NUCLEAR DYAD?: It may be time for the U.S. to reconsider its questionable insistence on three different nuclear delivery vehicles, the Cato Institute’s Christopher Preble tells a Capitol Hill audience April 30. Preble quoted former Chief of Naval Operations Arleigh Burke as saying, “You very seldom see a cowboy in the movies carrying three guns. Two is enough.” Preble, who has been funded by the Ploughshares Fund to study the history of the triad, says it’s time for lawmakers to start asking hard questions about the Obama administration’s nuclear weapons posture.
Gen. Jean-Paul PalomerosFrench Air Force Chief of Staff Age: 58 Birthplace: Paris Education: Graduate of the Ecole de l'Air in Salon-de-Provence, the university-level school which trains air force officers; studied for one year as an exchange student at the Royal Air Force Staff College in Bracknell, England.
Is an offensive cyberweapon equivalent to a nuclear bomb, in that its use requires the approval of a U.S. president? For years, U.S. officials wouldn't acknowledge the existence of cyberweapons, but current and former officials are now debating who has the authority to order an attack, and when. Attacking a foreign computer network would likely require “the president and [defense] secretary to . . . start making decisions,” Gen. Keith Alexander, head of U.S. Cyber Command, said at a recent congressional hearing. It may not always be a direct presidential order.
The Pentagon plans to spend $250 million per year to find new ways of mining data, an investment that its top engineer, Zachary Lemnios, calls a “big bet on big data.” Of that amount, $60 million will go to military research projects.
Saab says it will implement a far-reaching command-and-control upgrade to the Royal Thai Navy’s aircraft carrier to allow the system to be more interoperable with the country’s relatively new fleet of Gripen fighters and Saab 340 airborne early warning aircraft.
Israel Weapon Industries Ltd. (IWI) has added a new version of its legendary submachine gun, unveiling the 9-mm Uzi Pro recently at shows in Chile, Brazil and India. The Uzi Pro was developed with input from the Israel Defense Forces, to produce a lightweight, compact weapon. The design incorporates a closed-bolt operation with blowback to maximize accuracy and safety. The weapon is ergonomically designed for use by right- or left-handed shooters. The firing rate can be set at automatic or semi-automatic.
NEW DELHI — India’s Tata Motors has signed a cooperation agreement with a Malaysian company to develop, promote and market its military trucks for the Malaysian armed forces. “Tata Motors and DRB-Hicom Defense Technologies Sdn Bhd (Deftech), a wholly owned subsidiary of DRB-Hicom Berhad, Malaysia, have signed a cooperation agreement to enable both Deftech and Tata Motors to develop, promote and market Tata’s high-mobility 4x4 trucks with payloads ranging from 2.5-5 metric tons for the armed forces of Malaysia,” Tata says.
An April 25 story incorrectly reported the funding status of FAA test sites for incorporating unmanned aircraft systems in the national airspace. The Defense Authorization Act and FAA reauthorization mandated, but did not fund, establishing the test sites.
Northrop Grumman is getting Bell Helicopter under contract to provide a modified commercial Model 407 as the first step after receiving a $262 million U.S. Navy award for development and initial production of the improved MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned aircraft.
After receiving assurances from the White House that it is continuing to work on a “near-term course of action” regarding the imbalance in fighter jets between Taiwan and China, the Senate formally approved the nomination of the assistant secretary of defense for Asia-Pacific affairs.
The 20-min. naval prototype (NP-1) test sortie took place over Bengaluru and was flown by Air Commodore T.A. Maolankar and co-pilot Wing Commander Maltesh Prabhu.
MBDA is upgrading its Viper Strike munition as a result of operational lessons learned during last year’s NATO-led air war in Libya. The enhancement allows the munition to more effectively engage fast-moving ground targets through updates to the guidance and control software, enabling the weapon to fly a different attack profile, says Jerry Agee, head of MBDA’s U.S. operations. The capability was demonstrated during a series of test shots at the Naval Air Warfare Center at China Lake, Calif.
Rockwell Collins is expanding its unmanned-aircraft flight-control technology to provide an optionally piloted capability for manned platforms. Applications include the U.S. Air Force’s Blue Devil 2 airship and AgustaWestland’s SW-4 unmanned helicopter. The company is a leading supplier of integrated navigation and flight-control systems for unmanned aircraft; its Athena systems fly on the U.S. Army’s AAI RQ-7B Shadow and the Navy’s Boeing Insitu RQ-21A small tactical unmanned aircraft systems.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) is continuing her search for ways to get back the second Virginia submarine buy in 2014 delayed in the U.S. Navy’s 2013 budget request. At an April 26 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committe’s (SASC) seapower subcommittee, Ayotte asked Navy Assistant Secretary Sean Stackley about a funding possibility he’d described in testimony to SASC the previous week that could restore the delayed buy without much additional cost.
NEW DELHI — The Indian defense ministry (MOD) has ordered an investigation into Italian news reports that illegal commissions may have been paid to swing a $700 million deal signed two years ago for 12 VVIP helicopters. Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony made the announcement shortly after reports in the Italian press pointed to allegations of €51 million ($67.4 million) that were paid by AgustaWestland to a Switzerland-based agent to push through the Indian deal.
F-22 COSTS: Concerned about mounting modernization costs for the F-22A, and noting that they far outstripped similar expenses for F-15s, F-16s and F/A-18s, Senate appropriators sought an explanation from the Government Accountability Office. GAO’s answer: The F-22A began in 1991 as a single-step program, not expecting significant future modernization. The other programs started with the expectation of incremental upgrades over time.
As tensions between Tehran, Washington and Tel Aviv continue to mount over Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons technologies, the U.S. has quietly begun a deployment of its premier stealthy fighter, the twin-engine F-22, to the United Arab Emirates. Multiple Lockheed Martin aircraft will operate out of Al Dhafra Air Base there, industry sources say. This is the same base from which U.S. U-2s and Global Hawk UAVs have been launched since shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The U.K. saw defense exports drop in 2011, but growth in security-related exports helped offset those declines to keep total exports on defense and security flat at £8 billion ($13 billion) year-on-year. The security business saw growth to £2.6 billion, up from £2 billion in 2010, with defense down £400 million to £5.4 billion. “The increase in the security sector reinforces a consistent picture of year-on-year growth,” Stephen Green, the minister for trade and investment, says in statement announcing the 2011 figures.
VOYAGER THRUST: An updated version of a thruster originally developed for NASA’s Voyager spacecraft missions in the 1970s has been adapted by Aerojet for future space exploration vehicles, including human-rated craft. The recently completed tests of the MR-104H monopropellant hydrazine thruster, conducted with Boeing and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, were focused on modifying the small engine with a modern, two-seat valve as well as evaluating an improved nozzle.
NEW DELHI — India launched into orbit its first indigenous reconnaissance satellite Risat-1 on April 26, thereby joining a select group of nations that have access to microwave radar imaging from orbit. The 1,858-kg (4,100-lb.) satellite was put into a polar circular orbit at an altitude of 480 km (300 mi.) and an orbital inclination of 97.552 deg. early in the day by India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C19 (PSLV-C19) from Sriharikota spaceport in south India.
The rigorous electromagnetic interference testing standards of the U.S. Navy’s planned carrier-based unmanned combat air system indicate the service wants the aircraft to be capable of firing a permanently installed, rechargeable anti-electronics weapon.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — State-owned defense company Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) is about to pass some major milestones for its attack helicopter and primary trainer aircraft programs, which should make TAI a bigger industry player.
The Swiss government plans to delay fielding the Gripen NG to enable closer cooperation with Sweden. Switzerland last year chose the Gripen NG for its F-5 Tiger replacement program, with the goal of fielding the first of 22 aircraft in 2015. The government now says it has agreed to slip the in-service date by two years to work more closely with Sweden on the aircraft’s development and production phase. The total program cost should not change, according to Swiss government officials.
