The Royal Air Force is undergoing a sweeping overhaul of its fleet, with a raft of aircraft being phased out and new ones, such as the Air Seeker signals intelligence aircraft, F-35 fighter and Airbus Military A400M transport, coming into service through 2020.
POOLING SATCOM: The European Defense Agency (EDA) achieved an initial operational capability milestone in the area of satellite communication through a new “pooling and sharing” procurement strategy, the organization announced July 4. EDA’s ad hoc project calls for Italy, France, Poland, Romania and the U.K. to share modest amounts of satellite bandwidth as part of a pilot initiative that aims to save money through a common procurement scheme at the European Union level.
The U.S. Air Force has completed the first flight of an aircraft using alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) biofuel on June 28, flying a Fairchild A-10 from Eglin AFB, Fla., “without any issues.” Fuel for the test flight was supplied by Gevo, which was awarded a potential $600,000 contract last year to provide up to 11,000 gal. of ATJ. Gevo uses a fermentation process to convert plant sugars and other biomass to isobutanol, which is further processed to produce a drop-in replacement for JP-8 jet fuel.
David Fulghum (Washington), Robert Wall (Washington)
The future of large aircraft used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) is undergoing a major change, with many older, tested designs shuffling toward retirement. Replacing them are penetrating manned and unmanned combat aircraft—including F-22, F-35 and unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAV) with enhanced, non-traditional ISR integrated with their attack capabilities. In addition, these designs will be linked with other stealth platforms on and under the sea and in space.
With the first phase of X-47B flight testing complete, the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman are turning their focus to preparing the Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) for the first trials of a pilotless, tailless, stealthy aircraft on an aircraft carrier deck.
With the first phase of X-47B flight testing complete, the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman are turning their focus to preparing the Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) for the first trials of a pilotless, tailless, stealthy aircraft on an aircraft carrier deck.
GKN Aerospace has sought for years to join forces with Volvo Aero. With the contract finally signed, GKN is emerging as a stronger supplier for engine manufacturers.
It can be assumed that China is developing a combat drone, maybe several. The technology is so obviously part of the future that the rising power cannot ignore it. But making even tentative conclusions about China's progress in the field is not easy. The country's rapid advances in fighter technology suggest it may be little more than a decade behind the West; yet even the U.S. is still years from deploying an unmanned strike aircraft with the penetration capabilities of a modern fighter.
PARIS — French defense procurement agency DGA has completed the first qualification firing test of a laser terminal guidance version of Sagem’s AASM SBU-64 precision-guided bomb. The agency’s missile test department conducted the trial May 31 from a production Dassault Rafale fighter at Cazaux air base using a bridge pier located more than 50 km (30 mi.) from the release point as a target. During the test, the target was acquired by an airborne illuminator that was activated during the last few seconds of the weapon’s flight.
Robert Wall (Madrid), Amy Butler (Washington and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio)
The next two years could see a sea change in the shape of the worldwide airlift market, as new entrants try to secure their global positions while incumbents aim to keep production lines open. Despite tight defense budgets, operations in Afghanistan and increased demand for humanitarian support around the world have kept the airlift market relatively vibrant, a situation not hurt by the fact many air forces are operating aging airlifters.
NEW DELHI — India is preparing to install a shield to protect against intermediate-range ballistic missiles and ICBMs in some of the country’s major cities. “The final locations, which have adequate stealth features and protection against enemy sabotage, will soon be determined by the government to install the ballistic missile defense [BMD] system,” a defense ministry official says. A detailed proposal is currently being prepared for approval by the Indian government.
Even as the battle over government funding for biofuels continues in Congress, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Energy and the Navy have announced the availability of $30 million to match private investments in commercial-scale production of biofuels. The $30 million is the first tranche of funding under a memorandum of understanding announced last August to invest up to $510 million over three years to help develop a commercial biofuels industry.
A group of seven senators is asking 15 major defense contractors to describe the effects of potential steep reductions to the military’s budget. Those reductions were approved last August by Congress when it passed the Budget Control Act. The law stipulates that lawmakers must agree to $1.2 trillion in federal deficit reduction.
Engineering consultancy Ricardo has been selected to run a series of competitions under a U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) program to design a combat vehicle in a fraction of the time required using conventional methods. Under the Fast, Adaptable, Next-Generation Ground (FANG) Challenge, Ricardo will stage three competitions that will use crowd-sourcing to design an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) meeting requirements that mirror the U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV).
OXFORDSHIRE, U.K. — British ejection seat manufacturer Martin-Baker is looking at ways to expand its business beyond simply selling ejection seats and associated spares. This includes a study into how to apply the performance-based logistics model used for many aircraft platforms to its seats. And the company has developed a lightweight seat for use in platforms that to date have lacked an emergency egress system, according to Andrew Martin, who leads business development at the company.
In a rerun of the 2010 elections, voters in the Netherlands could go to the polls in September with parliament having voted to withdraw from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program and the future of the country’s participation depending on which party wins the most seats. The opposition Labor Party (PvDA) plans to submit a proposal to end Dutch participation in the program to the lower house before the election. PvDA has only 30 of the 150 seats in the assembly, but is aligned with other anti-F-35 parties that together control 78 seats.
FRANKFURT — The Airbus A400M military transport will not fly at the 2012 Farnborough air show in the U.K., Airbus Military confirmed July 5. The company says the decision is based on “engine issues that happened last week which need further investigation.” It did not elaborate. The A400M also did not participate in the flying display at last year’s Paris air show; engine troubles were the cause back then, too. Airbus is sending the first production standard aircraft, MSN6, to Farnborough. It will be on static display.
As FAA continues to sort out rules for operating UAVs within the U.S., members of Congress are already moving to block the use of weaponized UAVs here. Spurred by reports about local police departments seeking weaponized UAVs, lawmakers of both parties are responding to concerns from their constituents to prevent the possibility that a U.S. citizen could be gunned down from the air.
Inmarsat CEO Rupert Pearce sees ISR data from unmanned aircraft as a significant driver of demand for the company’s upcoming Global Xpress Ka-band satellite service.
Boeing is restructuring the A160T Hummingbird unmanned helicopter program after experiencing “technical challenges,” including a voluntary grounding in place since a crash on April 17. Following the crash, the U.S. Army canceled plans to deploy three A160s to Afghanistan carrying the BAE Systems Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System (Argus-IS).
