The U.S. Air Force is developing network weapons to attack aircraft. Electronic warfare specialists know the technology is already a double-edged sword, however. The Chinese, a senior service official says, are already working hard on, and in some cases fielding, similar systems to attack high-value aircraft used for early warning, electronic surveillance, command and control, and intelligence.
ADULT SUPERVISION: A long-awaited analysis of alternatives (AOA) on the future ground surveillance architecture for the U.S. Air Force is complete, according to Lt. Gen. Herbert Carlisle, deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and requirements. However, findings will not be released until Defense Secretary Leon Panetta gives approval. This process appears to deviate from normal protocol; typically, a service oversees matters related to its own AOAs.
FAA is soliciting advice on a congressionally mandated pilot program to integrate unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the national airspace. The mandate was adopted as part of the recently passed FAA reauthorization bill, along with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that was signed by President Barack Obama late last year. Congress directed the agency to establish six UAS test sites to help FAA safely and efficiently integrate civil, public and military UAS into the same airspace with manned airplanes by 2015.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) are advancing a bill that would reiterate the U.S. commitment to Israel, including asking for a report no how to “improve” Israel’s purchase of Lockheed Martin’s F-35. The bill also provides non-binding support for deepening the already-close military ties between the two nations.
Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom is slated to sail for Singapore in a “demonstration” deployment to prove the LCS concept of operations and pave the way for the LCS vessels that the U.S. Navy intends to station there, according to Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations (CNO).
House appropriators seemed pleased to hear assurances from top U.S. Army officials that the development of new tactical vehicles is on track, but they’d also like it if the Army would keep buying Abrams tanks. The defense subcommittee had Army Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno at its fiscal 2013 budget hearing March 7. Most of the questions were about the Ground Combat Vehicle (GVC), the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) and the Abrams tank.
The European Commission has given the green light for France and Italy to financially support the Eurocopter X-4 and AgustaWestland AW169 development programs.
SPECIAL SPACE: The bipartisan Florida delegation to Washington is still trying to get the Space Coast designated a special zone in need of extra government assistance to develop businesses. The so-called Shuttle Workforce Revitalization Act, co-sponsored by Sens. Bill Nelson (D) and Marco Rubio (R), would designate Brevard County as a “historically underutilized business zone,” or HUBZone, since the shuttle program ended.
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Air Force has funded flight tests of upgraded Rolls-Royce T56 engines on a Lockheed Martin C-130H aimed at increasing reliability and service life as well as cutting fuel consumption by around 8%.
An ad hoc team of former program managers are calling on the Pentagon to adapt the 18 Global Hawk Block 30 UAVs, due to be mothballed under current budget plans, for boost-phase intercept (BPI) of ballistic missiles.
U.S. Navy officials are trying to find a way to restore funding for another Virginia-class attack submarine into its next budget that was cut from the long-term spending plan included in the fiscal 2013 request. While such a move will have strong lawmaker support in New England and Virginia, where the subs are built, there have been no concrete plans offered on how to generate the funds, which were cut to meet congressional demands.
C4I FALLOFF: Forecast International is predicting the top 200 C4I programs worldwide will total $6.992 billion in 2012 but then decline to an annual $2.391 billion in 2021. According to the analysts, the 65.79% drop ($4.6 billion less in annual spending) in projected annual sales indicates that more than half of the programs will be completed by the end of the 10-year forecast period of 2012-2021. The total expenditure for C4I (command, control, communications, computers and intelligence) over that period will be at least $40.882 billion.
The U.S. Army’s first Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) battery has taken delivery of its 24th missile, a milestone that closes out Lockheed Martin’s deliverables for this first fire unit. This achievement comes roughly one year later than planned owing to problems developing an optical block sensor, which prevents accidental interceptor firing. U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, director of the Missile Defense Agency, had in 2010 temporarily halted Thaad interceptor production due to a failure to get the part certified.
LONDON — The sustained growth in defense spending in the Asia-Pacific region could see it overtake European military outlays. After several years of convergence, the crossover point could come this year, says John Chipman, chief executive of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, in releasing “The Military Balance 2012.”
The FCC is extending the comment period until March 16 on a recent notice that LightSquared had not met the conditions set by the agency to begin operational deployment of a high-powered terrestrial 4G voice and data network in the L band. Citing concerns that the network would pose aviation safety risks by interfering with GPS units, the FCC last month indefinitely suspended LightSquared’s conditional waiver to operate the network in bands adjacent to those used by GPS (Aerospace DAILY, Feb. 16).
LONDON — Cobham is evaluating several acquisition possibilities with an eye on businesses that could strengthen its commercial operations. “We have been very, very active on two or three acquisition possibilities,” CFO Warren Tucker says in releasing 2011 results. The deals are more likely to be in the commercial sector, although strengthening its security and surveillance portfolio also is in the cards, he indicates.
At least some of the 480 or so high-performance SA-24 Grinch anti-aircraft missiles that disappeared during the Libyan uprising have reappeared in the hands of insurgents on the borders of Israel, senior Israeli defense officials say. The advanced weapons were smuggled out of Libya to Iran, according to the sources. From there the supply line split, with some weapons going to Syria and then on to the Hezbollah in Lebanon. Others were smuggled into Egypt and then to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
BANGKOK — Thailand wants to further boost its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), due to increasing land-based threats.
Unanticipated repair bills and other life-cycle expenses are driving up acquisition costs, and the Pentagon needs to plan better for such expenditures, a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says. “With the nation facing fiscal challenges and the potential for tighter defense budgets, Congress and the Department of Defense (DOD) have placed more attention on controlling the billions of dollars spent annually on weapon system operating and support (O&S) costs,” GAO says in its recent report.
LONDON — The German government has approved an upgrade of its CH-53 transport helicopters to improve operations during brownouts with additional sensors. Germany plans to upgrade 26 CH-53Gs/GEs to ease landings in difficult environmental conditions. Purchase of the sensor equipment is to be completed next year, with 5-10 helicopters to be upgraded per year for four years, the defense ministry says.
LOS ANGELES — Boeing’s ongoing efforts to revive the fortunes of its commercial space business received another boost with confirmation of an agreement with mobile satellite service Artel to distribute Inmarsat-3, -4 and -5 bandwidth to potential U.S. government users. The deal, signed between Boeing Commercial Satellite Services and Artel, is initially focused on providing Ka-bandwidth on Inmarsat-3 and -4 satellites. Inmarsat-5 global satellite communications will be available in late 2013, the manufacturer says.
The U.S. Navy recently finished a yearlong effort to better define some of its command-and-control (C2) procedures, as outlined in a recent tactical memorandum (Tacmemo) from Navy Warfare Development Command. It defines challenges for C2, provides a common lexicon and presents standardized processes for use by maritime operations center personnel.
The staff of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee is going to delve into the details of the U.S. Air Force decision to stop production of the Global Hawk Block 30 and put 18 of the unmanned aerial vehicles in storage, the panel’s top Democrat says. Fast becoming one of the most unpopular budget decisions of fiscal 2013 on Capitol Hill, the Air Force’s move to mothball its high-tech UAVs in favor of maintaining its fleet of U-2 intelligence-gathering aircraft drew fire from a number of members of the powerful spending committee at a March 6 hearing.
The fate of the Defense Department’s fiscal 2013 budget request is smack in the middle of a debate among Republicans on the House Budget Committee who are developing a spending resolution for the next fiscal year. Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, has “deployed” two subcommittee members, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), to hold the line on defense spending, keeping President Barack Obama’s budget request as a minimum point.
