A replacement for the E-8C Joint Stars and the aging T-38 trainer are the next priorities under the sacred top three – the F-35 fighter, KC-46 tanker and next-generation bomber – for the U.S. Air Force, according to its top officer. Gen. Mark Welsh, chief of staff of the service, said a next-generation ground moving target indicator (GMTI) fleet and T-X would fall just under the top three – in that order – if funding is available in the forthcoming fiscal 2015 budget.
France has taken delivery of the first copy in the fourth tranche of Rafale production aircraft, French defense procurement agency DGA has announced. All 60 of the Dassault-built fighters are equipped with updated sensors, including RBE2 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, next-generation missile launch detector capability and an identification and telemetry optronics suite. Rafale is the first European combat aircraft in service to incorporate the Thales-built AESA radar technology, offering considerably improved detection range.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) plans to seek industry interest next month in an Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) which will be capable of delivering a payload up to 5,000 lb. to space for less than $5 million per launch.
India is likely to sign a deal to purchase six additional C-130J air lifters from the U.S. in the current financial year, which ends March 31, 2014. The Defense Acquisition Council, under the Ministry of Defense, has cleared the purchase of the Lockheed Martin-built medium transport aircraft under a government-to-government foreign military sale agreement worth more than $1 billion.
Navy officials are expected to report back to Congress by the end of this month on a plan for their strategy to address requirements for a next-generation anti-ship missile. At issue is whether and how the service will proceed with buying a new anti-ship missile capable of operating inside enemy ship defenses and without cues from the GPS system.
Sweden’s Maritime Administration (SMA) has taken delivery of the first of seven new AgustaWestland AW139s ordered for search and rescue. The aircraft were ordered in October 2012. They will replace several Sikorsky S-76s, operating in the same role from bases at Ronneby, Visby, Gothenburg, Norrtäljegatan and Umeå. The state-owned operator inherited the S-76s after the Swedish government nationalized private operator Norrlandsflyg, which flew the aircraft on SAR and air ambulance duties on behalf of the agency.
The U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) is ending its association with the Vickers VC10 airliner this week, 47 years after the type entered service. The previous two VC10 tankers, Nos. ZA147 and ZA150, flew their last operational sorties on Sept. 20 with a farewell tour of U.K. airfields before returning to their home base at RAF Brize Norton. Designed during the 1950s, the four-engine airliner was built to operate from hot and high airfields to support services flown by British Overseas Airlines Corp.
Think “ram-air turbine,” and the pop-out propeller providing emergency power on an airliner comes to mind, or the air-driven prop powering the ALQ-99 jamming pod on a Boeing EA-18G Growler. But what if huge amounts of power are needed, for electronic attack, long-range sensors or directed-energy weapons—and not just in emergencies, but across the flight envelope?
BAE Systems’ Digital Electronic Warfare System (DEWS) has been installed on a Boeing F-15SA Strike Eagle, and flight tests should start shortly, BAE says. DEWS is the first new U.S.-developed EW system to be installed on the F-15 since the program started, replacing the Northrop Grumman ALQ-135. It is being developed for Saudi Arabia and is part of Boeing’s Silent Eagle package on offer to South Korea.
The U.S. Air Force is considering the premature retirement of the KC-10 tanker, C-5A strategic transports and some C-130s from its mobility fleet as officials search for ways to reduce spending in accordance with the Budget Act. The only cargo and transport platforms not under scrutiny for reductions are the C-17, the last of which was delivered last week, and the upgraded C-5M, says Gen. Paul Selva, who heads Air Mobility Command.
The U.S. Navy awarded Boeing’s Insitui unit a $300 million fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract this week for hardware and operational and maintenance services in support of the ScanEagle Unmanned Aerial Systems operated by the U.S. Special Operations Command.
Turkish missile manufacturer Roketsan has begun developing a variant of its Stand-Off Missile (SOM) that is compatible with the weapons bay of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The 1,345-lb. SOM-J, developed in conjunction with TUBI˙TAK-Sage, Turkey’s Scientific and Technological Research Council, will be the fourth variant of the Turkish indigenous weapon family, which was developed to meet the long-range strike requirements of the country’s air force.
A raft of large U.S.-India military deals worth billions of dollars are nearing completion and likely to be culminated in the next few weeks. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is preparing to arrive in Washington on an official visit starting Sept. 27, on the heels of a visit to India by U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. And negotiations on pending acquisitions are in full swing. Top Indian defense ministry sources indicate one or more contracts could be finalized during Singh’s visit.
The Pentagon is continuing to keep BAE’s work crafting an alternate F-35 helmet on the side burner, though program officials indicate they are lining up in support of fixes designed to improve the performance of the primary helmet manufactured by Vision Systems International. F-35 Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan has not, however, taken the step to sole-source the work to VSI, a joint venture of Rockwell Collins and Elbit, in hopes that even the specter of competition will drive down the helmet’s cost.
U.S. military weapons systems and services acquisition will be slashed this decade across the armed services if the full effect of the 2011 budget law and its annual, widespread automatic budget cuts occur – as now expected.
