General Electric and Pratt & Whitney have been awarded contracts totaling more than $680 million to demonstrate variable-cycle fighter engines under the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Adaptive Engine Technology Development (AETD) program. AETD is the follow-on to AFRL’s $524 million Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology (Advent) program, under which GE Aviation and Rolls-Royce Liberty Works will run adaptive-fan engine demonstrators next year.
A proprietary windscreen cleaner developed internally by PPG Aerospace could extend the useful life of the V-22 Osprey’s acrylic and polycarbonate windscreens, also built by PPG. PPG initially began developing the cleaner to help V-22 maintainers clean bug residue from the windscreens, a process that is time- and energy-intensive, says Connie Poulsen, PPG global director for military transparencies. However, tests of the cleaner revealed that it leaves a residue that may help reduce “hazing” in the windscreen, Poulsen says.
STEALTHY CHINA: China’s second known stealth aircraft, the Shenyang J-31 fighter, made its first flight Oct. 31. The first sight of the aircraft’s planform view confirmed its similarity to the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Figher (JSF), with a clipped delta wing and stabilizers mounted well aft on twin tailbooms, and comparison with a J-11 chase aircraft supports earlier estimates that it is in the same size class as the JSF. Like the F-35, the J-31 generated prominent visible vortex wakes from its wingtips, even in low-energy flight.
Click here to view the pdf 2013 U.S. Defense Spending: Current Funding Outlook: Navy RDT&E Lines where 2013 request differs from the 2012 enacted amount by more than 20% ($ in thousands) 2013 U.S.
The guided-missile Ohio-class submarines — revamped SSBN ballistic missile boats converted into SSGNs — are proving to be some of the most versatile undersea platforms in the U.S. Navy fleet, with the ability to do a number of missions at any given time, says the former commanding officer of the first vessel. The Navy is now trying to figure out ways to operate its Virginia-class SSN attack subs in a similar fashion.
The commander of Naval Surface Forces for U.S. Pacific Fleet says providing ships ready for combat is a major challenge and priority for the U.S. Navy. “We’re getting to the balance between maintenance and modernizations of our ships and providing our sailors with the necessary equipment, repair parts, tools, technical documentation, education, and training to fix and maintain their equipment,” says Vice Adm. Tom Copeman in a recent message to the fleet.
Call it an early holiday wish list or simply a heads-up on what is uppermost in the mind of the U.S. chief of naval operations (CNO), but Adm. Jonathan Greenert recently outlined his list of programmatic priorities for the coming months. “These are the most important efforts we are planning but are far from a comprehensive list of what we will pursue over the next year,” Greenert says in his recently released 2012 “position report.” Here is what Greenert says he needs to meet his “warfighting first” precept:
Raytheon could be able to deliver its first Tamir missile built in the U.S. within 15 months if U.S. and Israeli officials work out a deal to co-produce the Iron Dome interceptor stateside, according to industry officials. One official estimates that U.S. production of about 3,000 missiles, half of Israel’s anticipated buy, could provide for about 650 manufacturing jobs stateside at a time of high unemployment.
An Oct. 24 bombing raid on the Yarmouk weapons factory near Khartoum, Sudan, destroyed dozens of shipping containers thought to be carrying rockets and other weapons headed for Egypt’s lawless Sinai peninsula and Hamas-run Gaza.
While the U.S. is drawing down troops and pulling back on wartime resources, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, Pentagon officials say they still need funds for investments to fight evolving battles on cyber and other fronts.
In the race for Missouri Senate, in which two members of the congressional armed services committees — Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) and Rep. Todd Akin (R) — are in a statistical tie, Boeing employees have largely put their money behind the Senate incumbent. Boeing Defense Space & Security is based in St. Louis. And the company’s employees have plunked down $58,500 for McCaskill, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Boeing used the recent Association of the United States Army (AUSA) convention to provide more details about its new Joint Air Breathing Multi-Role Missile (Jabmm) concept originally intended for the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The new, small, modular missile payload was revealed in early 2012. Boeing is pitching the concept as a “turbine air breathing missile solution to countering proliferating anti-access threats.”
The U.S. Army is at odds with elected officials over the fate of four C-23 Sherpas. While the Army is seeking to stop operation of two of the fixed-wing cargo aircraft in Florida and another two in Texas, the governors of those states and Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) are trying to ensure that they remain funded.
MILITARY INTEL: The Pentagon says the Military Intelligence Program’s total appropriated budget for fiscal 2012, including both the base budget and Overseas Contingency Operations funding, was $21.5 billion. For 2013, the Obama administration is asking for $19.2 billion for the MIP. Overall, including the National Intelligence Program that funds intel activities outside of the military, the administration is seeking $71.8 billion. That compares with $80.1 billion in 2010.
Pirates off the coast of Somalia took the fight to NATO this week, attacking the organization’s counterpiracy flagship with sustained volleys from sea and shore, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe officials report. The Dutch warship HNMLS Rotterdam was attacked while conducting routine surveillance, officials say.
The U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) is seeking more automated and airborne technologies and techniques to counter submarines and undersea mines, says Frank Herr, director of the ONR Ocean Battlespace Sensing Department. With the nature and technology of mines and subs continually evolving, Navy officials say, developing countermeasures is becoming increasingly difficult. “Our job is to understand the threat,” Herr said at the recent Office of Naval Research (ONR) Naval Science and Technology Partnership Conference.
The guided-missile frigate FFG-52 USS Carr and U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (Ledet) teamed up to stop a vessel suspected of transporting illegal drugs Oct. 25 in support of Operation Martillo. The operation shows the continuing use of U.S. Navy ships for such operations. The Navy’s frigate fleet is one of the vessel types slated to be replaced by the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), which is set to be employed for counter-narcotics operations and related missions.
Recent testing — and operational success in the commercial world — have validated the automation for the DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers, a key feature for meeting the ship’s lifecycle cost goals, says an industry executive with one of prime contractors for the ship. The U.S. Navy approved a Zumwalt-class design with extensive automation throughout the vessel to cut down on manning and long-term ship costs. It was a major step for the service, whose vessels have historically required relatively large crews to operate and maintain.
At the height of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, airships looked to be the answer to demands for persistent, “staring-eye” surveillance. But problems developing the systems — including, surprisingly, the decades-old technology of building a lighter-than-air vehicle — mean they are coming along just as the window of opportunity is closing. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) tells a heavy tale of lighter-than-air development and procurement troubles in a new report on Pentagon aerostat and airship programs. Here are some of the highlights:
When it comes to this year’s congressional races, the nation’s largest defense companies are again putting their money with the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman all gave Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) more money than any other member of the House or Senate.
The Defense Department is failing to properly oversee hundreds of billions of dollars spent each year to procure services, according to the Project On Government Oversight (POGO).
The U.S. Army is working on a 30-year research, development and acquisition “road map” to determine what science and technology efforts it needs to invest in now, according to top Army leaders. Force protection, from ground and airborne threats to individual soldiers and large Army bases around the world, will be a “paramount” focus, said Heidi Shyu, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, at the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington last week.
