• Russia’s revised official military doctrine to include preemptive nuclear strikes.

• France expects to decide in the coming weeks whether to sell 3 additional Mistral class amphibious assault ships to Russia.

• Russia’s PAK-FA stealth fighter: more than 1 development aircraft flying?

• US defense appropriations subcommittee chair John Murtha [D-PA] dies.

• BAE Systems agrees to pay $450 million in fines to settle misconduct cases in the UK & USA.

• France says “non” to financing deadline for A400M military airlift program.

• USA to make surplus MRAP mine-resistant vehicles available to allies as quickly as possible.

• US SOCOM putting portable ultrasound machines on the front lines.

• The Pentagon is studying ways to sustain the rocket motor industrial base after planned cancellation of Constellation program.

• Iran has launched UAV production lines and plans to deploy a missile air defense system comparable to the Russian S-300 system, according to the Iranian defense minister.

• Lockheed Martin and Kaman Corp. demonstrate an unmanned resupply helicopter for use in Afghanistan. The helicopter is competing against Boeing’s A160T Hummingbird.

• Bell Helicopter Textron secures $50.4 million contract from the USMC for long lead materials for new and remanufactured AH1Z and new UH-1Y helicopters.

• BAE gets $32 million order to RESET 417 M113 armored personnel carriers.

• Irvine Sensors snags subcontract to supply clip-on thermal imagers under $37.8 million US Navy special ops night vision contract.

FS Mistral
(click to view full)

France mulls approval of 3 more Mistral LHDs for Russia, amidst political pressure from Russia over Georgia, and concern by French allies. (Feb 8/10)

In August 2009, Russian media reported that their country was planning to take a radical step, and buy a French Mistral class amphibious assault ship (LHD) by the end of 2009. The outlet quoted the Chief of the Russian General Staff, Gen. Nikolai Makarov, who said that: “We are negotiating the purchase of one ship at present, and later planning to acquire 3-4 ships [of the same class] to be jointly built in Russia.” A Russian order would represent a sea change on several fronts – and also the extension of some trends.

France currently operates 2 Mistral class LHDs, and recently ordered a 3rd using economic stimulus funds. Unlike some other LHD designs, the Mistral class cannot operate fixed wing aircraft. Even so, it’s an important tool of power projection. Mistral class ships can carry and deploy up to 16 helicopters, including attack helicopters like France’s Tiger or Russia’s Ka-50/52. Its main punch revolves around its 4 landing barges or 2 medium hovercraft, however, which deliver armored vehicles, tanks, and soldiers to shore. The vessel is equipped with a 69-bed hospital, and could be used as an amphibious command ship.

• Mistral’s Meaning: A Method to their Madness?
• The Mistral Class BPC/LHDs
• Updates and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [updated]
  
  Continue Reading… »

• NATO Ministerial: Gates pledges greater sharing of classified technology with allies; NATO chief calls for more resources to train Afghan army and police, while France agrees to send 80 more trainers.

• European defense ministers call for speedy conclusion to talks on troubled Airbus A400M military airlift program.

• The US Navy UCAS program receives $2 billion QDR push.

• US Army pays $253.3 million to service US Stryker vehicles around the world.

• Australia ready to OK final version of $547 million integrated HF communications system for armed forces.

• US Navy orders $122.5 million in spares and extra engine maintenance for V-22 Osprey.

• Obama administration beefs up missile defense budget. BMD report focuses on regional missile threats.

• Romania to allow US ballistic missile defense inceptor missiles to be deployed, following US cancellation of larger BMD deployments in Poland and the Czech Republic.

• Boeing gets $99.3 million order to supply 13 more AH-64D Block II helicopters to the US Army.

• Which defense firms will benefit from FY 2011 defense budget?

• Northrop Grumman feels Pentagon heat over KC-X aerial refueling tanker RFP.

• Taiwan’s order for Eurocopter EC225s could strain China-European Union relations – but hasn’t, so far.

• Asia-Pacific nations revamp their fighter inventories.

• DARPA has enlightened view on funding for ArcLight, a long-range strike weapon that could be launched using the MK 41 system onboard ships and subs.

• US military sends bomb-sniffing dogs to Iraq.

Tejas LCA
(click to view full)

India committing another $1 billion to development; engine partnership contenders expanding and evolving. (Feb 3/10)

India’s fighter strength has been declining in recent years, as the MiG-21s that form the largest component of its fleet are lost in crashes, or retired due to age and wear. Some MiG-21s are being modernized to MiG-21 ‘Bison’ configuration, while other current fighter types are undergoing modernization programs in order to maintain the fighter force until replacements can arrive. On which note, an ongoing tender has Russian, French, American, Swedish and European manufacturers dueling for the MMRCA, a multi-billion dollar, 126+ plane light-medium fighter sale.

This still leaves India without a low-end solution to the twin problems besetting its overall fleet: numbers, and age. The MiG-21bis program adds years of life to those airframes, but that extended lifespan is still quite finite; by 2020, it is very unlikely that any MiG-21s will remain. MMRCA may replace some of India’s mid-range fighters, but that still leaves replacement of the MiG-21 fleet. Hence the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project’s importance to the Indian Air Force’s future prospects. Choices made in the LCA’s design will also affect the lightweight fighter’s export potential, which feeds back into the overall program’s lifetime costs and viability. As time presses, however, India’s rigid domestic-only policies are gradually being relaxed, in order to field an operational and competitive aircraft.

• LCA Tejas: India’s Lightweight Fighter
• LCA Tejas: Program Future and Prospects
• Updates and Events [updated]
• Appendix A: DID Analysis & Op/Ed (2006)
• Appendix B: The Kaveri Engine: Keystone, or Killer?
• Appendix C: Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

• Littoral Combat Ship: program updates.

• A British green paper calls for enhanced military cooperation between the UK and France. Industry says: what about R&D?

• India orders BEL’s Akash medium range surface-to-air missile systems.

• India issues turboprop trainer RFP, after instructors reportedly refused to fly HPT-32s.

• Up to 8 UAVs reported operating in Waziristan, Pakistan strike.

• Indian P-8i sea control aircraft may add air-air surveillance.

• Frost & Sullivan: Traditional defense contractors will lose market share to “disruptive companies” that offer “good enough” products at cheaper prices.

• China is threatening to sanction US companies that are involved in the US $6.45 billion weapons sale to Taiwan. Real, or a bluff?

• US Defense Secretary Gates warns Congress that if it makes substantial cuts to the administration’s budget request, the US military will have to “sacrifice” force structure and capabilities.

• USA’s coming rotorcraft crunch?

• US DISA awards Unisys a $187 million contract to provide mainframe computer capacity for USAF logistics.

• Who’s right on the US carrier fighter gap? Defense Secretary Gates or the Navy?

• Raytheon receives a $170 million foreign military sales order to produce AGM-65D and AGM-65G2 infrared-guided Maverick air-to-surface missiles for the UAE.

• Maritime laser clears 2 US design reviews.

• Thales wins 5-year training support sub-contract for Australia’s E-737 Wedgetail AWACS {DII}, 5-year avionics support sub-contract for France’s Rafale fighters.

• The US Navy stands up its new Fleet Cyber Command to oversee the service’s cyberspace operations. Google attacks termed a “wake up call” by DNI.

• Draper Lab gets $131.1 million contract to upgrade the guidance systems on the Trident II D5 missile.

Dassault Rafale
(click for cutaway view)

Performance-based support contract for Thales. (Feb 2/10)

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… »

Buoy oh buoy…
(click to view full)

The failure of a generator aboard HMAS Farncomb is just the latest problem faced by its fleet of 6 Collins Class diesel-electric submarines – which are now reduced to just 1 operational vessel. That readiness issue presents an immediate financial headache for Australia’s government, and adds a longer-term challenge to the centerpiece of Australia’s future naval force.

With just 6 submarines in its fleet, Australia’s current deployment set-up leaves little room for error. Even a normal setup of 2 in maintenance, 2 for training but available if needed, and 2 on operations makes for a thin line, given Australia’s long coastline and sea lanes. Instead, Australia currently has 3 submarines in “deep maintenance” and completely unavailable (HMAS Deschaineux, Sheean, and Rankin), 1 submarine back in port and facing indeterminate maintenance (HMAS Farncomb), 1 “limited availability” submarine fit for training (HMAS Collins), and 1 operational boat (HMAS Waller) that was in port for major battery repairs as recently as May 2009. When crewing problems are added to the mechanical issues, Australia’s 2009 White Paper plan to build 12 diesel-electric fast attack submarines as the centerpiece of the 2030 Australian Navy is attracting questions…

Continue Reading… »

E-3F AWACS
(click to view full)

The French Armée de l’Air is upgrading its E-3F AWACS radar aircraft, with a $300+ million order.

The E-3 Sentry AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft is based on a militarized version of the Boeing 707-320B. It remains the world’s most widely used large-jet AWACS platform, in service with the USAF, Britain, France, NATO, and Saudi Arabia. Over the years, the world’s E-3 fleet has required improvements to keep its radars and electronics current with advances in technology. France received its 4 E-3F aircraft between 1991-1992, and undertook its own RSIP improvement program from 2002-2006. Now, they have set their E-3F fleet’s upgrade path to Block 40/45 capability…

Continue Reading… »

SM-2 Launch w. AEGIS
(click to view full)

BAE wins a multinational support contract. (Feb 2/10)

Variants of the SM-2 Standard missile are the USA’s primary fleet defense anti-air weapon, and serve with 13 navies worldwide. The most common variant is the RIM-66K-L/ SM-2 Standard Block IIIB, which entered service in 1998. The Standard family extends far beyond the SM-2 missile, however; several nations still use the SM-1, the SM-3 is rising to international prominence as a missile defense weapon, and the SM-6 program is on track to supplement the SM-2. These missiles are designed to be paired with the AEGIS radar and combat system, but can be employed independently by ships with older or newer radar systems.

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. This article covers each variant in the Standard missile family, several years worth of American and Foreign Military Sales requests and contracts, key events, and the budgetary and technical background that can help put all that in context. New material is indicated in green type.

The latest additions involve an SM-6 test firing, and an Australian SM-2 test firing that could pave the way for refits in other countries…

• The Standard Missile Naval Defense Family: Missiles and Plans (SM-1 to SM-6)
• The Standard Missile Naval Defense Family: Budgets [updated]
• The Standard Missile Naval Defense Family: US Contracts & Events
  • FY 2010 [updated]
  • FY 2009
  • FY 2008
  • FY 2007
  • FY 2006
• The Standard Missile Naval Defense Family: Exports & Related Key Events
  • CY 2009
  • CY 2008
  • CY 2007
  • CY 2006
  • CY 2005
• Additional Readings [updated]
  
  Continue Reading… »

RN CVF Concept
(click to view full)

In 1998, Britain’s Strategic Defence review (SDR) announced plans to replace the current set of 3 Invincible Class 22,000t escort carriers with 2 larger, more capable Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF) ships that could operate a more powerful force. These new carriers would be joint-service platforms, operating aircraft and UAVs from all 3 services (Navy, RAF, Army) in roles that could include ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance), force projection and logistics support, close air support, anti-submarine/ anti-surface naval warfare, and land attack.

The scale of the CVF effort relative to Britain’s past experiences means that the program structure is rather complex. It has passed through several stages already, and is being run and conducted within an industrial alliance framework. There is also a parallel international framework, involving cooperation with France on its PA2 carrier as a larger derivative of the CVF design.

This DID FOCUS article covers that structure and framework, ongoing developments, and the ships themselves as they round toward final design, construction, and fielding. Reports that the next planning phase will see the carrier project in jeopardy, and Britain’s F-35 buy severely slashed, persist. Meanwhile, BAE has bought out VT group’s share in their surface ship venture, and Britain has issued over $500 million in sub-contracts…

• The CVF Queen Elizabeth Class (“continue reading…”)
• Program Team: The Aircraft Carrier Alliance
• CVF Program Management
• The CVF Program: Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• CVF-Related Contracts and Events
• Additional Readings & Sources: The Program
• Additional Readings & Sources: The Ships
  
  Continue Reading… »