DAMAGE CONTROL: High-ranking U.S. national security leaders are tamping down perceived outspoken efforts recently by the commanding general of coalition forces in Afghanistan, reminding him and the public that military advice is best served up the chain of command. Speaking Oct. 5 at the Association of the U.S. Army convention in Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates went out of his way to tell the audience that those in the White House and the Pentagon should “provide our opinions candidly, but privately” to the president.
60T IOC: The U.S. Coast Guard celebrated Initial Operational Capability (IOC) of its MH-60T at an Oct. 1 ribbon cutting ceremony at Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C. The air station received its third MH-60T in September. The MH-60T project was developed to upgrade the HH-60 by providing improved reliability and mission performance. New capabilities include an Electro-optical/Infrared Sensing System and Airborne Use of Force packages as well as a new Common Avionics Architecture Systems cockpit.
Boeing is preparing for a November limited user test (LUT) of its new AH-64 Apache Block III aircraft equipped with a new avionics suite. “This is the first time Army operators will be flying an aircraft with Level Four UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] control,” said Al Winn, Boeing’s vice president of Apache programs, during the Association of the U.S. Army symposium Oct. 5.
COMBAT UAS: The U.S. Army is testing its Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ER/MP) MQ-1C unmanned aircraft system in Iraq in preparation for near-term use in combat. The aircraft is part of the first Quick Reaction Capability (QRC) MQ-1Cs to be fielded. QRC2 will deploy in the summer of fiscal 2010, and will include an attack capability. When fully deployed, each system will include 12 aircraft, will support 10 Army divisions and be responsive to the lowest level of command for dynamic testing, according to the Army.
FCS PIECES: The U.S. Army said Oct. 5 it has established a major acquisition group, the Program Executive Office (PEO) Integration, to coordinate the armed service’s efforts to develop and acquire future capabilities after the April decision to cancel the Future Combat Systems modernization program.
LITTORAL HAWKS: In preparation to deploy its Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) with the MH-60S Seahawk aboard, the U.S. Navy conducted testing with the MH-60S recently aboard the first LCS, a Lockheed Martin-built hull, which is in competition with General Dynamics’ craft.
The U.S. Army announced Oct. 3 that it has created a new directorate to lead Defense Department efforts to solve issues related to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operating in the national airspace. The Unmanned Systems Airspace Integration Concepts (USAIC) product directorate will develop, test and field a ground-based system that will provide UAV operators a sense-and-avoid (SAA) capability during flight. The move is aimed at complying with FAA “see-and-avoid” safety regulations.
Cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado have nearly finished integrating the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)-sponsored FalconSAT-5 microsatellite, which soon will undergo system testing before being shipped to Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska for launch next year. The $11 million FalconSAT-5 will fly as a secondary payload on the Space Test Program’s (STP) S26 mission, which is slated to launch on May 28, 2010, on a Minotaur IV modified ICBM.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. Army has recognized that the network, not the platform, is most important, during remarks at the Association of the U.S. Army symposium in Washington Oct. 5. “We’ve made tremendous advances in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance that have led to the fusion of intelligence operations on the ground,” Gates said, noting the Army and allies should be able to see each other and communicate, “even through the fog of war.”
NEXT STEP: Led by Sikorsky, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Sandblaster program demonstrated that a combination of see-through sensors, synthetic-vision displays and advanced flight controls could overcome the brownout landing threat. Now the U.S.
AFGHANISTAN AGENDA: Top U.S. soldiers, policy wonks, analysts and government officials have begun a discussion about Afghanistan that is expected to take weeks. What do we know so far? Things are worse in Afghanistan and Defense Sec. Robert Gates remains squarely on the fence about what to do. Gates has so far expressed opposition to “a limited offshore, remote counter-terrorism operation,” but he also is concerned about sending too many U.S. troops, says Geoff Morrell, Gates’ top spokesman.
ANTI FOUL: The U.S. Navy’s USS Port Royal will be the first guided-missile cruiser, and second ship overall, to sail with a new fuel-saving underwater hull coating. The ship left dry dock Sept. 24 and is expected to rejoin the fleet later this year. The special anti-fouling hull coatings, which will eventually cover all 70-plus active ships across the Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, will help reduce marine bio-fouling, as well as the build-up of barnacles and other shell organisms on ships’ hulls.
In a parade redolent of the Soviet Union in its heyday, the Chinese military on Oct. 1 displayed a raft of systems — both tactical and strategic — celebrating the 60th anniversary of the creation of the People’s Republic of China.
Iran’s latest salvo of missiles and words has highlighted the outing of its second — and secret — uranium enrichment facility and its growing and more sophisticated arsenal of weapons. The flurry of militant activity follows a threat of new United Nations sanctions after the discovery of the new facility near the holy city of Qom in the north central part of the country.
MULLING MEADS: While Washington is engulfed in a debate about President Barack Obama’s proposal to cancel plans for 10 silo-based missile defense interceptors in Poland in favor of an SM-3-based architecture, a less prominent European ballistic missile defense effort is having its own problems. The U.S. vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is not helping Lockheed Martin’s effort to push forward with the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), which incorporates a 360-degree radar and new, more capable missile than today’s Patriot systems.
The U.S. Senate has gone on record to support fully funding the Pentagon’s existing request for re-engining the U.S. Air Force’s Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) intelligence collection aircraft. The chamber late Oct. 1 adopted an amendment to the fiscal 2010 defense spending bill proposed by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) that expresses the sense of that legislative body for Joint STARS.
NH90 DELIVERY: France will take delivery of its first four NH90 NFH frigate helicopters next year under a draft 2010 defense spending bill. The NFH is running several years behind the TTH transport version and is not scheduled to make its first delivery, to the Netherlands, until the end of this year. The French also anticipate delivery of seven Tiger attack helicopters in the “I” operational standard in 2010. France’s first operational Tiger squadron stood up in May and the attack helicopter entered service in Afghanistan last month.
AIRBORNE ASW: Despite economic doubts and uncertainties surrounding the global defense industry in the first decade of this century, aircraft remain the most dangerous threat to submarine fleets, according to Forecast International. In turn, the U.S. consultancy predicts the market for airborne anti-submarine warfare (ASW) sensors will see production of more than 199,000 systems valued at $6.1 billion over the next 10 years.
PARIS — Germany is poised to become the fifth European country to operate its own dedicated secure military communications satellite network. The satellite, COMSATBw-1, was orbited by an Ariane 5 ECA during the night of Oct. 1, along with a civilian telecom spacecraft, Amazonas-2. The launch was the fifth of the year for the Ariane 5 and its 33rd success in a row.
SUB COOPERATION: The Australian minister for defense personnel, materiel and science, Greg Combet, is pressing Pentagon engineering and shipbuilding officials to cooperate on Australia’s Future Submarine program. “I was able to discuss future cooperation regarding the development of Australia’s Future Submarine with some of the key officials in the Obama administration,” Combet said after his visit last week.
Problems with government furnished equipment for the Orbital Sciences Minotaur IV launcher will delay liftoff of the first Boeing/Ball Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The launch, the first for the Minotaur IV from Vandenberg, had been tentatively set for Oct. 30.
THALES WIN: APT Satellite Co. of Hong Kong has ordered an 11.4 kW 56-transponder Ku-/C-band spacecraft, Apstar VII, from Thales Alenia Space for launch in the first quarter of 2012. Like four previous Chinese satellites built by Thales Alenia — including Apstar VI — Apstar VII will be based on the manufacturer’s ITAR-free Spacebus 4000 C2 platform and will likely be launched by a Chinese Long March booster. It will replace Apstar 2R at 76.5 deg. E. Long.
BRAZIL BID #2: Boeing says its final bid for Brazil’s F-X2 fighter contest was an opportunity to “update and clarify” elements of its best and final offer for the F/A-18E/F. Support and maintenance would be performed in country and Brazil would have “visibility into” the F/A-18E/F’s operational flight program to interface locally developed subsystem software. Aircraft and engine final assembly and test would be performed locally and Brazil would lead integration of domestically developed weapons.
