PARIS — Eurocopter has begun discussions with the German government regarding planned defense spending cuts that likely will see procurement reduced to 55-70 units. Initial discussions are also due to begin this week with Spain’s new government to determine what cuts may loom there. Although more paring is all but inevitable, Eurocopter President and CEO Lutz Bertling says their scale is not clear. In Germany, for instance, the number of Tigers to be acquired is likely to be higher than the 40 units discussed.
PARIS — Eurocopter expects helicopter deliveries to enter a new growth phase in 2012, with order intake anticipated to rise for a second year. “Our assumption is very strong growth in the next years,” CEO Lutz Bertling says. Deliveries are expected to return to their pre-crisis level, or about 600, up from 503 units last year, 527 in 2010 and 558 in 2009. Order intake this year should surpass 500 units, Bertling believes.
A Jan. 24 DAILY story misidentified the EELV engine being offered at a discount to United Launch Alliance. It is the RS-68 engine, which powers the core stage of the Delta IV.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — While U.S. launch officials slowly make headway in their efforts to curb rising launch costs, some are calling for a better compromise between mission assurance and affordability as the Air Force studies a possible rate increase to 10 national security space launches per year.
LONDON — After some delay, Oman’s long-anticipated purchase of Eurofighter Typhoons has taken an important step forward. The Omani government has now submitted a request for proposals to BAE Systems for both procurement and, importantly, support of the strike fighter. The initial deal is expected to be for around 12 aircraft. Contract award is expected later in the year, with delivery likely to come 36 months later.
ARMY General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, Calif., was awarded a $30,342,272 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract in support of the MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system quick reaction capability. The work will be performed in Poway, Calif., with an estimated completion date of May 7, 2012. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-09-C-0153).
AAI Corp. is proposing a new vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) design for the U.S. Navy’s medium-range maritime unmanned aerial system (MRMUAS) requirement. The Shadow Knight is based on the slowed-rotor/compound (SR/C) concept licensed from Carter Aviation Technologies, but with changes to enable a true hover capability for operation from ships.
The Pentagon’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (Jieddo) is looking for industry solutions to the problem of homemade explosives (HME) — specifically those made with ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which has become the deadliest weapon used against NATO troops in Afghanistan. According to a Broad Area Announcement issued Jan. 17, Jieddo is looking for studies that will “define the signatures and available observables” for these explosives, as well as “aid in the development of capabilities to counter these threats.”
President Barack Obama’s budget release will be delayed a week until Feb. 13, an administration official confirms. “The date was determined based on the need to finalize decisions and technical details of the document,” the official said in an email, adding that in keeping with efforts to rein in the federal deficit, the administration will not distribute paper copies of the budget. The administration is supposed to submit its budget to Congress on the first Monday of February. The Obama administration has met that deadline just once — in 2010.
LONDON — In another indication that the maritime surveillance market is remaining robust even as defense spending comes under pressure, a group of companies — Indra, Selex Galileo, FLIR Systems, Airborne Technologies and Tecnam — has unveiled a new maritime surveillance venture. The program is built on Tecnam’s light twin-engine P2006T and should be ready for entry into service by year’s end, Indra says in a statement announcing the effort.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) has sent an unsolicited proposal to United Launch Alliance (ULA) that would cut the price of RL10 rocket engines by 25%, and by almost half from the levels reached in summer 2010.
Michael McCord, the U.S. Defense Department’s comptroller, warns of dire consequences if more than $1 trillion in approved cuts to military spending over 10 years are allowed to take effect. The result would be the lowest number of ships since World War I, the smallest ground force since 1940 and the smallest Air Force ever, he recently told investors.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is due to release a report Jan. 24 that analyzes the U.S. Navy’s decision to restart the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer production line. GAO is seeking to determine the underlying basis for the Navy’s decision to select the DDG-51 as the “best hullform” for future surface combatants. Requested by the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, GAO’s report and congressional reaction to it could force the Navy to revise its strategy for destroyers and combat systems.
BEIJING — The Royal Australian Navy, moving ahead with the general installation of an anti-ship missile defense (ASMD) upgrade, plans to hand over an Anzac-class frigate for enhancement by BAE Systems in September. Seven ships will be heavily modified in the program, whose key feature is a CEA Technologies radar suite with active, electronically scanned arrays. The eighth member of the class, HMAS Perth, already has the system and proved its effectiveness in trials last year.
REPLACING MILAN: The French government has awarded MBDA an initial risk-reduction contract for the MMP missile, the replacement for the Milan missile. The development program is due to be launched late this year, French defense armament agency DGA says. The scale of the initial contract awarded on Dec. 30 has not been disclosed. MMP is due to have a range of around 2,500 meters (8,200 ft.), the French government says, although longer ranges have also been cited for the weapon. It is being designed to engage fixed and moving targets during the day or night.
Boeing reports the fourth Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) military communications satellite is “healthy and ready to begin orbital maneuvers and operational testing” following its Jan. 19 launch from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. The 7,600-lb. spacecraft, based on a Boeing 702 platform, was lifted into orbit on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV in a Medium-plus configuration. It was ULA’s first launch of the year and the Delta IV’s 18th. Contact with it was made 58 min. after liftoff.
NAS PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ushered the F-35B out of the penalty box, after the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (Stovl) version of the stealthy fighter was sidelined for poor performance for more than a year by prior Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Standing in a hangar in front of BF-4, one of two F-35Bs to conduct testing on the USS Wasp amphibious ship last fall, Panetta spoke to a small audience of government and industry workers on the Joint Strike Fighter test team.
The Pentagon should tighten the way it uses security exceptions in contracting for certain goods and services, says a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). “DOD (Department of Defense) intelligence agencies and special access programs frequently use the exception, but are generally excluded from reporting procurement data,” GAO says in its January report.
LONDON — In a sign that European defense companies may be stepping up activities to rationalize their product portfolio, Rheinmetall and EADS’s Cassidian unit have agreed to a joint venture (JV) covering tactical and medium-altitude unmanned aircraft and cargo loading systems. Cassidian will control 51% of the JV, although Rheinmetall appears to be providing the bulk of the technology content. In return, Rheinmetall is due to receive an undisclosed cash consideration once the deal closes, which is expected mid-year pending anti-trust authorization.
