• In the latest issue of Joint Aircraft Survivability Program Office (JASPO)’s Aircraft Survivability: a threat model development for Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS), a study of how much of a threat their are to the large engines of transport aircraft, and notes on the USAF’s efforts to improve its combat damage data collection and analysis. PDF.

• USN tests its new APKWS laser-guided 70mm rockets with the new Mk152 warhead, as part of low-rate production.

• Britain about to confirm it will sell its 74 Harrier jets to the US. The initial reporting on this deal that first surfaced back in June was denied by the UK MOD at the time.

• Is the huge 2010 Saudi arms request stalled?

• Northrop Grumman sees sustained demand for UAVs says Jim Zortman, site manager for Northrop’s unmanned systems business in San Diego County.

• More Q3 ‘11 results: Huntington Ingalls Industries: $1.59B revenue (-4.3% vs. same period last year), $248M loss because of a $300M noncash goodwill charge | CSC: $3.97B revenue (+1%), $2.69B goodwill impairment charge.

• After watching Italy’s AMX light attack planes vs. its expensive Eurofighters over Libya, and tallying up their own bills, NATO Countries are beginning to realize the need for low-cost light attack aircraft. Hate to say we told you so, but…

• Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin committed to significant naval spending last week.

• US Army soldiers are starting to use the Carl Gustav M3 Multi-role Anti-armor Anti-tank Weapon System (MAAWS) in Afghanistan. So far this Swede 84mm recoilless weapon introduced in 1948 was mostly used by Special Forces, as far as the US military goes. Video below:
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Future Lynx naval

In 2006, Finmeccanica subsidiary AgustaWestland received a GBP 1 billion (about $1.9 billion at 02/07 rates) contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) for 70 Future Lynx helicopters. The Lynx is an extremely fast helicopter that entered service in the 1970s and has seen several versions and upgrades over the decades. Lynx helicopters have been used in a number of British Army (AH7 & AH9) and Fleet Air Arm (Mk 8) roles: reconnaissance, attack, casualty evacuation & troop transport, ferrying supplies, anti-submarine operations, and even command post functions.

The Future Lynx program reflects that. The original goal was 40 Battlefield Reconnaissance Helicopters (BRH) for the British Army, and 30 Surface Combatant Maritime Rotorcraft (SCMR) for the Royal Navy, with an option for another 10 helicopters that could be split in any way desired. At present, contracts have been issued for 34 AW159 BRHs, and 28 AW159 SCMR naval helicopters. This is DID’s FOCUS Article for the AW159 Lynx Wildcat Program, describing its improvements, schedules, and related contracts…

• The Future Lynx Helicopters
• Future Lynx: The Program
• Future Lynx: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
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• US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) published its latest acquisition guide [PDF].

• Katherine Hammack, the US Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy, & Environment), presented “US Army Power & Energy” [PDF] last week during AUSA.

• MBDA announced that it is pitching its Taurus air-to-ground missiles in answer to a Request for Information from the Indian Air Force.

• According to the New York Times, the Obama administration considered using cyber warfare during the war in Libya, but balked because of legal concerns and to avoid setting a precedent.

• South Africa’s Department of Defense discloses the value of its assets but the country’s Auditor General could not audit that statement, reports DefenceWeb. This sounds familiar.

• South Korea’s Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) is reportedly working on a tilt-rotor UAV.

• If Scotland were to break up from the United Kingdom – an event that is actually under serious consideration – what would be its defense policy?

• US Rear Admiral Craig Faller, Commander of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 3, muses over the value of a CSG in terms of power, flexibility and mobility.

• The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) released a briefing [PDF] on the state of Iran’s chemical, biological, and nuclear capabilities. The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) also published several updates about Iran’s nuclear facilities and centrifuges.
• Winslow T. Wheeler from the Center for Defense Information (CDI) takes US SecDef Leon Panetta to task on the latter’s assertion that “the American military today is without question the finest fighting force that has ever existed.” Wheeler’s contention: “We got this smaller, older, less ready force not because of less money but because of more.” While some may object to Wheeler’s tone, he’s summoning accurate facts to support his rebuttal: the US Navy does have fewer ships than it used to, and USAF planes are indeed aging on average.

• Video below of a Q&A with Dmitri Trenin at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Russia where Putin is likely to again become President:
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Part-converted UH-60M

Sept 22/11: The US DSCA announces [PDF] the United Arab Emirates’ request to buy 500 AGM-114R3 Hellfire II missiles, plus containers, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, repair and return support, training equipment and personnel training, and other U.S. Government and contractor support. The estimated cost is up to $65 million, and if a contract is negotiated, it will be with the Lockheed/Boeing Hellfire Systems LLC joint venture in Orlando, FL. Under Foreign Military Sales rules, the US military will act as the UAE’s agent, and the order will almost certainly be added to the USA’s existing umbrella contract.

The AGM-114R has a triple-threat warhead, which works against armored vehicles, fortified positions, and troops in the open. The UAE can deploy them on its modernized AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters, and also on its forthcoming UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters equipped with the Battlehawk kit.

TOW Launch

The island Emirate of Bahrain sits in such a strategic location within the Persian Gulf, that its own armed forces serve more of a tripwire and delaying function. Their goal is to control the lanes around Bahrain, make initial entry difficult, and buy time for its foreign allies to intervene. The country serves as the headquarters for the US Navy’s regional 5th Fleet, and recently cooperated with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council to suppress internal unrest among its Shia population.

A recent request for mobile TOW short range guided missile launchers illustrates that military philosophy. While they could conceivably be used in an internal security role, this buy is more calibrated toward external defense…

• Want a TOW?
• Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings
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RB 57 NLAW

The Soviet tank threat may be history for now, but missiles that can attack moving trucks, armored vehicles, and bunkers remain in demand. This is especially true in urban situations, where the ability to fire a rocket or missile safely from inside an enclosed space is a very important plus.

In 2000, the UK Ministry of Defence carried out a series of trials to evaluate missiles for their “NLAW” program. In the summer of 2002, the Saab/Thales MBT-LAW team beat the Predator/Kestrel system from Lockheed Martin, MBDA and Insys. The Swedish FMV and British Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) followed by ordering final development of the RB 57 NLAW (Next generation Light Antitank Weapon) for the United Kingdom and Sweden. Assembly will take place at Thales Air Defence in Belfast, but Saab Bofors Dynamics of Sweden and Thales Air Defence in the UK have a marketing agreement that lets customers buy the system from either firm.

• The RB57 NLAW/ MBT-LAW
• Contracts and Key Developments
• Additional Information & Sources
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Switchblade out
(c) Aerovironment

In late June 2011, the US Army’s Close Combat Weapons Systems (CCWS), PEO MS gave Aerovironment a $4.9 million contract to provide engineering support and operational Switchblade UAVs for rapid fielding with the US Army. Aerovironment’s new tube-launched, man-portable UAV has surveillance functions, and transmits live color video. It also functions as a kamikaze missile, however, which can be armed and locked on target by operator control. This makes it extremely useful against dug-in or fortified infantry positions, enemy missile teams, mortars, etc. The prototype system received Safety Confirmation and underwent Military Utility Assessment with the U.S. Army in the fall of 2010; this is the corresponding contract for initial fielding.

The US Army’s interest is understandable. One of the key lessons of Israel’s 2006 war in Lebanon involved infantry use of guided anti-tank weapons as immediately-available precision artillery fire. Iran’s Hezbollah legionnaires frequently used Russia’s 1960s era 9K11/AT-3 missile designs for this purpose, while Israeli forces used the higher-tech Spike. Similar trends have been observed among American and British forces in Afghanistan, who use expensive Javelin missiles. With Switchblade, the US military has taken a step toward fielding a lower cost platoon level surveillance/strike weapon. The economics involved means that they’re unlikely to be alone.

Before: AH-64A

Upgrades all the way to Block III?; Support contract. (Aug 2/11)

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…

• The US Congressional Budget Office warns that the DoD’s budget plans are too optimistic. The Long Term Implications of the 2012 Future Years Defense Program [PDF] expects DoD annual costs to be $25 billion higher by 2016.

• Russia hopes to sell $11 billion worth of defense exports in 2011. Combat aircraft for China, India and other emerging defense markets are expected to provide the majority of sales.

• Meanwhile, several senior officers have resigned from the Russian military over the Head of the General Staff’s plans for reform.

• As the United States prepares to make substantial cuts to its defense expenditure, an article warns that the long term beneficiary will be China.

• The UK House of Commons Defence Select Committee publishes a report condemning the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) inability to manage its own finances. The report says that the MoD cannot locate Bowman radios worth £184 million ($296 million) or account for assets worth £6.3 billion ($9 billion).

• Israel’s Foreign and Defense Ministers are at odds over plans to resume military sales to Turkey that may include the Spike anti-tank missile and Barak-8 naval air defense missile.

• Research and Markets releases defense and security reports for Q3 2011 for Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

• As EADS seeks to overhaul its corporate structure, creating separate companies for its defense and aerospace arms may ward off takeover bids.

• The incoming U.S. Defense Secretary tells Congress that the challenge is to design budgets that eliminate wasteful and duplicative spending, while safeguarding the nation’s defense.

• Giovanni de Briganti’s report on the performance of French Rafale fighters over Libya also includes useful information concerning Sagem DS’ GPS-guided AASM bombs, the uses of MIDS/Link-16, and doctrinal/operational shifts underway within the Armée de l’Air.

• Meanwhile, bids are in, and final tests done for the US Army & Navy’s big JAGM missile program. It will become America’s future light strike missile, replacing Hellfire, TOW & Maverick, so the stakes are high.

• Lockheed Martin receives a $58.6 million contract from the U.S. Marine Corps to provide 110 VOSS II vehicle-mounted sensor systems and 30 PRDSS free-standing, portable, rapid deployment surveillance systems.

• Iridium NEXT satellite contractor Thales Alenia space tabs Boeing to provide system integration and testing support. Meanwhile, the legacy Iridium service just added a new wrinkle: free calls for ships attacked by pirates.

• Northrop Grumman announces the development and demonstration of a new lightweight processor that identifies, tracks and defeats infrared missiles launched against rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft. The processor forms part of Northrop Grumman’s U.S. Army Common Infrared Countermeasures (CIRCM) self-protection system offering.

• Ukraine’s Ukrspetsexport signs a $100 million contract with the Ethiopian Defense Ministry to supply over 200 T-72 tanks. The state-run company has a T-72 upgrade program that involves mounting a 120mm KBA-101 gun to the tank.

• India has successfully test-fired a Prithvi (P-II) surface-to-surface missile from a test range in Orissa. The missile failed a similar test in September 2010.

• Canada’s Minister of National Defence says the cost of extending the country’s mission in Libya until the end of September 2011 will be $60 million.