Bell and Boeing are studying a potential gunship capability for the CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor. The studies are part of a road map of capabilities for the aircraft, according to U.S. Navy officials. The idea is being looked at by Air Force Special Operations Command, according to Lt. Col. Eric Ropella, V-22 program manager for international programs, speaking at the Singapore air show on Feb. 13. “Afsoc is interested in that capability,” he said. “The Marines are not participating.”
NEW DELHI — India is developing a canister-based version of its Agni-V ballistic missile, which is expected to be inducted into the country’s armed forces in 2015. The Agni-V, an intercontinental, nuclear-tipped, three-stage ballistic missile, has already been successfully test-fired twice from a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 4 of the Integrated Test Range in the eastern state of Odisha.
PARIS — A team of French aerospace manufacturers may have to renegotiate details of an €800 million ($1.08 billion) contract awarded by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year to build and launch a pair of high-resolution Earth observation satellites, after the companies failed to meet a Jan. 29 deadline for obtaining U.S. export licenses for some components that will be used to build them.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) is planning to make things much harder for teams that will compete in the finals of its disaster-response Robotics Challenge, now being planned to take place in the next 12-18 months. Teams competing in the Darpa Robotics Challenge (DRC) trials in December did better than expected, so the agency plans to raise the bar for the finals, requiring more robust performance from the robots in more difficult conditions. A $2 million prize is at stake.
NEW DEHLI — With an inordinate delay in the purchase of Dassault Rafale fighters and the development of its fifth-generation fighter, the Indian air force (IAF) is looking at boosting production of the indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) to plug the gap of retiring aircraft.
U.S. Air Force contracting officers failed to properly validate costs when buying about $1.6 billion worth of spare parts for F119 engines for F-22 Raptors, a recent Inspector General (IG) report says. The Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, awarded a $215.8 million cost-plus-fee service contract on Feb. 19, 2008, to Pratt and Whitney to establish a sole-source, 10-year, performance-based logistics business arrangement for sustainment of fielded F119 engines, the IG notes in its report.
BUDGET PREVIEW: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is expected to preview the Pentagon’s fiscal 2015 budget request on Feb. 24, a week before the official release of the Obama administration’s budget plan to Congress, Reuters reports. Hagel is expected to use the announcement to outline the Defense Department’s priorities and challenges in budgeting for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, sources told the news agency.
Boeing says it optimistic about finalizing deals with the Indian government for the sale of AH-64 Apache attack and CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters this year. Leanne Caret, vice president of vertical lift at Boeing Defense, told Aviation Week’s ShowNews that the company was working through the terms and conditions set by the Indian ministry of defense and had managed to hold the same contract prices on both aircraft for the last four years.
Rafael is extending its Litening family of targeting pods for air forces looking to upgrade existing platforms. Litening 4, the latest variant of the pod, has gone through major enhancements in sensors, resolution, image processing and algorithmic processing capabilities. “Litening has transformed from a targeting pod into a much broader sensor pack that extends the aircraft and pilot’s capabilities, far beyond target acquisition,” says Yuval Miller, manager of Rafael’s Air and C4ISR division.
The U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) has called a temporary halt to operations of its Airbus A330 Voyager refueling tankers after an inflight incident caused injuries to passengers onboard. Internet reports state that one of the RAF’s Voyager tankers, provided by the privately owned AirTanker consortium, rapidly lost altitude over Turkey while en route to Afghanistan supporting the U.K. Afghan air bridge on Feb. 9. The aircraft had 189 passengers and nine crew onboard. The rapid descent caused minor injuries to several passengers.
Electronic warfare and cyber, shipbuilding led by submarines, unmanned vehicles and long-range strike capabilities — all with a focus on the Asia-Pacific — are some of the military technologies the Pentagon will prioritize, according to a prepared speech Feb. 11 by its temporary No. 2 official.
U.S. Special Operations Command (Socom) is looking for “the next big thing,” the “game-changer” weapons system, which like the UAV today will become the indispensable tool of military victory tomorrow, according to a leading Pentagon official.
As the demand and costs for specialty metals used in high-end military manufacturing drops, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) is outlining possible changes lawmakers can make in current statutes requiring the use of domestic sources for those materials.
On the heels of last year’s humiliating third failure of the premier U.S. missile defense system during what was billed as a fairly simple flight trial, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is doubling down on the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program by adding more than $4.5 billion to the Missile Defense Agency’s coffers from fiscal 2015-2019, according to Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance.
SINGAPORE — Saab is hoping the critical seaways that link Asia’s trading partners will prove to be lucrative hunting grounds for its Saab 340 Maritime Security Aircraft (MSA). The company has bought its demonstrator aircraft to Singapore to show the aircraft’s capabilities to potential customers, using the country’s busy shipping lanes to provide targets for the miscellany of sensors onboard.
Problems flagged by the Pentagon’s chief tester that could hamper the ability of the KC-46 tanker to protect itself on missions have been addressed, according to U.S. Air Force officials. Raytheon’s AN/ALR-69 radar warning receiver is slated for use on the KC-46, which is being developed under a $4.9 billion contract with Boeing.
SINGAPORE — Incongruously wearing a civil aircraft registration, the obviously military Super Heron HF unmanned air vehicle (UAV) comes to Changi bedecked with sensors for a wide variety of surveillance missions and surrounded by the flags of some of the 20 or so countries that use the basic Heron system. Occupying pride of place in the static display, outside the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) chalet (CD03), the HF will be unveiled today.
What was once a program to demonstrate a flying jeep has a new direction and a new name. Formerly called Transformer, the U.S. Defense Advanced Project Agency’s rechristened Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded Systems (ARES) program will now demonstrate a modular, unmanned vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) delivery system.
SINGAPORE — With foreign interest in the V-22 Osprey rapidly gathering pace, the U.S. has decided to show off the type’s capabilities here at the Singapore air show. Two of the Bell-Boeing tiltrotors have deployed from their home base in Japan to feature in the show’s flying and static display.
SINGAPORE — “Four or five nations” are showing strong interest in the Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and antisubmarine warfare (ASW) aircraft, according to Chris Raymond, Boeing Defense, Space & Security vice president for business development and strategy. “These are down to a technical level, not a cursory what-is-it level,” Raymond said on the eve of the Singapore air show. “They are doing analysis of range and coverage, how it would fit in their fleets, life-cycle costs.”
NEW DELHI — Sweden’s Saab is partnering with India’s Kalyani Group to address the Indian military’s requirements for short-range missiles, an official at Kalyani Group says. The pact will initially focus on the very-short-range air defense (Vshorad) and short-range surface to air missile (SRSAM) programs for India. For Vshorad, Saab will provide a system based on the RBS 70 NG missile system, which will deliver a highly accurate, man-portable system with 24/7 all-target capability.
Europe’s defense and space agencies are to expand their cooperation on integrating unmanned aircraft systems into civil airspace for commercial and government missions with a second phase of a project to demonstrate that UAS can be controlled via satellite communications.
