Issues surrounding battery use are becoming critical as forces add more electronic gear to their loads. Chief among these are the amount of batteries needed for deployments, their service life and cost. Evgentech of Norcross, Ga., has developed a method of recharging batteries for personal electronics and other equipment that CEO Jackie Hutter says significantly reduces charge time and extends cycle life, thereby getting batteries back in use faster and potentially reducing the number needed.
Unmanned aircraft may have garnered the headlines since 9/11, but unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) are expected to become equally standard tools for most advanced armies around the world in coming decades. While obvious applications like route clearance and cargo transport spring to mind, nascent Italian technologies indicate that UGV roles and missions could become as diverse as the imagination allows when it comes to terrestrial crawlers.
The top military officers in the U.S. Air Force and Army have signed a memorandum of agreement that outlines how the Air Force will provide direct airlift support to deployed Army units, an issue that had been a concern for some officers in light of a Pentagon decision to terminate the C-27J that was specifically purchased for that mission.
“Fitted for but not with” is not a popular phrase with sailors. The idea of building a warship with only space and power reserves for important systems is attractive to budget managers, but it can leave navies facing sudden wars with weak and vulnerable ships. Yet when such ships' reserves are put to good use, the result can be a remarkable transformation. Australia's eight Anzac-class frigates are becoming a model example of that, as Canberra moves ahead with the next stage of their upgrade program.
Airbus Military could be one of the main beneficiaries of the Singapore air force's next round of procurements. Singapore has at the top of its procurement list aerial refueling tankers, strategic airlifters and anti-submarine warfare fixed-wing aircraft, purchases that will see that the island continues to be, for the next few years at least, the biggest spender on new defense equipment in Southeast Asia.
British troops at forward operating bases and other outposts in Afghanistan now have fast access to fuel for generators and other equipment, due to the development of flexible air-transportable containers that resemble huge circular bladders. The Air Portable Fuel Container Mk 5 was designed and fabricated by GKN Aerospace of Portsmouth, England, in a five-year, £2 million ($3.1 million) deal with the U.K. Defense Ministry. The containers are made of rubber and DuPont's Kevlar aramid fiber—the latter for ballistic and impact protection.
NEW DELHI and LONDON — The Indian government has named Dassault Aviation’s Rafale offering ahead of the Eurofighter Typhoon as the “lowest bidder” in the competition to supply at least 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) to the Indian air force. The development effectively means Rafale has won the $11 billion competition unless contractual talks now due to unfold in the coming months derail and prevent a deal from being signed. Industrial offset and other details still need to be worked out.
At one level, the end of 2011 brought good news for Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter program, which for the first time was performing test flights and delivering aircraft on schedule—albeit a new schedule that was announced at the beginning of the year. Japan also selected the JSF as its next fighter aircraft, planning a long-term program of co-production and changing its policies to allow Japanese-made parts to be exported.
U.S. researchers are developing a program that will predict potential threats from employees of government agencies and defense contractors by detecting behavioral anomalies. Goals include detection before the fact of individuals planning workplace violence, espionage or other harmful activities. Researchers, supported by Darpa and the U.S. Army Research Lab, and led by Science Applications International Corp., are assembling the Anomaly Detection at Multiple Scales (Adams) system.
Over the next decade, the international market should produce about 5,500 main battle tanks worth more than $24 billion, according to a new analysis from the Forecast International Weapons Group.
AIR FORCE Raytheon Co., Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $17,424,398 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide test integration of software to enhance the system performance of the AIM 120D missile. The location of the performance is Tucson. The work is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2013. AAC/EBAK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity (FA8675-090C-0201 P00013).
LONDON — The Australian government is assessing how U.S. plans to reduce near-term F-35 purchases and mothball the C-27J Joint Cargo Aircraft may impact its own procurement plans. Following last week’s Pentagon announcement that the pace of F-35 purchases was under scrutiny, Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith says, “We will now give consideration to whether the timetable for the purchase of those 12 Joint Strike Fighters should occur on the same timetable.”
The U.S. Navy’s only major satellite program, which is designed to provide unprecedented Ultra-High Frequency satellite communications to military personnel around the globe, has so far slipped through the round of fiscal 2013 budget cuts unscathed despite some development shortcomings. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Jan 26 that he was terminating the Air Force’s Defense Weather Satellite System because it was “premature to need.”
PARIS — Eurocopter delivered the first operational NH90 Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) to the DGA French armaments agency on Jan. 30 for use by the French army air corps, the company announced. France has ordered 34 TTHs and is expected to exercise an option this year to purchase an additional 34 as the army gradually replaces its fleet of SA 330 Pumas.
Fifteen new Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters, some of which are participating in the flight testing so critical to moving the troubled Joint Strike Fighter program forward, have been grounded owing to improper loading of parachutes in their ejection seats.
The U.S. Navy has already altered its Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ship, LCS-1, to address problems uncovered in testing, but the ship still needs to be fundamentally redesigned, say leading defense analysts. They base their conclusions on briefings from the Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) revealing findings of Navy and industry reports detailing the vessel’s hull and deckhouse cracking and engine problems. AWIN was given exclusive access to the documents.
LONDON — The U.K. Defense Ministry has launched the development of the Sea Ceptor ship-based short-range air defense system intended to equip the future Type 26 Global Combat Ship and also modernize the in-service Type 23 frigates starting in 2016. MBDA has received a 483 million pound ($759 million) system demonstration phase contract to work on the system, also called the Future Local Area Air Defense System. Sea Ceptor is being designed to destroy aircraft and supersonic anti-ship missiles, including saturation attacks.
LONDON — The Hungarian government has extended its lease of Gripen fighters until at least 2026. The move comes as the Czech Republic, another Gripen user, considers its course of action, with air force officials suggesting they, too, would like to remain committed to Saab’s single-engine fighter. Prague is due to make a decision this year on how to sustain its fighter capacity after 2015.
U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin officials contest the findings of service and contractor reports from last year indicating that the cracking and engine problems on the Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) were far worse than the program initially acknowledged, and say those issues have been fixed. The Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) was granted exclusive access to the reports, which service officials say they do not know about and could be outdated.
