AMSTERDAM — The collapse of merger talks between EADS and BAE Systems raises serious questions about the future course of both companies and shows how much influence European governments have over EADS. The two companies called off their planned merger Oct. 10, hours before the expiration of a deadline set by a British takeover commission. Executives mustered last-ditch efforts to save the deal, but it had become increasingly clear since late last week that political reservations could not be overcome.
Airbus Military has teamed with Yellowknife, Northern Territories-based aviation services company Discovery Air to offer the C295 light tactical transport for the Canadian Forces’ Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue (FWSAR) program. Discovery has signed a memorandum of understanding to be the primary Canadian partner in the bid, providing in-service support. Other Canadian suppliers on the C295 are Pratt & Whitney Canada, CAE, L-3 Wescam and Vector Aerospace.
The effect to the Pentagon of an across-the-board budget cut will be 1.9% steeper than outlined by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last month, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee tells lawmakers in an Oct. 9 letter.
TEL AVIV — The allegedly Iranian-backed UAV that penetrated Israeli airspace last weekend was shot down 30 km from the Dimona nuclear reactor after flying 30 min. over Israeli territory. According to Israeli officials, the UAV was downed in the area of the Yatir Forest, in the northern Negev, so as to avoid damage to a civilian area.
The U.S. Air Force says it is looking for ways to compensate for gaps in integrated F-22 Raptor life support system testing highlighted by a recent service report investigating pilot breathing incidents. While the different components and equipment that form the stealthy fighter’s life support system all have been modeled and tested individually, there has been no such check of the entire integrated system, according to the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Report on Aircraft Oxygen Generation released last month.
LAUNCHING SCANEAGLE: A shipboard-capable system designed to support the launch and recovery of ScanEagle UAVs completed its final demonstration flight testing Sept. 27 at a testing range in eastern Oregon, the Office of Navy Research (ONR) says. The ONR-sponsored Compact Launch and Recovery System (CLRE) is meant to provide a small-scale system for operating the maritime surveillance aircraft. CLRE uses a compressed-air launcher to shoot the ScanEagle into the sky.
Turkish F-16 jets forced down a Syrian Arab airliner en route from Moscow to Damascus to land after intelligence reports said it was carrying cargo banned by civil-aviation rules. Turkey confiscated the cargo among suggestions that weapons parts and military communications equipment had been discovered.
AMSTERDAM — The boards of EADS and BAE Systems were due to meet Oct. 9 to determine whether they should call off the planned merger of the two companies or extend a deadline that expires Oct. 10. The German government has been emerging as the biggest hurdle to an agreement on the massive deal. BAE Systems has to apply for an extended deadline by the afternoon of Oct. 10. Such extensions usually are granted, and would give the two companies 28 more days to forge a deal and come to terms with the three governments.
TEL AVIV — Elbit Systems and Northrop Grumman are collaborating to develop a terrain-following/terrain-avoidance (TF/TA) system to improve tactical, low-level flight safety for military transports. The TF/TA system has already been selected for integration into an ongoing C-130 Hercules upgrade program. It could help pilots carrying out combat search and rescue or Special Operations Forces missions.
ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Boeing is expecting a sole-source contract for the initial U.S. Air Force purchase of Laser-Guided Small-Diameter Bomb (SDB) weapons, according to Kristen Robertson, who heads the program for the company. The service announced its intent Oct. 4, and the initial buy is for use on the AC-130W gunship employed by Air Force Special Operations Command.
The Defense Department’s needs for U.S. Navy intelligence have focused funding on aircraft — especially UAVs — and submarine-related programs, according to recently declassified and released budget documents. The military intelligence programs’ fiscal 2010 budget justification for Congress indicates long-term Pentagon interest and funding programs that likely persist not only through this fiscal year but into the future.
The Pentagon is wasting money because of the way it handles hundreds of millions of dollars invested in single-bid contract awards, a recent Defense Department Inspector General (IG) report says. “The services have not realized potential cost savings associated with increased competition and recompeting $390.9 million in contract modifications,” IG says in its Oct. 4 report. “DOD also cannot accurately assess the percent of improvements in DOD [by] achieving effective competition,” IG reports.
As a step toward a lightweight, multifunction radar for rotorcraft, Northrop Grumman will demonstrate a compact anti-brownout sensor using millimeter-wave active-array technology under a $33.2 million contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. To be demonstrated in 2014, the Multifunction Radio Frequency (MFRF) sensor will use silicon-germanium transmit/receive tiles arranged in modular sub-arrays that will be combined to produce an active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar operating in EHF band at around 90GHz.
Despite recent concerns about developing homegrown security and defense forces in Afghanistan, establishing those types of units can be vital to counterinsurgency efforts, according to the Rand Corp.
The FAA will contract with Pratt & Whitney to modify an F117 turbofan engine—the military version of the PW2000—for a volcanic ash study involving NASA and the U.S. Air Force (USAF). P&W’s F117 powers USAF’s C-17 four-engine military transport aircraft, one of which will be used for the study, which is scheduled to start in March. The ground will inject ash into the modified engine.
Airbus’ research and development efforts on titanium alloys will include a focus on the creation of new alloys with improved machining capabilities and mid- and high-temperature resistance and better fatigue and damage-tolerance properties. The manufacturer’s senior VP-material procurement, Eric Zanin, speaking yesterday at the Titanium 2012 conference in Atlanta, also said Airbus is looking to reduce titanium’s buy-to-fly ratio to lower the amount of the metal needed for each part.
While the U.S. Air Force has ruled out oxygen system or cockpit contaminants as the cause for recent F-22 Raptor pilot breathing issues, toxic chemicals and by-products remain a concern for jet operations, according to the recent service report on pilot oxygen issues. The service should not only continue to monitor contamination issues, the report says, but look at installing filters and sensors that the pilot On-Board Oxygen Generation System (Obogs) system now lacks.
The threat of line closure of the Boeing C-17 programme has been lifted following a $2 billion contract from the US government that will allow Boeing to continue providing vital military and humanitarian airlift capability around the world.
Click here to view the pdf 2013 U.S. Defense Spending: Funding for U.S. Navy, Air Force Aircraft Under The CR ($ in thousands) 2013 U.S. Defense Spending: Funding for U.S.
Iran recently revealed four copies of its Ra’d (Thunder) surface-to-air-missile (SAM) system, with each transporter carrying three Taer (Bird) missiles. Iran very likely did not develop this missile indigenously, but its configuration defies clear determination of its parentage, which is likely either Russian or Chinese. Iranian military officials told the Fars News Agency that the Taer has a range up to 50 km to an altitude of 75,000 ft. and that it was currently in production for the Iranian armed forces.
The Pentagon is continuing its efforts to buy its replacement Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) under a different purchasing strategy from the way the Defense Department developed and procured the initial fleet. The U.S. Marine Corps and Army took some heat for the way they first bought JLTVs to meet rapid development and acquisition needs for protection against improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as well as terrain conditions in recent military conflicts.
FRANKFURT — Two days ahead of an important regulatory deadline for the proposed merger of EADS and BAE Systems, another roadblock has appeared in the form of a major BAE shareholder publicly slamming the deal.
