Recent Chinese hypersonic missile tests have rekindled debate about the use and proliferation of such weapons, as well as concern over the U.S. ability to defend against them. Of particular concern to the U.S. Navy is what the tests mean for the development of the Chinese anti-ship ballistic missile. “Known as the DF-21D, this missile provides the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) the capability to attack large ships, including aircraft carriers, in the western Pacific,” the Pentagon says in its most recent annual report on Chinese military capabilities.
LONDON — Senior British officers have expressed a desire for a new training and support helicopter, which could be used as a surrogate training platform for more expensive types, such as the Boeing CH-47 Chinook.
OMAN BUYS: Raytheon has received a contract from Oman worth up to $1.28 billion for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (Nasams). The direct commercial sale includes ground-support equipment, training and technical assistance. Raytheon will supply the system with its partner Kongsberg. Nasams is already deployed in Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the U.S. and an undisclosed additional country.
The Wasp-class amphibious assault ship LHD-8 USS Makin Island — the first U.S. Navy ship to deploy using a hybrid-electric propulsion system — completed a nine-day scheduled sea trial earlier this month, following its 13-month Phased Maintenance Availability (PMA).
LONDON — U.K. defense officials say the Boeing AH-64E Apache is the “desired” option as the country moves to update its heavily utilized Apache attack helicopter. Officials are currently examining a range of options for the Apache Helicopter Capability Sustainment Program (AHCSP), which will deal with the growing issue of obsolescence in the U.K.’s AgustaWestland-built Apaches, which are at the AH-64D Block I standard.
The U.S. Air Force is expected to decide whether to stick with Boeing’s original next-generation, secure communications terminal or opt for a competing design from Raytheon as early as March, according to industry officials.
NEW DELHI — India is preparing to conduct sea trials of its first indigenously built nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, the INS Arihant, which the navy hopes to induct into service by the end of 2014.
The Lockheed Martin Kaman K-Max unmanned cargo helicopter is being considered for possible shipboard operations. “We have looked at this — how do we take them to a sea-based environment,” says Jon McMillen, Lockheed K-Max business development manager. The industry team must determine which sensors will have to be employed with the aircraft, he said last week during a media briefing.
While the U.S. Navy is eyeing a smaller Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fleet than previously envisioned, the ships could still offer greater aviation support potential. Navy officials say the program of record still calls for 52 ships, but they acknowledge the Pentagon is considering reducing that acquisition by as many as 20 because of budgetary and other concerns. Sources familiar with the program say Navy officials privately have indicated they could accommodate future fleet plans with a minimum of about three dozen LCS vessels.
ARLINGTON, Va. — As the U.S. continues to rebalance its military forces and resources back toward the Asia-Pacific region, service leaders are starting to get a handle on what they will need to regain a better naval footing in the area. It is a different Asia-Pacific than the U.S. knew when it started to focus more of its military might in the Middle East more than a decade ago.
The U.S. Navy recently awarded Bechtel Plant Machinery of Monroeville, Pa., a $593.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for nuclear propulsion components. No completion date or additional information is provided on naval nuclear propulsion program contracts. The award comes in the wake of a recent $7.1 billion contract modification to a previously awarded contract for naval nuclear propulsion work at the Bettis & Knolls Atomic Power Laboratories.
BEIJING — China has begun flight testing a high-bypass ratio turbofan that will greatly improve the performance of the Y-20 heavy airlifter and potentially power the C919 commercial aircraft. The engine is the WS-20, according to local media that have published photographs of it in the left inboard position of an in-flight Ilyushin Il-76 used as a testbed. WS-20 is apparently the military name of the powerplant, which has also been called SF-A for civil purposes.
Deserts could become sources of biofuel, based on research conducted by Boeing and partners in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The research has shown that saltwater-tolerant plants called halophytes, grown in coastal deserts and fed by seawater, can produce biofuel “more efficiently than other well-known feedstocks,” Boeing says.
EXODUS: One of the U.S. aerospace and defense industry’s most powerful advocates on Capitol Hill, Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), will leave Congress after this year when the next session of lawmakers take their seats. Moran is a senior member of the House defense appropriations panel. His retirement announcement follows other looming congressional departures affecting aerospace and defense. Neighboring Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), a key NASA appropriator, is also retiring. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) has just taken over the defense subcommittee for the late Rep.
As the U.S. Navy invests heavily in Aegis combat system upgrades, especially for ballistic missile defense, international interest in the system is growing, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. “A number of countries have approached the U.S. and Navy,” says Doug Wilhelm, Lockheed’s director of international programs. There are now 14 international ships outfitted with Aegis, Wilhelm noted during a media briefing last week. With the recent deal to equip Australian ships, the total will be 22.
Deserts could become sources of biofuel, based on research conducted by Boeing and partners in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The research has shown that saltwater-tolerant plants called halophytes, grown in coastal deserts and fed by seawater, can produce biofuel “more efficiently than other well-known feedstocks,” says Boeing.
While the U.S. Navy still plans heavy investments in its more traditional fleet of destroyers, cruisers and carriers, top service officers are touting new classes of surface ships meant to carry more assets — especially aircraft — to the fight. The Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB), Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) and Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) are all getting quite a bit of attention from Navy officials.
LONDON — Airbus Helicopters is carrying out final tests on an upgrade to its real-time monitoring of the EC225’s bevel gear vertical shaft, which caused the type to be grounded for nine months during 2012 and 2013.
NAVY Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., Monroeville, Pa., is being awarded a $593,104,854 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for naval nuclear propulsion components. The work will be performed in Monroeville, Pa. (66%), and Schenectady, N.Y. (34%). No completion date or additional information is provided on naval nuclear propulsion program contracts. Fiscal 2014 shipbuilding and conversion, Navy contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-14-C-2101).
