LONDON — Eurocopter has extended a deadline for the French government to buy an additional 34 NH90 helicopters for the country’s army. The government ordered 68 NH90 Tactical Transport Helicopters (TTH) in 2007 to replace the Army’s aging fleet of Puma utility helicopters. The order would be delivered in two batches.
The Brazilian air force has taken part in its first NATO exercise, deploying one of its new Lockheed P-3AM Orions to Scotland. An Orion and a crew from the Brazilian air force’s 1°/7° GAV unit based in Salvador deployed to RAF Lossiemouth in Northern Scotland for Exercise Joint Warrior, a major land, air, and sea exercise held April 15-26. The Brazilian crew worked alongside maritime patrol crews from other nations including France, Canada and the U.S., providing the top cover for surface vessels and assisting them in anti-submarine warfare exercises.
The strength of Boeing Defense, Space & Security’s first-quarter performance surprised analysts as the company continues to weather the downturn in U.S. spending with success in cybersecurity, UAVs, space and intelligence and reconnaissance accounts. While first-quarter revenues at Boeing Defense, Space & Security were $8.1 billion, off 1% from a year ago, operating margins climbed 1.3 percentage points to 10.3%, signaling continued strength in international markets fueled partly by concerns over rogue states.
DEFENSE DEFENDED: Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, the bipartisan co-chairs of the failed-but-popular 2010 presidential deficit-cutting commission, are offering up a new plan to try to help Washington reach a grand budget bargain that would halve the cut the defense sector expects to see compared with sequestration. Sequestration would cut around $450 billion from previously planned spending over a decade (on top of a $487 billion reduction implemented when the Act was passed).
The U.S. Air Force should be able to maintain 65 combat air patrols with Predator and Reaper UAVs by May 2014, according to Lt. Gen. Larry James, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
STEM MYTHS: The academic thorns in the side of aerospace and defense industry boosters calling for government help in promoting so-called STEM initiatives are back with more research they hope counters a drive to grow high-skill guest worker programs. Hal Salzman of Rutgers, Daniel Kuehn of American University and B. Lindsay Lowell of Georgetown University say in a new study that, contrary to many industry claims, U.S. colleges and universities provide an ample supply of highly qualified science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates.
U.S. Navy officials say their Air & Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) still will provide every bit of the protection initially envisioned, even with recently proposed changes meant to help reduce cost and risk. “This price tag will get us the same radar system,” says Capt. Doug Small, AMDR program manager. “It’s not ‘lightened’ at all. It’s the same system.”
Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall says the cost-per-flying-hour estimate for the F-35A recently provided by the stealthy fighter’s program executive officer to The Netherlands is lower than the official figure that will go next month to Congress. U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan told Dutch lawmakers that the flying hour cost for the F-35A would be about 10% higher than the F-16, a sharp reduction from earlier assessments.
The U.S. Navy’s program manager for its Flight III DDG-51 Arleigh Burke destroyer says only “moderate modifications” will be needed for the ships to accommodate the service’s planned Air & Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), despite concerns among some analysts that integrating the radar, other systems or weapon advancements could prove cost-prohibitive. “We’ve been able to retire risks,” says Capt. Mark Vandroff, Navy program manager. “We now have a better idea of the need for power and cooling. That’s allowed me to change the estimate on the ship.
LONDON — Boeing will use BAE Systems’ fifth-generation active inceptor control technology as part of its work to boost the performance of the CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter. The company selected BAE to develop the Active Parallel Actuator Subsystem (APAS) onto both the CH-47F and the MH-47G helicopters. The move represents the first time the active inceptor technology has been used on a non-fly-by-wire aircraft.
ATLANTA — Drawdowns and the sequester will suppress the North American military aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul market for the next 10 years, and providers will have to look at the North American market as a large but declining base from which to address growth in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, Aviation Week’s latest military MRO forecast suggests.
A three-person team has won the first challenge in a U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) crowd-design competition to accelerate the development of an amphibious combat vehicle. The Ground Systems team, comprising individuals in Ohio, Texas and California, won the $1 million mobility/drivetrain design competition launched in January under Darpa’s Fast Adaptable Next-Generation Ground Vehicle (FANG) program.
The lack of a more comprehensive U.S. plan for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) efforts and acquisitions — coupled with the effects of sequestration — is making it difficult to develop and monitor ISR programs, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). ISR issues will continue to be an area of concern for Congress, CRS says in a recent report, “Especially in light of the lack of a long-term investment strategy and the pending impact of sequestration.”
U.S. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley says the service does not plan to adjust its purchasing plans for the F-35A to make up for the projected higher cost of maintaining the stealthy fighter compared with the F-16, one of the Air Force aircraft it is slated to replace. The Air Force has said for years it plans to buy 1,763 of the single-engine aircraft made by Lockheed Martin, despite increases in the development and production price and now a higher anticipated cost to use the aircraft.
NEW DELHI — India plans to expedite the purchase of nine new special-mission aircraft for communications jamming, signals intelligence and surveillance for its air force. The proposal, worth around $200 million, was approved over the weekend at a meeting of the Defense Acquisition Council, the top decision-making body of India’s defense ministry, an India defense ministry official says. The defense ministry will soon issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to buy the aircraft, the official says.
The U.S. Navy’s fiscal 2014 budget puts a greater emphasis on remote maintenance as the service shifts its focus to the Pacific and other areas to match the new national defense strategy. “Our focus on forward basing calls for an increased and enduring demand for remote maintenance support, which is largely provided by civilian talent,” says Rear Adm. John Kirby, chief of navy information, in a recent blog. “We require that talent now more than ever.”
PARIS — France’s aerospace & defense sector earned €42.5 billion ($55.2 billion) in revenue last year, up 16% over €38.5 billion in 2011, including €27 billion in export sales, marking a 20% boost over the previous year at €23.5 billion, according to French aerospace industry group Gifas.
The U.S. Air Force is finally getting a number two civilian procurement official after more than a year without one, though the hunt for an acquisition secretary still continues since Sue Payton vacated the spot in April 2009. William LaPlante will take over as principal deputy for acquisition on May 6, says Secretary Michael Donley. His predecessor, David Van Buren, left office in March 2012. LaPlante, an engineer by training, comes to the Air Force from Mitre, a government support contractor known for its systems engineering expertise.
END STRENGTH: If the full effects of the 2011 Budget Control Act’s sequestration cuts are allowed to occur over the next decade, the U.S. Army could wind up cutting nearly a fifth of its total 1 million-plus uniformed force, including National Guard and reserves. “To maintain balance between force structure, readiness and modernization, the Army may have to reduce at least 100,000 additional personnel across the total force,” Army leaders testified in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 23.
LONDON — Defense and aerospace giant Finmeccanica says it needs to become more streamlined and efficient to prepare for a weak 2013. Releasing its 2012 figures on April 23, the company forecasts a slowdown in defense spending in its “domestic” markets — Italy, the U.K. and the U.S. — that will “cause a drop in the Group’s revenue volumes in 2013.” Accordingly, group companies will have to adopt new structural measures “aimed at improving industrial structures.”
Rolls-Royce has sold its 50% share in the Franco-British RTM322 helicopter engine joint venture to partner Safran for €293 million ($382 million), a transaction aimed at giving the French aerospace supplier’s Turbomeca division a stronger position in the high-power helicopter engine segment.
LEADING EUROFIGHTER: Eurofighter has appointed former Airbus Military head of operations Alberto Jose Gutierrez Moreno as its new CEO. Moreno replaces current incumbent Enzo Casolini, who has been at the consortium since May 2009. Further changes to the board will see Maurizio De Mitri, who is currently head of the Military Aircraft Sector at Alenia Aermacchi, become chairman of the Eurofighter Supervisory Board starting June 1. De Mitri replaces Berndt Wünsche, who will remain as a senior board member.
NEW DELHI — India’s defense ministry has unveiled a new set of rules aimed at boosting the country’s indigenous defense industry by making procurement from foreign vendors only a last option. The Defense Acquisition Council (DAC), the top decision-making body of India’s defense ministry, has cleared amendments to the Defense Procurement Procedure (DPP) to give priority to domestic public and private sector firms for major military procurements, thus reducing the country’s dependence on imports.
