The U.S. Marine Corps plans to declare initial operational capability (IOC) with the F-35B in late 2015, says Commandant Gen. James Amos. The Marines are the first customer slated to declare IOC, and as such are willing to use the 2B software package, which allows for a limited flight envelope and limited weapons carriage, in the short term. A more expansive 3F software release is slated for 2017.
Alenia Aermacchi, General Dynamics Canada and DRS Technologies Canada have firmed up their teaming agreement on the C-27J Spartan as Canada prepares to release the long-awaited draft request for proposals (RFP) for new search-and-rescue aircraft. Under the agreement, GD Canada would act as mission system integrator if the C-27J is selected for the Fixed-Wing Search And Rescue (FWSAR) program. Alenia would be prime contractor and supply green aircraft to be modified, missionized and supported by GD in Atlantic Canada.
Carrier-based flight trials of the U.S. Navy’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator (UCAS-D) aboard the USS George H.W. Bush were briefly brought to a halt last week due to an unlikely frequency-sharing issue between the air vehicle and officials of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is trying to fix a problem with a faulty weather satellite.
MOSCOW — The Russian military continues its rearmament effort, with a plan to buy its first amphibious aircraft in decades. The Russian Defense Ministry placed an order on May 24 with Taganrog-based Beriev company for six Be-200s. The contract’s value is 8.4 billion rubles ($269 million), and deliveries are to be completed by the end of 2016.
Bristow has predicted it will not see its fleet of Eurocopter EC225 helicopters return to service before the first quarter of 2014. While posting its fourth-quarter earnings last week, the company said progress in Eurocopter’s probe to discover what caused two EC225s to ditch in the North Sea in 2012 was encouraging, but that it would not rush its aircraft back into operation.
U.S. ARMY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., was awarded a $135,822,257 modification (P00067), to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, foreign-military-sales contract (W58RGZ-12-C-0008), for the procurement of Navy MH-60R green aircraft in support of Denmark. The cumulative total face value of this contract is $4,955,310,889. Fiscal 2013 Procurement funds are being obligated on this award. The Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
LOS ANGELES — As it nears the delivery of the 100th production standard F135 engine for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Pratt & Whitney has been awarded a $1 billion low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract for the fifth lot of engines.
NEW DELHI — India is considering the purchase of more than a dozen amphibious US-2 aircraft, developed by ShinMaywa Industries of Japan, for both military and civilian services. Designed for air-sea rescue missions, the US-2 is operated by the 31st Fleet Air Wing of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and could be the first Japanese aircraft offered to the Indian defense and civilian market.
LONDON — The U.K. Cabinet Office says several major defense programs are in danger of being unachievable or may need to be rescoped in order to stay on track.
Despite continued operational hiccups and maintenance issues associated with the ship’s coolant system since arriving in Singapore, the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom is still expected to participate in the regional Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training 2013 (Carat ’13), says U.S. Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Clayton Doss.
PENTAGON HACKED: A Defense Science Board report is warning that designs for 29 major Pentagon weapons systems have been breached by Chinese hackers, according to the Washington Post. But the Defense Department disputes the notion that the intrusions on everything from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to the V-22 Osprey and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile have hampered their effectiveness. “We maintain full confidence in our weapons platforms,” said Pentagon Press Secretary George Little in a statement.
U.S. ARMY The Boeing Co., Mesa, Ariz., was awarded a $69,227,561 modification (P00008), to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, foreign-military-sales (FMS) contract (W58RGZ-12-C-0089), for the procurement of Apache Block III aircraft and associated parts and services. This FMS contract is in support of Saudi Arabia. The total cumulative face value of this contract is $259,389,626. The Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
Large aerospace and defense (A&D) companies are getting out in front of government budget cuts by cutting costs, shedding excess capacity and trimming their workforces, and the payoff has been higher profit margins, according to the new results from Aviation Week’s Top-Performing Companies study.
NEW DELHI — Russia has made a veiled threat that it may stop bidding for Indian military contracts, complaining that some procurements seem to have been engineered for predetermined outcomes. Undermined by fierce competition from U.S. and European defense companies on several deals in the Indian arms market in the past few years, Russia feels, “Sometimes, terms of tenders are crafted specifically to get the required results.”
SINGAPORE — The defense community needs to better employ technology to meet the long-term ebb and flow of military shipbuilding, says Chan Yeng Kit, the permanent secretary for defense development for Singapore.
LONDON — Spain is preparing to make cuts to several aircraft procurement programs as it aims to post more savings in the face of the European economic downturn. Several Spanish news outlets are reporting that the country’s ministry of defense is planning substantial cuts to the Eurofighter, Airbus Military A400M transport aircraft, Tiger attack helicopter and NH90 utility helicopter procurements in a bid to save €4 billion ($5.2 billion) on major weapons programs.
TEL AVIV — Syria’s efforts to modernize its air defenses are increasing the threat of a conflict suddenly erupting between Israel and its enemies, according to Israel’s air force chief, Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel.
Recent international maritime countermine exercises highlight the benefits of unmanned vehicles for those types of missions, military naval officials say, but the underlying tactics for such work remain the same. Unmanned systems and their accompanying technology are making it possible for naval countermine operations to continue for much longer, continuous periods of time. “The biggest benefit [is] they’re much more persistent,” says Vice Adm. John Miller, commander of U.S. Navy Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces.
The U.S. Navy successfully completed tests of the Block 2 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) earlier this month at the service’s Pacific Missile Test Range. Missiles were launched May 10 from a Self Defense Test Ship operated by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme and intercepted turbojet-powered targets emulating enemy anti-ship cruise missiles. The Navy completed another test May 12, successfully firing two more missiles.
