Growing international concern about ballistic missile defense (BMD) is boosting procurement for Raytheon’s Patriot and other systems meant to protect countries, allies and their assets against a BMD attack. “One of the things we’ve been seeing here is a resurgence in the Patriot over the last years,” says Tom Kennedy, president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems.
In the June 23 story, “U.S. Global Strike Command To Renew Conventional Capabilities,” the most advanced Russian air defense missile in the Libyan government inventory is the SA-24 Grinch.
LE BOURGET — Europrop International (EPI) is set to build the initial powerplants for the first A400M production version, even as it continues to examine the inflight failure of a gearbox on the TP400-D6 turboprop powering the EADS Airbus Military airlifter. The mishap prevented the A400M from taking part in flight displays at the Paris air show.
LE BOURGET — The German government this week signed a contract to equip 12 NH90s with a medical evacuation kit and also wants to bolster the Tiger attack helicopter. The moves are intended to ready the two helicopter types for a potential deployment to Afghanistan. Although there are questions about whether Germany will make a political decision to deploy the Tiger, preparations are moving forward.
LE BOURGET — Astrium Space Transportation is pitching a €1 billion ($1.4 billion) missile defense system to the French defense ministry — an unsolicited proposal that would hinge on a successful flight test of the midcourse interceptor the company says could be conducted by 2016. CEO Alain Charmeau says the flight demo, which would launch and destroy a target at the edge of space during the midcourse segment of the target’s ballistic launch trajectory, would cost €200-€300 million.
NEW DELHI — India would be unlikely to entertain a bid by Lockheed Martin to offer the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and re-enter the roughly $11 billion Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition, as such a move could significantly raise the cost and delay the procurement, several Indian officials and observers tell Aviation Week.
AUSTRALIAN FORCES: Australia will undertake its first dedicated, stand-alone Force Posture Review since arguably the Vietnam War, in cooperation with the U.S. but with an eye toward the rise of China, India and growing Asia-Pacific challenges like energy security and humanitarian assistance, Defense Minister Stephen Smith has announced. “The whole world is moving to the Asia Pacific,” Smith said June 22.
LE BOURGET — U.S. Air Force acquisition chief David Van Buren is asking industry for help in finding ways to both reduce cycle times for deliveries of weapon systems and cut costs to the government. This includes a plea for industry to inform the government of cost/benefit trades in forthcoming procurements. Ultimately, a broader dialogue is needed between the Air Force and its contractors. This includes not blindly following the requirements of a solicitation if the contractor knows a better way to fill it, he says.
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After a two-year refurbishment of the U.S. Air Force’s nuclear arsenal, the armed service’s Global Strike Command is shifting focus to upgrading its conventional capabilities. The effort is being driven by aging of the B-2 bomber’s stealth signature; introduction of advanced, electronically scanned array (AESA) radars into foreign-made air defenses; and the Pentagon’s need to generate requirements for a new, $3.7 billion, long-range, stealthy strike aircraft, the organization’s leaders say.
LE BOURGET — MBDA has devised a new stealthy naval warfare missile concept, the Perseus, which calls for the use of submunitions to defeat ship self-defense systems. Perseus is part of MBDA’s Concept Visions project, which is aimed at shaping the missile systems market at 2030 and beyond, rather than targeting a specific requirement, says Steve Wadey, executive group director technical at MBDA. The goal is to address key defense challenges; last year it was a weapons family for dismounted soldiers.
Less than a week after former submariner Adm. Jonathan Greenert was nominated as the chief of naval operations, the U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a submarine combat and sonar systems contract with a ceiling value of $758 million.
The cost of the war in Afghanistan will shrink by $25 billion in the next two years, although it will happen incrementally, as it did in Iraq, according to the top Democrat on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. “It’s only going to come down $10 billion this year,” Rep. Norm Dicks (Wash.) says. If about 20,000 U.S. troops leave Afghanistan next year, the cost will drop by about $15 billion, he adds.
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LE BOURGET — The European Space Agency’s Galileo program could get an extra six satellites in addition to the 18 currently funded under the €3.4 billion ($5 billion) global satellite navigation system, the European Commission says.
KELLY RETIRING: Veteran space shuttle commander Mark Kelly announced June 21 that he will retire from NASA and the U.S. Navy effective Oct. 1 to be at the side of his wife, Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, as she continues her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head suffered during a Jan. 8 rally in Tucson. Kelly, who traveled to space four times, led shuttle Endeavour’s final flight. “We deeply respect his achievements and his decision to focus on his family,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said of Kelly in a statement.
LE BOURGET — Lockheed Martin is offering an intelligence-collection pod and roll-on/roll-off kit to international customers as a way to expand the mission of both legacy C-130s and newer J-models. The U.S. Air Force has been using a similar pod to conduct low-altitude communications intelligence-collection missions on one of its C-130Hs operating over Afghanistan, according to Jim Grant, a Lockheed Martin business development executive.
GIVING NOTICE: The U.S. Coast Guard should notify the Department of Homeland Security that the service has incurred 20 violations of the Anti-Deficiency Act totaling about $7 million for its Response Boat-Medium Major Acquisition project between fiscal 2004 and 2009, the department’s Inspector General (IG) says in a report released this week.
NEW DELHI — India’s defense ministry is zeroing in on an effort to buy 194 microlight aircraft for training and research. The request for proposals was released in March. One of the contenders is Pipistrel, a Slovenia-based light-aircraft maker. “If Pipistrel gets short-listed, it will set up a microlight field in the ‘go-fly zone’ near Jaipur and initially invest up to €2 million [$2.88 million],” says Vibhooti Singh Deora, CEO of Microlight Aviation Private Ltd. (MAPL).
LE BOURGET — A U.S. Navy MQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned rotorcraft was lost June 21 while conducting a mission over Libya, according to program sources. At the time of the crash, the aircraft was delivering intelligence data from about 5,000-7,000 ft. as expected, and there was no immediate sign of a command and control problem or mechanical malfunction, a program source says. This could indicate that the aircraft was shot down by hostile forces, the source adds.
PROGRESS LAUNCHED: Russia’s Progress 43 cargo capsule lifted off atop a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on June 21, initiating a two-day journey to the International Space Station carrying nearly three tons of fuel, food, spare parts and other supplies. The Progress is expected to arrive at the station’s Russian segment aft docking port on June 23 at 12:39 p.m. EDT.
LE BOURGET – The European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA are discussing plans to build a joint U.S.-European spacecraft based on existing designs that could ferry astronauts to the International Space Station and one day carry humans beyond low Earth orbit.
