PARIS — Absent government backing, Dassault Aviation of France and Britain’s BAE Systems have shelved plans to jointly develop a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAV. But the two companies are forging ahead with the definition phase of a future unmanned combat air system (UCAS) demo that French government officials say could fly before the end of the decade.
SINGAPORE — Australian satellite operator NewSat acknowledges that one of the pitfalls in securing business from Australia’s defense department and other national militaries is that if NewSat were to ever be sold to a foreign party, Australia’s military may take issue.
LAUNCH FAILURE: When it comes to the space launch marketplace, Americans are too busy fighting themselves while losing ground to Russia and other countries in the global sector, says a key author of the Obama administration’s 2010 National Space Policy.
“This is a full-steam ahead transition, not a course correction. There is no change in direction,” says Kelly Ortberg, president of Rockwell Collins and the successor to CEO Clay Jones when he retires at the end of next month after 34 years. Jones was named president in 1999, and became CEO in 2001 after leading Rockwell through its initial public offering.
With tightening defense budgets and no concrete plan to develop a pan-European unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), France hopes to purchase U.S. General Atomics MQ-9 Reapers to meet urgent surveillance needs while forging ahead with a Franco-U.K. unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) development.
Aerospace companies in Europe are touting the operational experience of the Eurofighter, Gripen and Rafale since the 49th International Paris Air Show in 2011, seeking to secure exports in emerging markets that could sustain production despite declining government spending, and a potential end to manufacturing lines this decade.
Canada's acquisitions of search-and-rescue (SAR) aircraft and naval helicopters have been dogged by delays, but the country's defense minister appears confident that progress is impending.
While the Paris static line will be dominated by major U.S. and European companies and their big-ticket programs, indoor exhibits and a good deal of discussion will revolve around the increasing globalization of the industry. While the big four—Europe and the U.S., and Brazil and Canada on the regional side—continue to fend off competition in the commercial world, the defense market may be more fluid.
In the latest in a string of high-profile defense-industry corruption cases, a European official is charged with trying to pay bribes to prevent his company, Rheinmetall Air Defense (RAD), from landing on India's blacklist, where it was placed after a previous alleged instance of corruption.
The most lethal-looking U.S. aircraft on the Paris flight line this week is the Iomax Archangel, a heavily armed Thrush 710P crop-duster. There are two large airlifters on show but neither is from the U.S.
There are not many aircraft like Grumman's S-2 Tracker. Built for carrier-borne anti-submarine operations, the aircraft was envisaged for the rough-and-tumble of life in a hostile environment.
Though the U.S. Air Force remains at odds with Congress over its plans to prematurely terminate the Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk Block 30 program, the service is making plans to deploy its younger cousin, the high-flying Block 40 aircraft, as soon as possible to support the war in Afghanistan.
The government of Niger is to extent a contract with French training provider DCI beyond the six pilots currently undergoing ab-initio training with the company
Roger Carr has been selected to take over from Dick Olver as chairman of the BAE Systems board. Carr, who is currently chairman of the Centrica energy company and was until recently president of the Confederation of British Industry, will join the board on Oct. 1 and succeed Olver in the first quarter of 2014. According to the company, Carr was a “unanimous choice” and his appointment had been “warmly endorsed by the entire board.”
As the weight of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) continues to be a major concern, top program officials are considering throttling back on the top speed requirements that have driven LCS development thus far, a recent draft U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says. Rethinking the speed of LCS could involve a major propulsion plant redesign. Eliminating key engines that now provide the ships’ top speed would add payload space but make the ship ultimately slower, GAO says.
