PARIS – Brazil has earmarked R$1 billion ($417 million) in its 2015 budget bill for new Saab JAS 39E Gripen fighters under the air force’s FX-2 project, according to an Oct. 7 release issued by the Brazilian defense ministry.
NEW DELHI – India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) is 85% complete and on schedule to be deployed with the country’s navy by 2018. The carrier, likely to be named INS Vikrant, is currently being built at the Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi, in southern India. “At the moment, 85% of the hull is complete and 90% of the fabrication is over,” says Commodore K. Subramaniam, chairman and managing director of Cochin Shipyard Ltd.
PARIS — As the Pentagon expands military operations against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria, the U.S. is paying $7-10 million per day for the effort, amounting to between $800 million and $1 billion over the past four months, the U.S. Defense Department confirmed Oct. 8.
The U.S. Navy has converted a defunct mini-submarine originally developed for the Advanced Seal Delivery System (ASDS) program into a hands-on training tool for submariners. The ASDS sub was damaged and taken out of service after a severe fire in November 2008. Its resurrection took place at the U.S. Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY IMF).
The U.S. Air Force is reviewing industry studies of fitting its 50-year-old Boeing B-52 bombers with new commercial-derivative engines, according to Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, commander of the service’s Global Strike Command. So far, Wilson said Oct. 9 at a Washington meeting, the Air Force assesses that the change would result in a net cost savings over the remaining life of the B-52s, which are expected to fly until 2040.
Around 353 Earth observation (EO) satellites are expected to be launched over the next decade compared to 162 in 2004-2013, according to Euroconsult. This will result in $36 billion in manufacturing revenue globally, an 85% increase over the previous decade, the consultant company says. In 2023 the commercial EO data market is expected to reach $3.6 billion (for an 8% compound annual growth rate over 2014-2023). Asia, Latin America and Africa are expected to grow at more than 10% CAGR each.
AIRBUS successfully demonstrated the ability to airdrop 24 48x48-in., 1-ton containers from the A400M in a single pass, which represents maximum capacity for aircraft for this type of container, which is a key contractual requirement. U.S. COAST GUARD took delivery of its 18th HC-144A Ocean Sentry MPA (CN235) from AIRBUS DEFENSE AND SPACE . ALMATY CITY RESCUE SERVICE, Kazakhstan, took delivery of new multirole Mi-8AMT from RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS .
