The U.S. Navy’s Stiletto Maritime Demonstration Program recently teamed up with the U.K.’s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) for a UAV demonstration off the Maryland coast. “Stiletto [capability demonstrations] are conducted in partnership with a host warfighting command or government organization,” says Rob Tutton, Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Carderock engineer and Stiletto Maritime Demonstration program manager. “For this event, DSTL wanted to observe the operation of UAVs from a small boat platform for maritime missions.”
Now that the first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1), the USS Freedom, has transited the Pacific and is deployed in Singapore, the U.S. Navy brass says it is comfortable with the increased crew size and current survivability of the design — two of the most controversial issues weighing on the vessel program. The initial core crew size was 40 and the Navy added 10 more sailors and three ensigns to Freedom for its Asian deployment. “We feel the crew size is about right now,” Rear Adm. Thomas Rowden, U.S. Navy director of surface warfare, tells Aviation Week.
Raytheon and Chemring are to fire a live missile from its Centurion weapons launcher later this year. The system, initially developed as a naval decoy launcher, was unveiled at the IDEX defense show in Abu Dhabi earlier this year, having been in development by Chemring since 2009. The Centurion is fitted with 12 130mm barrels mounted onto a rotating platform. Each barrel can be individually operated and adjusted in elevation, allowing a mix of weaponry and countermeasures to be housed in the same launcher system, then rapidly reloaded by hand.
Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Kay Granger (R-Texas), whose districts have constituents interested in U.S. helicopter work, have organized and sent a letter to the Pentagon from more than 80 lawmakers trying to apply pressure against the Defense Department’s plans to buy Russian helos for Afghanistan.
The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman failed to execute a fourth landing attempt of the X-47B onboard the USS George H.W. Bush carrier, and the Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstration flight test program has completed its planned “at-sea” trials.
NEW DELHI — Rolls-Royce aims to double its defense business in the next three to five years and is looking to team up with Indian firms, the company says. One such collaboration was the recent International Aerospace Manufacturing Pvt Ltd (IAMPL), a joint venture between Rolls-Royce and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) that was inaugurated in Bengaluru in the southern state of Karnataka.
Lockheed Martin has completed seven antenna assemblies for the first in the GPS III series of Global Positioning System spacecraft and delivered them to the spacecraft assembly facility near Denver. Fabricated at the company’s Newtown, Pa., facility, the assemblies will provide links for civil and military navigation signals; a UHF link to transfer data with other satellites in the GPS constellation; ground telemetry, tracking and control for the satellite, and a link for the nuclear-explosion detection payload hosted on the new spacecraft.
As the U.S. starts to refocus its efforts on the Asia-Pacific, some of America’s largest partners and allies in the region are set to make significant military investments of their own.
NEW DELHI — A MiG-21 Indian air force (IAF) fighter crashed July 15 while landing at Uttarlai airbase in the western Rajasthan state, the fifth MiG crash in recent months. The aircraft was on a routine training sortie. “The aircraft crashed at about 9.30 a.m. local time and the pilot suffered fatal injuries, A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of crash,” defense ministry spokesperson Col. S.D. Goswami says.
LONDON — Bristow is exiting the military helicopter flight training business by selling off its share in FBHeliservices to Cobham. The deal, announced on July 15, sees Bristow selling off its 50% share in the joint venture to Cobham in a deal worth £74 million ($112 million).
The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) says it plans to keep a spotlight on the economic ramifications of the 2011 Budget Control Act’s automatic sequestration cuts and long-term spending caps.
While U.S. shipbuilders are looking to anchor themselves with deals in the Asia-Pacific to take advantage of the U.S. Pacific pivot, at least one type of U.S. ship is finding a new home in the region. A U.S. Coast Guard Hamilton-class cutter — formerly known as USCG WHEC-716 Dallas — is now renamed as the PF-16 BRP Ramon Alcaraz for the Philippine navy after getting under way this month.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert continues to praise the potential of the U.S. Navy’s new Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) ship, calling it one of the service’s “tailored ships for tailored capabilities.” Greenert noted the ship’s unique ability to assist amphibious and related operations July 11 during a Center for Strategic and International Studies event. Moreover, Greenert says, the ship is not a drawing-board concept. “We have that ship,” he says. “It’s been delivered.”
A renewed effort by the Pentagon Inspector General to target overpricing by defense contractors and overbuying by military services is paying dividends, according to a senior Pentagon official. In fiscal 2012, the investigative wing of the Defense Department uncovered $2.9 billion that could have been put to better use elsewhere. Fiscal 2013 isn’t over yet, and inspectors have already identified $23.4 billion that could have been better spent, the official says.
Click here to view the pdf Growth In Asian Defense Spending,2008-2018 Growth In Asian Defense Spending, 2008-2018 2008-2012 2013 - 2018 % Change Defense Overall
Internal politics in Italy have prompted Alenia Aermacchi and Lockheed Martin to dash long-held plans for a ceremony to celebrate the opening of the Italian final assembly and checkout (FACO) facility for the stealthy F-35 fighter. The event — which was to be attended by senior Italian air force and defense ministry officials, top industry executives, and U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the F-35 program manager in the Pentagon — was slated for July 18.
As the nation’s newest aircraft carrier gets ready for its scheduled fall christening, the U.S. Navy continues to mount a defense for the ship and the program, which still face battles in Congress over cost and relevance. “Our biggest event this year will be the introduction to the Navy and the nation of our newest aircraft carrier, Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), with the christening and launch of on Nov. 9, 2013,” says Rear Adm. Tom Moore, program executive officer, aircraft carriers, in a recent blog.
LONDON — Antonov has test-flown a new version of the world’s biggest biplane, the An-2. The Ukrainian company says the updated model, called An-2-100, will offer enhanced performance thanks to its new Motor Sich MS-14 turboprop, replacing the Shvetsov ASh-62IR engine that dates back to the Second World War.
