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.
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is increasing its support of the Hawaii-based Energy Excelerator program that funds development of innovative energy technologies. The program, part of ONR’s Asia-Pacific Technology and Education Program (APTEP), is meant to support startup companies in bringing such technologies to the market, the Navy says.
The U.S. Navy is focusing on solving manpower and maintenance issues as it transitions its Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force (MPRF) to the P-8A Poseidon aircraft from P-3C Orion and EP-3E Aries II aircraft.
The U.S. Navy is getting closer to testing and proving technology that will enable submarines to launch and recover a host of unmanned vehicles that swim or fly. One of the key systems for enabling unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) and UAVs is the Virginia Payload Module (VPM), a specially designed launch-and-recovery tube being developed not only for Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM), but also configurable for many more platforms the Navy and special operations forces (SOF) have in mind for the future.
LONDON — BAE Systems is proposing air-to-air refueling as a new mission for its BAe 146/Avro RJ family of regional airliners. The company believes there is a potential market for a small, relatively inexpensive refueling aircraft either for use in the tactical mission or as a low-cost tanker trainer for countries with fleets of strategic tankers such as the Airbus A330 MRTT or the Boeing KC-135.
The U.S. Air Force’s 2014 spending plan for missile systems equipment is three times what planners were estimating just one budget year ago. The budget line, which procures equipment to supports missile systems such as the LGM-30 Minuteman, AIM-120 Amraam, AGM-86A Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM), and the AGM-88A HARM, has a combined 2014 request and 2015-2017 estimated funding of $304 million, up from the 2013 budget estimate of $98 million for the same period. (See charts pp. 7-8.)
A private initiative to supply a test, evaluation, demonstration and experimentation facility for beyond-line-of-sight (BLoS) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operations in the U.K. took an important step forward with the formal launch of the National Aeronautical Centre (NAC) Sept. 9.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency intercepted two separate medium-range ballistic missile targets simulating a small raid attack on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean during the first-ever operational test of this capability Sept. 10. The trial was previously planned as part of the ongoing campaign to demonstrate U.S. layered missile defenses, and Pentagon officials stress that it was not done as a response to ongoing discussions about an attack against Syria.
Selex has been awarded, a service agreement contract by the United Nations to provide an unmanned aerial system (UAS) for three years with two optional years, in support of the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
LONDON — The U.K. government has advanced a plan to to encourage closer ties between government and the U.K. defense industry to boost international exports and competitiveness.
LONDON — A private initiative to supply a test, evaluation, demonstration and experimentation facility for beyond-line-of-sight (BLoS) unmanned air systems (UAS) operations in the U.K. took an important step forward with the formal launch of the National Aeronautical Center (NAC) Sept. 9.
BEIJING — Avicopter is testing a technology demonstrator for a vertical-takeoff-and-landing airplane with a central lift fan. The manufacturer, part of China’s state Avic group, exhibited the unmanned piston-engine aircraft at the China Helicopter Exposition in Tianjin this week.
NEW DELHI — India has issued a global request for information (RFI) to international airframers to supply structurally modified maritime aircraft for its coast guard. “The initial requirement is for six certified and modified aircraft,” says the RFI, issued by India’s Center for Airborne Systems (CABS). Phase II would feature an option for three more aircraft, plus a potential future requirement for another 10.
Bell Helicopter has announced Lockheed Martin as its first “investing team-mate” on development of the V-280 Valor tiltrotor aimed at the U.S Army. Other Tier 1 risk-sharing team members are to be revealed in coming weeks, the company says. Bell has completed negotiations with the Army’s Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD) and expects to sign a cost-sharing contract this month to fly a V-280 demonstrator in 2017 under Phase 1 of the Joint Multi Role technology demonstration (JMR TD).
Aircraft and ships from the U.S. and Chinese navy plan to cap off a Hawaii port visit by the Asian leader’s vessels this week with a joint search-and-rescue (SAR) exercise. The port visit and exercise underscore the commitment made by both countries to bolster their naval relationships as the U.S. refocuses on the Asia-Pacific region and China continues to flex its military maritime muscle.
SYRIAN QUESTIONS: The thorny question of U.S. military action in Syria could have wide-ranging implications for defense investors, according to Capital Alpha Partners analyst Byron Callan. “Broader opposition to U.S. military involvement in Syria could lead investors to conclude that [defense] budgets will be cut by levels mandated in the Budget Control Act,” he says of the 2011 law that introduced sequestration cuts. “Events in the coming two weeks could conclusively fracture the simplistic notion that Republicans always support higher defense spending than Democrats.
A team including Aurora Flight Sciences is proposing unmanned flights of the company’s Centaur optionally piloted aircraft (OPA) over the Alaskan tundra in 2014, following the completion of manned flights to measure greenhouse-gas released from thawing permafrost. On Aug. 30, the company-operated aircraft completed a month-long campaign led by Harvard University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Div.
Advanced Russian-supplied anti-ship missiles in Syria will be a force to be reckoned with, a prominent defense analyst says, and could make the U.S. rethink maritime strategy in the region. U.S. Navy officials declined to speak about anything involving operations in the tense area—and shied away especially from any military topic involving Russia—but the service’s contention throughout the years is that its ships are equipped to handle any threat they face.
