In another clear signal that moderation in the U.S. Congress is on the margins, House lawmakers have booted a deficit compromise proposal based on a bipartisan commission from 2010. The vote occurred as Republicans and Democrats are calling for prompt action on a deal to avert a potential $1.2 trillion across-the-board cut in government spending due to take place Jan. 2, 2013.
MINESWEEPER: The U.S. Navy recently finished a second round of testing to further prove the countermine mission potential for its Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The second phase started with testing of each of the components designed for the mine countermeasures package on the LCS-2 USS Independence, including the Remote Minehunting System, Airborne Laser Mine Detection Systems, Airborne Mine Neutralization System and the AN/AQS-20A sonar. Navy officials then tested multiple systems in concert, finally culminating in successful mine detection and neutralization tests.
GENOA — Italy’s Finmeccanica will establish a defense unit in 2013 to combine all of its U.S. operations, including aeronautics, helicopters and defense electronics, to be led by former U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn. The move, unveiled earlier this week by Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi, is part of several significant changes in the beleaguered giant’s strategy, structure and businesses. The changes are necessary, Orsi says, to return Finmeccanica to profitability as soon as this year.
NEW DELHI — India’s “air defense is 97% obsolete,” the country’s soon-to-retire army chief Gen. V.K. Singh wrote in a recent letter to the Indian premier that discusses a number of major issues plaguing the Indian military. The content of the letter, dated March 12, was leaked to the media March 28.
Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk Block 30 may have a shot at escaping U.S. Air Force plans to place it in storage. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), a member of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, says he will recommend continuing funding for the high-flying unmanned aircraft. “That may prevail, at least in the House defense subcommittee.” According to Moran, the “taxpayer is best served” by the Global Hawk, as compared to the U-2 intelligence-gathering aircraft, which the Air Force wants to continue using.
SANTIAGO, Chile — Embraer has added three countries to its A-29 Super Tucano customer list with Burkina Faso, Angola and Mauritania. Burkina Faso already received its three aircraft last year, with talks under way for more. Angola is buying six aircraft, with three to be delivered this year and the rest next year. The size of the Mauritania deal was not disclosed; all are to be delivered this year. All three countries are buying the Embraer-developed Training and Operation Support System. The total contract value is $180 million for the deals.
SANTIAGO, Chile — Brazil is expected to give the go-ahead this year to a new ground-launched cruise missile development program. Avibras has been working on the technology to launch the new weapon, called TM (Tactical Missile), from the Astros II artillery rocket system, but more serious engineering work will require government funding. A production contract is expected to follow in three to four years, according to an industry official.
Those at the Pentagon creating plans for surviving future wars are pressed to stay ahead of increasingly malevolent and sophisticated cyber hackers. Part of their effort follows the template of compartmentalization used for protecting networks on combat aircraft. Planners contain and isolate functionalities such as flight control, weapons and mission systems from cyber weapons that can be delivered wirelessly to corrupt, destroy or exploit digitally controlled capabilities. The key is to let systems interact without providing a path for malware.
A REPRIEVE: Hawker Beechcraft is working with lenders on a “comprehensive recapitalization” after receiving a temporary reprieve from interest payments that were coming due along with an additional $120 million in financing. The additional liquidity will fund ongoing operations while Hawker Beechcraft works with lenders on long-term financing, the company says. The announcement of the forbearance agreement and liquidity comes just days before the Wichita airframer is set to release its fourth-quarter 2011 results.
Amid Senate complaints that the U.S. Navy is treading on questionably legal ground with some of the service’s alternative fuel forays, the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (Navfac) Hawaii this month opened the first of three Ethanol 85 (E85) stations planned for the Navy’s fleet of flex-fuel vehicles March 22 at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH).
While Pentagon contractors worry about the potential effect of sequestration on long-term projects, there should be relatively little impact on current shipbuilding programs, and even existing long-term shipbuilding deals, says Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) CEO Michael Petters. “The sequestration budget discussion is really for future work — work that hasn’t been appropriated yet,” Petters said March 28 during a conference call with business analysts to discuss the company’s latest earnings.
The sophisticated radar and electronic-attack arrays on ships and aircraft, which have increased the range of electronic attack and greatly decreased the size of targets that can be detected, are more vulnerable to cyber attack than the more primitive systems they replace.
Northrop Grumman Corporation's Europe-based air traffic management systems subsidiary, Northrop Grumman Park Air Systems, has been awarded a contract by the NATO Consultation, Command and Control (NATO C3) Agency to provide a second air traffic control receiver site for Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan.
BAD SIGN: As the Pentagon has sought to rein in out-of-control costs and contracting, it has increasingly used fixed-price contracts. But in just three years, the number of services contracts awarded on a lowest-price technically acceptable (LPTA) basis increased by 40%, a rate one expert calls “disturbing.” The use of LPTA contracts is appropriate, particularly when buying commodities, but the government has leaned too far in their direction, says Ray Bjorklund, vice president of Deltek.
NEW DELHI — India’s defense minister has ordered a departmental inquiry into French firm Dassault’s win of the 126-fighter Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract, after a lawmaker raised the possibility of “manipulation” in the selection process.
SANTIAGO, Chile — Captive flight trials are due to start this year on Brazil’s indigenous guidance kit to increase the precision and standoff range of Mk. 82 bombs. Development work on the FPG-82 began around 18 months ago and could, optimistically, wrap up by late next year, says Alexandre Correa Guimaraes, defense marketing manager for Sao Jose dos Campos-based Friuli.
SANTIAGO, Chile — Airbus Military is in talks with several governments to buy C-295 transports that would be provided to the United Nations on an outsourcing basis. The arrangement would essentially enable countries that may be reluctant to buy aircraft solely for their own needs to make the financial commitment knowing a guaranteed revenue stream would be available to defray costs.
The Pentagon will ask for more cash to purchase Rafael’s Iron Dome short-range rocket and mortar defense system for Israel, a request Congress is eager to support. Last year, the U.S. provided $204 million for the system. Now the Obama administration says it is working with Israel to shore up U.S. support for buying more Iron Dome systems, “and intends to request an appropriate level of funding from Congress to support such acquisitions based on Israeli requirements and production capacity,” says Pentagon spokesman George Little.
SANTIAGO, Chile — Embraer expects to expand its Super Tucano customer base with the addition of three operators. The deals, set to be announced March 28, include two already in the company backlog as undisclosed customers, and one genuine new buyer. The deals could include the first African state to buy the light-attack aircraft. Embraer has been pursuing several campaigns in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Guatemala is seen as a potential new buyer. Indonesia, already a buyer of eight Super Tucanos, is considered likely to buy more.
SANTIAGO, Chile — Embraer is hoping to secure two key Brazilian government contracts this year as it looks to expand its defense and security activities. One is the Sisfron domestic security program, estimated at $4 billion, for which Embraer wants to serve as prime contractor and integrator for diverse elements such as radars, unmanned aircraft, communications and other systems, says Luiz Carlos Aguiar, CEO of Embraer Defense and Security, at the Fidae air show here.
LONDON — It appears United Technologies Corp. (UTC) will have to wait a little longer before it completes its proposed $18.4 billion acquisition of Goodrich. European Union antitrust officials are examining competition concerns arising from the combination of the companies’ operations, a move that could delay the closing of the deal beyond UTC’s mid-year target.
NEW DELHI — India will host one of Asia’s biggest defense exhibitions starting March 29 to showcase the country’s military potential as major armament manufacturing giants try to get a share of the $38 billion market. Some 567 global defense firms from 32 countries will display weapon systems for the army, navy and internal security during the four-day “Defexpo India 2012,” the seventh in the series, to be held in New Delhi, a defense official says.
SANTIAGO, Chile — Unable to complete its annual program review, the U.K. decision on which version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to buy has been delayed again until at least mid-April.
