HELO VIDEO: Cobham’s Brazilian subsidiary has secured its first major contract in Brazil to equip State Police helicopters with high-definition video surveillance downlinks to be used on helicopters in 12 cities during the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup, the company says. The contract was developed with a local integration partner following the opening of Cobham’s Sao Paulo office in August 2012 and includes both airborne and ground-based equipment.
With projected costs dropping significantly for the U.S. Navy’s proposed Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), the focus is now on the destroyer line slated to host the AMDR suite — the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke class. There are still questions and concerns, not only about the advanced Flight III versions of the ship being designed with AMDR in mind, but also the Flight IIA versions that marked the beginning of the restarted Burke line to develop and deploy more advanced Aegis Combat Systems meant for improved ballistic missile defense (BMD).
Despite congressional efforts to block the U.S. from purchasing equipment from a Russian-state owned weapons exporter, the Pentagon plans to purchase 30 Mi-17 helicopters from Rosoboronexport to equip the Afghan air force. The fiscal 2013 National Defense Authorization Act prohibits funding from being used to contract with Rosoboronexport. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) led efforts to pass the bill, citing that company’s involvement in selling weapons to Syria.
Recent Pentagon moves with aircraft in Asia are underscoring a heightened U.S. military focus on the region. The U.S. Defense Department sent a pair of F-22 Raptors to South Korea in late March to participate in military exercises there — a move that may be largely symbolic, defense analysts say. But it also carries operational importance that could help shape the electronic order of battle for the region, should the stakes reach that level.
LIVE FIRE: The guided-missile cruiser CG-62 USS Chancellorsville has completed its first Aegis Combat System live-fire test using the system’s newest Baseline 9 capability build, Aegis prime contractor Lockheed Martin said April 3. During the at-sea test scenario, Aegis successfully detected, tracked and engaged a medium-altitude subsonic target. Four additional live-fire exercises will be completed aboard the Chancellorsville before the ship’s Combat System Ship Qualification Trial events begin later this year.
TEL AVIV — Recent commercial satellite imagery provided by the Israeli satellite firm ImageSat International reveals that new construction activity has already begun at North Korea’s Light Water Nuclear Reactor at Yongbyon.
The U.N. General Assembly on April 2 overwhelmingly approved a new Arms Trade Treaty that is supposed to demand more accountability of nations over their foreign transfers and sales of light weapons, missiles, tanks and even ships to suspected terrorists, criminals and other groups under widespread suspicion of malfeasance or human rights abuses.
Embraer Defense & Security is stepping up its marketing drive in the region and is demonstrating that with its participation at this week's International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF'13), which takes place May 7-10 at the Tüyap Fair & Exhibition Center, in Istanbul, Turkey.
Analysts reacting to U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s first major policy speech say the dour remarks on future cuts and likely dramatic mission changes due to austere budgets were expected, albeit significant, for benchmarking the Pentagon’s approach to life under sequestration.
COLORADO AEROSPACE: Two U.S. lawmakers from space-industry-heavy Colorado are standing up their own “working group” on aerospace export control reforms. After being part of the advocacy effort for loosening satellite-related regulations, the lawmakers say their new group will continue to look for more changes “that will help U.S. companies export their products and technologies to international customers while still protecting our national security interests.” The group will provide recommendations to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet and Republican Rep.
The Pentagon has officially notified Congress of the potential sale of 60 Boeing F-15 Silent Eagles or Lockheed Martin F-35s to South Korea, as the country weighs these American options against the Eurofighter Typhoon for the forthcoming downselect in its F-X Phase 3 competition.
BAE Systems is volleying back against cost, capability and scheduling concerns raised this week in a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on the U.S. Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) acquisition. The CBO estimates the GCV would cost the service $29 billion in 2013 dollars from 2014 to 2030 as it is currently structured.
THAAD DEPLOYS: In response to escalating tensions with North Korea, the Pentagon is deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System to Guam. The battery from the Army’s 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment at Fort Bliss, Texas, is being sent to the Pacific island to counter the North Korean regional ballistic missile threat. The decision follows a shift in the U.S. military’s investments in national missile defense as well as the recent participation of B-2 bombers and F-22 fighters in military exercises in South Korea.
Lockheed Martin has told Australia’s government and general public that if the country orders fewer than its originally planned 100 F-35s, Australian industry will receive less work on the Joint Strike Fighter program.
Lockheed Martin plans to provide further details later this week about the international version of its USS Freedom Littoral Combat Ship, the navy’s newest warship.
PARIS — French President Francois Hollande says the nation’s €31.4 billion ($40 billion) annual defense budget will remain flat next year despite pressure to reduce public spending. “We will spend in 2014 exactly the same amount as in 2013,” Hollande said during a March 28 interview with France 2 television. The Socialist president also lauded French military support for Operation Serval in Mali and vowed to maintain the nation’s security independence, including modernization of its nuclear arsenal.
The U.S. Army needs to do a better job tracking, configuring and “sanitizing” commercial mobile devices (CMDs) to ensure cybersecurity, a recent Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report says. “The Army Chief Information Officer (CIO) did not implement an effective cybersecurity program for CMDs,” the IG says. “Specifically, the Army CIO did not appropriately track CMDs and was unaware of more than 14,000 CMDs used throughout the Army.”
The Pentagon concurs with recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendations to improve its efforts to infuse greater competition in its contracting procedures and the Defense Department plans to do just that, GAO says in a recent report. While the Pentagon has been working on making its contracting more competitive in recent years, the trend has not been promising.
