• As politicians send condolences to families of servicemen killed in the CH-47 Chinook helicopter crash, consideration is given to the development of countermeasures to protect military aircraft from low-tech weapons.

• An internal audit of Ferrostal by American-based law firm Debevoise and Plimpton concludes that the firm paid R300 million (about $43 million) in bribes to South African politicians, including current President Zuma, as part of the U209-1400 submarine sale in 2000.

• Israel’s Knesset rejects the Defense Ministry’s request to increase its budget by ILS620 million ($175 million) over concerns that the increase will be used to pay debts with defense industries.

• Raytheon has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to provide support to its Anomaly Detection at Multiple Scales (ADAMS) project to understand ‘insider’ threats to information systems.

• EADS’ Eurocopter subsidiary delivers 3 EC135 helicopters to the Japan Maritime Self Defense Forces (JMSDF).

• The Bulgarian Government is to sell its 35.8% stake in arms and munitions manufacturer Arsenal Kazanlak. Bids will be welcomed from companies involved in weapons production.

• The Brookings Institution think tank will hold a panel discussion on August 12 to analyze the impact of deficit reduction plans on US national security and foreign policy.

• The Government Accountability Office (GAO) publishes Defense Department Cyber Efforts [PDF]. The report raises concerns about the DoD’s initial responses to cyber threats.

• A senior Israel Air Force Officer (IAF) tells an Israel Technology Group conference that the successful deployment of Rafael’s Iron Dome missile interception system in April prevented an escalation of conflict with the Gaza Strip.

• The US Army awards Hamilton Sundstrand a contract with a maximum potential value of almost $38 million for miscellaneous and unspecified communications equipment.

• Rheinmetall announces that the first basic version of its Acoustic Shooting Locating System (ASLS) is ready for the marketplace.

• Terrabon announces that it has been awarded a $9.6 million contract [PDF] to design a renewable jet fuel production solution for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Houston-based company’s MixAlco bio-refining technology will likely underpin research and development.

• The Center for Nonproliferation Studies’ (CNS) current Nonproliferation Review includes an article [PDF] stating that between 1997 and 2009 North Korea accounted for more than 40% of the 1,200 ballistic missile systems exports to the developing world.

• Australia’s Ministry of Defence signs a AUD25 million ($28 million) contract with Thales Australia for nine additional training simulators for army crews operating the Australian Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV).

• Boeing is working on a new vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft using jets called Pulse Ejector Thrust Augmentors (PETA), based on technology originally developed by Nazi Germany.

• The revival of the state-owned Fabrica Argentina de Aviones (FAdeA) continues following the recent announcement of the company’s upgrades for the IA-58 Pucara counterinsurgency aircraft.

• During his speech to introduce the Department of Defense’s operational energy strategy Deputy Secretary William J. Lynn says his department accounts for 80% of the federal government’s energy use. Reports also show that each soldier currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan consumes 20 gallons of fuel a day, compared with one gallon during World War II.

• Following the incoming Defense Secretary’s recent assertion that ‘the next Pearl Harbor’ may be a cyber-attack, DoD Buzz outlines some of the problems the Department of Defense’s new cyber-strategy is likely to encounter.

• With just two days to go to the beginning of the Paris Air Show, speculation continues to mount over the content of talks between Safran and Thales.

• The President and CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) says the company is ready to privatize to assist its pursuit of a larger share of the global aerospace and defense market.

• After a few weeks of speculation regarding China’s fifth generation fighter program, the Peoples’ Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) aircraft carrier makes a timely return as new photographs suggest that construction trailers are being moved away from the vessel.

• Danger Room reports on how two Frenchmen have modified telescopes and video cameras to create a do-it-yourself satellite tracker.

• And staying with the do-it-yourself theme, Defence Watch reveals a Canadian man’s attempts to rebuild an Orenda Iraquois engine that once powered the Avro Arrow CF-105.

• The Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee accuse China of hampering a congressional probe into how counterfeit electronics ended up in the U.S. military supply chain.

• Russia and France sign a protocol of intent, but not a final contract, on the purchase of Mistral Class helicopter carriers.

• Raytheon acquires key business assets of pulsed power engineering systems firm Ktech. Terms of the acquisition agreement were not disclosed.
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Leon Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee that his main objective as the new Defense Secretary will be to ensure that the United States continues to have the best trained, best equipped and strongest military in the world. Despite the Department of Defense’ efforts to cut $400 billion as part of deficit reduction measures Panetta also stressed to the Committee the United States does not need to choose between strong fiscal discipline and a strong national defense. Instead the challenge lies in designing budgets that eliminate wasteful spending while protecting those core elements deemed vital to national security.

• Turkey’s current account deficit is hitting levels that worry some observers. High levels have been predictors of economic crises in the past. If that comes to pass, there are a lot of new and pending weapons programs that would be affected.

• Turkey’s next-generation fighters are among them. There are reports of growing interest in a split-buy, to reduce dependence on the USA. Italy’s government is pushing Turkey to solve that problem by joining the Eurofighter consortium. Turkey might also pick a hi-low approach, and join existing arms partners South Korea and Indonesia in KF-X.

• BAE Systems snags 10-year, $850 million contract to manage the US Army’s Radford ammunition plant in southwest Virginia; stock of incumbent ATK takes a hit.

• In the money: EADS posts a net loss of EUR 12 million, on revenues of EUR 9.9 billion, as a result of negative dollar accounting revaluation; however, net cash reserves reach record EUR 12.2 billion (~17.2B USD).

• Russian Space Forces plans to test a new Voronezh DM radar being built near Baltic port of Kaliningrad by end of 2011, one of four radars being built to fill radar coverage gaps created by the collapse of the Soviet Union.

• Goodrich completes EUR 331 million for Microtecnica, a Turin, Italy-based provider of flight control actuation systems for helicopters, aircraft, missile actuation, and aircraft thermal and environmental control systems for military and commercial customers.

• Azerbaijan extends joint production agreement with South Africa’s Paramount Group to produce an additional 30 Marauder [PDF] and 30 Matador [PDF] mine-protected vehicles, with deliveries running through late 2012.

• Raytheon & Boeing finish government testing of their JAGM light strike missile contender, and keep their perfect test record.

• Good news: 1st A109 light helicopter from the May 2008 contract enters service in New Zealand. Bad news: They’re still waiting for the NH90-TTH medium helicopters from their July 2006 contract.

• Northrop Grumman is cutting 200 jobs at its Electronics Systems division, mostly in the Baltimore area.

• Terrorists have procurement networks, too – most of which also have criminal uses. Read FP Magazine’s slanted but still enlightening “Tunnelnomics” piece re: the Israeli/Gaza border.

May 3/11: The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announces [PDF] Iraq’s official request for various radios and communication equipment to equip its Federal Police Force, as well as associated equipment, parts, training and support.

Harris Corporation in White Plains, NY would be the contractor, for up to 750 of their 50-Watt Vehicular Multiband Handheld Radio Systems, 900 of their 5-watt Multiband Handheld Radio Systems, 50 of their 50-watt Multiband Handheld Base Stations, 50 of their 20-watt High Frequency (HF) Base Stations, and 100 of their 5-watt Secure Personal Role Handheld Radio Systems, along with the other items mentioned above. Security features will be lower than the USA’s full military gear, but it will provide Iraq with updated frequency-hopping capabilities (SINCGARS) as well as a digital data capability.

If a contract is signed, the cost is estimated to be up to $67 million. Implementation of this proposed sale will require 6 Harris personnel to travel to Iraq for operator & maintenance instruction (4 weeks each) and installation support (6 increments, for 2 weeks per visit). ISF Order of Battle author DJ Elliott says that “This is part of the retraining, re-equipping, and re-designation program transferring the provincial Emergency Police to the Federal Police.”

MAJIIC: concept

NATO’s Muli-sensor Aerospace-Ground Joint ISR Interoperability Coalition (MAJIIC) project aimed to help participating nations share imaging and radar data from their planes and UAVs, even if their individual platforms were not designed for that kind of compatibility. MAJIIC ran from April 2005 through March 2009, and showed results in exercises and in Afghanistan, where participating countries could share full motion UAV videos. Now, NATO is embarking on a 5-year, EUR 100 million second phase, called MAJIIC 2 (Multi-intelligence All-source Joint ISR Interoperability Coalition).

While the name behind the original acronym suggests a focus on aerospace platforms like UAVs, the project aims to handle any sensor platform on ground, sea, or air. That includes SAR/GMTI radars, day/night cameras, and even sensors like ESM radar finders and artillery locating radars.

AC-235 concept

In February 2011, with unrest engulfing the Middle East, ATK announced a project with Jordan to turn 2 Jordanian CN-235 light transport aircraft into small aerial gunships.

The aircraft would pack electro-optical targeting systems that include a laser designator, aircraft self-protection equipment, and a weapons suite of Hellfire laser-guided missiles, 70mm/2.75 inch rockets (which could include laser guided rockets), and the same M230 link-fed 30mm chain gun that equips AH-64 Apache helicopters. The weapons are all controlled by ATK’s STAR mission system, turning the CN-235s into lethal but relatively inexpensive counter-insurgency platforms…

• Defense budget cuts split HASC Republicans between hawks and Tea Partiers.

• With a bevy of batteries weighing soldiers down, MIT’s research into mini gas turbines in a silicon chip promises a possible way out.

• US Army’s Dugway Proving Ground, which stores and tests chemical and biological weapons, reopens after a lockdown because of a “serious concern within the test area.”

• Hard to find is one thing. But could it be possible to make a submarine completely invisible to sonar? Experiments by scientists at the University of Illinois indicate that a sonic cloak may be possible.

• Lockheed Martin rocks 4th quarter with an 18.9% jump in net earnings.

• URS gets up to $63 million to provide engineering, program management, analysis, and logistics support for the B-2 bomber program.

• CACI gets $238 million in national security intelligence support work.

• Eurofighter CEO sees 2011 as a pivotal year, in order to avoid the end of production in 2015. India’s M-MRCA competition, and hopes of a “Tranche 3B” from its consortium countries, are the key underpinnings.

• The Marines recently said they’re more focused on local police and governance than on technology in Afghanistan. They won’t be the only ones cheering the recent firings of many Afghan police officials.

• One of the USAF’s big technologies, meanwhile, is on shaky ground. The twin-pod Gorgon Stare payload for UAVs and aircraft is supposed to let troops cover square kilometers with surveillance, instead of looking through a soda straw. But the left-wing CDI reveals that a recent testing report gave it a terrible rating. The US Air Force has some disagreements with that assessment, but probably regrets their recent boasting to the Washington Post. So does Chuck Spinney, albeit for a different set of reasons.

• Meanwhile, ex-Army general Stan McChrystal talks about his aggressive pursuit of tech on the battlefield – and the human side that makes it worth anything.