ABU DHABI — Ankara has chosen Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) to lead the development of the country’s first truly indigenous helicopter. An executive committee of senior government officials, including Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan, gave the go-ahead for the project in late 2012. According to Yilmaz Guldogan, VP of strategy and technology management at TAI, a deal should be signed in the second half of this year, with the aircraft’s development expected to take between four and five years.
Amid continuing uncertainty over delays to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Australian government has opened up a long-anticipated study with the U.S. into the “potential purchase” of 24 additional Boeing F/A-18E/F aircraft.
FALSE CLAIMS: Federal investigators and prosecutors could be on the lookout for an increase in dubious claims by government contractors now that federal budgets appear to be headed downward. That is because contractors could become anxious to land new awards and “may feel the need to stretch their claims,” potentially violating the False Claims Act, according to David Laufman, formerly associate general counsel to the U.S. Special Investigator General for Iraq reconstruction, who spoke online during an Ethisphere Symposium about procurement compliance Feb. 26.
U.S. MH-60R Seahawk helicopters equipped the AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low-Frequency Sonar (ALFS) and MK-54 lightweight torpedoes are proving to be quite a lethal anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission package, according to the service and its contractors. Over the past two years, service leaders have been talking up the ASW potential of the MH-60R, or “Romeo,” especially with the advancements in sensor and torpedo technology providing an efficient end-to-end capability.
House Republicans will meet Feb. 27 to discuss the budget, sequestration and a proposal to keep the government running after current legislation providing funding expires on March 27.
HAGEL CONFIRMED: The Senate on Feb. 26 confirmed former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) as the next defense secretary, ending a long and controversial nomination process full of questions about his policy positions and financial past. Taking over at the Pentagon will be that much harder, as the military prepares itself for more than $40 billion in cuts to defense spending for fiscal 2013 to take effect March 1.
DESPERATE TIMES: It’s not new, and it’s not likely to go anywhere. Still, Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) is proposing a bill that would remove military spending from sequestration and allow the remainder of about $500 billion in budget cuts over 10 years to fall on the rest of the federal government. But the proposal from Forbes — who chairs the House Armed Services sea power and projection forces subcommittee — is merely symbolic.
If sequestration takes place March 1, military furloughs are not expected to begin at that time. Rather, they would start around April 25, according to a proposed Pentagon timeline.
LONDON — BAE Systems is leading the Eurofighter consortium’s push to sell the Typhoon to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). RMAF officials are on the hunt for a new multirole combat aircraft (MRCA) to replace the country’s aging Mikoyan MiG-29 fleet. The Typhoon is up against Saab’s Gripen, the Dassault Rafale and Boeing’s Super Hornet. BAE is confident the U.K.’s ties with the country will give it an advantage.
LITTLE CREEK, Va. — While the U.S. Navy ponders canceling or delaying various deployments, repairs and other operations, the service plans to keep pace with the more robust inspection schedule that it recently implemented for a good part of its fleet. In order to do so, says Rear Adm. Robert Wray, president of the Board of Inspection and Survey (Insurv), the service may have to rely more on uniformed inspectors than civilian technicians to scrutinize the ships as well as the systems, equipment and components aboard.
A team of researchers from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) has developed a shipping resupply computer program that aims to save the Navy millions of dollars in fuel costs. Called the Replenishment at Sea Planner (RASP), the program creates a schedule that minimizes the distance supply ships have to travel and identifies routes that allow vessels to travel at speeds optimal for fuel conservation, says NPS research associate Anton Rowe of Honolulu, who wrote the detailed code that makes RASP work.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training, Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a $20,560,000 contract modification (FA8621-11-C-6288, P00020) for procurement of one C-130J weapon system trainer device for Air Mobility Command. The location of performance is Marietta, Ga. and Tampa, Fla. Work is expected to be completed by June 30, 2016. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013. The contracting activity is AFLCMC/WNSK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. NAVY
TEL AVIV — Israel’s defense ministry says it carried out a successful flight test of the Arrow 3 missile interceptor. The test was conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. The interceptor was launched into space Feb. 25 at around 6 a.m. local time from a coastal military launching pad in central Israel. The missile flew for more than 6 min., testing Arrow 3’s fly-out capabilities at altitudes well more than 100 km (60 mi.). The test plan did not include an actual intercept, so no target was used.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, is being awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (FA8611-13-D-2850) with a ceiling of $6,900,000,000 for F-22 modernization. The locations of performance are El Segundo, Calif.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; San Diego.; Nashua, N.H.; and Wayne, N.J. The work is expected to be completed by Feb. 20, 2023. This award is a result of a sole source acquisition. The contracting activity is AFLCMC/WWUK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
NEW DELHI — The Indian army has decided to buy 20 Cheetal helicopters and associated equipment from state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) to fill a serious need for the multirole aircraft. “We have signed a contract worth [$77 million] with the defense ministry to supply 20 Cheetals to the army over the next four years, besides providing training to its pilots and technical crew,” a HAL spokesman said.
L-3 Communications is exploring whether a German concept from World War II could boost the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability of small naval vessels. During the war, the Germans developed the Focke-Achgelis FA 330 Bachstelze (Wagtail), an unpowered autogyro capable of lifting a man. It was towed behind prowling U-boats and used to spot targets and possible threats. The pilot would bark sightings by telephone to the submarine.
When teams of researchers at Germany's Technical University of Hamburg and Kiel University used chemical vapor and a high-temperature oven last summer to produce a new carbon-based lattice they call Aerographite, it immediately grabbed attention for its weight: At 75 times lighter than Styrofoam and six times lighter than air, it is billed as the world's lightest material.
