TEL AVIV — Recent commercial satellite imagery provided by the Israeli satellite firm ImageSat International reveals that new construction activity has already begun at North Korea’s Light Water Nuclear Reactor at Yongbyon.
The U.N. General Assembly on April 2 overwhelmingly approved a new Arms Trade Treaty that is supposed to demand more accountability of nations over their foreign transfers and sales of light weapons, missiles, tanks and even ships to suspected terrorists, criminals and other groups under widespread suspicion of malfeasance or human rights abuses.
U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (Navsea) completed the first-ever Air Defense Cruiser Aegis Baseline 9 combat systems upgrade for CG-62 USS Chancellorsville March 29. The upgrade was developed by Lockheed Martin and is part of the Navy’s Aegis modernization and cruiser-upgrade program, begun in April 2012 at BAE Systems’ San Diego Ship Repair Facility, and completed following combat systems testing and sea trials.
NEW DELHI — India has approved a plan to buy 30 billion rupees ($500 million) worth of night-vision equipment for its armed forces, a government official says. At an April 2 meeting of the Defense Acquisition Council, the highest decision-making body in the country’s defense affairs, Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony approved the procurement of around 5,000 third-generation thermal-imaging and night-vision devices for the country’s Russian-origin T-72 and T-90 battle tanks and its BMP Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICVs), a defense official says.
Analysts reacting to U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s first major policy speech say the dour remarks on future cuts and likely dramatic mission changes due to austere budgets were expected, albeit significant, for benchmarking the Pentagon’s approach to life under sequestration.
COLORADO AEROSPACE: Two U.S. lawmakers from space-industry-heavy Colorado are standing up their own “working group” on aerospace export control reforms. After being part of the advocacy effort for loosening satellite-related regulations, the lawmakers say their new group will continue to look for more changes “that will help U.S. companies export their products and technologies to international customers while still protecting our national security interests.” The group will provide recommendations to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet and Republican Rep.
The Pentagon has officially notified Congress of the potential sale of 60 Boeing F-15 Silent Eagles or Lockheed Martin F-35s to South Korea, as the country weighs these American options against the Eurofighter Typhoon for the forthcoming downselect in its F-X Phase 3 competition.
BAE Systems is volleying back against cost, capability and scheduling concerns raised this week in a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on the U.S. Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) acquisition. The CBO estimates the GCV would cost the service $29 billion in 2013 dollars from 2014 to 2030 as it is currently structured.
THAAD DEPLOYS: In response to escalating tensions with North Korea, the Pentagon is deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System to Guam. The battery from the Army’s 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment at Fort Bliss, Texas, is being sent to the Pacific island to counter the North Korean regional ballistic missile threat. The decision follows a shift in the U.S. military’s investments in national missile defense as well as the recent participation of B-2 bombers and F-22 fighters in military exercises in South Korea.
Lockheed Martin has told Australia’s government and general public that if the country orders fewer than its originally planned 100 F-35s, Australian industry will receive less work on the Joint Strike Fighter program.
The Pentagon concurs with recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendations to improve its efforts to infuse greater competition in its contracting procedures and the Defense Department plans to do just that, GAO says in a recent report. While the Pentagon has been working on making its contracting more competitive in recent years, the trend has not been promising.
NEW DELHI — The most advanced version of India’s Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) has made its first flight, setting the stage for its induction into the country’s air force. The limited series production aircraft (LSP-8) is the last in the indigenously developed Tejas’ flight line before it is prepared for deployment for operational service by 2015.
GCV ANALYZED: In a new report, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that it will cost the U.S. Army $29 billion in 2013 dollars from 2014 to 2030 to carry out its current Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) acquisition effort on the most recent schedule offered for the perennially challenged program.
The U.S. Navy will likely pay much less for its vaunted air and missile defense radar (AMDR) than previously projected — only perhaps about a third of what officials predicted a year ago — a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says. The AMDR’s total price tag is now estimated at $5.8 billion, compared to the $15.2 billion projected last year for the radar system meant to provide simultaneous air and ballistic missile defense (BMD). (See chart p. 8.)
LANGKAWI, Malaysia — BAE Systems, which is leading the campaign to sell Eurofighter Typhoon fighters to Malaysia, says the Southeast Asian nation would have three anti-ship missiles to choose from if it orders the Typhoon.
LANGKAWI, Malaysia — The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has become bullish about the prospect of using UAVs to help monitor Malaysia’s territory, even though it also has a plan to add more manned fixed-wing maritime patrol aircraft.
Lockheed Martin plans to provide further details later this week about the international version of its USS Freedom Littoral Combat Ship, the navy’s newest warship.
PARIS — French President Francois Hollande says the nation’s €31.4 billion ($40 billion) annual defense budget will remain flat next year despite pressure to reduce public spending. “We will spend in 2014 exactly the same amount as in 2013,” Hollande said during a March 28 interview with France 2 television. The Socialist president also lauded French military support for Operation Serval in Mali and vowed to maintain the nation’s security independence, including modernization of its nuclear arsenal.
