CANADA will gather industry info over summer on CF-18 replacement, incl. costs, delivery times, NORAD interoperability, readiness, potential benefits to Canadian economy. LOCKHEED MARTIN has $93.9M U.S. Navy contract for procurement of “diminishing manufacturing sources electronic components” for F-35. Work to be complete June 2017.
House Armed Services Ranking Democrat Adam Smith (Wash.) supports the Pentagon’s so-called Third Offset technology strategy, but wonders where the money will come from to carry it out. “Where are we going to save money?” he asks. He suggests not necessarily spending a trillion dollars to recapitalize the nuclear triad as it exists today, as well as not making the U.S. Army and Marine Corps troop end-strengths larger than what can be financially sustained.
NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover could be ready to resume science operations within a few days, after a near week-long round of troubleshooting to determine why it placed itself in “safe mode” on July 2.
Canada is reaching out to fighter aircraft manufacturers and other nations such as Denmark, France, Germany and Sweden to figure out the best way to replace its 34-year-old CF-18 fighter fleet.
Israel Aerospace Industries and Elta are well placed to fill a Japanese requirement for up to eight unmanned surveillance aircraft that would economically complement the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. For a complete list of Aviation Week Network’s upcoming events, and to register, visit www.aviationweek.com/events (Bold type indicates new calendar listing). July 13—Commercial Aerospace Manufacturing Briefing (CAMB), co-located with the Farnborough International Airshow, Farnborough, U.K. For more information go to www.awin.aviationweek.com/events
The U.S. Air Force’s chief of information dominance says contractors and their suppliers are being held to a “higher standard” in cybersecurity as digitally dependent weapons like the Northrop Grumman B-21 bomber enter development.
Pratt snagged a $1.5 billion deal for the tenth batch of F135 propulsion systems, bringing the total low-rate initial production (LRIP) lot 10 contract value to $1.95 billion overall.
ESTONIA re-organized defense ministry, combining three departments into Defense Investments Department. Finance department to be eliminated. FNSS SAVUNMA SISTEMLERI A.S. has contract to upgrade Turkish Land Forces Kaplan and PARS 4x4 vehicles with anti-tank missiles. SAAB has AUS37m ($28m) contract to sustain combat system on Australian Anzac-class frigates. Covers work from July 2016 until December 2017.
Seven Turkish military personnel have been killed after their Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawk crashed in Northern Turkey. The S-70A operated by Turkey’s Jandarma General Command crashed into a forest in low-visibility conditions near the town of Giresun on Turkey’s Black Sea coast. Seven of the 15 onboard were killed; the other eight were injured and taken to the hospital. The helicopter had been returning to Giresun after visiting outposts in the region. In a statement, the Turkish Armed Forces General Staff said the cause had not been determined.
As the F-35 makes its debut in the U.K. this week, a top U.S. Air Force general says there are no major hurdles to declaring the F-35A operational close to its target date of Aug. 1.
Euroconsult says around 200 organizations built a smallsat between 2006 and 2015, and the coming decade will show a similar pattern, with the results about to be evident in orbit.
The Certifiable Predator B has been designed and developed with airspace rules and compliance in mind, and is expected to meet NATO’s unmanned air vehicle airworthiness requirements.
The preponderance of Chinese demand for the aircraft, known as Advanced Heavy Lifter (AHL), is the likely reason for Avic taking over what was originally promoted as a joint program.
The Marines’ Deputy Commandant for Aviation is singing the F-35B's praises after it demonstrated a 24 to zero “kill ratio” during a Weapons and Tactics Instructor course at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, last spring.
Singapore will commission a locally developed tracked vehicle, the Armored Fighting Vehicle (AFV), in 2019 to replace the aging M113 armored personnel carrier.
