Russia is moving forward with its aggressive plans to enhance the country's combat aircraft prowess, with commitments to modernize its carrier strike force and long-range interdiction capabilities. On March 1, the defense ministry signed a contract with Sukhoi for delivery of 92 Su-34 bombers through 2020. The deal, estimated to be worth 100 billion rubles ($3.4 billion) is the largest for the ministry since the end of the Soviet era, and brings the total number of Su-34s ordered to 124.
Despite recent concerns raised by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the U.S. Navy and Pentagon are maintaining course with their augmented DDG-51 Arleigh Burke destroyer plan.
LONDON — As the British government completes its 2012 defense program review, it may be reconsidering what version of the F-35 to buy. The Defense Ministry acknowledges that its carrier strike program is one of the issues being examined as part of PR12 deliberations. The budget review was to have been finished already, but Defense Secretary Philip Hammond’s desire to balance outlay plans with available resources has caused delays as additional cuts are identified. The process is to be completed this month.
David Fulghum (Washington), Bill Sweetman (Washington)
As the U.S. reorients its forces to the Western Pacific, its strategy is already jeopardized by newly emerging cyberthreats as well as financial, personnel and technology shortages. For example, one key surveillance and targeting tool—the long-range, active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, which is installed in the U.S. Air Force's and Navy's best warplanes—is vulnerable to cyberattack.
LONDON — Israel Aerospace Industries’ ELTA unit has started exploring potential use of the Gulfstream G280 as an intelligence-collection platform, even as it presses ahead with work on the G550-based Multimission Airborne Reconnaissance Surveillance System (MARS2).
NEW DELHI — India will soon acquire a Hercules WC-130J aircraft and an unmanned aerial vehicle to ensure improved monitoring of cyclones, a senior government official says.
The U.S. Air Force has begun reducing the number of bases at which it plans to eventually house the new F-35 in an attempt to reduce the estimated life-cycle cost of the single-engine, stealthy fighter. Last year, the Pentagon disclosed an estimate of more than $1 trillion to operate the fighter for the next 50 years, raising significant concern from customers, including the U.S. Navy and Air Force. Since then, the services have been working to refine their plans to operate the jet in hopes of curbing operations and sustainment (O&S) cost.
NEW DELHI — India will induct its homegrown Akash surface-to-air missile (SAM) into the Indian air force (IAF) on March 3. “The Akash weapon system [AWS] was indigenously developed by [the] Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) as part of the integrated guided missile development program and is an all-weather, medium-range, surface-to-air missile system,” a defense ministry official says. “It provides multidirectional and multitarget area defense.”
As part of its effort to demonstrate technologies that are designed to allow unmanned aircraft to operate in commercial airspace, EADS is planning another flight-test campaign using its Barracuda unmanned aircraft technology demonstrator. The trial will take place at Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada, during the summer, says the head of flight guidance at EADS’s Cassidian defense unit. The company would not disclose the demonstration’s technology goals.
Citing concerns with the procurement process, the U.S. Air Force has canceled Sierra Nevada Corp.’s (SNC) $355 million contract to supply 20 Embraer AT-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft for operation by the Afghan air force. The decision to set aside the contract is a victory for Hawker Beechcraft (HBC), which took the Air Force to court after its offer of the AT-6 aircraft was disqualified, leaving SNC as the only bidder for the Light Air Support (LAS) program.
SINGAPORE — Japan has called on the U.S. to stick to the agreed-upon price to purchase Lockheed Martin F-35s or it may cancel its order. “Our position is [for the U.S.] to adhere to its proposed price,” Japan Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka told journalists in Tokyo. “We are strongly requesting this.” The ministry also said it has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Defense warning that if the price of F-35s increases dramatically, the procurement may be canceled.
LONDON — EADS Cassidian is exploring a more mobile version of its Spexer security surveillance radar, as well as a potential aerostat application of the system. The X-band radar family currently includes the Spexer 2000, a coastal surveillance version of the system, and the smaller Spexer 1000. A new member of the family will be launched this year that will weigh less and allow for greater mobility, says Stefan Jack, head of sales for security radars at Cassidian. The goal is also to add a lower-cost offering to the sensor family.
NEWPORT, Wales — EADS researchers are examining what the emerging threat from tactical high-energy lasers and high-power microwave weapons could mean for the company’s own systems. The question being asked is “What can we do to protect against those weapons?” says Aimo Buellte, vice president and head of research and technology at EADS Cassidian’s defense unit. “How do we harden our equipment” is the problem being looked at, he adds, with avionics, radar systems land and maritime systems.
The U.S. Air Force has cleared the F-35A for initial flights at Eglin AFB, Fla., kicking off a process that will eventually lead to airborne pilot training.
Singapore — Japan’s air force has a requirement for more aerial refueling tankers, while the navy is moving ahead with plans to phase out its NAMC YS-11 transports.
LONDON — As the U.K. works on balancing its defense budget between now and 2015, the Defense Ministry’s long-term assumptions will leave room to make program adjustments.
LONDON — Sweden needs to retain a fleet of at least 60-80 JAS-39 Gripen fighters, the country’s military has told the government in a new report. As part of the effort to retain the combat capability, modernization of the fighters should begin in 2020 and run through the next decade. The modernization will take place in partnership with another country, which the Swedish military has not identified. That partner would be Switzerland, after the country’s decision last year to acquire 22 Gripen NGs.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. Air Force is assessing whether the health of three UH-1Ns from the Marine Corps is suitable to introduce them — and as many as 22 more — into the nuclear support and executive lift helicopter fleet, says Lt. Gen. James Kowalski, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command.
LONDON — As part of its large border surveillance contract with Saudi Arabia’s government, EADS is considering the potential of using unmanned aircraft to monitor the vast desert. The thinking could lead to collaborative technology development with Saudi Arabia, says Aimo Buellte, vice president and head of research and technology at EADS Cassidian’s defense unit. An autonomous system may be the best method to monitor such a large area, he notes.
Antiship missiles and heavyweight torpedoes have been rarely used in combat against surface vessels in recent decades. But when they are, the result is so dramatic it rattles the nerves of navies everywhere, reminding them that cost-cutting in this area can be dangerous.
Indian Foreign Minister Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna's visit to Israel in January marked the arrival of the highest-ranking Indian official there in 11 years, and is all the more significant as the Indian governing coalition is now headed by the Congress Party, a faction that traditionally has paid close attention to Muslim sensitivities.
