The sophisticated radar and electronic-attack arrays on ships and aircraft, which have increased the range of electronic attack and greatly decreased the size of targets that can be detected, are more vulnerable to cyber attack than the more primitive systems they replace.
NEW DELHI — India’s “air defense is 97% obsolete,” the country’s soon-to-retire army chief Gen. V.K. Singh wrote in a recent letter to the Indian premier that discusses a number of major issues plaguing the Indian military. The content of the letter, dated March 12, was leaked to the media March 28.
Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk Block 30 may have a shot at escaping U.S. Air Force plans to place it in storage. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), a member of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, says he will recommend continuing funding for the high-flying unmanned aircraft. “That may prevail, at least in the House defense subcommittee.” According to Moran, the “taxpayer is best served” by the Global Hawk, as compared to the U-2 intelligence-gathering aircraft, which the Air Force wants to continue using.
The Pentagon will ask for more cash to purchase Rafael’s Iron Dome short-range rocket and mortar defense system for Israel, a request Congress is eager to support. Last year, the U.S. provided $204 million for the system. Now the Obama administration says it is working with Israel to shore up U.S. support for buying more Iron Dome systems, “and intends to request an appropriate level of funding from Congress to support such acquisitions based on Israeli requirements and production capacity,” says Pentagon spokesman George Little.
SANTIAGO, Chile — Embraer expects to expand its Super Tucano customer base with the addition of three operators. The deals, set to be announced March 28, include two already in the company backlog as undisclosed customers, and one genuine new buyer. The deals could include the first African state to buy the light-attack aircraft. Embraer has been pursuing several campaigns in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Guatemala is seen as a potential new buyer. Indonesia, already a buyer of eight Super Tucanos, is considered likely to buy more.
SANTIAGO, Chile — Embraer is hoping to secure two key Brazilian government contracts this year as it looks to expand its defense and security activities. One is the Sisfron domestic security program, estimated at $4 billion, for which Embraer wants to serve as prime contractor and integrator for diverse elements such as radars, unmanned aircraft, communications and other systems, says Luiz Carlos Aguiar, CEO of Embraer Defense and Security, at the Fidae air show here.
LONDON — It appears United Technologies Corp. (UTC) will have to wait a little longer before it completes its proposed $18.4 billion acquisition of Goodrich. European Union antitrust officials are examining competition concerns arising from the combination of the companies’ operations, a move that could delay the closing of the deal beyond UTC’s mid-year target.
NEW DELHI — India will host one of Asia’s biggest defense exhibitions starting March 29 to showcase the country’s military potential as major armament manufacturing giants try to get a share of the $38 billion market. Some 567 global defense firms from 32 countries will display weapon systems for the army, navy and internal security during the four-day “Defexpo India 2012,” the seventh in the series, to be held in New Delhi, a defense official says.
SANTIAGO, Chile — Unable to complete its annual program review, the U.K. decision on which version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to buy has been delayed again until at least mid-April.
There are linked parallels among cyberattacks on civilians and on military aircraft, ships and ground vehicles, says a top Pentagon scientist who studies future threats.
BAD SIGN: As the Pentagon has sought to rein in out-of-control costs and contracting, it has increasingly used fixed-price contracts. But in just three years, the number of services contracts awarded on a lowest-price technically acceptable (LPTA) basis increased by 40%, a rate one expert calls “disturbing.” The use of LPTA contracts is appropriate, particularly when buying commodities, but the government has leaned too far in their direction, says Ray Bjorklund, vice president of Deltek.
NEW DELHI — India’s defense minister has ordered a departmental inquiry into French firm Dassault’s win of the 126-fighter Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract, after a lawmaker raised the possibility of “manipulation” in the selection process.
SANTIAGO, Chile — Captive flight trials are due to start this year on Brazil’s indigenous guidance kit to increase the precision and standoff range of Mk. 82 bombs. Development work on the FPG-82 began around 18 months ago and could, optimistically, wrap up by late next year, says Alexandre Correa Guimaraes, defense marketing manager for Sao Jose dos Campos-based Friuli.
SANTIAGO, Chile — Airbus Military is in talks with several governments to buy C-295 transports that would be provided to the United Nations on an outsourcing basis. The arrangement would essentially enable countries that may be reluctant to buy aircraft solely for their own needs to make the financial commitment knowing a guaranteed revenue stream would be available to defray costs.
NEW DELHI — India’s soon-to-retire army chief, Gen. V.K. Singh, says he was recently offered a bribe of 140 million rupees ($2.7 million) by a defense lobbyist to clear the purchase of military vehicles. In an interview with an Indian newspaper, Singh says the lobbyist offered the bribe in return for approving the purchase of 600 “substandard” vehicles of a “particular make.” He claims that 7,000 such vehicles were already in use in the Indian army and many have been sold at “exorbitant prices with no questions asked.
The U.S. military is starting to show greater appreciation for maritime irregular warfare (MIW), a recent Rand report says, but the nation’s defense planners need to develop a more complete strategy for such operations. “In light of ongoing U.S. involvement in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the concept of irregular warfare has become prevalent in U.S. defense strategy and doctrine,” Rand says in its report, “Characterizing and Exploring the Implications of Maritime Irregular Warfare,” released this month.
The actions of Congress, the government and businesses have yet to stop the flow of counterfeit defense electronics parts from China. Last year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) set up a fictitious company to buy electronic parts online (Aerospace DAILY, Nov. 9). GAO purchased 16 different parts from 13 Chinese suppliers. All 16 of those parts, including seven used on aircraft such as Boeing’s F-15 fighter and the Bell-Boeing V-22 tiltrotor, were counterfeit.
Lockheed Martin officials acknowledge that they have learned some things from the company’s loss to rival Boeing of a $3.5 billion contract to continue managing the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) anti-ballistic missile system — and they are likely to apply this knowledge to some forthcoming work as the company continues to try to expand its footprint in that market.
The U.S. Navy may have to strip the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke destroyer of combat capability to make room for the service’s proposed Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR). “The Navy ... told us that removing combat capability from DDG-51 may be required in an effort to manage weight after adding AMDR, effectively reducing the multimission/functionality of the class,” the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says in a January report.
