AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training, Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a $20,560,000 contract modification (FA8621-11-C-6288, P00020) for procurement of one C-130J weapon system trainer device for Air Mobility Command. The location of performance is Marietta, Ga. and Tampa, Fla. Work is expected to be completed by June 30, 2016. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013. The contracting activity is AFLCMC/WNSK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. NAVY
TEL AVIV — Israel’s defense ministry says it carried out a successful flight test of the Arrow 3 missile interceptor. The test was conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. The interceptor was launched into space Feb. 25 at around 6 a.m. local time from a coastal military launching pad in central Israel. The missile flew for more than 6 min., testing Arrow 3’s fly-out capabilities at altitudes well more than 100 km (60 mi.). The test plan did not include an actual intercept, so no target was used.
NEW DELHI — In a clear confidence-building measure amidst chronic last-lap delays, India’s homegrown Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) will be deployed for the first time in an air force exercise, code-named Iron Fist, over the Thar Desert in western India. Set to begin Feb. 22, Iron Fist will see the Tejas for the first time fire air-to-air and strike weapons while flying in battlefield conditions with other Indian air force (IAF) aircraft, including the Su-30 MKI, Mirage 2000H, Jaguar, MiG-21, MiG-27 and MiG-29.
BEIJING — Pratt & Whitney is working with IHI Corp. to determine how much of the F135 fighter engine can be built in Japan for local requirements. The U.S. manufacturer expects to go through the same process with Samsung Techwin in South Korea should that country follow Japan in ordering the fighter that the F135 powers, the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning, says Bennett Croswell, president of Pratt & Whitney’s military engine division.
NEW DELHI — The Indian army has decided to buy 20 Cheetal helicopters and associated equipment from state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) to fill a serious need for the multirole aircraft. “We have signed a contract worth [$77 million] with the defense ministry to supply 20 Cheetals to the army over the next four years, besides providing training to its pilots and technical crew,” a HAL spokesman said.
Sikorsky says its contender for the U.S. Army’s Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) requirement, the S-76 Raider, will have a $15 million flyaway cost, compared with an estimated $12 million for an off-the-shelf helicopter. The bold statement is being made to counter claims that the all-new Raider is unaffordable. “There are too many misperceptions out there. It’s time to put in print that this is a $15 million aircraft,” says Steve Engebretson, the company’s AAS program director.
Northrop Grumman is preparing to demonstrate its proposed replacement for the U.S. Air Force’s transportable air defense radars, drawing heavily on a mobile system already under development for the U.S. Marine Corps. Northrop, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon were awarded competitive contracts in August 2012 as a precursor to engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) of the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar (3DLRR).
ABU DHABI — The first batch of KAI Surion utility helicopters has joined the Republic of Korea army for trials. According to KAI officials at the IDEX exhibition in Abu Dhabi, four of the 8.7-ton aircraft, which are also known as the Korean Utility Helicopter (KUH), were delivered to the Korean army in November and are currently undergoing army flight trials in preparation for the beginning of operations later this year.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. Air Force’s KC-46 development contract with Boeing can survive sequestration at least for fiscal 2013, but its expected effects, combined with operating under a continuing resolution, will drive the service to break the fixed-price deal as soon as the fall.
Finmeccanica has named Daniele Romiti the new head of AgustaWestland following bribery allegations surrounding the sale of 12 helicopters to India in 2010. Romiti, who is currently the helicopter company’s chief operating officer, was named to the post on Feb. 21 as part of a wide-ranging reorganization. Romiti succeeds Bruno Spagnolini, who was placed under house arrest earlier this month. Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi was also arrested. He was the head of AgustaWestland at the time the alleged corruption took place.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. Air Force could have to trim as many as three F-35As from its fiscal 2013 purchasing plans if sequestration takes effect March 1, according to Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh. This would affect deliveries for low-rate initial production (LRIP) Lot 5, a contract only finalized late in 2012 after a year of tough negotiations between the Pentagon and prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The $3.8 billion contract includes 32 U.S. aircraft, of which 22 are F-35As designed for the Air Force.
Research at Georgia Tech indicates that programming military robots for deceitful behavior against enemies is a way of protecting them along with materiel they might be guarding. In a program funded by the Office of Naval Research, Ronald Arkin led a team at Georgia Tech that applied this tactic in programming a robot. Arkin read studies showing how deceitful behavior aids animal survival and wondered if it could help robots thwart an enemy, robotic or human. Biologists, for example, found that a squirrel stores acorns in hiding places and routinely checks the stashes.
When teams of researchers at Germany's Technical University of Hamburg and Kiel University used chemical vapor and a high-temperature oven last summer to produce a new carbon-based lattice they call Aerographite, it immediately grabbed attention for its weight: At 75 times lighter than Styrofoam and six times lighter than air, it is billed as the world's lightest material.
The Taliban have a lot to worry about when it comes to Western military technology. The latest threat is easy to miss but potentially deadly in its effect: a 4 X 1-in. unmanned air vehicle (UAV) the British Army is deploying for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance in Afghanistan. Called the Black Nano Hornet, the UAV weighs 16 grams (5 oz.) and has a camera with zoom function that transmits still images and full-motion video to a handheld monitor. The U.K.
The Pentagon recently signed off on plans to spend more than $1 billion on new equipment for the Afghan air force. The shopping list includes a mix of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, including additional Cessna C-208s, which the air force uses for cargo and personnel transport, and more MD 530F helicopters. While some purchases were expected based on long-standing plans, a major change is the addition of four Lockheed Martin C-130 aircraft to replace a fleet of Alenia Aeronautica G.222 transports that proved burdensome to maintain.
During tension between China and Japan over conflicting claims to the Senkaku/Daiyoutai Islands in January (see page DT15), images emerged on the Internet confirming the existence of China's YJ-12 supersonic antiship ramjet missile. Asian sources report that China has deployed the YJ-12. Images show that the missile is a larger development of the YJ-91, a Chinese version of the Russian Zvezda Kh-31 ramjet-powered antiship/radar missile. Chinese sources estimate the YJ-12 has a speed of Mach 2-4 and range of 250-400 km (155-248 mi.).
Vice Adm. (ret.) Yedidia Yaari President and CEO, Rafael Armament Development Authority Ltd., Haifa, Israel Birthplace: Kibbutz Merhavia, Israel, 1947 Education: B.A., Middle East History, Haifa University; M.P.A., Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Advanced Naval Command Course, U.S. Naval War College.
At the Aero India exposition this month, Israeli companies Elbit Systems and Windward Ltd. displayed for the first time an integrated maritime patrol platform for India. The platform comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from Elbit, the new Maritime Hermes 900, equipped with Marint, a satellite-based maritime analytics system from Windward. The platform is intended to perform 24/7 monitoring of India's large maritime environment, including littoral waters and economic exclusion zones.
Although U.S. and Afghan soldiers have become skilled at recognizing signs of improvised explosive devices (IED), the Pentagon is seeking technologies that detect IEDs before they threaten troops and vehicles. One recent development is Scissor-G (Shadow-Class Infrared Spectral Sensor-Ground), which picks up irregularities and other indicators of IEDs from a safe distance. Scissor-G is a product of the U.S. Army's Communications, Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (Cerdec).
The AASM (armament air-sol modulaire) Hammer bomb, the principal air-to-ground weapon in use by the French air force and navy on Rafale combat aircraft, will receive a third guidance kit this year, most likely in the first half, incorporating a laser sensor for the terminal flight phase.
