Current spending plans for the U.S. Army’s Stryker vehicle have increased five times from what the Pentagon had estimated just a year ago. The 2014 budget request for the Stryker family of vehicles is $374 million, nearly three times what the 2013 plan estimated. Total estimated spending for the outyears (2015-2017) is now $1 billion, five times what planners estimated in 2013 for the same period. (See charts pp. 6-9.)
I.T. SPENDING: Despite a decline in annual spending between now and fiscal 2018, U.S. government spending on outsourced information technology should be relatively stable, according to Deltek analysts. The relatively optimistic outlook comes as agencies look to benefit from cost savings on cloud computing, automation and data center consolidation, while having to continue to pursue new capabilities in cyberspace and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
While the U.S. Navy’s CH-53K development has gone reasonably well thus far, delayed testing of the helicopter program has made the effort riskier, a Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report says. “CH-53K program officials generally managed and developed the CH-53K program in accordance with defense acquisition guidelines while preparing for the low-rate initial production decision,” the IG says in its report, “CH-53K Program Management Is Satisfactory, but Risks Remain.”
Although growing Chinese naval forces have thus far refrained from any major military engagements, the fleet is starting to be viewed as a significant political tool. “In the absence of conflict, China’s military forces, including in particular its naval forces, will be used on a day-to-day basis to promote China’s political position in the Pacific,” says a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities — Background and Issues for Congress,” released earlier this month.
SEVILLE, Spain — EADS CEO Tom Enders has urged European governments not to repeat the errors made during the procurement process of the A400M airlifter. Speaking at a ceremony marking the handover of the first A400M to the French air force in Seville, Spain, on Sept. 30, Enders told attendees that Europe urgently needs a joint military certification organization, like the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), rather than separate agencies in each country working to achieve their own certification.
LONDON – AirTanker, the company charged with providing air-to-air refueling capability to the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF), has been certified to refuel the air arm’s Eurofighter Typhoons.
While U.S. Navy aviation mishap numbers and rates are in overall decline in recent years, the service’s concern for UAV and related mishaps is on the rise. “Unmanned Aircraft System mishaps are considered Class A, B or C mishaps under the same criteria as manned aircraft, but they don’t count against our mishap rates,” the Navy Safety Center notes in its fiscal 2012 annual report. “A major reason is that we do not have enough historical flight hours on them yet to weave them effectively into the manned mishap stats.”
NEW DELHI — India and Russia have agreed on a collaboration to jointly develop and manufacture civilian aircraft and helicopters, especially for emergency relief and medical purposes. Under the agreement, a joint venture company will be established in India for manufacturing and modifying Ka-226T light helicopters for medical, rescue and other purposes, a senior government official says.
PAYING BILLS: Congress passed a bill Sept. 30 that would keep salary payments going to active military personnel and civilian Defense and Homeland Security department employees and contractors “providing support to members of the armed forces.” The bill comes as everyone else in the U.S. government faced the consequences of a federal shutdown, which loomed Oct. 1 unless lawmakers and President Barack Obama reached an agreement on fresh appropriations overnight.
Eurocopter is shoring up work at its Columbus, Miss., plant by opening an assembly line for the AS350 Ecureuil/Astar light helicopter. Work on AS350 assembly will begin during the fourth quarter of 2014 in a bid to offset the impact of the U.S. Army’s decision to reduce the number of UH-72 Lakota light utility helicopters it plans to buy. The factory will initially build 50 AS350s, with plans to expand by 2016 by producing up to 60 additional helicopters annually by 2016, the company announced on Sept. 20.
The U.S. Coast Guard received approval this week to move forward on the production and eventual deployment of up to 30 fast response cutters (FRC) after the cutter-class vessels completed their initial operational test and evaluation phase this past month. Coast Guard officials say this means the service may continue to acquire the FRC as the budget allows and that the equipment and shore side infrastructure is in place to support new cutters as they are commissioned.
Most large weapons and systems contractors for the Pentagon should be relatively unaffected by a looming federal government shutdown that would start Oct. 1, especially if it is short-term, according to a press briefing by the defense comptroller. But roughly half of the Defense Department’s civilian workforce, or fewer than 400,000 non-uniformed employees, may face unpaid furloughs, and it will be up to Congress whether to ever pay them for the unplanned time off.
MD Helicopters is making performance enhancements to its MD540F as it prepares to move toward certification in 2015. The new aircraft, an updated and modernized variant of the MD500 family, will get a new anti-torque system. Engineers are studying a number of options including a four-bladed tail rotor to improve the aircraft’s performance in conjunction with the new Rolls-Royce M250-C47E turboshaft, which the company announced it had selected for the MD540F during Heli-Expo 2013 in Las Vegas.
I began my career in the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry as an export sales manager for a European missile manufacturer (now MBDA). It was a somewhat unusual career move for a business school graduate with no engineering background. Today, even fewer graduates have A&D high on their lists when they look for jobs as sales or marketing managers. This is, after all, an industry built by engineers, and its reputation is based primarily on products and the technological innovations that underpin them.
Eurocopter has decided to assemble AS350 Ecureuil light helicopters in the U.S. to shore up its production capacity in Columbus, Miss., but the move is riling French unions.
