A top executive at Saab sought to deflect speculation Sept. 12 that its Gripen fighter would be offered for the U.S. Air Force’s T-X future trainer requirement.
LONDON — Following in the footsteps of their land-based brethren, U.K. maritime force planners are mulling how to apply architectures to ship design and construction. The U.K. has a new standard for all land vehicle purchases stipulating that new vehicles must seamlessly integrate subsystems that troops control from a standardized flat-screen crew station. The now-mandatory Generic Vehicle Architecture has cut costs, boosted innovation from smaller companies and helped land forces respond more quickly to shifting threats.
LONDON — The head of the U.K. Royal Air Force says a requirement for a new maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) could re-emerge. Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford, who took over the post as Chief of the Air Staff in July, told delegates at the Defense Services Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition on Sept. 11 that the air force had to “tidy up one or two loose ends that we left out of the last SDSR [Strategic Defense and Security Review] in terms of where we wish to go as a nation, with the likes of our maritime patrol capability.”
LONDON — Nexter introduced an all-new armored personnel carrier called Titus (Tactical Infantry Transport and Utility System) at the Defense & Security Equipment International show Sept. 11 in London. Aimed at the export market, Titus is designed as a compact, agile vehicle using commercial off-the-shelf components to reduce acquisition and operating costs.
THIRD SITE: The U.S. Missile Defense Agency issued its shortlist for a potential third missile defense site in the U.S. The sites are Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center in Ohio, Camp Ethan Allen Training Site in Vermont, the Navy Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training site in Portsmouth, Maine, Fort Custer Combined Training Center in Michigan and the Army’s Fort Drum in New York. While politicians in New York and Maine have openly sought to host the Ground-based Midcourse Defense System, Vermont Sen.
Recent ship trials for the fourth Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-4), the Coronado, indicate major progress being made with the Independence-class LCS variants, U.S. Navy officials say. “Coronado’s acceptance trials showed significant improvement in the LCS shipbuilding process, when compared to the results of the USS Independence [LCS-2] acceptance trials,” says Rear Adm. Jim Murdoch, LCS program executive officer.
LONDON — Thales U.K. says it is hopeful that its Watchkeeper UAV system will be certified by the end of the year. The process of certification by the U.K. Military Aviation Authority has slowed the UAV’s entry into service with the British army. The aircraft should have been operational some three years ago, but the complexity of certifying what is the first UAV to be certified by the MAA has affected its introduction into service.
While the need for submarines and related forces is on the rise, U.S. Navy officials say they are facing a shortfall of such forces that needs to be addressed now by Congress. “As the threat grows from advances in sensors and weapons such as cruise missiles, anti-ship ballistic missiles and integrated air defense systems, more pressure will be placed on undersea forces,” Undersea Warfare Director Rear Adm. Richard Breckenridge said Sept. 12 in spoken and written testimony during a House Armed Services Committee seapower subcommittee hearing.
NEEDS IMPROVEMENT: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) will be taking steps to improve the way it evaluates Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) proposals and awards contracts based on those proposals, in the wake of a critical Pentagon Inspector General (IG) review. “Darpa personnel did not consistently adhere to the scientific review process and Federal Acquisition Regulation requirements before awarding contracts from BAAs for 35 of 36 contracts,” the IG says in a recent report.
TIANJIN, China — A Chinese unmanned helicopter derived from the U.S. Brantly B-2B two-seater is nearing certification, with the Civil Aviation Administration of China completing its review of the aircraft in August. The Chinese navy is interesting in the helicopter, the V750, for carrying a light maritime search and surveillance radar, says the aircraft’s manufacturer, Weifang Freeksy Aviation Industry.
PARIS — French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says France’s first two MQ-9 Reapers will be delivered to the armed forces and sent before the end of the year to Niger, where they could be used to support French troops deployed as part of Operation Serval in Mali. “The first two drones will be delivered and operational in Niamey before the end of the year,” he told French lawmakers Sept. 3.
Aeros has begun outdoor tethered flights of its Dragon Dream rigid-hull hybrid airship, with a first free flight of the subscale demonstrator expected shortly. The variable-buoyancy vehicle reached at altitude of around 50 ft. on its first tethered flight outside the Tustin, Calif., airship hangar on Sept. 7. This followed the award of a FAA experimental certificate allowing company-funded research and development flights.
LONDON — European missile manufacturer MBDA has secured a £250 million ($400 million) production contract for the Sea Ceptor naval air defense missile.
LONDON — BAE Systems has awarded design and development contracts for four more key systems on the U.K.’s future Type 26 warships, underscoring the vessel’s emphasis on stealth.
LONDON — The U.K. Royal Navy is broadening the scope of how it might use its future fleet of Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. The first of the two ships, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is 80% complete internally according to Rear Admiral Russell Harding, the head of the U.K. Fleet Air Arm, speaking at the Defence Services Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition in London Sept. 10. The vessel is due to be launched “some time in 2014” while work on the sister ship, the HMS Prince of Wales, is proceeding apace.
LONDON — Boeing and Saab will announce “in weeks rather than months” that they will team up to offer the JAS 39 Gripen for the U.S. Air Force’s T-X future trainer requirement, according to sources familiar with the deal. Saab is apparently confident that the two companies will be able to undercut the cost of the closest rival contender, the Lockheed Martin/Korea Aerospace Industries T-50.
Aeros has begun outdoor tethered flights of its Dragon Dream rigid-hull hybrid airship, with a first free flight of the subscale demonstrator expected shortly. The variable-buoyancy vehicle reached at altitude of around 50 ft. on its first tethered flight outside the Tustin, Calif., airship hangar on Sept. 7. This followed the award of a FAA experimental certificate allowing company-funded research and development flights.
Raytheon is moving ahead to demonstrate more rapid and accurate close air support after finalizing a contract with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) to continue the Precision Close Air Support (PCAS) program. PCAS has been modified to shift the emphasis from automating close air support by enabling ground forces to control the weapons on unmanned aircraft. Instead, the program has been focused on transitioning technology to manned CAS aircraft.
As the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom works its way through deployment exercises in the Asia-Pacific, a recent U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) report underscores the still-precarious position of the LCS program, which Navy officials say has a promising future despite its troubled past. A Freedom visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) team of sailors recently participated in a Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (Seacat) 2013 exercise that included not only other U.S. ships and Brunei navy vessels, but a P-3C maritime patrol aircraft.
NEW DELHI — After a season of unusually acrimonious exchanges with India’s state-owned airframer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) over delayed or redundant programs, the Indian air force (IAF) has for the first time sought permission from the government to directly support the creation of aerospace capacity in private industry, ostensibly as an alternative to HAL.
GAO APPROVES: Congressional auditors say the Pentagon’s decision to waive a requirement for competition of prototypes in the VXX presidential helicopter replacement program appears proper. The U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a Sept. 6 review that competitive prototyping would delay fielding an initial operational capability by 16 months and increase development costs by about $782 million to $3.38 billion (in 2011 dollars), depending on the type and number of prototypes, defense officials found. But life cycle cost benefits would amount to only $542 million.
