THE PENTAGON — The U.S. Navy wants to buy more F-35B short-takeoff-vertical-landing (Stovl) Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs) for the Marine Corps across the future years defense plan (FYDP), ending in fiscal 2019, while cutting the number of F-35C carrier variants of the aircraft, according to the service’s fiscal 2015 budget proposal. The Lockheed Martin F-35B is the linchpin of the Marines’ future aviation plans, and service officials note the first operational aircraft will operate off amphibious ships supporting Corps operations within three years.
THE PENTAGON — The U.S. Air Force has decided to move forward in acquiring the Combat Rescue Helicopter, utilizing funds Congress mandated in fiscal 2014 final appropriations, the armed service’s budget director said March 4.
THE PENTAGON — While continuing to build more SSN Virginia-class attack submarines, the U.S. Navy is also investing in development of the SSBN Trident nuclear-missile fleet, according to its proposed fiscal 2015 spending plan. The budget proposal announced March 4 includes about $5.9 billion for two more Virginia-class subs.
THE PENTAGON — The U.S. Army is seeking a modest increase in intelligence and unmanned aircraft acquisitions in its $125 billion budget request for fiscal 2015, service officials said March 4. The Army is seeking $1.10 billion for intelligence acquisitions and research and development, down slightly from the $1.17 billion approved by Congress in December for the current fiscal year.
THE PENTAGON — U.S. defense officials are putting their money where their mouths have been with the fiscal 2015 budget request to Congress, which emphasizes the pursuit of new and critical military technology over the size of the military, or even how it is compensated and trained.
ARLINGTON, Va. — Flight restrictions that stop the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter from flying within 25 nm of a lightning storm could be lifted next year, senior program officials have said. The restrictions, partly the result of a 2006 bid to reduce weight in the short takeoff and landing (STOVL) F-35B, could be lifted thanks to changes in the onboard inert gas generating system (Obiggs) that are due to be flight tested in the coming weeks.
THE PENTAGON — Putting to rest—for now—questions about the U.S. Navy’s support for the nation’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier fleet, the service’s fiscal year 2015 budget includes money for next-generation models, as well as funding to anchor the overhaul of existing ships.
The U.S. Navy recently awarded about $359 million in contract modification work involving V-22 Ospreys to the Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas and to Rolls-Royce of Indianapolis, Ind. The bulk of the award—about $351 million—was for a Feb. 28 modification to a previously awarded, cost-plus-incentive, fixed-price incentive-fee contract for the Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office for V-22 joint performance-based logistics support. The work is expected to be completed in November 2016.
NEW DELHI — India has put all defense contracts with engine maker Rolls-Royce on hold following allegations that the British company paid bribes to win lucrative contracts to supply Hawk advanced trainer jet engines to state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), a defense ministry official says.
MOORESTOWN, N.J. — To develop Aegis Ashore, a team of Lockheed Martin, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and other contractors had to discern ways across the board to do in hours what it would take days to do for previous shipboard Aegis installations. “It was such a tight schedule,” Brendan Scanlon, Lockheed Martin Aegis Ashore program director, tells the Aviation Week Intelligence Network. “We had to find ways to do things faster.”
MD Helicopters (MDHI) is studying the possibility of producing a hybrid-powered helicopter, its owner says. Speaking at Heli-Expo 2014 in Anaheim, Calif., Feb. 25, owner and CEO Lynn Tilton said company engineers were examining what options and technologies are available, and that 3D printing of components was also being considered.
USCG CHIEF: President Obama plans to nominate Vice Adm. Paul F. Zukunft as the 25th Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard to replace Adm. Robert Papp, who is slated to turn over command this spring. A 37-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, Zukunft coordinated the federal response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He now commands U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area, is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and holds advanced degrees from the U.S. Naval War College and Webster University.
With the Pentagon in its fiscal 2015 budget request beginning to put programmatic spending behind its strategy of emphasizing future military technology over near-term force structure size — i.e., capability over capacity — the military departments’ research chiefs are outlining where they want to go.
Turkey has begun firing trials of an indigenously produced, precision-guided, air-launched anti-tank missile. The first live firings of the Mirsak-U, also known as the Umtas—developed by Turkish missile manufacturer Roketsan—were announced by Turkey’s Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM) on March 3. The firings saw the weapon launched from a Turkish land forces AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter, and fly some 3,500 meters (11,500 ft.) to impact the target.
Aerospace and defense companies feature prominently as partners in two public-private advanced manufacturing institutes launched by the Obama administration. Led by EWI and headquartered in Detriot, the American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ALMMII) is a 60-member consortium that includes Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Electric and United Technologies Research Center.
Lockheed Martin is working on a series of upgrades to the Desert Hawk small, hand-launched unmanned aircraft system principally used by the British army in Afghanistan. A digital data link to improve signal quality and increase information security will be demonstrated soon, says Steve Fortson, the company’s small UAS business development manager.
Romania’s ARCA has begun flight testing the Air Strato electric-powered, high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft. The vehicle is aimed at surveillance and scientific missions. The aircraft made a short first flight on Feb. 13, reaching an altitude of 25 meters (80 ft.) and speed of 72 km/hr. (39 kt.). The takeoff was from rough ground and the right main gear suspension system was damaged on touchdown, ARCA says.
