China specialists contend that conflict with the U.S. is inevitable and that space- and cyber-supremacy, at least for limited periods, will be deciding factors in a confrontation if a Chinese attack is unexpected, short in duration and quick in resolution.
Cutting and drilling of cured composite components during manufacture or repair are a growing challenge as structures become bigger, more complex and costly.
The U.S. faces a dilemma over the possible sale of attack helicopters to Indonesia. Industry executives say Indonesia has issued a letter of request (LOR) to buy Boeing AH-64 Apaches. This LOR comes after the country's deputy defense minister, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, told state-run news agency Antara in February that Indonesia planned to order eight Apache attack helicopters.
Malaysia's defense needs have long caught the eye of Western arms suppliers. And with general elections due soon, one of the biggest barriers to actual purchases will finally disappear. Plans to buy 18 fighters as well as three airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft are just some of the big-ticket item decisions now on hold as the country sorts out its political future. Although the exact date for elections has yet to be set, there is a mandate that it takes place before the end of March.
Nanotechnology-enabled materials are moving into aerospace. New Hampshire-based Nanocomp Technologies is scaling up production of electrically and thermally conductive yarn, sheet and tape made from long carbon nanotubes (CNT). Spun yarn is being used to replace copper in data cables in aircraft and spacecraft, potentially halving the weight of wiring harnesses. Sheet material was used on NASA's Juno spacecraft, launched in August 2011, to provide electrostatic-discharge protection of attitude-control thruster and main-engine components.
BAE Systems is turning to its civil airborne electronics business to provide growth as it wrestles with falling defense spending in key markets. The company is hoping to take advantage of the increase in commercial aircraft sales, CEO Ian King says. The hybrid vehicle business and expanding government cybersecurity activities into the commercial domain are other areas of interest.
The U.S. Army is standing up an acquisition team to begin planning a program to replace its Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk utility and Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters from 2030 onward. Development of an initial capabilities document (ICD) for a medium rotorcraft to be produced under the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) initiative — the first step in defining a new program — is being staffed, says Lt. Col. David Bristol, acquisition lead for the FVL medium.
NEW DELHI — India is expediting the purchase of 384 light helicopters to replace the current fleet of Cheetah and Chetak aircraft in the Indian army and air force. The Eurocopter AS 350 Fennec and Russian Kamov 226 Sergei are in the running for the requirement, a program expected to be worth more than $1.5 billion.
LONDON — Australia is delaying by two years the purchase of the bulk of its first tranche of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, deferring around A$1.6 billion in spending.
GENOA — Finmeccanica is showing the first positive signs from its ongoing restructuring, although its first-quarter 2012 results still lag behind the same period in 2011. Nonetheless, the results were generally above what the defense giant had been planning for, which allows Finmeccanica to confirm its full-year 2012 projections.
FORT WORTH — The U.S. Navy has completed an analysis of alternatives (AoA) for a new logistics aircraft, with the Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor a leading candidate to replace the Grumman C-2 Greyhound now used for carrier onboard delivery (COD). The AoA conclusions have not yet been signed off on by Navy leadership, but “the V-22 is a pretty fair competitor,” says Marine Corps Col. Greg Masiello, Osprey program manager, speaking at the American Helicopter Society International’s Forum 68 in Fort Worth.
The U.S. Navy will conduct its own analysis of the capabilities required of a successor to Sikorsky MH-60R/S Seahawk shipborne helicopters while trying to stay engaged with the Army-led Future Vertical Lift (FVL) effort to develop a new medium utility rotorcraft to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk on which they are based. “Our main concern is operating in a maritime environment, which is not as much of a focus for the Army,” says Rear Adm. Paul Grosklags, Navy program executive officer for air anti-submarine warfare, assault and special missions.
AEHF SCRUB: The U.S. Air Force scrubbed an attempt to launch the second Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-2) secure communications satellite on May 3 due to a lack of helium flow from ground support equipment into the Interstage Adapter compartment on the Atlas V rocket. Launch provider United Launch Alliance and the Air Force plan another attempt to lift off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., on May 4 during a two-hour window that opens at 2:42 p.m. EDT.
The Airbus Military A400M has cleared an important certification milestone even as developers are exploring vibration believed to be linked to the transport’s engine.
LONDON — BAE Systems is turning to its civil airborne electronics business to provide growth as it wrestles with falling defense spending in key markets. The company is hoping to take advantage of the increase in commercial aircraft sales, CEO Ian King says. The hybrid vehicle business and expanding government cybersecurity activities into the commercial domain are other areas of interest.
Participants in a Pentagon Defense Acquisition Board meeting scheduled for May 3 are expected to approve the U.S. Army’s plan to evaluate available helicopters before deciding whether to buy off-the-shelf aircraft or extend the life of the Bell OH-58D to meet its Armed Aerial Scout requirement. “I am fairly certain we are moving forward,” says Jose Gonzalez, Defense Department deputy director for land warfare and munitions, speaking at the American Helicopter Society International Forum 68 in Fort Worth.
PROTECTING EUROPE: A cost estimate of the Obama administration’s phased adaptive approach (PAA) to missile defense was due in March but is not likely to be sent to Congress as required until the summer, according to Madelyn Creedon, the Pentagon’s assistant secretary of defense for global security affairs. Typically, program cost estimates developed by the Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation involve individual programs.
The updated version of the Spawar Acquisition Integrated Logistics Online Repository (Sailor) 2.1 is impressing U.S. Navy brass. The U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command’s (Spawar) Sailor program features a self-help website for command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) systems that provides the fleet with the capability to complete training, troubleshoot software and equipment, and receive technical documentation and support online.
LANGLEY AFB, Va. — U.S. Air Force officials are narrowing their focus on new combinations of factors as they explore oxygen deprivation issues that have claimed the life of one F-22 Raptor pilot and have plagued the fleet for more than a year. The officials remain frustrated, however, that a “smoking gun” for the cause of pilot hypoxia is still elusive despite an extraordinary effort by the service to enlist help from scientists, doctors and fighter experts.
NEW DELHI — An Indian government panel is highlighting the lack of attack helicopters in the Indian army, contending that the country’s security is at risk. According to the report from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defense, the army’s aviation unit faces a severe shortage, with a requirement of 18 Cheetah helos, one Chetak, 76 Advanced Light Helicopters and 60 ALHs with weapon systems.
PHILADEPHIA and ABU DHABI — Bell-Boeing is nearing closure of its first foreign deal with the United Arab Emirates for the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor after years of often turbulent development and marketing work to garner sales outside the U.S.
LONDON — The Australian government has allocated an additional A$12 million ($12.5 million) to foster locally developed defense technologies for potential military application. The effort is part of the A$45 million Priority Industry Capabilities activity that provides repayable, matched grants to companies. The program is in its second of eight years. In announcing the latest funding recipients, Jason Clare, defense minister for materiel, says “This is an investment in cutting-edge defense technologies developed here in Australia.”
