The tri-national Medium-Extended Air Defense System (Meads) achieved two successful intercepts in its second and last planned flight test Nov. 6, as prime contractor Lockheed Martin readies itself to proceed with a production program despite a lack of U.S. support going forward. Meads successfully acquired, tracked and destroyed two targets — one air-breathing and another ballistic missile — fulfilling two of the test objectives, says Marty Coyne, Lockheed Martin’s lead business development official for Meads.
Europe’s Selex ES has unveiled the BriteCloud expendable active decoy, designed to counter radar-guided missiles. Saab will be first to offer the decoy, as an option for existing and new Gripen fighters. The radio-frequency (RF) decoy is the same size and shape as an infrared flare and dispensed from a standard 55 mm flare cartridge. Qualification missions and flight trials still lie ahead, Selex says, with tests on the Gripen planned for 2014.
Bechtel Marine Propulsion of San Francisco has been awarded a $7.1 billion contract modification to a previously awarded contract for naval nuclear propulsion work at the Bettis & Knolls Atomic Power Laboratories. The modification represents more than the Navy spent for nuclear reactor work over the previous decade, according to an Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis of contacting data aggregated by the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting.
The first requirements for civil certification of unmanned aircraft have been published by a European-led group of national aviation authorities. The airworthiness code is for unmanned helicopters with a maximum takeoff weight of 750 kg. (1,650 lb.).
U.S. and Indian naval forces are further strengthening their ties this month with the Malabar 2013 military exercises. With budgetary and other financial constraints cutting into funding for exercises, U.S. Navy officials say they must be quite selective about which ones they participate in, and they tout Malabar’s importance because of India’s position in the Asia-Pacific region.
DEFENSE CONTRACTING: With the Pentagon’s war chest under continued pressure, efforts to buy more with each dollar are all the rage. Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s top acquisition official, will be discussing his latest effort at reforming the weapons-buying process during an 8:15 a.m. speech Nov. 7 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. After his speech, a panel of experts will speak including Pierre Chao of Renaissance Strategic Advisors, Jon Etherton of Etherton & Associates, Maj. Gen.
While the U.S. Navy fixes or devises plans for fixing certain high-priority problems on its Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), budgetary and related issues are causing the service to delay other repairs and changes identified by a Navy advisory group a year ago.
The U.S. Navy raised speculation about its fighter procurement planning by asking Boeing for a price on 36 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers, and then canceling the solicitation days after it was reported in public.
Click here to view the pdf Australia Airborne Defense SpendingFiscal 2009-2023 Australia Airborne Defense Spending Fiscal 2009-2023 Platform Name Size of Existing Inventory (2012) Aircraft Set to be Fund
A group of fighter pilots from the Botswana Defense Force (BDF) have completed initial F-5 refresher and flight instructor training with a private U.S. organization at the Reno-Stead airport in Nevada.
UNCERTAIN BUDGETS: A panel of veteran defense spending officials lamented the state of military budget affairs in Washington during a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) event Nov. 5 (See story p. 1.) “No one imagined back in 2011 that the two parties would shoot their respective hostages — defense and domestic spending,” said a former staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee, David Lyles.
Australia’s current and planned reliance on fighter aircraft acquisitions is being questioned by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). Australia’s two biggest aircraft acquisition plans through 2023 include buying about 90 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) for about $3.8 billion and an additional 30 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets for about $3 billion, according to an Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis of data provided by Avascent Analytics. (See chart p. 6.)
NEW DELHI — India should have up to 100 satellites in orbit to safeguard Indian waters and counter Chinese surveillance in the region, a senior scientist says. As many as 19 Chinese surveillance satellites are currently monitoring the Indian Ocean region, one of the world’s most strategic areas, and India “needs to create capabilities to neutralize the information that is being transmitted through these satellites,” says Avinash Chander, director general of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
High-profile defense technologies related to outer space, cyberspace, UAVs, Special Operations Forces, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance should continue to be winning recipients of scarce federal dollars, the U.S. defense secretary says.
Samsung Thales and its suppliers will build 20% of the Raytheon RACR radar as part of an imminent contract to supply 134 sets for retrofitting in South Korean F-16s, the U.S. manufacturer says. Raytheon is also looking for South Korean suppliers, not necessarily Samsung Thales, to help make the radar warning receiver that will be integrated with the RACR into the 134 aircraft, which are known locally as KF-16s and are to be modernized in a program managed by BAE Systems (Aerospace DAILY, Oct. 30).
Lockheed Martin, the U.S. Navy and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) marked the official “light off” of the Aegis Ashore system destined for Romania on Oct. 24, in Lockheed’s facility in Moorestown, N.J. The light off involves checking the system’s components and equipment, and signifies that the Aegis Ashore system is ready for operational testing. This particular system, along with its relocatable deckhouse, will be deployed to Romania in 2015 as part of the Obama administration’s approach for European ballistic missile defense (BMD).
SEOUL — Four Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk surveillance aircraft should be delivered to South Korea between 2017 and 2019, acting as a primary sensor in the country’s preparations to hit North Korean missiles before launch. A contract from the U.S. government is likely in 2014, following an intergovernmental agreement by the end of this year, Northrop Grumman officials say, although the South Korean defense ministry expects the intergovernmental contract in the first half of next year.
FLOCKing BIRDS: An average of 115 satellites will be launched annually worldwide over the next 10 years (2013-2022), according to a new report from Euroconsult. “Revenues from the manufacture and launch of these 1,150 satellites over the decade will be worth $236 billion, up 26% from those generated by the 810 satellites launched in the past ten years (2003-2012),” Euroconsult says in a statement. Governments will be responsible for two-thirds of the 1,150 satellites to be launched and nearly three-quarters of the expected revenues.
Additive manufacture has the potential to improve the environmental sustainability of aircraft components in production and operation, concludes a study by EADS Innovation Works and EOS, a leader in direct metal laser-sintering (DMLS) technology. The study compared a current cast-steel nacelle hinge bracket for the Airbus A320 with an optimized titanium design additively manufactured on an EOS laser-sintering machine. DMLS builds up parts by using a laser to melt layers of powdered metal.
