Saudi F-15, refueling
(click to view larger)

Sniper pods ordered. (March 16/10)

On Nov 14/06, a US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notice hinted that Saudi Arabia was about to become the first F-15 operator to switch its Pratt & Whitney F100 jet engines for General Electric’s F110, as part of a wider-ranging upgrade program for Saudi Arabia’s multi-role air superiority and strike fighters.

There’s often a long delay between the DSCA announcement and a contract, let alone delivery. Saudi Arabia’s F-15S variant did become the first fleet to perform a re-engining switch, however, and other upgrades are also underway.

• The Saudi F-15S, and its Upgrades [NEW]
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [updated]
  
  Continue Reading… »

Nimrod MR2 at work
(click to view full)

MRA4 declared fit for training, as MR2 fleet retires early, leaving a gap. (March 10/10)

British naval theorist Sir Julian Corbett saw the navy’s proper role as “directly or indirectly either to secure the command of the sea or to prevent the enemy from securing it.” Airpower plays a prominent role in both of those missions. In 1996, Britain began a program to rebuild their existing Nimrod MR2 maritime patrol planes to the MRA4 standard with new wings, new engines, and new internal technologies and mission systems. Unfortunately, that program has faced a series of budget cuts, stalls, and conditions that have reduced the program from 21 aircraft, to 12, to 9. At times, it has been threatened with complete cancellation.

Like Lockheed’s P-3 Orion, Britain’s Nimrod aircraft are also based on a previous airliner design. Unlike the USA, Britain chose a jet-age Comet airframe. They ended up with an aircraft that boasted an unrefueled endurance of over 10 hours and longer range than the P-3, but less-favorable “low and slow” flight characteristics. The British claim, however, that “propeller-engined aircraft make a discrete resonance that can be detected by submerged submarines, whereas the jet noise of the Nimrod is virtually undetectable.”

Both aircraft types would go on to see long and successful service, and both would also be produced in ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) / SIGNIT (Signals Intelligence) versions: the EP-3, and the Nimrod MR1. Both would also face difficult replacement programs, with the USA canceling the P-7 and eventually settling on the 737-based P-8A. Now, Britain must also execute its replacement program…

• Hunters of Subs & Signals: Britain’s Nimrods
• MRA4 Program: The Next Nimrods
• Contracts and Events [updated]
• Project HELIX: Upgrading the Nimrod R1 ELINT Fleet
• Additional Readings & Sources [updated]
• Addendum: Correction Credit
  
  Continue Reading… »

F-35A: incoming…
(click to view full)

Denmark picks Super Hornet?; New program head nominated; Landing gear contract; new flight decks wanted. (March 18/10)

The $300+ billion F-35 Joint Strike fighter may well be the largest single global defense program in history. This major multinational program is intended to produce an “affordably stealthy” multi-role fighter that will have 3 variants: the F-35A conventional version for the US Air Force et. al.; the F-35B Short Take-Off, Vertical Landing for the US Marines, British Royal Navy, et. al.; and the F-35C conventional carrier-launched version for the US Navy. The aircraft is named after Lockheed’s famous WW2 P-38 Lightning, and the Mach 2, stacked-engine English Electric (now BAE) Lightning jet. Lightning II system development partners included The USA & Britain (Tier 1), Italy and the Netherlands (Tier 2), and Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Turkey (Tier 3), with Singapore and Israel as “Security Cooperation Partners.” Now the challenge is agreeing on production phase membership and arrangements, to be followed by initial purchase commitments in 2009-2010.

This updated article has expanded to feature more detail regarding the F-35 program, including contracts, sub-contracts, and notable events and reports.

• The F-35 Family of Aircraft
• F-35 Program: Production Timelines & Structure
• F-35 Program: Controversies and Competitions
• F-35 Program: Events & Developments, CY 2009-2010 [updated]
• F-35 Program: System Development & Production Contracts, FY 2009-2010
• F-35 Program: Ancillary and Sub-contracts, FY 2009 – 2010 [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources [updated]
• Video Viewing [NEW]
  
  Continue Reading… »

F414-GE-400 engine
(click to see in sections)

General Electric Aircraft Engines business group in Lynn, MA received a $326 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0088), exercising an option for 80 F-414-GE-400 engines and modules and 2 spare engines for the US Navy.

They will be installed in the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft.

Continue Reading… »

• EU warns US about protectionism in KC-X tanker RFP. EU release

• London Times covers China’s escalating cyberwarfare against western military and civilian targets. USNI Blog asks the logical question.

• China launches Yaogan-9 military reconnaissance satellite.

• Brazil’s president has “not yet decided” what fighter to buy, as his government disputes a bid pricing leak.

• The US military is looking for a few good ideas. Beginning in battlefield forensics.

• Seapower chair Rep. Gene Taylor [D-MS] asks: What’s going on with Northrop’s shipbuilding contracts?

• US MSC describes use of pre-positioning ships, joint crewing, and even INLS lighterage in response to Haiti disaster.

• Raytheon gets $152 million order to provide engineering services for the Patriot anti-air missile defense system.

• Raytheon mourns Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) President John C. Jones.

• Pentagon Channel on Hurt Locker’s Oscar win. Meanwhile, CNN talks to EOD techs about the reality.

• USJFCOM ready to deploy commercial-off-the-shelf technology to improve access to large data files for US troops in Afghanistan.

(click to view full)

Major engine support contract, after previous issues. (March 9/10)

In March 2008, the Bell Boeing Joint Project Office in Amarillo, TX received a $10.4 billion modification that converted the previous advance acquisition contract (N00019-07-C-0001) to a fixed-price-incentive-fee, multi-year contract. The new contract now sits at $10.92 billion, and will be used to buy 143 MV-22 (for USMC) and 31 CV-22 (Air Force Special Operations) Osprey aircraft, plus associated manufacturing tooling to move the aircraft into full production.

The V-22 tilt-rotor program has been beset by controversy throughout its 20-year development period. DID’s “V-22 Osprey: A Flying Shame?” offers a focused look at a number of specific allegations associated with the program, with material from Pentagon test reports, critical reviews, ongoing news reports, and the US military’s responses. Despite these issues, and the emergence of competitive but more conventional compound helicopter technologies like Piasecki’s X-49 Speedhawk and Sikorsky’s X2, the V-22 program continues to move forward. This DID Spotlight article looks at the V-22’s new multi-year purchase contract, associated contracts for key V-22 systems, and program developments that arise after the contract conversion.

• Contracts & Key Events (June 2008 – Present) [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

• Australian government continues to update their Defence Capability Plan 2009-2013 online, as promised

• POGO says US Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) is resisting meaningful reform, advocates independent agency status.

• Is a deal to modernize India’s Mirage 2000 fighter fleet any closer? Depends on whom you ask.

• DARPA is looking for commercially available smart phone apps that can be used on the battlefield.

• NCI told to stop work on task order to support BRAC-mandated C4I/IT move to Fort Meade because of protest filed with GAO.

• Curtiss-Wright to supply $25 million Advanced Mission Management System to Northrop Grumman for US Navy’s BAMS UAS program.

• Lockheed Martin gets $23 million contract to provide computer systems for modernization of the USAF’s Launch & Test Range System.

E-8C JSTARS: Before
(click to view full)

$223.6 million USAF order kicks the program into gear. (March 2/10)

The USA’s E-8 JSTARS is a Boeing 707-300 derivative that provides a picture of the ground situation analogous to the E-3 AWACS’ picture of the air situation. JSTARS aircraft use their radars to determine the direction, speed and patterns of military activity of ground vehicles, helicopters, and even groups of people. They then send this information via secure data links with air force command posts, army mobile ground stations and centers of military analysis around the world. These surveillance and communications relay capabilities are somewhat unique, and have proven extremely useful in a series of conflicts from Desert Storm in 1991 to the present day. Europe originally intended to field a similar, smaller AGS aircraft based on the Airbus A321, but that project has now been cut to a small fleet of RQ-4 Global Hawk UAVs. With the Global Hawk limited by its payload capacity, and the USA’s E-10A program canceled, the USA’s 17-aircraft JSTARS fleet is likely to remain very popular for some time to come.

The question is how to keep that fleet relevant, flying, and allocated among all of the units clamoring for their attention. A range of upgrades were ordered in 2005, and a recent study claims that the structural improvements and other modifications could allow the aircraft to fly safely for another 40-50 years. The number one issue with the JSTARS fleet, however, remains its old JT3D-3B engines, whose core design was first introduced in the 1950s. An upgrade program is underway to address that, and the US Air Force finally appears to be on board.

• The Engines
• Program: Current State
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

Egyptian Air Force F-16D
(click to view full)

$213 million for long lead time items. (March 2/10)

The Egyptian government wants to buy 24 F-16C/D Block 50/52 aircraft, associated parts, weapons, and equipment to modernize its air force. The October 2009 request, made through the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) to Congress, could be worth as much as $3.2 billion to Lockheed Martin and the other contractors involved.

The Egyptian Air Force is the 4th largest F-16 operator in the world, mustering about 195 aircraft of 220 ordered. Their overall fighter fleet is a mix of high-end F-16s and Mirage 2000s, low-end Chinese F-7s (MiG-21 copy) bought from the Chinese, a few F-4 Phantom II jets, and upgraded but very aged Soviet MiG-21s and French Mirage 5s. The formal request comes a few months after the Obama administration conveyed to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak its support for Egypt’s long-standing request to buy the Block 50/52 aircraft…

Continue Reading… »

Australian CH-47D:
Afghanistan, 2006
(click to view full)

In December 2005, Australia decided to upgrade its CH-47D Chinook fleet, in preparation for use on the front lines. Afghanistan’s high altitudes and sometimes-scorching temperatures reduce rotor lift. That made the Chinooks a far better choice than upgrading the ADF’s S-70 Black Hawk helicopters, whose reduced carrying capacity would limit their tactical uses. Those CH-47D Chinooks have gone on to play an important role in Afghanistan, amidst a general shortage of useful helicopters. Now, Australia seems determined to supplement its older CH-47D fleet with new and improved CH-47F models, which feature more modern electronics, uprated engines, and numerous other improvements.

The question is when that request will become an actual contract. It hasn’t, yet, but “second pass approval” and clarifications have brought that day much closer.

Continue Reading… »