Whether the Navy’s first demonstration of a biofuel-powered fleet represents a one-off effort or the potential start of a new industry may now rest in the hands of the U.S. Senate. The Navy bought 450,000 gal. of fuel made from algae or other crops purchased for about $27 per gallon to power its “Great Green Fleet” in the Rim of the Pacific exercises scheduled to start later this month. But if the defense authorization bill passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee stands, the biofuel-powered fleet would run aground next year.
Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) has filed a lawsuit seeking reinstatement of its $355 million U.S. Air Force contract to supply 20 Embraer A-29 Super Tucano Light Air Support (LAS) aircraft to Afghanistan. The company says the Court of Federal Claims action is in response to a lawsuit filed by disqualified bidder Hawker Beechcraft (HBC), which led the Air Force to set aside the December sole-source award and reopen the competition.
Though a senior U.S. Air Force official has cautioned that Boeing’s plan to close its tanker finishing facility in Wichita presents a risk to the $51.7 billion KC-135 replacement effort, the company’s program manager views the shift as an opportunity to reduce cost and gain schedule margin.
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While the U.S. Navy is now in the middle of a shipbuilding program that is augmenting the fleet with new submarines, destroyers, amphibious ships and other vessels, the midterm future of those programs is murky, despite the promise of greater naval needs for the nation’s priority shift toward the Pacific.
ORION DELIVERY: Lockheed Martin delivered the fifth P-3 Orion with new Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) modifications this week to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) more than 50 days ahead of schedule, according to the company. The MLU replaces certain equipment with enhanced-design components and incorporates a new metal alloy five times more corrosion resistant than the original material, reducing the cost of ownership for P-3 operators, Lockheed says.
TEL AVIV — Rafael, Israel’s leading missile development center, has quietly been working on an air-to-air derivative of the Stunner interceptor to be designated Python 6, also known as the Future Advanced Air-to-Air Missile (FAAM).
ARLINGTON, Va. — As the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy start to depend more on tiltrotor aircraft operations to conduct missions, the Navy is looking for ways to better understand and predict the effect of rotor downwash, especially with the expanded use of the aircraft on various ship classes. Of particular interest to the Navy is technology being honed by Advanced Rotorcraft Technology of Sunnyvale, Calif., which, according to company president Ronald DuVal, employs a viscous vortex particle analysis method to better ascertain the effects of downwash.
A $1 trillion reduction to defense spending over 10 years would put the Pentagon’s budget back in line with where it was relative to other government spending in 2001, says a top-ranking Democrat. The military is headed for an across-the-board budget cut that large if Congress fails to agree to $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction by the end of the year. The penalty known as sequestration was designed to be so harsh it would bring lawmakers to the table for an agreement.
PARIS — MBDA is hoping to secure the full development and production contract for the MMP short-range, portable missile system by year’s end to maintain the scheduled first delivery in 2017.
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Navy is investigating what caused the crash of a Northrop Grumman-built Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator (BAMS-D) unmanned aircraft into swamps near Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. on June 11. The aircraft, a Block 10 RQ-4 version equipped with maritime sensors, was being used by the U.S. Navy as part of tests in the run-up to delivery of the initial purpose-built MQ-4C. The first of these is scheduled to be handed over to the Navy at a special ceremony at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., facility on June 14.
PARIS — Sagem has completed a series of 18 test flights of its long-endurance Patroller S drone in a multisensor, multimission configuration, the Paris-based company announced June 11. Designed for coastal surveillance and homeland security missions, the modular Patroller unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can be fitted with pod-mounted payloads for flights lasting 20-30 hr. at a maximum altitude of 25,000 ft.
A seven-year effort to develop technology for a stealthy, short-take-off-and-landing (STOL) airlifter is ending without transitioning to a development program, but it could feed into the Pentagon’s new focus on energy efficiency, according to the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. AFRL’s Speed Agile concept demonstration sought to overcome the disadvantages of earlier STOL airlifter designs, the Boeing YC-14 and McDonnell Douglas YC-15, which achieved short-field capability at the expense of cruise efficiency.
As Pentagon spending legislation for fiscal 2013 moves through Congress this year, the differences are shaping up to be more between the House and Senate, rather than between authorizers and appropriators. The Senate defense authorization bill, approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) last month, made slight trims to the investment accounts: about half a billion from the $97 billion procurement request, and $121 million from the $69 billion research request.
SMALL UAVs: The Danish armed forces have placed a $9.6 million order for AeroVironment’s Puma small UAV, following a competitive evaluation, the company announced June 12. The 13-lb. Puma AE is designed for both land-based and maritime operations. Eighteen nations outside the U.S. have purchased AeroVironment’s Puma AE, Wasp or Raven B small UAVs, according to the company. Denmark previously ordered the Raven B in 2007.
CAE is to provide a suite of ground-based training systems for BAE Systems Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers (AJT) ordered by Saudi Arabia, which the company identifies only as an “undisclosed customer.” The Saudis placed a ₤1.6 billion ($2.5 billion) order with BAE in May for 22 Hawk AJTs and 55 Pilatus PC-21 turboprop trainers. The Arab nation already operates earlier Hawk Mk.65s and PC-9s.
Iran’s threat earlier this year to close the Strait of Hormuz highlighted what many experts view as a longstanding fundamental weakness in U.S. naval strategy: the inability to effectively and economically spot and neutralize naval mines. Such mines can cost as little as $1,000 each and are relatively easy for Iran to put in place. Finding and neutralizing them might take U.S. naval forces a month or more, essentially allowing Iran to achieve its strategic goal of blocking trade in the narrow body of water.
PARIS — German unmanned aircraft maker EMT is working on an upgraded version of its Luna tactical unmanned aircraft and a replacement for its hand-launched Aladin system. The Luna NG (next generation) is still in the development and concept phase, but targets an emerging German army requirement to replace the current-generation Luna and KZO unmanned aircraft. A vehicle mock-up is making its debut at the Eurosatory arms exhibition in Paris.
