Rapid Fire 2011-10-27: F-35 Contractual Terms | France’s Arms Exports

Oct 27, 2011 08:15 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff
  • The Pentagon wants to radically change the terms of the F-35 contract, and have Lockheed Martin pay for problems discovered through testing, and fixes to already-produced aircraft. Suddenly, the Pentagon’s plan to start production before testing is done has a contractor downside, not just a political engineering upside.
  • More Q3 ’11 financial results: General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin.
  • Hackers hit Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which makes Japanese fighters and missiles, and license-builds Patriot PAC-3 missiles. PCs were infected with a Trojan application designed to send data to an outside server, and an internal investigation found signs that the stolen information had been transmitted.
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  • Boeing delivers the US Navy’s 12th C-40A transport aircraft, derived from the 737. They’re replacing C-9s (DC-9).

  • Boeing’s P-8A sea control aircraft launches its 1st torpedo, as testing continues.

  • Denmark is working to narrow choices for its next naval helicopters. The AW159 Lynx Wildcat could succeed its Lynx predecessor, or Denmark could turn to Eurocopter’s AS565 Panther or Sikorsky’s larger S-70/MH-60 Seahawk.

  • The French Ministry of Defense submitted its annual report [PDF, in French] to parliament on armament exports. France received 5.12 billion euros in orders last year (about $7.2B at current exchange rates), the lowest amount in years and a 37% drop from 2009′s record 8.16 billion euros ($11.4B) order book.

  • The US Army would benefit from working with energy utilities to lower its installation costs, according to the RAND Corporation.

  • The US has more offensive nukes than Russia, according to data collected under the START treaty.

  • Ghana gets 4 Chinese patrol boats, and immediately threatens to declare war against… its fishermen?

  • VT Halter Marine holds a dedication ceremony for Egypt’s 1st Ambassador III Class Fast Attack Craft, S. Ezzat. The class is only 63m long but armed like a corvette, with Harpoon Block II ship/land attack missiles, a RAM missile launcher for air defense, a MK15 Phalanx Block 1B 20mm CIWS (Close-In Weapon System, vs. boats or even missiles), and an Oto Melara 76mm gun. See model.

  • EMALS electro-magnetic aircraft catapult shore site launches an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye AWACS plane, as it widens its aircraft compatibility testing. EMALS will equip the new USS Gerald R. Ford super-carrier, replacing the Nimitz Class’ steam catapults.

  • Will playing with Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) spending serve as the Super Committee’s escape hatch? The committee had a public hearing yesterday and there’s still a significant gap before an agreement is reached.

  • The Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee also had a hearing yesterday on Army acquisition and modernization, discussing the network portfolio (WIN-T, JTRS, SoSE…), combat vehicles (GCV, AMPV, PIM, JLTV, HMMWV Recap), soldier modernization, and aviation (OH-58, armed Aerial Scout). Video below:

    • Categories: Africa - Other, Boeing, Budgets, China, Coastal & Littoral, Daily Rapid Fire, EADS, Electronics - General, Europe - Other, Fighters & Attack, Finmeccanica, France, Fuel & Power, Helicopters & Rotary, Issues - Political, IT - Cyber-Security, Japan, Lockheed Martin, Missiles - Ballistic, New Systems Tech, Nuclear Weapons, Other Corporation, Specialty Aircraft, Surface Ships - Combat, Testing & Evaluation, Transport & Utility, United Technologies, USA

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