The U.S. Army is halting procurement of the Light Utility Helicopter program after fiscal 2014, cutting the number of UH-72s Lakotas it planned to buy by just over 30. The Army, which has said it would buy 346 UH-72 Lakotas from EADS North America (EADS NA) through 2016, has cut the proposed fiscal 2014 procurement to only 10 aircraft from an original 31. The service also dropped the final ten aircraft from its fiscal 2015 plan, for a net reduction of 31 aircraft from the overall buy.
President Barack Obama is asking Congress to provide $526.6 billion in defense spending for fiscal 2014, a figure that does not include war-funding details or the continuing effects of across-the-board budget cuts that start in fiscal 2013. Over 10 years, the request sent to Capitol Hill on April 10 would trim $150 billion from previous spending plans for the military, with most of the reductions coming in later years.
THE PENTAGON — The U.S. Navy’s proposed fiscal 2014 budget strengthens the nation’s carrier force, more than doubling the funding request from fiscal 2013 for the CVN-78 Ford-class program slated to replace the aging Nimitz fleet. The Navy is requesting about $1.7 billion in funding in fiscal 2014, compared to $781.7 million the previous fiscal year. Of that fiscal 2014 total, about $1.5 billion is slated for procurement, while the remaining $147.1 million is meant for research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E).
Despite releasing a fiscal 2014 budget that does not address sequestration, the Pentagon is still feeling the effects of an $85 billion across-the-board cut taking place in fiscal 2013. The reduction to military spending from sequestration in fiscal 2013 is $41 billion, which cuts from every program line. Coupled with higher wartime operations costs, the Pentagon is facing up to a $25 billion shortfall in its operations accounts, Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale told reporters April 10.
THE PENTAGON — The U.S. Army announced April 10 that it is seeking $5 billion in fiscal 2014 to buy or upgrade its helicopter fleet and acquire more large and small unmanned aircraft to provide ground troops with better intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The Army’s cut of the $526.6 billion Defense Department 2014 budget request is $129.7 billion, with only 18%, $23.9 billion, going to procurement and research, development, testing and evaluation programs. Personnel needs will be getting the largest piece of the pie, 44%, or $56.6 billion.
THE PENTAGON — To meet sequestration-mandated cuts, the U.S. Navy will spend about $10.7 billion less in fiscal 2013 than it had intended to spend and the service is projecting about $59 billion less in spending across the fiscal 2014 to fiscal 2018 future years defense plan (FYDP), according to the Navy’s proposed fiscal 2014 budget released this morning.
THE PENTAGON — U.S. Navy submarine programs are geared up for vibrant funding in fiscal 2014 for both the Virginia-class and Ohio-class replacement boats. The Virginia-class SSN attack subs have become the template for the U.S. Navy in terms of operational and acquisition proficiency, and the proposed fiscal 2014 spending plan includes about $5.4 billion for the boats, compared to about $4.3 billion last year.
The French defense procurement agency DGA has cleared the laser-guided AASM modular air-to-ground weapon for use with the country’s air force and navy.
The top brass for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps started the Navy League’s 2013 Sea Air Space Symposium with a drumbeat in support of the nation’s amphibious fleet during the event’s opening panel of maritime service chiefs. “The number-one thing I need — it’s amphibious ships,” says Adm. Jonathan Greenert, U.S. chief of naval operations (CNO). “We need to move them into the fleet. We need them badly.”
LONDON — The Netherlands government has decided to place its two F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters into storage while it decides whether to adopt the aircraft for its future fighter needs.
BUDGET COVERAGE: When the U.S. government’s fiscal 2014 budget proposal is released on April 10, Aviation Week Intelligence Network subscribers should be sure to visit http://www.aviationweek.com/awin/USBudget2014.aspx, which will feature all the latest budgetary and programmatic news, data and analysis grouped together in one place. To allow for the most up-to-date budget news to be included, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report subscribers should expect a delay in the arrival of their issue dated April 11.
Lockheed Martin has taken the wraps off its contender for the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (Uclass) program to field a small fleet of carrier-capable unmanned aircraft. Unveiled at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space show in Washington, the stealthy, tailless flying-wing design strongly resembles Lockheed’s private-venture Polecat and once-classified RQ-170 Sentinel long-endurance UAVs.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Protection of U.S. and friendly assets in space remains a top priority for the U.S. Air Force, though budget pressure may determine the pace of progress in this area, says Gen. William Shelton, Air Force Space Command chief.
The “old paradigm” of major-powers nuclear arms control is dead, and yet it will take several more iterations of deals between Russia and the U.S., as well as smaller nuclear powers like India and Pakistan, before another major arms reduction agreement is reached, let alone one including several countries, key officials and analysts opined April 8.
COLORADO SPRINGS — The senior officer overseeing U.S. Air Force Space Command says he refuses to lose sight of looking toward a future of more resilient architectures for spacecraft and launchers, though the near-term focus is on slicing $508 million from its operations and maintenance budget through the end of September.
LONDON — The Swedish armed forces have begun operational use of four newly purchased UH-60M Black Hawks in Afghanistan. The Swedish Air Element, based at Camp Marmal near Mazar-e-Sharif, officially began operations with the Black Hawk, locally designated Hkp 16, on April 1, following the deployment of the aircraft in mid-March. The Swedish Black Hawks are being used for medevac duties and troop transport.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Lockheed Martin will begin anechoic tests this week of the GPS non-flight satellite testbed (GNST), an engineering, manufacturing and development pathfinder for the future GPS III constellation.
The four-star admiral in charge of U.S. Pacific Command says that assuming Asia-Pacific requirements are prioritized in current and future Pentagon budgets, he expects the command will be able to fulfill its duties.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Boeing is developing a family of three small satellites ranging from 4 to 1,000 kg (9 to 2,200 lb.) in size to whet the growing appetite of commercial and government customers interested in pursuing lower-cost space platforms.
NEW DELHI — India’s ambitious Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract is facing hurdles at the negotiation table, as sources say Dassault it seeking to absolve itself of responsibility for the copies of its Rafale fighter to be assembled in India by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). Under an agreement, the Indian air force (IAF) is likely to get 18 Rafale aircraft from Dassault Aviation in fly-away condition.
While budget-related uncertainty continues to cloud the acquisition outlook for most U.S. defense programs, Lockheed Martin says it sees strong potential MH-60 Romeo sales on the international market, especially when the helicopter is married with the company’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
