The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Iraqi F-16s. The government of Iraq has transferred its first payment for 18 of Lockheed Martin’s F-16C fighter jets, block 52 variant, the Pentagon says Sept. 27. “These aircraft will help provide air sovereignty for Iraq to protect its own territory and deter or counter regional threats,” Pentagon spokesman George Little says. “They are also a symbol of the commitment to a long-term strategic partnership between the United States and Iraq.” The $3 billion sale comes as U.S. troops prepare to leave the war-torn country by the end of the year. “We expect foreign military sales, including items such as F-16 aircraft, to serve as a cornerstone of our future cooperation and support the development of the long-term cooperative security relationship we envision with Iraq,” Little says.
Taiwan’s Share. U.S. Pacific Command head Adm. Robert Willard says Sept. 27 that plans to upgrade Taiwan’s F-16A/B jets will not tilt the military balance in favor of the island nation in relation to China. The United States opted last month against allowing the sale of F-16C/Ds to Taiwan. “I think for the time being the upgrade of F-16A/Bs is exactly the right next step to refurbish Taiwan’s air force,” Willard says at the Foreign Press Center in Washington. “I think it’s important to recognize that Taiwan arms sales in and unto themselves are not going to rebalance the cross-strait elements of combat power. Again, when we get at the combat power from ballistic missiles to integrated air missile defenses to fighter aircraft and much more that exist across strait, Taiwan arms sales are not going to ever achieve that–a balance or rebalance of that. They are intended to provide defense articles and services so that Taiwan has an inherent ability to defend itself.”
Next NASA. NASA leaders meet with hundreds of company officials on Sept. 29 about the future heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). The industry day event, hosted by the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., gave aerospace companies of all sizes an overview of the rocket program, defining “its near-term business requirements, including details of NASA’s acquisition strategy for procurement of critical hardware, systems and vehicle elements,” the space agency says. “We’ve done the due diligence necessary to get to this point–thousands of configuration trades and studies–and now it’s time for us to start working on the hardware,” Marshall Center Director Robert Lightfoot says. NASA announced its SLS design plans last month.
Carrier Crunch. A factor in debates about Navy force structure and aircraft-carrier numbers center on the program for the Marine Corps’ variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, the developmental F-35B, which the Pentagon placed on a two-year probation earlier this year, Analyst Byron Callan, director of Capital Alpha Partners LLC in Washington writes Sept. 29. “If it is off probation, it provides the Navy with air capacity from 12 (amphibious) ships that is more capable than the now near venerable AV-8Bs and this may make it more palatable for the Navy to reduce its carrier force by one ship,” he says. “If, however, the F-35B proves unaffordable or performance issues persist, then Marine aviation will eventually just operate from carriers or land bases as AV-8B jets are retired, which could support the current carrier plan.”
Japanese Jet. Three defense contractors–Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and the Eurofighter consortium–have submitted bids to Japan for its next-generation FX jet fighter. The U.S. government submitted the proposals for Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and the British government transmitted Eurofighter’s bid for the Typhoon jet, according to news reports. The Japanese Air Self Defense Force is looking to replace its older F-4 fighters made by McDonnell Douglas, which has since been bought by Boeing. Japan had long wanted to buy Lockheed Martin’s F-22, but the U.S. government banned the fifth-generation stealth fighter’s export.
J.F. Lehman War Chest. The private equity firm J.F. Lehman & Company says it has closed a new fund, the JFL Equity Investors III, L.P., with commitments of $575.5 million, well above the original target of $450 million. The middle-market firm is focused on the defense, aerospace and maritime industries. Earlier this year, the JFL Fund III closed its first acquisition, US Joiner, a provider of end-to-end marine joiner and related shipbuilding solutions for United States government and commercial customers.
It’s Metal Shark. The Coast Guard has awarded Metal Shark Aluminum Boats a $13 million delivery order to produce 38 Response Boats-Small, selecting the Louisiana-based firm over Washington-based SAFE Boats International in a competition to supply up to 500 of the 28-foot boats. The RB-S will be capable of at least 40 knots, have a minimum range of 150 nautical miles and accommodate a crew of four. The vessels will be used throughout the Coast Guard for port and waterway security, search and rescue, drug and migrant interdiction, environmental and other law enforcement missions. The Coast Guard will procure up to 470 boats, Customs and Border Protection 20 and the Navy 10.
New Navy Cyber Commander. Vice Adm. Michael Rogers on Friday took over command of the United States Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. Tenth Fleet, succeeding Vice Adm. Barry McCullough. Rogers’ most recent assignment was director for Intelligence on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. U.S. Fleet Cyber Command is the Navy’s central operational authority for networks, cryptologic and signals intelligence, information operations, cyber, electronic warfare, and space capabilities in support of forces afloat and ashore. Tenth Fleet has operational control of assigned Naval forces and coordinates with other naval, coalition and Joint Task Forces to execute cyber, electronic warfare, information operations and signals intelligence capabilities and missions across the cyber, electromagnetic and space domains. McCullough has retired from the Navy.
Navy Receives Latest T-AKE. The Navy took delivery of the USNS William McLean (T-AKE 12) during a ceremony at the General Dynamics-NASSCO shipyard in San Diego last week. The William McClean is the 12th of the planned 14 ships in the Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ammunition ship. The T-AKE 12 completed acceptance trials on Sept. 2. NASSCO is building all of the ships in the class, with the remaining two set for delivery by the end of next year. The T-AKE 12’s name honors the late physicist credited for developing the heat-seeking sidewinder air-to-air missile during his service at the Naval Ordnance Test Station in China Lake, Calif. Eleven of the ships in the class are slated to operate under the Military Sealift Command’s Combat Logistics Force, and three will be under the command’s Maritime Prepositioning Force.
New Vice. Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, is nominated by the president for reappointment as general and assignment as Army vice chief of staff. Austin is currently commander, U.S. Forces-Iraq, Operation New Dawn, Iraq, a position he took over from Gen. Raymond Odierno, now Army Chief of Staff. Before heading to Iraq, Austin was staff director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. With Senate approval, Austin would replace current Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli.
Securing Nuclear Materials. The U.S. and Ukraine sign a MoU to work together to prevent proliferation and secure all valuable nuclear material. The U.S. will provide Ukraine with financial and technical help that is estimated to exceed $60 million. Ukraine in March said it would get rid of all its stocks of highly enriched uranium by March 2012, when the next Nuclear Security Summit convenes. The MoU was signed Sept. 26.
Radar Mods Enter LRIP. Boeing says the Air Force approves low-rate initial production for the F-15E Radar Modernization Program (RMP) APG-82(V)1 radar system. Boeing and radar supplier Raytheon performed extensive flight tests to validate the design and development of the system. The RMP leverages prior radar development programs on F-15C and F/A-18E/F aircraft to significantly reduce cost and integration risk for this new radar. Production of the first LRIP lot of six units is scheduled to begin this month, followed by production of 10 units in LRIP 2 and 17 units in LRIP 3. The RMP APG-82(V)1 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar will replace the F-15E strike fighter’s current APG-70 Mechanically Scanned Array radar.
Successful Tanker Review. Boeing says its KC-46 Tanker program successfully completed its Integrated Baseline Review (IBR) with the Air Force. The late August assessment validated the program’s technical scope and finalized key milestones for the design and development phase of the Air Force’s next-generation aerial refueling tanker. With IBR complete, the program now will focus on milestones that include a Preliminary Design Review in the first quarter of 2012, a Critical Design Review in the third quarter of 2013, and the KC-46 tanker’s first flight in early 2015. Boeing received a contract to build 179 next-generation aerial refueling tanker aircraft that will begin to replace the Air Force’s fleet of 416 KC-135 tankers. The contract calls for Boeing to design, develop, manufacture and deliver 18 initial combat-ready tankers by 2017.
AUSA App. If you can’t get to AUSA’s annual meeting no problem, there’s an app for that say published Army articles. The Army Exhibit Mobile App for smartphones will let soldiers worldwide visit the Oct. 10-12 conference in Washington, D.C., see Army exhibits and watch presentations from Army Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno and others. And it will all be available after the conference, too. The www.Army.mil/mobile site will have a link to the iTunes App Store, the Android Marketplace, and the HTML5 Blackberry site where the app can be downloaded.
More PackBots. iRobot Corp. says it received a five-year $60 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract from the Army’s Robotic Systems Joint Program Office (RSJPO). Army Contracting Command in Warren, Mich., is the contracting entity. Under the contract’s terms, the Army can procure iRobot PackBot robots, spare parts, repairs, upgrades and support services for U.S. military requirements, including Foreign Military Sales. iRobot has delivered its combat-proven government and industrial robots to customers in approximately 30 countries. iRobot has delivered more than 4,000 robots to warfighters and first responder