When designs for the U.S. Navy’s next generation of aircraft and airborne weapons programs are compared, a common element stands out—the search for more and better electronic warfare (EW) systems. But those goals are being complicated by what Navy planners worry is a diminution of the industrial base that can produce strike-fighter designs. By 2030, planners worry that there may be no competition. Boeing, for example, has already bought the last long-lead items for its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet production line.
A 30% increase in first-quarter revenues and a 58% jump in net income for Boeing is coming mainly from its commercial airplane programs, but Chief Executive Jim McNerney says the company’s Defense Space and Security (BDS) unit is holding up well because of foreign sales.
The question of whether the Defense Department’s wartime spending account is affected or immune from sequestration was raised during a House Budget Committee hearing April 25, with some Republican lawmakers saying the Obama administration should already know the answer. White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Controller Daniel Werfel said the effects of sequestration on the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account “warrant further examination.” OMB will have to make the same sort of determination for many Treasury Department accounts, he said.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The U.S. faces a dilemma over the possible sale of attack helicopters to Indonesia. Industry executives say Indonesia has issued a letter of request to buy Boeing AH-64 Apaches. This comes after the country’s deputy defense minister, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, told state-run news agency Antara in February that Indonesia planned to order eight Apaches.
KUALA LUMPUR — The Europeans, and in particular Britain, have made a concerted effort to woo Malaysia. Their charm offensive has been so successful recently that they now appear to be in a strong position to eclipse the U.S. and win the competition to sell both fighters and airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft to Malaysia.
HOUSTON — Planetary Resources Inc., a high-powered investor group with deep roots in the Internet, software and aerospace industries, plans a long-term commercial effort to profit from robotically identifying and prospecting for water, precious metals and other raw materials on near-Earth asteroids (NEAs).
The European Defense Agency (EDA) is exploring whether the commercial airlines’ airport hub concept could be adapted to more efficiently employ military transport aircraft.
The Pentagon’s decision to give some ground to state advocates in the ongoing fight over reductions to the Air National Guard is being met with a mixed reaction on Capitol Hill. The military is now proposing to retain 24 C-130s in the Air National Guard, after the Obama administration proposed cuts in the Guard appropriation in February in its fiscal 2013 budget request. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta outlined the change in an April 23 letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.).
TORNADO HELMETS: The U.K. will have a dozen Tornado GR4s permanently ready to operate with the Helmet-Mounted Cueing System, although the fleet modification program will be larger. A total of 25 of the aircraft are to be modified to handle the equipment. Nine aircraft have already undergone the process, the Ministry of Defense says. The program’s cost is £11.5 million ($18.5 million). The helmet upgrade was developed by BAE Systems under an urgent operational requirement, with the order placed in April 2011. The system made its combat debut recently in Afghanistan.
Rising oil prices could be both a blessing and a curse for United Technologies Corp. unit Pratt & Whitney. On the one hand, higher prices could curtail airlines’ ability to invest in new equipment, and on the other, the fuel efficiency of P&W’s geared turbofan engines could push airlines into investing, the company told analysts during UTC’s first-quarter earnings call.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) needs to keep a keener eye on the proposed SM-3 missiles slated for Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) before buying more, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says.
Honeywell’s already buoyant outlook for 2012 has been boosted after “higher-than-expected organic sales” produced a near 17% increase in the manufacturer’s first-quarter net income. Aerospace, Honeywell’s second-largest division, contributed to this improvement with a 9% year-on-year rise in sales to almost $3 billion and a 14% growth in segment profit to $467 million. An 18.1% operating margin marked a 0.8-percentage-point gain on 2011’s March quarter.
An April 23 story misstated the officially quoted range of a cruise missile that the South Korean defense ministry says it has deployed. The ministry says its range is more than 1,000 km (620 mi.).
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) has called for information to support the acquisition of nine new special-mission aircraft for communications jamming, signals intelligence and surveillance.
Cubesats quickly turn into space debris when their typically short missions are over, and NASA is looking for ways to reduce the risk of one of the small spacecraft colliding at high speed with a more valuable spacecraft. A request for information issued April 23 by NASA’s Launch Service Program seeks information on concepts developed by industry for minimizing the collision risk from cubesats.
LOS ANGELES — Unexpectedly severe degradation of the protective aeroshell at speeds of up to Mach 20 most likely caused the loss last August of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (Darpa) second Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV-2), according to a report produced by an independent engineering review board.
Pilatus’s past two years of record profits and revenue will not be repeated in 2012. “The current year is likely to be more difficult,” says Oscar Schwenk, CEO/chairman of the Swiss business and trainer aircraft manufacturer. “Even a major order will not be enough to compensate for the low level of orders in hand,” he adds. Last year, strong military business helped Pilatus offset a further drop in PC-12 business aircraft, with the company reaching record profits of 108 million Swiss francs ($118 million).
Using new mid-wave infrared detector technology, Lockheed Martin has begun assembly of a wide-area surveillance sensor that will provide at least 130 independently steerable, full-motion video feeds within its field of view. The sensor is being developed for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (Darpa) Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance — Infrared (Argus-IR) program.
AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., St. Louis, is being awarded a $9,353,862 firm-fixed-price contract to procure focused lethality munitions Small Diameter Bomb I variant. The location of the performance is St. Louis. The work is to be completed by Dec. 31, 2013. AAC/EBMK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity (FA8672-12-C-0039).
