LONDON — The first RC-135W Rivet Joint intelligence-gathering aircraft for the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) has been delivered to its main operating base at RAF Waddington.
Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) offer a lot of yet-untapped potential for U.S. Navy missions, especially when stacked up against other unmanned systems, a recent Rand report says. “Over the past two decades, the military roles and contributions of unmanned vehicles have grown dramatically, and this trend appears likely to continue,” Rand says in a report released earlier this month.
BEIJING — Avic Engine, well into development of a technically conservative high-bypass turbofan, is pushing to replace affiliate ACAE as the supplier of a Chinese engine for the Comac C919 airliner. In doing so, Avic Engine, the main propulsion subsidiary of state aeronautics group Avic, is offering a more dependable and realistic way for China to accumulate early experience in developing and building commercial aircraft engines.
The U.S. Navy has developed a safer and more efficient way to build bombs at sea, service officials say. In an effort to stem work-related injuries and speed the assembly of munitions aboard aircraft carriers, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has helped develop a more “ergonomic” way to build bombs on the ships. The ONR-sponsored improvements will allow sailors to move around more freely and assemble multiple bombs simultaneously on smaller, individual stands, Navy officials say.
LONDON — The Turkish National Police have begun operations with the first seven of 15 Bell 429 helicopters ordered in early 2012. The force signed the contract following a competitive tender in March 2012, making it the largest single operator of the new Bell light twin helicopter so far. The Model 429s will replace a fleet of single-engine MD 600 helicopters, which have been operated by the organization since the early 1990s.
ARMY Northrop Grumman, Huntsville, Ala., was awarded a $39,200,000 modification (P00095) to a previously existing cost-plus-incentive-fee, multiyear, option-included contract (W31P4Q-08-C-0418) to provide research and development services in support of integrated air missile defense. The estimated completion date is Sept. 30, 2015. Fiscal 2013 research, development, test and evaluation funds are being obligated on this award. The Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE
BEIJING — The South Korean air force has raised its requirements for stealthiness in its next fighter, according to a newspaper report that suggests the Lockheed Martin F-35 is now the only acceptable candidate in the F-X Phase 3 competition.
FISCAL DESPAIR: Last week saw the chiefs of staff of the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy testify for the second time on Capitol Hill about the “insidious” effect of the automatic, widespread budget rescissions known as sequestration, as well as the problem for national security under continuing resolutions of past appropriations. This week will see the second public meeting of the second so-called super committee of lawmakers charged with crafting any kind of budget deal. The Nov.
Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom is in need of yet another set of repairs in order to leave its Singapore pier and get to sea, U.S. Navy officials say. The ship has been plagued by problems during its first Western Pacific deployment.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The echoes had barely died down from the speeches marking the christening of the CVN-78 aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford before Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations, began citing all of the work that still needs to be done not only on the Ford but also on the whole forthcoming carrier class that bears its name.
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has delivered its first F-35 Lightning II centre fuselage to Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin at a ceremony held at TAI's facilities in Ankara, Turkey today.
The U.S. Navy is searching for even greater Electromagnetic Spectrum Maneuver Warfare (EMMW) capabilities. “Our initial focus on mastering EMMW has been on the cyberspace mission area, putting in place the required manpower structure and creating the necessary organizational constructs,” Vice Adm. Ted “Twig” Branch, deputy chief of naval operations for information dominance, says in a recent electronic post.
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Surface Warfare Mission Package successfully completed the second phase of its developmental testing recently aboard LCS-3 USS Fort Worth, Naval Sea Systems Command confirms. The Fort Worth finished the testing at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Div.’s Point Mugu range off Southern California Oct. 1-25, Navy officials say.
The U.S. Marine Corps is not adjusting its plans to buy a fleet of Lockheed Martin KC-130Js refuelers, despite recent testing and interest in outfitting its Bell/Boeing MV-22 Osprey with an aerial refueling system. Forty-six of 79 planned KC-130Js have been delivered, says Lt. Col. Richard Roberts, KC-130J requirements officer for the Marine Corps. Those plans have not changed since flight trials in August where a MV-22 Osprey outfitted with a hose-and-drogue refueling system conducted close approaches with an F/A-18C receiver.
A U.S. land-based anti-ship missile (ASM) network in the Asia-Pacific could help neutralize China in the region, a recent Rand report says. “A land-based ASM capability would be relatively easy to create in the U.S. armed forces and could be seen as a 21st-century extension of the Army’s earlier coastal defense role,” Rand says in its report, released earlier this month.
U.S. Air Force officials hope to finalize negotiations on a multibillion dollar contract for up to 50 Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) cores by the middle of next month, according to the program’s manager.
The U.S. Navy started its first E-2 Hawkeye and C-2 Greyhound Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) operations at Wallops Flight Facility, Va., earlier this month, in the wake of an agreement with NASA to support FCLP training for squadrons operating from Naval Station Norfolk Chambers Field, also in Virginia.
