Hawker Beechcraft is proposing to pay Swiss plane-maker Pilatus Aircraft $7.5 million to settle a dispute over Hawker Beechcraft’s production of the T-6/AT-6 military trainer. Hawker Beechcraft says the move is neither an admission that it is using the “protectable intellectual property” of Pilatus, nor an acknowledgement that it owes royalty payments. But Hawker Beechcraft says the proposed payment would be in its best interest because it would avoid a public dispute and prolonged lawsuit at a critical juncture of the company’s bankruptcy proceedings.
Foreign military sales are unlikely to bridge the gap of declining U.S. defense budget cuts, but investment in emerging technologies eventually could offset investments in more traditional military hardware, a leading U.S. aerospace and defense (A&D) industry consultant says.
TANKER SHORT LIST: After intense lobbying by lawmakers, the U.S. Air Force released its short list of bases for the KC-46A tanker program. Contenders for the main base, which will begin receiving tankers in 2016, are Altus AFB, Okla.; Fairchild AFB, Wash.; Grand Forks AFB, N.D.; and McConnell AFB, Kan. The candidates for the first Air National Guard tanker base include Forbes Air Guard Station, Kan.; Joint-Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.; Pease Air Guard Station, N.H.; Pittsburgh International Airport Air Guard Station, Pa.; and Rickenbacker Air Guard Station, Ohio.
A long-awaited draft request for proposals (RFP) for the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (Uclass) competition has been delayed. Most recently planned for release to industry this month, the draft RFP is now expected in the spring, according to Navy spokeswoman Jamie Cosgrove.
Eclipse Aerospace is hoping to secure a potential contract to replace the fleet of T-1A Jayhawks (Beechjet 400s) flown for the U.S. Air Force Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training (SUPT) program. The company responded Jan. 7 to an Air Force request for information (RFI) for a potential large fleet of very light jets (VLJs) to support the SUPT Multi-place Training Track.
While much of the focus on U.S. Navy energy programs has been on alternative fuels, the service is equally interested in technological and other advancements that will make it a more efficient energy consumer, according to Vice Adm. William Burke, deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems. “It’s not just algae-based fuel,” Burke said Jan. 8 during a Navy League breakfast briefing. “It’s a little bit of that, but that is mostly to make sure that fuel will function in our engines.”
In the end, the 2013 defense authorization bill kept pretty close the budget request, adding about 1% percent to the base budget for procurement and research and changing about 130 lines out of more than 1,600. Some of the big plusses were early favorites for defense authorizers and appropriators in the House and Senate: the Israeli Cooperative Programs, advance procurement funding for EA-18G and restoring a second Virginia submarine buy in fiscal 2014.
Pratt & Whitney on Jan. 9 appointed Paul Adams to the newly created position of chief operating officer. As COO, Adams will lead an operations strategy across all the engine maker’s business “to ensure the readiness of the company’s global supply chain.” Adams previously led the company’s engineering and operations unit. He reports to Pratt & Whitney President David Hess.
interested party: Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) would like to replace the late Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) as the chairman of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, a congressional aide and industry source tell Aviation Week. If he is appointed, it would be a somewhat surprising move, as Durbin has not been a forceful voice on the committee, although he represents a state where Boeing has a strong presence.
BEIJING — China has declared its Beidou satellite navigation system fully operational, although the service remains limited to most of the Asia-Pacific region. The operating office says it is “accelerating” construction of the system, but repeats its longstanding commitment to achieve global coverage by about 2020; no earlier possibility is mentioned.
The key to making the next generation of ballistic missile submarines survivable and even more valuable in future decades will be to design the vessels with enough flexibility for later technological improvements, says Rear Adm. Barry Bruner, director of submarine warfare. Bruner likens the effort to the commercial industry for everyday transportation.
LONDON — The British government is to spend £160 million ($256 million) on the Thales Watchkeeper UAV over the next three years, but is unable to say when the much-delayed system will finally enter service. The British army is buying 54 Watchkeeper WK450 air vehicles, a modified variant of the Elbit Hermes 450 UAV along with 15 ground control stations as part of its Tactical UAV requirement. As part of the procurement, the U.K. Ministry of Defense (MoD) is spending £73 million, £59 million and £28 million, respectively, over the next three financial years.
After years of buying its small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) from AeroVironment, the U.S. Army has qualified four additional companies to compete for future procurements. Indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) umbrella contracts have been awarded to Altavian, Elbit USA, IATech and Lockheed Martin, in addition to incumbent AeroVironment.
As the U.S. Navy battens down for stormier financial seas, the service is looking for ways to reduce the total ownership costs for its vessels and bolster ship maintenance as a way to save money and retain its fleet force, says Vice Adm. William Burke, deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems. The service also needs to rely more on simulations to train and prepare its personnel while cutting cut costs, Burke said Jan. 8 during a Navy League breakfast briefing.
SUSTAINED: The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) Comptroller General this month sustained a protest by Kollsman, an Elbit Systems of America company based in McLean, Va., of a Navy award to L-3 Communications for handheld laser markers. Kollsman challenged the Navy’s evaluation of price and L-3’s past performance. “Because we find that the agency failed to adequately support and document its past performance evaluation of L-3, we recommend that the agency re-evaluate L-3’s past performance,” GAO says in its decision.
AIR FORCE FedCon/South Bay Joint Venture, San Antonio, Texas, (FA3089-13-D-0001) is being awarded a $75,000,000 multiple award construction contract for general construction category to include maintenance, repair, alteration, mechanical, electrical, heating/air conditioning, demolition, painting, paving and earthwork. The location of the performance is Randolph AFB, Texas. The work is expected to be completed by Jan. 4, 2018. The contracting activity is 902 CONS/LGCA, Randolph AFB, Texas.
The Pentagon wants to improve the way it audits closeouts of major contracts to curb financial risks to the Defense Department. The department has a large volume of contracts that have not been closed on time, confirms a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, noting that closing a contract includes tasks such as verifying that the goods and services were provided and making final payment to the contractor.
LONDON — Airbus Military has confirmed that it has been selected as the preferred bidder for the Indian air force’s (IAF) aerial refueling tanker program. India is discussing the purchase of six aircraft in a deal worth around $1 billion. India selected the Airbus A330 multirole tanker transport (MRTT) aircraft over the Russian-built Ilyushin Il-78 tanker aircraft, a variant of the Il-76 transport plane already in service with the IAF.
ABOARD THE USS FREEDOM — At near 40 kt. the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom creates a “rooster tail” of water out of its stern strong enough to swamp small boats and knock people off the vessels. “The rooster tail is a weapon,” says Joe Shifflett, who manages the LCS Navy training center in San Diego. Cruisers and destroyers have used wakes to disrupt small craft in the past, but neither of those vessels — in fact, nothing else in the U.S. Navy fleet — creates the hydrant-like spray the way an LCS can.
