The U.S. Navy plans to test renewable jet fuel derived from butanol produced from biomass. The biobutanol is being produced by Cobalt Technologies, which has partnered with chemicals company Albemarle to produce the fuel using technology developed by Navy researchers.
GENEVA — Despite some big looming defense deals for the company, Dassault still predicts overall flat sales this year compared with 2011, as its results continue to be weighed down by the weak business jet environment of recent years. That said, there are signs of a business jet recovery, according to Chairman/CEO Charles Edelstenne.
The Pentagon’s procurement slowdown of the F-35 program reduces the concurrency risks that have plagued the effort, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), but larger affordability risks remain a major threat to the stealthy fighter. In a written statement presented to the House Armed Services airland subcommittee on March 20, the GAO’s Michael Sullivan points out that the fiscal 2013 plan is the third year in a row the Defense Department has cut procurement quantities.
Last year’s funding fight between Lockheed Martin’s Medium Extended Air Defense System (Meads) and Raytheon’s Patriot system has a sequel. Eight senators are asking their colleagues to shift funding from the U.S.-European missile defense system into upgrades for the current U.S. Army program.
Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) is recommending a revamp of the National Nuclear Security Administration, the agency in charge of maintaining the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Turner, the top Republican on the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, also is blasting the Obama administration for failing to request enough money for missile defense.
LOS ANGELES — Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) is expanding the C-17 engineering workforce at Long Beach, Calif., by 10% over the next 2-3 years to support the commercial development of the Boeing 737 MAX and Boeing 787 family derivatives.
China has been preparing airborne and ground systems that can launch electronic- and cyberattacks on enemy aircraft. The targets are aircraft with large antennas, in particular the increasingly used active, electronically scanned arrays (AESA) that equip the latest fighters as well as long-range surveillance and command-and-control aircraft (Aerospace DAILY, March 19).
The Pentagon’s top cyberwarrior says that the risks the U.S. faces are growing faster than the country’s progress in creating the offensive and defensive tools and rules of engagement to defend cyberspace. “Our work and actions are affected by threats well outside the Defense Department’s networks,” U.S. Army Gen. Keith Alexander, chief of U.S. Cyber Command, told the House Armed Services Committee on March 20. “What concerns us is the shift from disruptive to destructive attacks. Attacks that can destroy equipment are on the horizon.”
Add two more to the list of unpopular aircraft decisions that U.S. lawmakers are grilling Pentagon officials on during fiscal 2013 budget hearings: ending the C-27 transport and reducing the number of A-10 attack aircraft. At a March 20 hearing, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and other members questioned the Air Force moves, connecting the programs to a staple of home district politics: the Air National Guard and Reserve, their bases and the number of reservists.
LONDON — Continued delays in fielding the Watchkeeper unmanned aircraft are linked to clearing the system for use in military and civil airspace, the U.K. Defense Ministry says.
START DATE: The French air force is projecting that the A400M airlifter will become operational in 2014. The service expects Airbus Military to deliver the first of the aircraft in March 2013, after which the 1/61 squadron will undergo a period of training and familiarization. Once that process is complete, the unit is to formally reach operational status in 2014, the service says in announcing progress on building up the base infrastructure for the aircraft. France plans to base all 50 of its A400Ms at the Orleans-Bricy air base.
LONDON — European states need to quickly press ahead with a set of projects to preserve their defense aeronautics industrial base, an industry consortium urges. The Future Air Systems for Europe (or FAS4Europe) report calls for European Defense Agency (EDA) members to prepare an action plan this year and begin the first phase of their road map to preserve industrial skills in 2013. Moreover, the report, prepared by a Saab-led consortium, calls for the creation of an aeronautics working group to coordinate future activities, according to an executive summary.
House Republicans unveiled a budget proposal for fiscal 2013 that would reduce the federal deficit by $5 trillion, while sparing the Pentagon’s budget from steep cuts. It would provide $554 billion in defense spending and $88 billion for the war effort in fiscal 2013 along with $6.2 trillion for defense over the decade.
Northrop Grumman and Quest Aircraft Co. of Sands Point, Idaho, are teaming to explore civil, military and government applications of the Quest Kodiak aircraft integrated with a modular, reconfigurable C4ISR [command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] system.
Even though the U.S. and Russia are supposed to discuss an agreement on missile defense during the upcoming NATO summit in May, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) predicts that such an accord “is not going to happen.” The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee pointed to a March 19 statement by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that the Russian military should develop plans to attack U.S. and NATO missile defense systems in Europe.
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) has lost 33 combat jets in the last four years, 27 of them MiGs of various variants, mainly due to human error and technical defects, Defense Minister A.K. Antony reports.
PARIS — Even as it looks to boost order intake this year, European missile maker MBDA is focused on securing key programs in the coming months that should help shore up its long-term financial prospects. In particular, MBDA CEO Antoine Bouvier hopes European governments will start focusing on ballistic missile defense, Germany and Italy will consider joining the U.K. and France in pursuing a common path on deep strike, and France will move forward with the development of the MMP program aimed at fielding a replacement for the Milan missile.
LONDON — Russian Helicopters is looking to further strengthen its grip on the country’s rotorcraft industry by taking full control of the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant (UUAP) production business.
MISSILE DECISIONS: The French military is still exploring whether to acquire the MBDA Dual-Mode Brimstone (DMB) used heavily by the Royal Air Force during last year’s Libya air war. DMB is only one of several options being considered. The interest is driven mainly by the low-collateral-damage nature of the weapon, says MBDA CEO Antoine Bouvier. A French program would be developed for the air force, with the service undertaking a study examining other options. The French navy so far has not shown interest. If France goes ahead with the program, the U.K.
