The U.S. Capitol has been consumed with battles over deficit reduction. But as plans for fiscal 2012 get down to specifics, a new round of battles is set to begin—over individual programs including Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and its Medium Extended Air Defense System.
Procurement costs are rising, defense budgets are shrinking, and money is being diverted from modernizing to deal with the high operational pace most NATO members are experiencing. It is a formula for disaster, but also the reality that the U.S. and European governments can no longer ignore. Both NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates have warned the bottom line could be security irrelevance if ways are not found to assure critical military capabilities.
Bubble or bonanza? The verdict is still out on which one the U.K.'s cybersecurity market will turn out to be. Industry is betting heavily on the sector, hoping cyberactivities will offset large declines in traditional defense spending.
For some time, the U.K. government's helicopter plan was described as dysfunctional merely because any other descriptor would have been unprintable. And while there are ample challenges ahead, there are signs that key elements of building a future force are falling into place.
Since production of the F-16 started in 1976, more than 4,500 of the single-engine fighters have been sold to more than 20 nations. Now, however, the decades-long production run for the fighter, once said to “sell itself” to customers globally, is facing an unfamiliar predicament: potential shutdown.
Newly developed sensor technologies are helping U.S. forces take the fight against the Taliban to bomb-making factories, where insurgents craft improvised explosive devices (IEDs), before those lethal explosives reach the streets. Using hyperspectral sensors, commanders could locate the facilities where IEDs are made, a key step toward crippling the Taliban's logistics operations and withdrawing allied forces as planned by 2014. This sensor market is also budding, a rarity in an increasingly austere budget climate.
NATO-led operations in support of rebels in Libya clearly demonstrated that where Europe has precision weapons, they can be highly effective. But the campaign also revealed that European weapon inventories are lacking in depth and breadth. France relied heavily on its AASM precision-guided munition, while the Royal Air Force used so many of its Dual-Mode Brimstones it both redeployed some from Afghanistan to the Libya campaign and asked MBDA to surge production in the second urgent operational requirement effort for the weapon.
Turkey has huge ambitions when it comes to its defense industry, including building fighters and trainers. But much time and the crossing of many stepping-stones will be required to achieve these goals. Ankara is seemingly on the right path, though, with several efforts starting to bear fruit. Last year, the country introduced the medium-altitude, long-endurance Anka unmanned aircraft, and it is taking the first big steps into the guided-missile sector with the start of Standoff Missile (SOM) flight trials.
Although open rotors offer a realistic chance of meeting lower fuel-burn requirements, they face potential hurdles to certification. To tackle these issues, researchers are finalizing preferred concepts on which to focus critical large-scale demonstration tests.
We have to start sometime. What's the point of waiting?” That idea, often heard in the Chinese aero-engine industry, probably best sums up the fatalistic attitude as the country's aviation propulsion sector, experienced mainly in making foreign machinery, sets out to take on leading Western and Russian manufacturers.
With the confirmation of a design for NASA's heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) human exploration rocket, the agency's hard-pressed spaceflight contractors finally have some information they can use to help them retain space shuttle and Constellation engineers and other workers. The skills of those employees, which come only from many years of experience, will be essential for building and flying the most powerful rocket ever built.
After years of delays, fledgling rocket company Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is ready to launch NASA's first commercial cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) this fall. But that opportunity may continue to elude SpaceX for a while longer, as a recent Soyuz launch failure could prompt yet another schedule slip.
The latest crash of a Yakovlev Yak-42 will likely have serious consequences for the Russian aviation industry. To improve safety, President Dmitry Medvedev and his government plan to make the acquisition of Western aircraft easier while drastically reducing the number of airlines and overhauling the flight safety oversight system.
Delta Air Lines will not be placing any more aircraft orders for at least “the next couple of years,” President Ed Bastian says, quashing speculation that an order for smaller single-aisle aircraft remains in the offing. “We are done talking about aircraft for the near to medium term,” he says. “We are very comfortable where we sit with our fleet orders.”
AviancaTaca is making rapid progress in integration following its 2010 merger. While new processes and management teams are put in place, the airline group is also preparing for its entry into Star Alliance in May 2012.
The senior flight attendant, at the gate for an early morning Air India flight to Mumbai, stood with hands folded, eyes cast downward, the traditional welcome smile missing. Anxiety over delayed monthly salaries and their very existence in the state-run airline was evident on the faces of most of the crewmembers—anger and frustration evident in their responses to passenger requests.
Competition in Asia is set to intensify next year with several new airlines starting operations. Thai Airways International is planning to establish Thai Smile Air, a full-service short-haul carrier that will start flying in July using 174-seat Airbus A320s. Thai had planned to call the outfit Thai Wings and have it start flying earlier. It changed the name after consulting with staff.
As Airbus and Boeing weigh decisions on boosting output, they typically point to the supply chain as one of the main brakes on building more airliners. But these concerns go beyond merely overstretching the industrial capacities of the second- and third-tier manufacturers. The shape and financial health of the network also remain issues.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency director, known—and often feared—for his demanding demeanor, did something somewhat out of character last month. He offered some guarded, public praise for contractors that only a year ago were the subject of equally public criticism for quality control and design problems. Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly is well known for his willingness to call out contractors for subpar work. This came to a head last year on two major programs that were brought to their knees due issues related to designs or parts.
As unmanned surveillance airships approach deployment in Afghanistan, attention is widening from their ability to stare at targets for days to weeks and rekindling decades-old interest in the ability of such vehicles to haul heavy loads over long distances.
Giuseppe Orsi Age: 65 Education: Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering from Milan Polytechnic University. Career: In 1973, joined Siai Marchetti, an aircraft company later absorbed into Agusta. Prior to becoming Finmeccanica CEO, Orsi headed AgustaWestland. Did you know? Orsi holds a private pilot's license and is a Commander of the British Empire, an honorary title.
A decade ago, things looked bright for the U.S. Air Force. The service was working on a lease of aircraft to replace its aging KC-135 tanker fleet, precision airstrikes garnered attention supporting special operators newly arrived in Afghanistan, and the Pentagon chose a contractor to build the F-35, the linchpin of the service's future tactical fleet. In the following 10 years, however, things took a turn for the worse.
The U.S. Air Force's long-standing culture of risk-taking in new weapons purchases is undergoing a dramatic change as national debt negotiations in Washington put pressure on procurements of aircraft, satellites, rockets and weapons. The service's new approach will emphasize buying mature systems while limiting long-term technology and equipment developments.
Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley Age: 58 Education: • University of Southern California, B.A., M.A. International Relations • Program for Senior Executives in National Security, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Career: • Director of Administration and Management, Office of the Secretary of Defense (2005-08)
Before the KC-46A source selection this year—hailed by senior U.S. Air Force leaders as a turning point for the service's struggling procurement corps—there was the less prominent but equally pivotal Small-Diameter Bomb II contract decision.
