL: Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) thinks he has a possible solution to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) alternative engine dilemma. Taylor, chairman of the House Armed Services' seapower subcommittee, suggests the government form a competition, select the better of the two engines, and put the engine's manufacture out to bid because it "owns the specifications and plans for that engine" by way of R&D funding with taxpayer dollars. The Pentagon says it can save $1.8 billion using only Pratt & Whitney's F-135 engine.
JPDO CHALLENGES: Although the Joint Planning and Development Office (JDPO) that has been charged with crafting America's next-generation air transportation system has made "substantial progress," several challenges remain, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). These include "institutionalizing the interagency collaboration that is so central to its mission, developing a comprehensive cost estimate, and addressing potential gaps in research and development," GAO says.
The House passed a contentious $124 billion supplemental spending bill March 23 by a 218-212 margin, providing around $100 billion for combat operations and other defense requests but setting up a showdown with the White House over an Iraq withdrawal timeline.
AIRCRAFT DEFERRED: Several military aircraft recently struck from the Bush administration's fiscal 2007 supplemental request likely will reappear when the White House updates its FY '08 supplemental request. Deferments include $389 million for two Joint Strike Fighters, $388 million for five C-130J aircraft, $146 million for one CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft and $375 million for five EA-18G aircraft. On March 9 the aircraft were removed from the original Feb.
March 27 - 29 -- Aerospace Testing Expo Europe 2007, New Munich Trade Fair Center, Munich, Germany. For more information call +44 13 674-3744 or go to www.aerospacetesting-expo.com. April 2 - 3 -- 2007 Search & Rescue The Americas Conference & Exhibition, "Today's SAR Requirements: Dedication, Ingenuity & Commitment," Ritz Carlton, Tysons Corner, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.shephard.co.uk/sar.
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley's March 5 memo to military leaders about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) promises to deliver a "comprehensive plan" to optimize U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities by mid- April.
GUARD SUGGESTIONS: Defense Secretary Robert Gates is working on a package of legislative proposals in response to recent recommendations from the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves and should deliver them to Congress by the latter part of April, according to Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.). "I am encouraged by that response and the willingness of the Department to make necessary changes," says Hunter, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Stephen Mundt sharply criticized the U.S. Air Force on March 23, saying the service was not being "collegial" in two major Pentagon initiatives - the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the development and procurement of the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) program. Addressing a recent proposal by Air Force Gen. T. Michael Moseley, service chief of staff, that the Air Force become the executive agent for medium- and high-altitude UAVs (see p. 4), Mundt said, "We absolutely disagree."
LAUNCHING CAPSULES: The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon Co. a $53.4 million contract modification for the procurement of 111 Tomahawk composite capsule launching system capsules and 220 SSGN/SSN CCLS retrofit kits. The work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be finished in April 2009. The contract was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md.
TOULOUSE, France - Testing issues in Russia and continued uncertainty over the date of NASA's next space shuttle launch have pushed back the first flight of Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) to September at the earliest, and perhaps to November. The European Space Agency (ESA) originally had hoped to launch the Jules Verne - its pathfinder ATV - to the International Space Station (ISS) this summer. Now it appears that will be the earliest it will be possible to ship the vehicle to the European launch site near Kourou, French Guiana.
FLM AWARD: The U.S. Air Force is awarding Boeing's McDonnell Douglas Corp. a $17.7 million cost-plus-fixed fee contract modification for a joint capabilities technology demonstration of the Focused Lethality Munition, a small bomb designed for use in urban areas that will cause less collateral damage. The 918th Armament Systems Group also plans to exercise a contract option for continued integration and testing of the FLM and engineering support for the Air Force evaluation.
Two Defense Department reports to Congress on March 22 indicated cost benefits from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) alternate engine program would be negligible, but a third study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says there could be long-term savings. All three reports were required by Congress when it passed the fiscal 2007 National Defense Authorization Act.
The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) approved legislation March 22 that would transfer supplemental fiscal 2007 funds requested for two Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters (ARH) to replace two UH-60 Black Hawks lost in combat. The roughly $122 billion bill also would fully fund seven other requested UH-60s, according to a summary of the legislation provided by SAC staff. The Senate is expected to take up the bill March 26, SAC Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) said after a markup hearing.
