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 believed to be the military name of the powerplant, which has also been called SF-A for civil purposes.
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy needs to explore more ways to use simulation technology to help qualify its officers and sailors, says U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Thomas Copeman, commander of the Naval Surface Force and U.S. Pacific Naval Surface Force. Current simulation technology is helping train the service’s personnel more efficiently and affordably for combat and other operations for ships, such as DDG-51 Arleigh Burke destroyers, Copeman said Jan. 15 at a media briefing during the 2014 annual Surface Navy Association Symposium.
LONDON — The cost of damage to U.K. military aircraft caused by a freak hailstorm at Kandahar AB in Afghanistan is likely to top £10 million ($16.3 million), defense ministry officials have revealed. The incident had a major effect on U.K. in-theater air operations.
LONDON — Switzerland will hold a national referendum in May on whether the country should purchase the Saab JAS-39E Gripen fighter. Voters will go to the polls on May 18 to determine if the purchase of 22 Gripens—to replace the country’s aging Northrop F-5 Tigers—should go ahead. The referendum was called after opponents of the deal collected more than 50,000 signatures to force a national vote on the 3.1 billion Swiss franc ($3.3 billion) program.
OMNIBUS PASSED: In overwhelming and unusually rapid fashion, U.S. lawmakers have passed the fiscal 2014 omnibus appropriations bill. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill before Jan. 19, averting another government shutdown and funding the government through September. The almost evenly divided Senate passed the measure late Jan. 16 by 72 to 26, with 17 Republicans joining 55 majority Democrats and Independents in favor. The House of Representatives passed the bill Jan. 15 by 359 to 67, with just 64 majority Republicans and three Democrats voting against it.
With this month’s crash of a Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet, the family of F-18 Hornets and Super Hornets continues to lead U.S. Navy aircraft in terms of total Class A mishap costs, an Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis of service accident data shows.
The bipartisan spending bill approved by the U.S. House and Senate — expected to be signed by President Barack Obama over the weekend — will add 20 Airbus Helicopters UH-72As to the U.S. Army’s plans for fiscal 2014, carrying the production line through the middle of next year, according to an Airbus Group official. However, the company still is in a race to secure orders and keep the production line busy.
China’s test of a hypersonic missile last week is only part of a wider trend, says Adm. Samuel Locklear, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command. Separately, officials in Beijing and Washington confirm reports of the test. Although the move foreshadows greater challenges for defense systems of China’s adversaries, Locklear says: “The hypersonic test is just one of the things being looked at [when considering] implications for the future.
NASA expects almost $800 million over post-sequestration 2013 funding levels under the 2014 omnibus, allowing the agency to maintain its ongoing space and aeronautics activities without an apparent need for major changes. One question remains: whether $696 million for the Commercial Crew Program is enough for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) beginning in 2017 as planned. NASA managers have said they need the full 2014 request, $821 million, to stay on schedule.
As South Korea strives to build an industry that can independently make complete aircraft, it is achieving the most progress in helicopters. And it is the South Korean army, not the air force, that is offering the most support.
In this era of ostensible federal austerity, flat budget lines or those that are congressionally increased are the new “up.” In that sense, most federal aerospace, civil aviation and defense programs were seeing blue skies for now as the fiscal 2014 omnibus appropriations bill moved through the Capitol last week.
With fewer Rafale combat jets on order and no firm export contracts in hand, France is facing difficult choices. The French defense ministry announced contracts on Jan. 10 for €1 billion ($1.4 billion) in planned upgrades to the Dassault Aviation combat jet. Yet budget pressures have forced drastic reductions in the total number of Rafale aircraft and next-generation weapon systems the ministry plans to buy over the next six years, prompting new spending for renovation of Mirage 2000D fighters and further extending the service life of aging Mirage 2000-5s.
An unprecedented competition announced by the Indian government to energize local private industry in aerospace manufacturing stands on a razor's edge, with the country's defense ministry contemplating opening participation to India's monopolistic state-owned defense companies as well.
Bill Swanson (left), Raytheon's CEO and chairman, is scheduled to hand over the chief executive's office to current Chief Operating Officer Tom Kennedy on March 31. Swanson will remain chairman at least while the Waltham, Mass.-based defense prime contractor transitions to Kennedy's leadership.
India's Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) may finally have been cleared for entry into squadron service, but the coming year brings a critical round of testing for the Mk. 1 fighter. It must meet a final deadline of December 2014 to be fully operational. The tests are crucial to how the Indian air force (IAF) will deploy the jet, built chiefly to replace large numbers of MiG-21 interceptors still in service with frontline squadrons.
It has not been canceled but it is still not launched. South Korea's KF-X indigenous fighter program has received limited 2014 funding from parliament, subject to conditions that implicitly threaten to kill it if it goes off the rails.
What is becoming increasingly clear as the U.S. military continues its rebalance to the Asia-Pacific is that it is not only a mostly naval Pacific pivot, but primarily a shift of naval aviation. The Navy and Marine Corps are deploying their most technologically advanced aircraft to the region to participate in large-scale exercises or assist in major humanitarian efforts.
