After a bruising confirmation hearing, all former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) can do now is wait. The White House expects his confirmation to be the next defense secretary will proceed. Going into the hearing, Hagel was likely to be confirmed with mostly Democratic support. That may still be the case, but at this point, Republicans are not ruling out the possibility of imposing a 60-vote threshold on his confirmation—a move that could kill the nomination.
Efforts to clear the hurdles to commercial-scale production of advanced biofuels are focusing on increasing yields from energy crops and reducing the costs of harvesting, transporting and processing the millions of tons of biomass required. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) plans to award $6 million in research contracts to enable delivery of lignocellulosic biomass such as switchgrass, polar and waste wood at the volumes and costs required for commercial-scale biofuel production.
Proposed upgrades for the vaunted U.S. Navy Aegis missile shield for surface ships and abroad bases appear to be progressing as planned, but more testing is needed to gauge program success and address shortcomings, according to recent government and contractor assessments. The Navy and prime contractor Lockheed Martin are now upgrading the DDG destroyer and CG cruiser fleets with advanced Aegis baselines. At the same time, even more advanced Aegis systems—starting with Baseline 9—are being developed.
ARMS CONTROL: After a Senate vote to reject a block on delivery of F-16 aircraft and M1 tanks to Egypt, Sen. Jim Inhofe (Okla.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has introduced a bill that would put conditions on the transfer. The bill would delay transport of the Lockheed Martin jets and General Dynamics tanks until Egypt upholds commitments under the Camp David Accords and provides proper security at U.S. embassies there.
The U.S. Navy’s proposed maintenance cuts could corrode the service’s ability to deploy its surface fleet — literally. The reductions would cut into the proposed ship “availabilities” — shipyard maintenance periods — and the main concerns the Navy needs to address in those periods are sanding, chipping and otherwise cleaning up corrosion on the ships.
TAKING FLIGHT: The FAA could begin asking for UAV test site proposals as early as Feb. 4, industry officials say. The FAA was tasked with selecting the six sites by the end of 2012, but the process has been stretched out by privacy concerns. The test sites will help the FAA and industry establish rules, procedures and technologies for flying unmanned aircraft in civilian airspace.
LONDON — The U.S. Air Force is deactivating the last Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II squadron in Europe. The 81st Fighter Sqdn. based at Spangdahlem AB, Germany, will shut down later this year as part of ongoing defense cuts. According to officials, deactivation became official upon “the termination of the continuing-resolution provision that prohibited the ‘retirement, divestiture, realignment and transfer’ of aircraft.”
LONDON — AgustaWestland is pushing ahead with the flight-test program of its AW169 twin-engine helicopter, with the first flight of the fourth prototype. AC4 took to the air on Jan. 31 at the company’s facilities at Vergiate, Italy, and will join the other three prototypes. According to the company, the aircraft performed as expected, with test pilots assessing general handling and basic systems.
LONDON — The Swedish Armed Forces Helicopter Wing is making final preparations to deploy its new Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawks for medevac missions in Afghanistan. The April deployment will come just 14 months after the arrival of the first aircraft and just more than two years after the Swedish government placed the foreign military sales (FMS) order with the U.S. government for 15 aircraft in October 2010.
The FAA could begin asking for unmanned aerial system test site proposals as early as Monday, industry officials tell Aviation Week. The FAA was charged with selecting the six sites by the end of 2012, but the process has been delayed by privacy concerns.
The U.S. government spends more on weapons development than any other nation on the planet, but its plans for doing so are caught up in a larger financial debate.
Poland has set its sights on a new fleet of heavy transport and attack helicopters as it renews its rotary-wing assets over the next decade. On top of plans announced by the Polish ministry of defense in 2012 to purchase 70 medium utility helicopters beginning in 2014, Warsaw is planning to purchase a further 130 helicopters to replace its aging fleet of Polish and Russian-built rotorcraft. This helicopter procurement program will be the largest in Europe in more than a decade.
The French request for a British Sentinel radar surveillance aircraft to support Operation Serval in Mali highlights France's shortage of tactical intelligence assets, which have advanced little beyond helicopters and targeting pods on jets, despite years of experience in Afghanistan.
India has moved a significant step closer in integrating its strategic submarines with ballistic missiles after the test launch of a medium-range missile from a submerged platform in the Bay of Bengal. The 10-meter-tall (33-ft.) nuclear-capable missile was launched from a depth of about 50 meters Jan. 27, says Defense Research and Development Organization Director General V.K. Saraswat. It met “every” mission objective, he says.
Crisis is a word often applied to the proposed defense “sequestration” cuts, now set to take effect on March 1. There is no dispute that these budget reductions could send powerful tremors through the U.S. military and defense industry.
Abu Dhabi Tawazun, is to partner with Sweden's defence and security company Saab, to create the Middle East region's first facility for the development, manufacture, assembly and integration of radar systems.
