The antisubmarine warfare (ASW) module for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) will likely turn the ship into a faster sub hunter than other surface vessels, says U.S. Navy Capt. John Ailes, program manager for the LCS mission module integration effort. Ailes, recently selected to be rear admiral, says the ASW module “is particularly immune to noise” interference because of software development. That means the ASW module-equipped LCSs will be able to travel at higher speeds to check a similar area for submarines.
The U.S. “rebalance” toward Asia, including the military’s so-called pivot to the Asia-Pacific realm, is “durable” and will persist and grow regardless of automatic, widespread budget cuts this fiscal year and lower overall spending levels in future years, according to the Pentagon’s No. 2 official.
LONDON — Midlife updates and plans to deal with obsolescence in the AH-64 Apache attack and EH101 Merlin transport helicopter fleets are the top priorities for the U.K.’s Joint Helicopter Command. Air Vice Marshal Carl Dixon, commander of the U.K.’s Joint Helicopter Command (JHC), told Aviation Week that the Apache was now the Army’s “premier league fire contribution” and that the aircraft had more than proven itself in Afghanistan.
As U.S. forces pull back from Afghanistan, the K-Max unmanned cargo helicopter is busily carrying equipment and supplies that the Pentagon does not want to leave behind, contractor Lockheed Martin says. “As we withdraw, we’re seeing a lot of utility,” says Jon McMillen, Lockheed K-Max director of business development. “Most of that is for retrieval — bringing equipment back to take home,” he said April 5 during a Lockheed briefing of programs in advance of the 2013 Navy League Sea-Air-Space Symposium.
STAY TUNED: There will be “quite a bit” of information about the U.S.’s “limited” ballistic missile defenses in the fiscal 2014 budget request from the Obama administration on April 10, according to Rose Gottemoeller, acting undersecretary for arms control and international security at the U.S. State Department.
STUDY THIS: A trade group for the intelligence and defense sector is trying to drum up pressure for government officials to fund research in several key areas, including bio-inspired computing architectures, energy harvesting, advanced materials for computing, human-inspired “big data” and self-protecting data. The call comes from the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA).
SEOUL — South Korea sees an opportunity for a large local production run by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) as it considers the three contenders for its F-X Phase 3 fighter requirement, industry officials say.
As the investigation continues into power outages associated with the diesel engines generators aboard the first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1), the U.S. Navy is tallying the cost of the vessel’s initial Asian deployment.
Noting the common operational elements shared between the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV), the U.S. Navy has decided to place oversight of the latter’s development under the LCS Council of admirals shepherding the program. Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations, directed the expansion in a March 29 memo. There is no indication that the charter change is the result of any problems with the JHSV program; indeed, Navy officials have touted the development and acquisition effort to date as successful.
LONDON — Thales and missile manufacturer MBDA say they have extended their partnerships as they work together to develop the U.K.’s new short-range naval and ground-launched surface-to-air missile.
In the final fiscal 2013 spending bill for the Pentagon, lawmakers added $711 million to the U.S. Air Force’s aircraft procurement account, mostly so the service can have five more Lockheed Martin C-130s. The total for the additional C-130J, two more HC-130s and two more MC-130s, is a half-billion dollars. Advance procurement for the C-130J had a zero request from the Pentagon; lawmakers plussed that to $180 million. The total request for Air Force aircraft procurement was $11 billion, so the increase is 7%.
The Obama administration’s imminent fiscal 2014 budget request for the Pentagon will ignore limits set by the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA), try to partially undo the law’s sequestration cuts this year, perpetuate a “fog bank” of illusory budget-making sweeping Washington and is likely to be declared dead on arrival by congressional Republicans who control the House.
REPROGRAM IT: The White House Office of Management and Budget is urging federal agencies to consider exploiting so-called reprogramming authority — i.e., the ability to ask Congress to allow internal money movement within its budget — to deal with the Budget Control Act’s sequestration cuts this fiscal year. Agencies and departments have varying degrees of reprogramming authority, according to the Congressional Research Service.
LONDON — The Selex ES arm of Italian defense and aerospace giant Finmeccanica plans to lay off more than 2,500 employees as it attempts to restructure in a bid to help its struggling parent. Selex management presented its plans to the Finmeccanica board on March 26 to cut 2,529 staffers from across its Italian and U.K. workforce—1,940 in Italy. Furthermore, Selex says it will close 25 of its sites, the majority in Italy.
NEW DELHI — India is considering increasing the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in its defense sector to at least 49% from the current 26%, according to a top government official. “I am in favor of raising [the] FDI limit in the defense sector to at least 49%, if not 74%,” Federal Trade Minister Anand Sharma says. The policy change is needed to help India “become a major defense producer” in the world, he says. “India needs to move on. Our industry is talking to major defense manufacturers in the U.S. and Europe.”
Pilatus Aircraft ended 2012 with its lowest sales total in at least five years, but a series of contracts for its military, trainer and special mission aircraft propelled the company to its strongest year ever in order intake and positions the Swiss airframer for growth.
U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (Navsea) completed the first-ever Air Defense Cruiser Aegis Baseline 9 combat systems upgrade for CG-62 USS Chancellorsville March 29. The upgrade was developed by Lockheed Martin and is part of the Navy’s Aegis modernization and cruiser-upgrade program, begun in April 2012 at BAE Systems’ San Diego Ship Repair Facility, and completed following combat systems testing and sea trials.
NEW DELHI — India has approved a plan to buy 30 billion rupees ($500 million) worth of night-vision equipment for its armed forces, a government official says. At an April 2 meeting of the Defense Acquisition Council, the highest decision-making body in the country’s defense affairs, Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony approved the procurement of around 5,000 third-generation thermal-imaging and night-vision devices for the country’s Russian-origin T-72 and T-90 battle tanks and its BMP Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICVs), a defense official says.
LANGKAWI, Malaysia — UAVs would be the Maldives’ best choice for surveillance of its vast exclusive economic zone compared with manned aircraft, and the tiny nation is eager to hear from companies looking to do trials or research, says Brig. Gen. Ahmed Shiyam, head of the Maldives National Defense Force. Internationally renowned for its pristine natural environment, the Maldives faces a mammoth task in protecting it—920,000 square kilometers of ocean, dotted with 1,192 coral islands.
