Composites manufacturing is proliferating through the supply chain, but the technology is far from new. Carbon fiber was introduced into aircraft production in the 1970s, and it will have taken more than 40 years of researching, testing and scaling up to reach the levels of composites manufacturing expected when the Airbus A350, Boeing 787 and Lockheed Martin F-35 reach full-rate production.
Nearly four years into the Obama administration's initiative to reform U.S. export controls, the effort is on the verge of finally notching a significant victory. And yet, it seems almost as far as ever from achieving its ultimate goals.
As Thailand's military seeks to better monitor the country's borders and combat piracy, particularly in the south, it continues to work to boost its network-centric warfare capability. The trend makes Link-T, an indigenously developed data link, the potential linchpin for defense companies hoping to win aircraft contracts there. Avia Saab Technologies, a joint venture between Thai company Savia Satcom and Sweden's Saab, developed Link-T. It was born out of what Thai air force Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong refers to as “The Gripen Project.”
One side-effect of the uncertainties of defense spending is a shrinking of mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity as companies hoard cash rather than invest it. The phenomenon was evident in 2012 and is not limited to the U.S., an analysis by consultants PwC shows. Data extrapolated from the first quarter of this year shows an annual rate of just $6 billion in M&A activity in the aerospace & defense (A&D) sector worldwide compared to a 10-year average of $20 billion.
A U.S. Army-integrated upgrade for the Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior has entered flight-testing as the service surprised industry by declaring that no off-the-shelf (OTS) candidate can meet its requirements for the replacement Armed Aerial Scout (AAS).
As a U.S. Army-integrated upgrade for the Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior enters flight testing, the service has surprised industry by declaring that no off-the-shelf candidate can meet its requirements for the replacement Armed Aerial Scout (AAS). OH-58Ds modified to OH-58Fs under the cockpit and sensor upgrade program (Casup) are now expected to remain in service until 2036, beyond the originally planned 2025, pending an Army decision on whether and how to replace the aircraft.
High-speed vessel USNS HSV-2 Swift has completed testing of the TIF-25K unmanned blimp Aerostat and a Puma UAV and departed Key West, Fla., on May 1 for Operation Martillio, a Countering Transnational Organized Crime (C-TOC) mission in the U.S. 4th Fleet area of responsibility.
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Boeing X-51A Waverider demonstrator successfully achieved sustained, scramjet-powered, air-breathing hypersonic flight above Mach 5 in its final test flight on May 1.
The U.S. Coast Guard has awarded a $487 million, fixed-price, incentive-fee contract to the Ingalls Shipbuilding division of Huntington Ingalls Industries to build the sixth National Security Cutter (NSC) WMSL-755 Munro. Jim French, Ingalls’ NSC program manager, says, “The design/build plan is at a mature stage. We currently have two more ships under construction and expect to start NSC-6 in October.”
Oklahoma Republicans Rep. Frank Lucas and Sen. Jim Inhofe are seeking to curb ammunition purchases by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, after DHS’s bulk-buying “strategic sourcing” initiative triggered conspiracy theories online and in related news articles last year.
FlightSafety Services has beat out four competitors for a $78 million contract to provide training devices for the U.S. Air Force’s new KC-46 aerial refueler. The company won over Boeing, which is developing the KC-46, Lockheed Martin, CAE and L-3 Link Simulation and Training.
IN LIMBO: The budget uncertainty pervading Washington continues, and the Obama administration has not decided whether it will have to turn in an alternative budget for fiscal 2014 or work with Congress to make adjustments, should steep budget cuts aimed at reducing the deficit remain in effect next year. In part that is due to a debt-ceiling fight that was expected to occur this summer but is now likely to be pushed into the fall, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters this week.
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) is getting the jitters as Indian government negotiations with France’s Dassault on the contract to buy 126 Rafale fighters drag on, with no indications that they are anywhere near complete. Significant contractual issues remain before the talks on the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) can be finished, and in the meantime, national politics could also interfere.
LONDON — Mark King, president of Rolls-Royce’s Aerospace division, is leaving the company just four months after assuming the role. King, who has been with the company since 1986, reportedly has cited personal reasons for his departure. Rolls in a May 2 statement says King “has decided to resign.” King will be replaced on May 13 by Tony Wood, who currently is president of the Marine Engines division.
The U.S. State Department says Raytheon will pay $4 million in civil penalties and another $4 million to make remedial self-improvements to resolve “hundreds” of civil violations of the Arms Export Control Act and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
The old proverb warns about a war being lost for want of a nail, but in U.S. Navy circles the concern is about fasteners — either a lack or surplus of them. Naval Sea Systems Command (Navsea) completed a fleet-wide fastener study earlier this month, identifying and recommending the removal of thousands of fasteners from the Navy supply system.
BEIJING — China is developing four high-bypass turbofans, only two of which were previously known. All four have potential military and civil applications. Work at Shenyang on a high-bypass turbofan in the 30,000-lb. class and suitable for large transport aircraft was already known, along with development of the similarly sized CJ-1000 engine for the C919 commercial aircraft.
As much as the U.S. Navy depends on its destroyer fleet now for a host of missions, the service will expect even more from its ships once they are outfitted with the proposed air-and-missile-defense radar (AMDR) suite to perform integrated missile defense, according to Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations. Keeping the right mix between the cruiser and destroyer fleets is important now, Greenert says. “We need 88 large-surface combatants — cruisers and destroyers,” he testified last week before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The U.S. Navy is considering buying 12 Seabird SB7L-360A Seeker light single-engine observation aircraft with electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) sensors and downlink systems for the Government of Yemen. According to a draft statement of work published April 30, the project is being managed by the Navy’s Counter Networks and Illicit Trafficking Project Office, which works with U.S. partner nations to “deter criminal and terrorist networks and illicit trafficking activities” and tackle “rapid response and irregular warfare challenges” anywhere in the world.
