NEW DELHI — With general elections expected before May, corruption scandals over high-profile defense deals, and a deflated rupee, Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony, who has cultivated an image of integrity, has taken a go-slow approach on vitally needed military equipment projects.
PARIS — France and Britain have signed a framework agreement on space cooperation in the areas of Earth observation, telecommunications, space-based weather forecasting and technology. The agreement, signed during a Franco-British defense summit held at RAF Brize Norton in southern England Jan. 31, includes an initial U.K. investment of £15 million ($25 million) for key instruments being developed for the next generation of European weather satellites.
BIG GUNS: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, BAE Systems, Raytheon and General Dynamics are the top five defense contractors worldwide, according to the latest assessment of the industry by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). Rounding out the top 10 for 2012—the last year of full data available for comparison—were Northrop Grumman, EADS (now Airbus Group), United Technologies, Finmeccanica and L-3 Communications.
While India remains the biggest spender among U.S. allies and partners in the Asia-Pacific, Indonesia plans to grow its spending at an even faster clip through fiscal 2023, according to an Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) data analysis.
A small Canadian electro-optical satellite has started contributing data to the U.S. Space Surveillance Network, monitoring orbiting objects at 6,000-40,000 km (3,700-24,850 mi.) as part of the North American effort to improve space situational awareness and prevent collisions.
LONDON — France and the U.K. have agreed to spend £120 million ($197 million) on a feasibility study toward a joint unmanned combat aircraft (UCAV). The agreement, announced jointly by French President Francois Hollande and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron during a one-day summit Jan. 31 at RAF Brize Norton, U.K., is part of a wider scheme to strengthen defense ties following the Lancaster House treaty signed in 2010.
Europe and Russia are pushing ahead with plans for fast-rotorcraft demonstrators, as the U.S. Army moves towards a downselect this year to two high-speed rotorcraft configurations for flight tests beginning in 2017. Officials from the Clean Sky civil-aviation research program are touring Europe, briefing industry and academia on plans for a follow-on program that would include two different fast-rotorcraft flight demonstrators.
Sabreliner Corporation’s business leaned heavily on military contracts that disappeared during sequestration, forcing the company into default on its bank loan and leading to the bank’s sale of the company to an investment firm.
The senior U.S. Air Force officer overseeing the Boeing KC-46 next-generation aerial refueler says his testing plan for the program is on track, countering a more grim assessment from Pentagon chief tester Michael Gilmore.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) feb. 4 - 6 — Aviation Week MRO Middle East, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, UAE. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events/mideast feb. 11-13 — AFCEA West 2014, "Shaping The Maritime Strategy: How Do We Make It Work?" San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, Calif., www.afcea.org/events/register.cfm?ev=214
NASA will spend $12.7 million on seven research projects intended to inaugurate the Jet Propulsion Laboratory-developed Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL), a fundamental physics payload scheduled for a 2016 launch to the International Space Station (ISS), where it will support studies of ultra-cold quantum gas phenomena in the absence of gravity. The funding should support the seven projects, five of them headed for the ISS and two for further ground development, for up to five years, NASA announced Jan. 29.
The U.S. Air Force should restructure up to 10% of its active-duty force into either its federal reserve component or the Air National Guard, including aircraft, to save money and maintain optimal capability in a post-war era of austerity, a highly anticipated report said Jan. 30.
Lockheed Martin has demonstrated that electric fiber lasers can be spectrally combined to produce a high-power, weapon-grade beam. With the highest power yet achieved with high electrical efficiency and beam quality, the company says, tests of the 30-kw fiber laser are a key step toward tactical high-energy weapons.
The U.S. Navy’s shipboard Cobra Judy Replacement (CJR) mobile radar suite—used to monitor and verify missile treaties and provide ballistic missile test data—has overcome programmatic delays and other problems but still faces more obstacles, according to the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E). “The CJR program executed a compressed test schedule caused by programmatic complications and technical setbacks during the integration and developmental test,” DOT&E says.
CYBER CHIEF: U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Michael Rogers has been nominated to replace Gen. Keith Alexander as the commander of U.S. Cyber Command, director of the NSA and the chief of the Central Security Service. Rogers currently commands U.S. Fleet Cyber Command. This makes him the third person named Mike Rogers in a high-profile national security position. He joins lawmakers Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), who leads the House Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), who leads a House Armed Services panel on strategic forces.
NEW DELHI — India has decided to use its Russian-made Mi-17 V-5 helicopters to transport important political leaders during the ensuing election campaigns, after authorities truncated an order for 12 AgustaWestland AW101 VIP transport helos over alleged corruption charges.
Civil Air Patrol – the U.S. Air Force auxiliary and the largest single operator of Cessna piston aircraft – is adjusting its annual aircraft buy to acquire 11 Turbo 206 aircraft after the airframer stopped producing avgas-fueled 182T Skylanes. “The aircraft buy was impacted when Cessna discontinued production of its avgas-fueled 182T and [decided] to replace it with the Jet-A-fueled Turbo Skylane JT-A,” CAP said in its 2013 accomplishments review, posted recently on its website.
Pending anticipated second-quarter 2014 FCC certification of a new “Sat-Fi” device, Globalstar Inc. plans to offer worldwide voice and data satellite-transmission services through traditional Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones, tablets and laptops in the hands of users outside of cellular range.
