In a year when the defense industry has been preparing for steep cutbacks, lawmakers’ first crack at funding the Pentagon in fiscal 2013 should have industry officials smiling from ear to ear. The House Armed Services Committee is poised to add billions to President Barack Obama’s budget request in its version of the defense authorization bill to ensure that programs slated for cutbacks — everything from ships to submarines, missile defense systems, manned aircraft and UAVs — will continue.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Indonesia has ambitions to be a major defense exporter and will increasingly be working to secure partnerships that can help it achieve that goal. The government is formulating guidelines for international joint development of defense equipment including military aircraft, the country’s deputy defense minister, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, told Aviation Week at the Defense Services Asia (DSA) exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, earlier this month.
After reports about leaks and rust continuing to plague the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship project, lawmakers are moving to mandate that the Navy provide a “comprehensive briefing” on the program. The Project on Government Oversight last week released a report detailing corrosion and design flaws on both the General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin ships.
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 question of whether the Defense Department’s wartime spending account is affected or immune from sequestration was raised during a House Budget Committee hearing April 25, with some Republican lawmakers saying the Obama administration should already know the answer. White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Controller Daniel Werfel said the effects of sequestration on the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account “warrant further examination.” OMB will have to make the same sort of determination for many Treasury Department accounts, he said.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — 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 to buy Boeing AH-64 Apaches. This comes after the country’s deputy defense minister, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, told state-run news agency Antara in February that Indonesia planned to order eight Apaches.
NEW DELHI — Barely a week after India tested its long-range Agni-V missile, neighbor Pakistan successfully test-fired the Hatf-IV Shaheen-1A intermediate-range, nuclear-capable ballistic missile. According to Pakistan’s military, the Hatf-IV Shaheen-1A — the most powerful missile in the country’s weapon stock — is capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads.
LOS ANGELES — Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC) has confirmed its long-expected PW210 as the initial powerplant for Eurocopter’s next-generation X4 helicopter. The X4 is aimed at the AS365 Dauphin/EC155 replacement market in the medium twin, 9,000 lb. to 11,000 lb. category and is due to enter service in 2017. Eurocopter says this version, powered by the PW210, will be followed by a more advanced variant in 2020 that will be offered with the choice of Turbomeca’s upcoming TM800 turboshaft.
In a long-running U.S. Army-Air Force airlift feud, Congress is finally asking both sides to show their cards. The Air Force is recommending mothballing newly manufactured C-27J airlifters that were initially requested by the Army as a replacement for the C-23 Sherpa to provide intratheater airlift. It’s a mission that never sat well with the Air Force, and was sidelined in President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2013 budget request.
When designs for the U.S. Navy’s next generation of aircraft and airborne weapons programs are compared, a common element stands out—the search for more and better electronic warfare (EW) systems. But those goals are being complicated by what Navy planners worry is a diminution of the industrial base that can produce strike-fighter designs. By 2030, planners worry that there may be no competition. Boeing, for example, has already bought the last long-lead items for its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet production line.
A 30% increase in first-quarter revenues and a 58% jump in net income for Boeing is coming mainly from its commercial airplane programs, but Chief Executive Jim McNerney says the company’s Defense Space and Security (BDS) unit is holding up well because of foreign sales.
Rising oil prices could be both a blessing and a curse for United Technologies Corp. unit Pratt & Whitney. On the one hand, higher prices could curtail airlines’ ability to invest in new equipment, and on the other, the fuel efficiency of P&W’s geared turbofan engines could push airlines into investing, the company told analysts during UTC’s first-quarter earnings call.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) needs to keep a keener eye on the proposed SM-3 missiles slated for Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) before buying more, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says.
Honeywell’s already buoyant outlook for 2012 has been boosted after “higher-than-expected organic sales” produced a near 17% increase in the manufacturer’s first-quarter net income. Aerospace, Honeywell’s second-largest division, contributed to this improvement with a 9% year-on-year rise in sales to almost $3 billion and a 14% growth in segment profit to $467 million. An 18.1% operating margin marked a 0.8-percentage-point gain on 2011’s March quarter.
KUALA LUMPUR — The Europeans, and in particular Britain, have made a concerted effort to woo Malaysia. Their charm offensive has been so successful recently that they now appear to be in a strong position to eclipse the U.S. and win the competition to sell both fighters and airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft to Malaysia.
HOUSTON — Planetary Resources Inc., a high-powered investor group with deep roots in the Internet, software and aerospace industries, plans a long-term commercial effort to profit from robotically identifying and prospecting for water, precious metals and other raw materials on near-Earth asteroids (NEAs).
The European Defense Agency (EDA) is exploring whether the commercial airlines’ airport hub concept could be adapted to more efficiently employ military transport aircraft.
The Pentagon’s decision to give some ground to state advocates in the ongoing fight over reductions to the Air National Guard is being met with a mixed reaction on Capitol Hill. The military is now proposing to retain 24 C-130s in the Air National Guard, after the Obama administration proposed cuts in the Guard appropriation in February in its fiscal 2013 budget request. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta outlined the change in an April 23 letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.).
TORNADO HELMETS: The U.K. will have a dozen Tornado GR4s permanently ready to operate with the Helmet-Mounted Cueing System, although the fleet modification program will be larger. A total of 25 of the aircraft are to be modified to handle the equipment. Nine aircraft have already undergone the process, the Ministry of Defense says. The program’s cost is £11.5 million ($18.5 million). The helmet upgrade was developed by BAE Systems under an urgent operational requirement, with the order placed in April 2011. The system made its combat debut recently in Afghanistan.
