MEADS: air view
(click to view full)

MEADS gets NSA approval to use Italian crypto/IFF, and German T/R modules pass testing, but US Army reportedly doesn’t want it any more. (March 10/10)

The Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS program aims to replace Patriot missiles in the United States, the older Hawk system in Germany, and Italy’s even older Nike Hercules missiles. MEADS will be designed to kill enemy aircraft, cruise missiles and UAVs within its reach, while providing next-generation point defense capabilities against ballistic missiles. MBDA’s SAMP/T project would be its main competitor, but MEADS aims to offer improved mobility and wider compatibility with other air defense systems, in order to create a linchpin for its customers’ next-generation air defense arrays.

The German government finally gave their clearance in April 2005, and in June 2005 MEADS International (MI) formally signed a contract worth approximately $3.4 billion to design and develop the tri-national MEADS system. This DID FOCUS Article covers that program…

• MEADS: The System
• MEADS: Mobility and Employment
• MEADS: The Program [updated]
• Contracts & Key Events, 2004 – Present [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

AASM test from
Mirage 2000D
(click to view full)

France’s Armement Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM) is similar in concept to the American GPS-guided JDAM bomb, but its execution includes several key differences. The global trend toward GPS-guided weapons makes a French entry important for industrial as well as operational reasons, and Sagem/MBDA hope that AASM will earn them a market niche.

AASM’s execution also included delays, however, which was very inconvenient for the new Rafale fighters. The laser variant was especially missed, even though Thales’ Damocles surveillance and laser targeting pod hasn’t been integrated onto Rafales yet, and the planes required escorts from laser-capable Mirage 2000s and Super Etendards during missions over Afghanistan. A 2008 contract to add GPS guidance kits to American Paveway laser-guided bombs provided an interim solution for all French fighters, but France really wanted Sagem’s AASMs – and has now begun to order them in quantity.

• The AASM Family
• Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

Dassault Rafale
(click for cutaway view)

Possible engine support contract (Feb 22/10)

Will Dassault’s fighter become a fashionably late fighter platform that builds on its parent company’s past successes – or just “the late Rafale”? It all began as a 1985 break-away from the multinational consortium that went on to create EADS’ Eurofighter. The French needed a lighter aircraft that was suitable for carrier use, and were reportedly unwilling to cede design authority over the project. As is so often true of French defense procurement policy, the choice came down to one of paying additional costs for full independence and exact needs, or losing key industrial capabilities by partnering or buying abroad. France has generally opted for expensive but independent defense choices, and the Rafale was no exception.

Those costs, and associated delays triggered by the end of the Cold War and reduced funding, proved to be very costly indeed. Unlike previous French fighters, which relied on exports to lower their costs and keep production lines humming, the Rafale has yet to secure a single export contract – in part because versions fielded to date have impaired capabilities in key roles. The Rafale may, at last, be ready to be what its vendors say: a true omnirole aircraft, ready for prime time on the global export stage. The question is whether that will come in time. Rivals like EADS’ Eurofighter, Russia’s Su-27/30 family, and the American “teen series” of F-15/16/18 variants are all well established. Meanwhile, Saab’s versatile and cheaper JAS-39 Gripen remains a stubborn foe in key export competitions, and the multinational F-35 juggernaut is bearing down on it.

• Dassault’s Rafale: Variants
• Dassault’s Rafale: Program
• Contracts and Key Events, 2009-Present [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

Daring Class
(click to view full)

The 5,200t Type 42 Sheffield Class destroyers were designed in the late 1960s to provide fleet area air-defence for Britain’s Royal Navy, after the proposed the Type 82 air defense cruisers were canceled by the Labour Government of 1966. Britain built 14 of the Type 42s, but these old ships are reaching the limits of their operational lives and effectiveness.

To replace them, the Royal Navy planned to induct 12 Type 45 Daring Class destroyers. The Daring class would be built to deal with a new age of threats: from saturation attacks with supersonic ship-killing missiles that fly from the ship’s radar horizon to impact in 45 seconds or less, to the reality of future threats from ballistic missiles and WMD proliferation. Overall, the Type 45s promise to be one of the world’s most capable air defense ships.

This feature will become a DID FOCUS article in due course. Meanwhile, a reduced 6-ship program continues to move forward. Several ships have been built, but full capability is still several years away. The latest developments include Defender’s launch, HMS Dauntless’ hand-over in Portsmouth, and a testing failure of the ships’ key defensive systems…

• The Type 45 Destroyer Program
• The Daring Class
• Type 45: Comparisons [NEW]
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

Scorpene cutaway
(click to view full)

In 2005, India confirmed that it would buy 6 Franco-Spanish Scorpene diesel submarines, with an option for 6 more and extensive technology transfer agreements. This is one of the biggest military deals India has entered into with France, and is intended to both modernize India’s submarine fleet and re-start India’s own industrial capabilities.

India’s submarine fleet currently consists of 16 submarines, about 13 of which are operational. Its Foxtrot Class boats can no longer be counted on, and its U209 derivatives from HDW are unlikely to last beyond 2015. With Pakistan acquiring modern submarines, and Chinese submarine building exploding, serious thought to India’s future submarine fleet became an obvious priority.

The Scorpene deal simmered on the back-burner for several years. DID reported that a deal was “close” as far back as 2004, but nothing was finalized until late 2005. The cost had been subject to varying estimates over the life of those multi-year negotiations, as well as project overruns; the final figure for the first 6 boats is now generally accepted as being about $4 billion. This DID FOCUS article covers the deal and its structure, adds key contracts and new developments, and offers insights into th larger naval picture beyond India. The latest additions include a critical auditor’s report, and confirmation that the program is running about 2 years behind…

• The Deal: Plans & Costs [updated]
• The Deal: Contractors & Roles [updated]
• The Scorpene Class
• Scorpene Project: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Appendix A: India’s Current Submarine Force, and Rival Navies
• Appendix B: A Final, Nuclear Note
• Appendix C: Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

FC-1/ JF-17, armed
(click to view full)

First PAF squadron stands up. (Feb 18/10)

The JF-17 is a joint Chinese-Pakistani project that aimed to reduce Pakistan’s dependence on western firms for advanced fighters, by fielding a low-cost multi-role lightweight fighter that would host modern electronics, and represent a step up from its Chinese MiG-19/21 derivatives, and French Mirage fighters. This positioning addresses a market that the West once dominated, but has nearly abandoned in recent decades.

China has made no decisions yet for the PLAAF, but Pakistan has signed an agreement for the first 42 operational JF-17 aircraft, and is reportedly seeking additional agreements with Western firms for avionics and weapons upgrades. India’s competing Tejas fighter is overcoming project delays by looking to foreign component sources, but Pakistan and China remain out front with their offering. The 2 countries have set up a joint JF-17 marketing agency to promote export sales, and their offering has received initial interest.

• The JF-17 Thunder, aka. FC-1 Fierce Dragon [updated]
• JF-17/FC-1: The Program [NEW]
• Stuck in Sichuan: The Saga
• Updates and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [NEW]
  
  Continue Reading… »

AARGM Concept
(click to view larger)

The AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) is a medium range, supersonic, air-launched tactical missile whose primary job is to attack and kill enemy radars. The Italian Air Force is expected to buy up to 250 of these successors to the AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), and AARGM is also a US Navy major acquisition program with around 1,750 expected orders from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Now Germany looks set to join, too.

So, why is that such a big deal? Perhaps the story of how a Serbian unit using an antiquated SA-3 battery managed to survive the 1999 NATO air campaign – and shoot down an F-117 Nighthawk stealth plane – will help put things into perspective. DID recounts those events, explains the new weapon, and offers updates re: contracts and key milestones.

The latest developments includes a failed congressional attempt to kill the program, and the final developmental test, as the missile begins production and prepares for Navy operational evaluation tests and hoped-for introduction into the fleet…

• Showdown Over Serbia: Demise of an F-117
• AGM-88E AARGM: Addressing the Gaps [updated]
• AARGM Contracts & Events [updated]
  
  Continue Reading… »

Sting Ray onto EH101
(click to view larger)

The UK Ministry of Defence has signed a GBP 369.5 million (about $615 million), 10-year contract with BAE Systems Insyte to support and maintain the Royal Navy’s light Sting Ray and heavy Spearfish torpedoes. The availability-based Torpedoes Capability Contract consolidates 11 separate contracts into one, and will see BAE Systems and the MOD’s DE&S Weapons Operating Centre working together as “Team Torpedoes.” It covers all aspects of support and maintenance, as well as Spearfish development and upgrade work. BAE says that they expect this partnering approach to lead to savings of about GBP 65 million, or 20% over the traditional support approach.

The TCC agreement will directly secure around 120 posts at BAES Insyte in Portsmouth, as well as subcontractors who will receive about 33% of the contract’s total value. Sub-contractors and torpedo details follow:

Continue Reading… »

IAF Mirage 2000TH takeoff
(click to view full)

In an effort to offset the growing number of combat aircraft retirements due to age, India is engaged in a round of fighter fleet upgrades. In December 2006, India Defence reported that the Indian Air Force was “close to finalizing” a EUR 1.5 billion (about $2 billion) deal to upgrade its fleet of 51 Mirage-2000 ‘Vajra’ fighter jets.

The aim was to give the aircraft, inaugurated into IAF service in 1985-1988, another 20-25 years of service life. Of course, “close” means something very different in Indian defense circles than it does in other countries. Almost 3 years later, the deal remains undone – and recent reports indicate that India may abandon the upgrade in favor of alternatives…

Continue Reading… »

Finnish Buk M1
(click to view full)

Control of the air isn’t a cornerstone of Finland’s defense, as it is for a country like Australia. Instead, Finland needs to make its airspace dangerous enough to deny enemies full air dominance, while its difficult terrain and mobile land forces bleed any Russian invasion until it quits. That thinking feeds into Finland’s recent decision to upgrade its medium and long-range air defenses, replacing existing radars and Russian 9K37-M1 Buk (SA-11 ‘Gadfly’) intermediate range anti-aircraft missiles with NATO-compliant solutions. The move will be Finland’s largest single defense purchase since it bought its current fighter fleet of over 60 F/A-18C/D Hornets.

The SA-11s were given to Finland in 2006, contributing $300 million toward the settlement of Soviet-era debts. The Buk is a successor to the SA-6 systems that featured prominently in several Mideast wars, and is also combat-proven. Russian forces used them to shoot down several Georgian drones, while Georgian forces reportedly used them to down at least 4 SU-25 close air support aircraft and a TU-22 bomber during Russia’s 2008 invasion. Upgrading Finland’s systems to 9K37-M2/M3 status was seen as a lower-cost option, but Finland decided to go with more advanced NATO systems for its Medium Range Air Defense Missile System (MRADMS) competition.

The finalists came down to 2 choices. On one side was Kongsberg’s NASAMS, which uses the same AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles that equip the Finnish Air Force. On the other side was MBDA’s SAMP/T, a land-based version of the advanced naval systems that equip Britain, France, and Italy’s top-line air defense ships. And the winner is – Kongsberg’s NASAMS. Complete with a recently-signed EUR 300+ million contract…

Continue Reading… »