C4ISR: The total market value of major western command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) programs over the next decade will reach around $50.76 billion, according to Forecast International. But the consulting group notes that the market is on a downward slope, projected to fall from almost $7 billion in sales this year to $3.71 billion annually in 2022 as countries keep defense budgets tight in the wake of the global recession.
Developing the right kind of technology and gathering the proper intelligence are becoming major factors in defeating maritime mines. But the possibility of non-state terrorists gaining access to mines makes the mission even more difficult.
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) has invited eight global aerospace companies to bid for co-producing 56 medium transport aircraft to replace its aging fleet of Hawker Siddeley HS 748s originally built under license by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). The deal mandates that the first 16 aircraft will be directly procured in flyaway condition from the chosen vendor, which will then have to partner with an Indian company that will manufacture the remaining 40. Out of those 40, 16 must comprise 30% indigenous components, while 24 must contain 60%.
ISTANBUL — Turkish defense electronics manufacturer Aselsan is awaiting a production contract for its new targeting pod, which will replace the Turkish air force’s (THK) Lantirn designator pods.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) May 13 — 25th Greater Washington Aviation Open (GWAO) Golf Tournament, "The Largest Aviation Charity in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Area," Lansdowne Golf Resort near Leesburg, Va. For more information call Ed Hazelwood, (202) 383-2358.
The U.S. Army has concluded the path forward for its Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) requirement is either a service life-extension program (SLEP) for the Bell OH-58D/F Kiowa Warrior or a new development program. After evaluating five off-the-shelf AAS candidates, “we did not find a single aircraft out there that could meet Army requirements,” said Lt. Gen. William Phillips, principal military deputy for acquisition, testifying before Congress May 8.
LONDON — The U.K. government’s decision to revert back to the short takeoff and vertical landing (Stovl) variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter cost £74 million ($114 million), according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO). In its May 10 report, “Carrier Strike: The 2012 Reversion Decision,” the NAO looked at the issues surrounding the government’s decision to go with the conventional carrier landing version of the F-35, the F-35C, before going back to the Stovl aircraft in summer 2012.
LOS ANGELES — U.S. Air Force efforts to improve space systems acquisition are showing clear dividends in terms of enhanced operations and cost savings, according to Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski.
Bell Helicopter is finalizing the design of its new Bell 525, a medium-lift helicopyter due for first flight in 2014. The U.S. helicopter maker has completed much of the detailed design, says Bell Helicopter’s chief engineer on the 525 program, David King. “We have been releasing detailed designs for a six month period now … and this month we are having a batch of critical design reviews (CDR),” he said. CDR is one of the final steps before the program moves into “build phase,” he says.
U.S. Air Force officials are confident that the RL10B-2 upper-stage engine for the Delta IV rocket, which has been grounded since an anomaly last fall, will perform nominally in boosting the fifth Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) satellite May 22 from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Air Force Space Command chief Gen. William Shelton launched an accident investigation board following the anomaly, when lower-than-expected thrust was detected by the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RL10B-2 during a Delta IV launch of Boeing’s third GPS IIF satellite on Oct. 8, 2012.
NUKE PROTEST: Two losing bidders are protesting a recent award made to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC of Reston, Va., by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for services supporting the maintenance and security of the U.S. nuclear stockpile.
ISTANBUL — The Turkish army is getting ready to receive the first of six Karayel UAVs it has on order in the coming months. The Vestel-built Karayel, (Mistrel in English) is a high-wing conventional monoplane tactical UAV designed to meet the needs of the Turkish army. Vestel, best-known as a Turkish home electronics manufacturer, designed and developed the fuselage, avionics and flight control system in Turkey. The original Karayel, unveiled at the 2011 IDEF defense show, weighed 250 kg (550 lb.) and could carry a 50-kg payload for up to 8 1/2 hr.
While the U.S. is pretty well anchored in its nuclear-powered submarine and aircraft carrier programs, the rest of its defense shipbuilding prospects are more adrift, according to the nation’s largest military shipbuilder. “This is more of a problem for the non-nuclear side of the business, where it’s a bit more dynamic,” says Michael Petters, CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII).
Encapsulating the general feeling among many federal lawmakers, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says, “The President’s budget on shipbuilding is a fantasy.” The Navy’s proposed investments would be difficult enough to achieve if sequestration continues, McCain said May 8 during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Navy budget. But even without sequestration, McCain notes, the Navy fleet force would feature the fewest ships since the early part of the previous century.
BRAC FEARS: Opposition to — and political fear of — another round of U.S. military base realignments and closures (BRACs) continues to take root on Capitol Hill as Sen. Mark Begich (D-Ark.) is pushing for his colleagues to pass a “sense of the Senate” resolution against the Pentagon’s requested 2015 BRAC. Begich’s resolution, introduced May 8, argues that BRACs, which require up-front spending but lead to long-term savings, would be “neither affordable nor feasible” in 2015 or 2017 under current budget-battle circumstances.
Congress continues to push back against the U.S. Air Force’s attempt to stop purchasing the RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk, using a new report on the divestiture of the long-range UAV as fresh ammunition to keep the Northrop Grumman program alive. The Air Force in its fiscal 2013 budget sought to retire and stop making additional Block 30 Global Hawks in favor of continuing to use U-2 spy aircraft for similar intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
ROME — Frustrated by apparent U.S. ambivalence in granting authority to integrate weapons onto its Reaper aircraft, the Italian air force is looking at possible alternatives, including a yet-to-be-announced “black program” to create a European medium-altitude/long-endurance (MALE) armed UAV.
The search for evidence of life on alien planets is likely to move closer to Earth, involve greater coordination among more capable space and ground-based observatories and require technologies that can detect the presence of oxygen in distant atmospheres, according to exoplanet experts.
