SINGAPORE — While recent Pentagon reports have highlighted the strides made by the Chinese in developing anti-ship ballistic missiles, the way the U.S. Navy operates in that part of the world remains essentially the same, says Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations (CNO). “It hasn’t affected the way we operate in the region,” Greenert said during a May 14 media briefing at the International Maritime and Defense Exhibition (Imdex) Asia 2013.
Initial results of a new study into how to enable U.S. air dominance over a peer adversary in the 2040-50 timeframe will be briefed to Pentagon and service leadership in early summer. Work on the study began in January, led by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) and involving weekly meetings with senior Air Force and Navy personnel. The study aligns with Darpa’s belief that layering of technologies rather than single breakthroughs will be required to provide the capabilities needed to meet future defense challenges.
Saab is ready to put its V-200 Skeldar vertical-lift unmanned aircraft into production after testing an improved vehicle, with active bids in play and other requirements in the pipeline. The biggest active pursuit is a U.S. State Department procurement of UAVs for U.S. embassy security. “We expect a decision any day,” says Brian Lawrence, senior vice president for marketing and sales in North America.
MARKUPS BEGIN: The House Armed Services Committee will hold its first markup hearings this week on the fiscal 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1960). The subcommittees on strategic forces; intelligence, emerging threats and capabilities; seapower and projection forces; and military personnel will convene on May 22. The tacair and readiness subcommittees meet on May 23. The full HASC committee markup on the bill is scheduled for June 5.
NEW DELHI — Russia’s Rosoboronexport has proposed starting licensed production of its Ka-226T helicopter in India if it wins the contract to supply 197 reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters to the country’s military. “We are increasing exports both by deepening the relationship with traditional partners and expanding the geography of sales,” says Grigory Kozlov, head of helicopter exports at Rosoboronexport. “In particular, in India, where we are bidding the Ka-226T.
The U.S. Navy is seeking up to 90,000 gal. of alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) fuel to conduct testing and certification for use in naval aircraft. To be awarded in June, the contract will be another step along the path towards the Navy’s plan of meeting 50% of its fuel needs from alternative sources by 2020. The solicitation calls for delivery of 20,000 gal. of ATJ-5 fuel by September, with options for two further 10,000-gal. batches by January and March 2014 and up to another 50,000 gal. by March 2015. This will represent a significant scale-up in ATJ production.
With a record flight of more than 48 hr. on fuel-cell power under its belt, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is looking at how to transition its Ion Tiger unmanned aircraft from an experimental vehicle to a tactical system. The 35-lb. Ion Tiger completed a 48-hr., 1-min. flight on April 16-18 with an electric fuel-cell propulsion system using liquid hydrogen stored in a cryogenic tank. The aircraft flew for 26 hr., 2 min. in 2009 using compressed gaseous hydrogen.
Air traffic controllers have guided an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) through U.K. airspace for the first time as part of the Astraea project. The Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation & Assessment (Astraea) program was launched in 2006 to look at how unmanned aircraft could be integrated into airspace shared with other air traffic.
The Pentagon's ad hoc review of roles, missions and spending, due this month, will propose significant savings outside of the armed services, while tackling health care costs and services held dear by the active-duty personnel and veterans. But the review will deepen the ongoing weapons program alignment around the U.S. military's pivot to the Asia-Pacific region.
There was a full demonstration of unmanned, autonomous takeoff, landing and deck movement on the USS George Bush on May 14, courtesy of a sleek, well-fed urban pigeon. The white-jacketed safety crew caused a flurry on the deck as they tried to surround it. Standard operating procedure, I suspect, would have involved termination with extreme prejudice (which, as Tom Lehrer informed us, is not against any religion) but media presence complicated matters, as it usually does.
Republicans, who control the U.S. House of Representatives, and other supporters of Taiwan here have mounted a fresh push to persuade the White House to allow sales of advanced fighters to the island.
What a difference a decade makes. In 2000, China's labor rates were a fraction of those for U.S. workers, the dollar was strong, oil prices were relatively low, and the promise of access to the Chinese market had manufacturers hopping to get into China.
For an organization that exists to think decades ahead to prevent technology surprise and enable military superiority, the future for U.S. national security looks particularly uncertain to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa).
SINGAPORE — Viking Air is developing a new surveillance variant of its Twin Otter Guardian 400 for the international market. The Canadian company has sold surveillance variants of the Twin Otter 400 before, but Joar Gronlund, non-executive director of Viking partner Field Aviation, argues the previous ones were really customized aircraft, and that Viking Air has decided to have a more standardized variant to make it easier and more cost-effective to support the aircraft later on.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has achieved its third successful test of the Raytheon SM-3 IB interceptor as well as its first flight demonstration of a new ballistic missile target designed by Lockheed Martin.
