Defense Highlights of 2015

Korea Aerospace Industries unveiled an upgraded T-50 on Dec. 17 aimed, in partnership with Lockheed Martin, at the U.S. Air Force’s T-X trainer requirement. Flight testing is planned in South Korea in 2016, and the U.S. in 2017. Modifications include an inflight refueling receptacle in a dorsal module that also houses additional fuel, large-area cockpit displays and embedded training system.

Embraer’s KC-390 tanker/transport made its first flight from its Gaviao Peixoto facility in Brazil on Feb. 3. Development of the twin-turbofan airlifter is funded by the Brazilian air force, and in July the country’s economic problems forced a two-year delay in the program, slipping entry into service to 2018. After a hiatus of almost nine months, the KC-390 returned to flight on Oct. 26.

In February, almost 30 years after its first flight, Dassault’s Rafale fighter secured its first export order, for 24 aircraft from Egypt, with an option for 12 more. In May, Dassault scored a second order, from Qatar for 24 Rafales. India, in March, announced plans to purchase 36 Rafales direct from France and abandoned a stalled deal to buy 126 aircraft with local production. A contract has yet to be signed.

Antonov’s An-178 medium airlifter made its first flight from Kiev, Ukraine, on May 7, followed by its international debut at the 2015 Paris Air Show. Powered by two Progress D-436 turbofans, the aircraft is derived from the An-158 regional jet. Also marketed as a commercial freighter, the An-178 is intended as a replacement for Antonov’s widely used An-12.

An Airbus A400M Atlas airlifter crashed on a test flight near Seville, Spain, on May 9, killing four crewmembers and injuring two. Power from three of the aircraft’s four Europrop TP400 turboprops froze shortly after takeoff and only one responded to pilot inputs. The cause was traced to accidental wiping of data during installation of engine control software.

Germany selected the Lockheed Martin/MBDA Medium Extended Air Defense System (Meads) in June, to replace its Patriot surface-to-air missile systems. Using the Patriot system’s Lockheed-developed PAC-3 missile, the mobile Meads has been codeveloped by Germany, Italy and the U.S. Army, which in 2011 decided not to purchase the system. Germany will fund the completion of development.

The F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing version of the Joint Strike Fighter achieved initial operational capability (IOC) with U.S. Marine Corps squadron VMFA-121 on July 31, almost 14 years after Lockheed Martin was awarded the development contract. IOC of the U.S. Air Force’s F-35A is planned by August 2016, and the U.S. Navy’s F-35C by February 2019.

In September, Kuwait agreed to purchase 28 Typhoons in a government-to-government deal with Eurofighter partner nation Italy—the fourth export customer and eighth overall for the four-nation fighter. The Kuwaiti aircraft could be the first equipped with the Selex ES Captor-E active electronically scanned array radar under development for the Typhoon.

The first fully equipped Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker/transport made its delayed first flight on Sept. 25, after a wiring redesign and fuel-system contamination issues. Despite the delays, Boeing still plans to deliver the first 18 KC-46As to the U.S. Air Force by August 2017. In October, Japan became the first international customer, selecting the KC-46A for a three-aircraft requirement.

Saab and the Brazilian government concluded the contract for 36 JAS 39E/F Gripen NG fighters in October, the Swedish company booking an order value of 39.3 billion Swedish krona ($4.5 billion). The Gripen was selected for the F-X2 program in December 2013. Deliveries will run from 2019-24. Embraer will assemble aircraft in Brazil and codevelop the two-seat JAS 39F.

The latest upgrade of Lockheed Martin’s best-selling fighter, the F-16V, made its first flight on Oct. 16 equipped with Northrop Grumman’s APG-83 active electronically scanned array radar. Managed by the U.S. Air Force, the upgrade is being developed initially for Taiwan, under the F-16 Phoenix Rising project, and Lockheed is to supply 144 upgrade kits for its F-16A/Bs.

In Canada’s Oct. 19 federal election, the ruling Conservative Party was defeated by the Liberal Party led by Justin Trudeau, who promised during the election campaign to end Canada’s role as a partner in the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program and launch a competition to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Boeing F/A-18A/B Hornet fighters.

Northrop Grumman was selected to build the U.S. Air Force’s Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) on Oct. 27, over a Boeing/Lockheed Martin team that has protested the award. The LRS-B is planned to become operational in 2025, and will replace the B-52, B-1 and B-2 bombers. In 2010 dollars, development is projected to cost $21.4 billion, with an average unit cost of $511 million for the 100 aircraft planned.

Piaggio Aerospace rolled out the P.180 Avanti-based Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) in Genoa, Italy, on Nov. 9. Developed with Abu Dhabi Autonomous Systems Investments, the MPA has a 50% longer wing span, 50% greater fuel capacity, larger tailplane and foreplane, uprated engines and Saab Albatros mission system including radar and electro-optical/infrared sensor.

In November, Turkey canceled a controversial agreement to buy a $3.4 billion long-range air and missile defense system from China, and will instead develop a system locally. The decision followed an evaluation by Ankara’s defense industry executive committee. The 2013 selection of China’s HQ-9 over European and U.S. systems shocked Turkey’s NATO allies.

Testing of Europe’s multinational unmanned combat aircraft demonstrator, the Dassault-led Neuron, was completed in November after eight signature-measurement and three weapon-release flights in Vidsel, Sweden. First flown in December 2012, the stealthy Neuron completed 123 flights, the bulk of them in France, with others in Italy and Sweden.