To guarantee future success, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) will be focused on three elements — breakthrough national security capabilities, a differentiated U.S. technology base and a robust internal organization. That is the road map being followed by Darpa Director Arati Prabhakar, who spoke Oct. 22 at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Naval Science and Technology Partnership Conference.
The U.S. Navy needs to predict Arctic weather changes the same way the service does elsewhere in the world as the region becomes a growing international battleground for resources, Navy officials say. There is no doubt the Navy will need to increase its Arctic operations, says Navy Oceanographer Rear Adm. Jonathan White, who is also director of oceanography, space and maritime domain awareness.
Unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) are making a big splash with the U.S. Navy, and the brass expects to incorporate even more of the vehicles into its fleet for years to come. “We are seeing an explosion of undersea vehicles,” says Vice Adm. William Burke, deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems. “We are looking at UUVs from RHIBs [rigid-hull inflatable boats], LCS [Littoral Combat Ships], aircraft, helicopters — all sorts of different platforms.”
When President Obama declared in the Oct. 22 foreign policy debate that sequestration “will not happen,” he caught the attention of those fighting against the across-the-board federal budget cut. “When he said that, I jumped to my feet,” said Marion Blakey, president of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). “It is very critical to learn that the White House says sequestration will not happen.”
In the latest attempt to replace its aging Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk combat search-and-rescue helicopters, the U.S. Air Force has released the request for proposals (RFP) for its Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH), providing insight into the changes made in a bid to make the program affordable and avoid a repeat of the CSAR-X debacle.
With its program to develop prototype electromagnetic rail guns entering its second phase, the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) is launching an initiative to develop technology for a projectile for both the hypervelocity weapon and conventional naval guns. “We have tried for years to have an INP [Innovative Naval Prototype program] for a projectile,” Mike Deitchman, director of ONR’s naval air warfare and weapons department, told the ONR Naval Science and Technology Partnership Conference in Washington Oct. 22.
GULF DEFENSE: Lockheed Martin hopes to close a deal by the end of the year to sell an advanced, automated air and missile defense command and control system to the United Arab Emirates and another member country of the Gulf Cooperation Council group. The concept behind DiamondShield is to integrate and fuse data from other air- and missile-defense assets, together with own-force information and a terrain database including priority targets for protection.
The U.S. Army will spend the next few annual budget cycles trying to achieve the “right balance” among force structure, modernization, global presence — including cyber — and austere funding, a panel of three- and two-star generals predicted on the opening day of the Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington.
Honeywell says its business and commercial aviation products were top performers among its four business sectors in the third quarter and will remain so through 2013, despite expectations for a continued slowdown in the global economy. Sales for the Aerospace division, which includes business and commercial aviation as well as defense and space, were up 4% to $3 billion year-over-year in the third quarter due to a 9% increase in commercial product sales. Defense and space revenue decreased 1%.
AFGHAN ORDER: Sierra Nevada is to supply 18 modified Pilatus PC-12 single-turboprop utility aircraft to the Afghan National Army Special Operations Forces under a $218 million U.S. Air Force contract. As the U-28A, the Swiss-built PC-12 is used by U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command for tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support.
Northrop Grumman unveiled its contender for the U.S. Army Special Forces’ Ground Mobility Vehicle 1.1 requirement at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference in Washington Oct. 22. The company’s Medium Attack Vehicle - Light (MAV-L) is based on an all-new chassis and running gear by off-road racing specialists Pratt & Miller. Northrop Grumman’s team is completed by BAE Systems, which will supply optional armor packages and other equipment, and will produce the vehicle in its Sealy, Texas, plant if the team wins the competition.
FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Now that the U.S. Navy has developed what it considers to be a gold standard for submarine design and acquisition in its Virginia-class boats, the service is focusing on developing payloads and delivery systems the brass says will keep the vessel current for decades. With the evolving threats facing the nation and the submarine force, the Navy needs its boats to keep pace, says Rear Adm. Barry Bruner, director of submarine warfare. “We need to be asymmetric,” Bruner said Oct. 18 the 2012 Naval Submarine League Symposium.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Bell Helicopter Textron, Fort Worth, was awarded contract W58RGZ-12-G-0001-THBD. The award is a firm fixed price, sole source contract with a maximum $8,613,657 for blade assemblies. There are no other locations of performance. Using military service is Navy. There was one solicitation with one response. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 Navy Working Capital Funds. The date of performance completion is April 31, 2014. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia.
AIR FORCE Sierra Nevada Corp., Sparks, Nev., (FA8620-13-C-4007) is being awarded a $218,000,000 firm fixed price contract for 18 uniquely modified Pilatus PC-12/47E aircraft. The location of the performance is Sparks. The work is expected to be completed by July 31, 2015. The contracting activity is 645 AESG/WIJK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Contract involves foreign military sales to Afghan National Army Special Operations Forces.
Polaris, mainly known for snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles and light military vehicles, unveiled plans to move into larger vehicles at the Association of the U.S. Army show in Washington Oct. 22. Its Humvee-based Armor Concept Demonstrator vehicle is the result of a partnership with Seattle-based M9 Defense, which has developed a new composite forming process combining heat and hydrostatic pressure, in a machine called a “boroclave.”
TEL AVIV — Israel’s Elta is presenting new tactical radar options for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), to meet a need for ultra-rapid response to mortar attacks.
Bell Helicopter is the latest contender for the Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) requirement to demonstrate its candidate to the U.S. Army, but the only one with a flyable helicopter, hoping the service shuns a competition and stays with its existing armed scout. That’s because the company’s proposal is to upgrade the Army’s Bell-built OH-58D Kiowa Warriors with new engines and rotors to give them the 6k/95 (6,000-ft./95F) hot-and-high performance the Army is seeking.
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is an anti-submarine warfare/maritime-patrol aircraft produced through 1997. Lockheed won a U.S. Navy ASW competition in 1958 and began deliveries of the P-3A in 1962; the improved P-3C first flew in 1968. Lockheed produced a total of 647 P-3s, while Kawasaki produced 101 under license. Although production has ended, numerous upgrade programs continue. Power for the P-3C is provided by four 4,910-shp Rolls-Royce T56-14 turboprops.
The PC-9 tandem-seat military flight trainer was produced by Pilatus and also assembled under license by Hawker de Havilland Ltd. Developed as a follow-on to the PC-7, the PC-9 prototype first flew in May 1984, followed by initial deliveries in 1986. The last production model was the PC-9M, which was introduced in 1997. The PC-9M is powered by a single 1,150-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-62 turboprop. Approximately 280 aircraft were built through 2006, when the last PC-9 was produced.
Boeing, with Northrop Grumman as a major subcontractor, produces the F/A-18 single/two-seat, twin-engine fighter. The F/A-18A/B/C/D Hornet models were powered by two GE F404-400/402 turbofans (16,000-17,600-lb.-thrust each), while the scaled-up F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has two GE F414-400 turbofans of about 22,000-lb.-thrust each. First flight of an F/A-18 prototype occurred in 1978. First flown in 2005, the current E/F model features a larger airframe, more powerful engines, greater stealth, new avionics and sensors, and additional hardpoints.
