NEW DELHI — Russia’s prototype fifth-generation Sukhoi T-50 fighter jet has carried out its first independent long-range flight, according to a tweet by Dmitry Rogozin, the country’s deputy prime minister. A derivative of the stealth fighter is being developed for the Indian air force.
SAN DIEGO — A stern-side view in a dry dock is the best way to really appreciate the differences between the two different classes of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
As Barack Obama starts his second term and a new Congress begins, our fervent wish is that the U.S. president and congressional Republicans will put aside the extreme partisan infighting of the last two years. Their zero-sum-game approach has led to legislative gridlock and uncertainty. The nation's economic and budget challenges are large, but they are solvable with smart long-term planning and compromise.
Are you up on production and manufacturing innovations, acquisition lore and 2012's budget and policy debates? How about early innovation? Score 8 and you pass, get 11 or better and you're management material. (No fair outsourcing your answers to the Web. Answers are on page 34.)
Graham Warwick (Washington), Bill Sweetman (Washington)
Development of the Lockheed Martin F-35's combat capability is falling behind the schedule set as recently as 2011, when the program was restructured to provide more time and resources for integration and testing.
Ask a top U.S. aerospace and defense (A&D) contractor how it plans to offset potentially deep cuts in Pentagon budgets and you will hear a common refrain: exports. Lockheed Martin is aiming to raise non-U.S. sales to 20% of its total, up from 17% today. “International” sales already account for a quarter of Raytheon's business, and the company intends to drive that even higher. “We see a lot of growth in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific,” says Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin's new CEO.
LONDON — The U.K. and Australian governments are in talks over possible cooperation in the development of the future BAE Systems-built Type 26 Global Combat Ship. The talks come following the signing of a new defense pact between the countries that will see closer cooperation in cybersecurity, defense reforms, personnel exchange and work on equipment, science and technology. Sustainment and development of Australia’s submarine program also was a topic point.
H-1 TURNAROUND: Bell Helicopter has delivered its 100th of 349 H-1s to the U.S. Marine Corps — 80 of which were ahead of schedule — after earlier challenges in producing the upgraded UH-1Y and AH-1Zs, says Maj. Gen. John Croley, assistant deputy Marine commandant for aviation. The service and Bell have negotiated the terms of a second multiyear procurement for the rotorcraft worth roughly $1 billion, he adds. The purchase is expected to save roughly that much in cost avoidance by signing up to a five-year deal.
HASC AIDE PASSES: Doug Roach, who served the House Armed Services Committee since 1991, died Jan. 11 due to complications from cancer. Roach was the staff lead for the tactical air and land forces subcommittee since 2001, serving the majority party whether Republicans or Democrats were in charge. A retired Air Force colonel, Roach flew F-15 and F-4 aircraft and was an operational test pilot. Roach watched the first “Great Engine War” up close and became a firm believer in the need for a competitive engine process.
While more budget cuts would hurt the U.S. Navy, the service would still be able to adapt if it had better control of where and how those cuts occur, Secretary Ray Mabus says. Unfortunately, he says, neither sequestration nor an extended continuing resolution (CR) would afford the Navy that type of control. Indeed, he says it is not so much the loss of funding under either scenario — or both — that could scuttle Navy operations, but rather the “mindless way both things operate.”
With the threat of potential sequestration and concerns over an extended continuing resolution (CR), the U.S. Navy brass has a real quandary: whether to try to retain its fleet force at its current size, or scale it back to better maintain the ships it has.
Alenia North America and General Dynamics are teaming up to vie for a U.S. Air Force contract to build 350 T-38 fast jet trainer replacements. The teaming agreement, announced today, is likely to round out the field of would-be competitors for the so-called T-X competition. The competition is not likely to start until 2014 at the earliest, but the announcement comes as the Air Force plans to conduct a T-X industry day later in the month.
SAN DIEGO — Cmdr. Dave Back begs pardon for the appearance of his ship. “It looks like a computer garage sale at the moment,” says the commanding officer of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-2) Independence, which is now dry docked for a scheduled period of repairs. “They’re yanking everything out.” Soon, technicians will be loading his ship’s computers with CDs and other program-package upgrades to operate the ship’s mission modules, including the increasingly important mine counter-mine mission (MCM) module.
The U.S. Army expects to complete its transition to modular designs by the close of fiscal 2013, which ends Sept. 30, and has received “substantial” funds to restructure and rebuild its forces, according to a new report from congressional auditors.
Kuwait conducted a successful live-fire test of its upgraded Aspide missile last month that destroyed two remotely piloted Banshee targets, prime contractor MBDA said Jan. 13. Launched from a Skyguard air defense system at the Kuwait air defense brigade’s Adeira test range Dec. 18-19, the medium-range radar-guided Aspide 2000 destroyed one Banshee with a direct hit and the other via a proximity explosion.
GCV DELAY: Pentagon leaders are extending the technology development phase of the Ground Combat Vehicle family’s leading Infantry Fighting Vehicle by six months, according to an undated Defense Department memo reported widely Jan. 17. The Army is also being told to pick just one contractor for the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase, as well as plan for Milestone B decision-making in fiscal 2014 and Milestone C in 2019. The armed service must return to the Defense Acquisition Board for approval before issuing the EMD request for proposals.
Operation Pillar of Defense opened in November 2012 with a tremendous “surgical” strike, eliminating a prominent leader of Hamas. Ahmed al Jabri was a longtime terror mastermind in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, and his death was a severe blow to the organization. The strike, which pinpointed midstream traffic in downtown Gaza City, was carried out through real-time intelligence and ultra-rapid closing of the sensor-shooter cycle. It used only “reduced” advanced precision guided munitions, which caused no collateral damage in the surrounding area.
