Production ramp-ups amid a transition into new products, particularly the CFM Leap single-aisle engine series and GE90 successor for Boeing's proposed 777X, are behind the late 2012 surge of acquisitions and joint ventures by GE Aviation, including the $4.3 billion purchase of Italian gearbox, turbine and transmission specialist Avio.
The Northrop Grumman/Bell Helicopter Fire-X unmanned helicopter has completed a 250-flight envelope-expansion program at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., in preparation for the transfer of testing to the U.S. Navy's MQ-8C Fire Scout endurance upgrade program.
Military intelligence confronts a potential adversary that is secretive and authoritarian, but not for the first time. The media have changed, but like the Soviet Union, China releases what it wants to release. Every large-scale model at the upcoming Idex defense show in Abu Dhabi, every glossy data sheet handed out by a smiling booth attendant (in 2011 at least, the Chinese industry had not switched to memory sticks, because most people aren't that stupid) and the images on the Internet are there for a reason. Promoting exports?
For months, Pentagon officials have described the impact of across-the-board budget cuts with gruesome metaphors. The March 1 deadline for those reductions to take effect is now close enough that the military is beginning to drizzle out some long-awaited specifics. In the past two weeks, each of the services has begun to explain some near-term actions and the longer-term impact to weapons systems and deployment schedules.
If former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) emerges from an extremely contentious confirmation hearing as the next U.S. defense secretary, he may enter the Pentagon weakened at a time when the military's top civilian needs cooperation more than ever. The Pentagon, which scaled back its fiscal expectations dramatically in early 2012, is facing the prospect of $500 billion in across-the-board budget reductions. It is in the midst of drawing down the war in Afghanistan, guarding against continued tension in the Middle East and pivoting forces to the Pacific.
The woman in charge of the National Transportation Safety Board is now among the top contenders to replace Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. If Deborah Hersman is nominated and confirmed, she will have to temper her approach to ferreting out problems in the transportation system to align with the confines of a limited budget.
BENGALURU — BAE Systems is adamant that Boeing’s anti-ship missile, the Harpoon, can be part of the Eurofighter Typhoon’s weapons arsenal. “We are aware of that issue and the Typhoon can carry a Harpoon if a customer wants to integrate it. We have proposed, however, some novel alternatives other than the Harpoon,” Guy Griffiths, the group managing director of international business at BAE Systems, told Aviation Week Feb. 8 at Aero India.
LONDON — Helicopter MRO organization Heli-One has secured its first contract with the U.K. defense ministry — a deal to support the engines for the Royal Air Force’s Westland Puma Mk. 2 transport helicopters. The company, a subsidiary of helicopter operator CHC, signed the deal on Feb. 7 to provide logistic support for the Turbomeca Makila 1A1 engines fitted to the newly upgraded aircraft over the next 13 years. The deal is understood to be worth $80 million.
BENGALURU — Rockwell Collins is looking at expanding its sales outside the U.S. through more local partnerships in markets such as India. “Most of the U.S. aircraft that are supplied the world over are naturally equipped with our advanced avionics [equipment],” Jay Little, senior Asia Pacific director of marketing and strategy, tells Aviation week. “Besides providing to the original equipment manufacturer, we plan to sell this equipment directly to international customers.”
In demonstrating BAE Systems' strengths in working in partnership with other companies, the company's products will not only be showcased on its own stand at IDEX 2013 but also on others, including International Golden Group, Tawazun, Abu Dhabi Mar (NAVDEX) and Military Industries Corporation (AVF).
Lockheed Martin is hoping to persuade the U.S. Army and Marine Corps to buy more K-Max unmanned helicopters, rather than pursuing export orders. “We could export K-Max, but we’d have to apply for export approval,” says George Barton, vice president of business development for Lockheed Martin ship and aviation systems. For now, the company is focusing on additional U.S. military sales, Barton told Aviation Week Feb. 6 on the sidelines of Aero India in Bengaluru.
BENGALURU — Boeing wants to sell its ScanEagle and Integrator UAVs to India, and also hopes to interest the country in the V-22 Osprey, according to Dennis Swanson, president of Boeing Defense, Space and Security’s Indian operations. “We see a market in India for ScanEagle that can help provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data or communications relay,” Swanson tells Aviation Week on the sidelines of the ninth Aero India show in Bengaluru.
BENGALURU — India expects to sign a contract to purchase up to 126 Dassault Rafale fighters by the middle of this year, the country’s air force chief says, trying to put to rest speculation that recently announced budget cuts could delay the acquisition. The government has cut defense spending for its current fiscal year ending March 31 by about 5% from the originally allocated 1.93 trillion rupees ($38.6 billion), mainly due to the ongoing economic downturn (Aerospace DAILY, Feb. 7).
LONDON — The U.K. defense ministry says it is studying options that would allow it to retain its Sentinel radar reconnaissance aircraft after 2015. The move comes as the Sentinel fleet — based on a modified Global Express business jet that carries the Raytheon-built Airborne Stand-Off Reconnaissance (ASTOR) radar — undertakes missions on behalf of French forces fighting insurgents in Mali, and continues to support the U.K.’s contributions to operations in Afghanistan.
UAE TANKERS: Airbus Military says it has delivered the first of three A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft to the United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAEAF). The UAEAF ordered three tankers in early 2008, and joins the Royal Saudi Air Force in operating the type in the region. According to Airbus Military, the remaining two tankers are in an advanced stage of conversion at the company’s facilities at Getafe near Madrid, and should be delivered in the middle of this year.
One of main selling points for the future fleet of Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) vessels is the unmatched speed they are slated to bring to the U.S. Navy warship force. And the Office of Naval Research (ONR) says it has developed a way to potentially provide even more speed more efficiently, through new waterjets.
AUSSIE ROMEO: The Australian navy is due to receive its first MH-60R in December, a Lockheed Martin official told Aviation Week on Feb. 6 on the sidelines of Aero India. George Barton, the company’s ship and aviation systems VP for business development, says one helicopter will be delivered that month and several MH-60Rs, destined for Australia, already are on the final assembly line. Lockheed is partnered with Sikorsky on the program. Australia ordered 24 MH-60Rs in mid-2011 and was able to get early delivery slots. The slots are thanks to the U.S.
BENGALURU — Eurocopter says it will establish a production facility in India to manufacture its AS550 C3 Fennec helicopters if it wins a contract to supply the helos to India’s army and air force. The European company is vying with Russia’s Kamov 226 Sergei for an estimated $2 billion deal to supply 197 helicopters to the Indian defense forces. Of the 197 helos, the Army is likely to get 133 and the Air Force 64.
BENGALURU — Alenia Aermacchi has told potential industrial partners in India that it is open to having a C-27J assembly line in India that will serve more than just the Indian market. India’s government has issued a request for information (RFI) for 56 military transport aircraft and asked that 40 be assembled in India. It has also said that those pitching for the business may work with private-sector Indian companies to fulfill the local production requirement.
