LONDON — The German government is set to face a capability gap in its airborne intelligence gathering when it exits the billion-dollar Euro Hawk program. The German defense ministry is expected to announce to the defense committee of the German government on May 15 that it plans to exit the program over fears that the unmanned Euro Hawk aircraft — a variant of the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk — would not be certified to fly in European airspace, press reports have suggested.
LONDON — U.K.-based general aviation specialist Patriot Aerospace has purchased British International Helicopters (BIH). The deal, announced May 13, will make Patriot the U.K.'s largest domestically owned helicopter operator. Terms of the agreement were not revealed, although according to Patriot, Newquay-based BIH will become an integrated part of Patriot Group, which also includes Veritair and London Helicopter Centers.
CYBER CRACKDOWN: A bipartisan group of senior defense hawks in the U.S. Senate is pushing a bill to try to fight foreign cyberespionage of U.S. commercial data and knowledge. The Deter Cyber Theft Act of 2013 would require the director of national intelligence to develop watch lists of foreign countries, their state-run entities and individuals who engage in economic or industrial espionage in cyberspace for U.S. trade secrets or proprietary information.
ROME — Alenia Aermacchi has lost its second of three pre-production prototypes of the M346 transonic trainer in a crash over the weekend. The lone pilot ejected safely and no one on the ground was hurt. Company officials declined to answer questions, but said in a statement that the cause is a “technical problem” that occurred about 20 min. after takeoff from Turin-Caselle airport. The crash site is in Val Bormida, between the provinces of Cuneo and Savona, company officials say.
Turkish missile manufacturer Roketsan has signed up to cooperate on the development and supply of Diehl Defense’s Interactive Defense and Attack System for Submarines (IDAS) missile system. The two companies, along with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, signed an agreement at the IDEF defense show in Istanbul on May 9.
ARMY The Boeing Co., Mesa, Ariz., was awarded a $26,067,485 modification (P00007), to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, foreign military sales (FMS) contract W58RGZ-12-C-0089, for training and support of the Apache Block III helicopter program. This FMS contract is in support of Saudi Arabia. The cumulative total face value of this contract is $216,229,550. Fiscal 2013 procurement funds are being obligated on this award. The Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
Raytheon has begun guided flight tests of an interceptor being developed for the U.S. Army under an accelerated effort to field a system to counter rocket, artillery and mortar (RAM) threats. The company has announced completion of two control test vehicle (CTV) flights under the Accelerated Improved Intercept Initiative (AI3) program and has moved into guided tests.
With little incentive for prospective competitors to exceed the baseline requirements, the restaged contest for the VXX presidential helicopter replacement is expected to come down to the same two contenders as the original competition: the AgustaWestland AW101 and Sikorsky S-92. If the aircraft are the same, the teams are slightly different this time around. Northrop Grumman will prime any AW101 bid and Sikorsky has teamed with Lockheed Martin, which won the first VXX competition with a U.S. version of the AW101, the VH-71A, beating out the S-92.
SINGAPORE — There is little doubt about what is the star of the show at this year’s International Maritime and Defense Exhibition (Imdex) Asia 2013 – the buzz is clearly all about the first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1), the USS Freedom. From the huge billboard featuring Freedom’s picture on the road heading into the Changi Exhibition Center to the media board plastered with photographs and stories about the vessel’s arrival to the region, LCS is casting a long, large shadow.
ARMY Goodrich Pump and Engine Control Systems, West Hartford, Conn., is being awarded a firm-fixed-price, multiyear contract with a maximum value of $47,957,667 for the procurement of a maximum of 1,500 fuel controls applicable to the CH-47 helicopter. Fiscal 2013 procurement funds in the amount of $2,364,200 are being obligated on this award. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-13-D-0126). NAVY
The U.S. Army has concluded the path forward for its Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) requirement is either a service life-extension program (SLEP) for the Bell OH-58D/F Kiowa Warrior or a new development program. After evaluating five off-the-shelf AAS candidates, “we did not find a single aircraft out there that could meet Army requirements,” said Lt. Gen. William Phillips, principal military deputy for acquisition, testifying before Congress May 8.
LONDON — The U.K. government’s decision to revert back to the short takeoff and vertical landing (Stovl) variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter cost £74 million ($114 million), according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO). In its May 10 report, “Carrier Strike: The 2012 Reversion Decision,” the NAO looked at the issues surrounding the government’s decision to go with the conventional carrier landing version of the F-35, the F-35C, before going back to the Stovl aircraft in summer 2012.
LOS ANGELES — U.S. Air Force efforts to improve space systems acquisition are showing clear dividends in terms of enhanced operations and cost savings, according to Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski.
Bell Helicopter is finalizing the design of its new Bell 525, a medium-lift helicopyter due for first flight in 2014. The U.S. helicopter maker has completed much of the detailed design, says Bell Helicopter’s chief engineer on the 525 program, David King. “We have been releasing detailed designs for a six month period now … and this month we are having a batch of critical design reviews (CDR),” he said. CDR is one of the final steps before the program moves into “build phase,” he says.
Bell Helicopter is finalizing the design of its new Bell 525, a medium-lift helicopter in development that is due for first flight in 2014. The U.S. helicopter maker has completed much of the detailed design, says Bell Helicopter’s chief engineer on the 525 program, David King. “We have been releasing detailed designs for a six-month period now … and this month we are having a batch of critical design reviews (CDR),” he said. CDR is one of the final steps before the program moves into “build phase,” he says.
Developing the right kind of technology and gathering the proper intelligence are becoming major factors in defeating maritime mines. But the possibility of non-state terrorists gaining access to mines makes the mission even more difficult.
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) has invited eight global aerospace companies to bid for co-producing 56 medium transport aircraft to replace its aging fleet of Hawker Siddeley HS 748s originally built under license by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). The deal mandates that the first 16 aircraft will be directly procured in flyaway condition from the chosen vendor, which will then have to partner with an Indian company that will manufacture the remaining 40. Out of those 40, 16 must comprise 30% indigenous components, while 24 must contain 60%.
ISTANBUL — Turkish defense electronics manufacturer Aselsan is awaiting a production contract for its new targeting pod, which will replace the Turkish air force’s (THK) Lantirn designator pods.
U.S. Air Force officials are confident that the RL10B-2 upper-stage engine for the Delta IV rocket, which has been grounded since an anomaly last fall, will perform nominally in boosting the fifth Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) satellite May 22 from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Air Force Space Command chief Gen. William Shelton launched an accident investigation board following the anomaly, when lower-than-expected thrust was detected by the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RL10B-2 during a Delta IV launch of Boeing’s third GPS IIF satellite on Oct. 8, 2012.
