Australia Upgrading its CH-47D Heavy Heli Fleet

RAAF & US CH-47Ds

After decades as a largely unheralded workhorse, the distinctive, twin-rotor CH-47 Chinook medium-heavy lift helicopter has suddenly become the belle of the ball. Nations that have them are keeping them, and upgrading them. Boeing’s main customers in the US military plan to keep versions of the CH-47 in service past 2030. Nations that don’t have Chinooks, want them; but like a Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle Fat Boy, those who step up to buy one know that second hand models aren’t exactly plentiful – and if you want new, you’ll probably have to wait a bit.

Australia has ordered CH-47Fs, but in the mean time, the 6 CH-47Ds in 5th Aviation Regiment, C Squadron have received defensive upgrades, lost a helicopter in Afghanistan, and rose to 7 machines under a new deal.

Brazil’s F-5BR Fighter Fleet Upgrade Program

FAB F-5EM

Elbit’s May 2008 investor filing with the SEC had this to say about their program history with Brazil’s F-5 fighters:

“In 2001, Elbit Systems began work under contracts for the Brazilian F-5 Aircraft Modernization Program. The program calls for the upgrade of 46 F-5 aircraft for the Brazilian Air Force. Our contracts for the program are with Embraer and the Brazilian Government, with a total value of approximately $230 million to be performed over an eight-year period. The contract with Embraer provides for an avionics upgrade, which includes an EW suite, mission computers, helmet mounted system, radar, displays and other avionics products. Delivery of production aircraft began in 2005. In January 2007, Elbit Systems was awarded an additional order to integrate further advanced capabilities in the F-5 aircraft. The contract with the Brazilian Government covers a logistic support program including establishment of an in-country maintenance center based at AEL.”

Brazil’s F-5BR upgrade program creates F-5EM and F-5FM aircraft…

Thailand Moving to Upgrade its F-16 Fleet

RTAF F-16A

As Thailand invests in its future air force, which includes 4+ generation JAS-39 C/D Gripen fighters and S340 AEW air control planes, it still needs to pay attention to its 18-plane supporting fleet of 1980s-era F-16A/B Block 15s. A September 2010 request would bring those aircraft near F-16C/D Block 50 standards via a mid-life upgrade, giving the RTAF a secondary fighter force with full day/night and adverse weather capabilities…

UAE Seeks Weaponized UH-60M ‘Battlehawk’ Helicopters

AH-60L
(click to view larger)

The UH-60M Black Hawk is currently the most advanced UH-60/S-70 model, whose variants are in service with the US Army and over 20 other countries around the world. To date, UH-60M customers include the USA, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, plus a request from Egypt. Unlike global competitors such as Russia’s Mi-8/17 series, however, the UH-60′s operational armament is generally limited to door guns. That may be about to change, thanks to a UAE initiative.

Colombia currently flies the armed S-70 “Arpia III”, and Sikorsky has worked on armed “AH-60″ versions as an offering in some foreign competitions, but efforts to sell the concept in Australia and elsewhere were less successful. Nevertheless, Sikorsky executives see considerable potential for multi-role helicopters and conversion kits, in an era of global insurgencies, tight budgets, and limited helicopter numbers. Now, the UAE has become their launch customer. What is Sikorsky’s Battlehawk, and what are their plans?

US-South Korea Rift? Of Tiger Eyes & Industrial Spies

ROKAF F-15K

In late November 2011, South Korea’s left-wing Hankyoreh newspaper reports that a combination of unauthorized examination of an F-15K’s Lockheed Martin “Tiger Eyes” IRST(InfraRed Search and Track) sensor, and concerns that a number of South Korean products contain copied technologies, have halted “strategic weapons exports” from the USA to South Korea. That reportedly includes the proposed RQ-4B Global Hawk deal.

The allegations are single-source, and written by Hankyoreh, but they are also quite detailed:

UAE’s 30-Helicopter Apache Upgrade Program Underway

Before: AH-64A

The United Arab Emirates is best known for its city of Dubai, an ultra-modern port city that has become the trading and commercial hub of the Middle East. As a May 2005 article in National Defense Magazine notes, however, it has also acquired a reputation for a strong and respected military procurement system.

One of their current initiatives involves the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters the country acquired in 1991 and 1994. The plan involves remanufacture and modernization of 30 AH-64A aircraft to the current AH-64D Longbow Block II standard. Deliveries to the UAE were scheduled to begin in May 2008 and continue through November 2009, with support activities continuing through November 2010. Ancillary equipment requests also come with that effort. DID presents a timeline that extends back to the original 2002 DSCA announcement.

Incoming & Hostile: The USN’s JATAS Aircraft Warning System

AH-1Z: Hellfire test

The US military has been conducting a pair of competitions for defensive warning systems to equip its helicopters and transports. The Army’s CIRCM remains a hot competition as of July 2011, but the US Navy and Marines have picked their winner for the Joint and Allied Threat Awareness System (JATAS).

This missile and gunfire warning system will equip the services’ MV-22B Osprey, MH-60R/S Seahawk, AH-1Z Viper, UH-1Y Venom and CH-53K HLR platforms, replacing ATK’s AN/AAR-47 Missile Approach Warning System.

UH-60M VIP Helicopters for the UAE

US UH-60M carries
Iraqi PM, 2007

June 24/11: The US DSCA announces [PDF] the United Arab Emirates’ formal request for 5 UH-60M Black Hawk VIP helicopters. The move will bring the UAE’s UH-60M fleet to 45 helicopters, which breaks down as at least 17 standard transports, up to 23 modified and armed AH-60M Battlehawks, and 5 VIP helicopters. It will also keep pace with Jordan’s monarchy, which recently bought a pair of UH-60M VIP machines. With nearby Bahrain as a UH-60M customer, and Saudi Arbia submitting a major buy request for the type, the UH-60M is quickly becoming the Gulf Cooperation Council’s referenceable standard.

The estimated cost is $217 million, but actual costs will depend on negotiated contracts. The complete request involves…

US SOCOM Orders ALQ-211 Helicopter Protection Systems

SOAR MH-60Gs
(click to view larger)

ITT’s AN/ALQ-211 SIFRC system [PDF] provides detection, analysis and protection against radar-guided threats, including triangulation and GPS geolocation of threats, advance warning that may enable a pilot to route around the threat, and cueing of countermeasures like chaff dispensers via integration with the CV-22′s entire self-protection suite. It’s a modular system with multiple sensors and electronic components installed all around a rotary-winged or fixed winged aircraft. Variants of the ALQ-211 SIFRC equip US AFSOCOM’s CV-22s (ALQ-211v2), as well helicopters like SOCOM MH-47s and MH-60s (ALQ-211v6/v7), some NH90s (ALQ-211v5), and AH-64D attack helicopters (ALQ-211v1). Foreign F-16 jet fighters also deploy the ALQ-211, most recently as the ALQ-211v4 AIDEWS integrated defensive system.

A 2005 contract from US Special Operations Command morphed into a much larger contract in 2008, and delivery orders continue…

LAIRCM for Germany’s VIP Jet Fleet

Luftwaffe Challenger VIP

On Sept 30/10, the US DSCA announced [PDF] Germany’s official request to buy 6 AN/AAQ-24v Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures Systems (LAIRCM) defensive systems, to equip its 2 Airbus A319CJs, and 4 Bombardier Challenger 601 VIP jets. The estimated cost is $146 million, and the prime contractor will be the Northrop Grumman Corporation in Rolling Meadows, IL. Germany already uses LAIRCM systems on its transport fleet, so implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to Germany.

If a contract is negotiated, the order could include up to 5 Control Interface Units, 4 System Processors, 32 AAR-54 Missile Warning Systems, and 8 Small Laser Transmitter Assemblies; plus Operation Flight Program software, installation support, some requested modifications, support equipment, spare and repair parts, publications and technical documents, repair and return, depot maintenance, training and training equipment, and other forms of U.S. Government and contractor support.