Pilatus PC-21

In May 2012, Saudi Arabia signed a long-rumored agreement with BAE for training aircraft that can take RSAF pilots all the way from basic training to lead-in fighter training, along with their accompanying classroom training and simulators. This GBP 1.6 billion/ $2.5 billion contract will provide familiar plane types that continue previous RSAF relationships. The 55 Pilatus PC-21 turboprops will begin arriving from Switzerland in 2014, replacing the RSAF’s existing fleet of 47 Pilatus PC-9s. The 22 BAE Hawk AJT jets will begin arriving in 2016, replacing about 29 early-model Hawk Mk.65s. Another 25 primary trainers for initial flight training are also reported to be part of the deal, but the type isn’t confirmed. If BAE continues to use the same choices offered for the RAF’s own trainers, they would be Grob 112Es.

Hawk AJTs

The Saudi purchase takes place within the existing Al-Yamamah/ Project Salam set of Saudi-British Defence Co-operation Programme, which also provided the RSAF with its high-end fleet of Eurofighter fleet, and its Tornado strike aircraft. Those programs come with accompanying contracts for full support, but the initial BAE announcement regarding Saudi Arabia’s trainers mentions only spares, technical publications and post-design support. UK MoD | BAE | Agence France Presse | Flight International.

HPT-32

India’s stalled defense procurements have become an international joke, but they’re not funny to front-line participants. The country’s attempts to buy simple artillery pieces have become infamous, but their current problem with trainer aircraft is arguably a more significant wound.

You can’t produce pilots properly without appropriate training, but the IAF’s fleet of 114 locally-designed HPT-32 Deepak basic trainers has been grounded since August 2009, because they aren’t seen as reliable enough or safe enough to fly. Since then, equally aged HJT-16 Kiran jets are being used for both Stage-I and Stage-II fighter training. That yawning gap has added urgency to a replacement buy, but progress has been predictably slow. With its high-end Hawk AJT jet trainer deals behind them after 20+ years of effort, can the IAF take the next step, and plug the hole in the middle of its training? In May 2012, it did.

BAF C-130B

The Bangladesh Air Force currently flies 4 ancient C-130B Hercules medium transports, bought second-hand from the USAF. A May 2012 DSCA request [PDF] would replace them with 4 merely old C-130E Hercules medium transports, bought second-hand from the USAF. The 4 Lockheed Martin C-130Es would be provided for free as Excess Defense Articles (EDA), along with 20 T56AA Rolls-Royce engines. If a contract is signed, Bangladesh gets these items, but would pay up to $180 million for an overhaul to full flight condition and many safe airframe hours, plus modifications and in-service support. it would also include delivery to Bangladesh, repair and return, spare and repair parts, support equipment, tools and test equipment, technical data and publications, training, and other forms of US government and contractor support. That contractor will be determined by competitive bids, since there are a number of companies offering “like-new” C-130 refurbishment services.

The DSCA request cites “Bangladesh’s significant contributions to United Nations Peacekeeping Operations,” which is true. It also mentions “operations to counter violent extremist organizations,” alluding to Bangladesh’s creeping Islamization, which sparked a recent coup attempt. Finally, it cites the C-130s’ potential role in humanitarian aid missions, many of which take place at home. Huge swathes of Bangladesh’s population live near sea level or on river flood plains, even as deforestation in other countries and seasonal monsoons create frequent floods. As one might imagine, this combination is less than ideal for Bangladesh. When roads flood out, the BAF’s C-130s and AN-32s can be a useful way to move supplies to helicopter-friendly distribution points.

Space Fence:
Mission Control Concept

Space is big. Objects in space are very dangerous to each other. Countries that intend to launch objects into space need to know what’s out there, in order to avoid disasters like the 2009 collision of 2 orbital satellites. All they need to do is track many thousands of man-made space objects, traveling at about 9 times the speed of a bullet, and residing in a search area that’s 220,000 times the volume of Earth’s oceans.

The US Air Force Materiel Command’s Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts leads the procurement for the USA’s Space Fence, which is intended to improve space situational awareness as legacy systems in the Space Surveillance Network (SSN) are retired. With a total anticipated value of around $6.1 billion over its lifetime, Space Fence will deliver a system of 2-3 geographically dispersed ground-based radars to provide timely assessment of space objects, events, and debris. Failure is not an option…

• Space Fence: Background
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources [updated]
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C-212, hot & high

Presidential Airways, Inc. of Moyock, NC (now AAR Airlift) uses EADS-CASA 212 and Dash-8 transport aircraft for its work, which is short-haul supply flights in and out of remote locations – including combat zones. It also fields helicopters and other assets. The US military hoped that Presidential would be able to address some of the issues US combat commanders have raised with the need for transport aircraft that can use smaller runways, and land closer to zones of operations. Accordingly, the firm received several contracts from the US government for these services, covering a number of Central Asian countries.

They remain a major provider of fixed-wing, in-theater contract transport – but are no longer the only option, as the USA turns to contractors for both helicopters and fixed-wing support. This article chronicles fixed-wing contracts from 2004 – 2012.

The US DoD published two FY11 reports on purchases from foreign entities and to foreign countries [PDFs]. DoD procurement actions from foreign entities amounted to $24B or 6.4% of the total. 67% of that comes from fuel, services, construction, or food. 18% or about $4.3B were spent on imported equipment.

Meanwhile US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) of $2M+ amounted to a total of $14.2B: $10.5B through the Army, $2.6B via the Air Force, $1B handled by the Navy and $102M via the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). One may conclude that the US exported $10B more in military equipment than it imported, but that would be a hasty conclusion. Substantial FMS transactions to countries like Afghanistan, Egypt or Israel are subsidized with American military aid funds.

Government Contract Costs, Pricing & Accounting Report has a scathing article [PDF] on the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA)...

RAAF F/A-18F rollout

Australia’s Super Hornet purchase began life in a storm. Australia’s involvement in the F-35 Lightning II program have been mired in controversy, amid criticisms that the F-35A will (1) be unable to compete with proliferating SU-30 family fighters in the region, (2) lack the range or response time that Australia requires, and (3) be both late and very expensive during early production years. The accelerated retirement of Australia’s 22 long-range F-111s in 2010 sharpened the timing debate, by creating a serious gap between the F-111’s retirement and the F-35’s likely arrival.

In December 2006, therefore, The Australian reported that Defence Minister Brendan Nelson was discussing an A$ 3 billion (about $2.36 billion) purchase of 24 F/A-18F Block II Super Hornet aircraft to fill the fighter gap. The move came as “a surprise to senior defence officials on Russell Hill”; but quickly became an official purchase as requests and contracts were hurriedly submitted. Australia’s new Labor government’s later decided to keep the Super Hornet purchase, rather than pay cancellation fees, but added an interesting option to convert 12 into electronic warfare planes. Ministerial statements place the program’s final figure at A$ 6.6 – 7.0 billion, which includes basing, training, and other ancillary costs.

This DID Spotlight article describes the model chosen, links to coverage of the key controversies, and offers a history of contracts and key event’s from the program’s first official DSCA requests to the present day.

• RAAF Super Hornets: Variants and Variances
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
• Appendix A: RAAF Super Hornet Controversies
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LPD-17 cutaway

LPD-17 San Antonio class amphibious assault support vessels are just entering service with the US Navy, and 11 ships of this class are eventually slated to replace up to 41 previous ships. Much like their smaller predecessors, their mission is to embark, transport, land, and support elements of a US Marine Corps Landing Force. The difference is found in these ships’ size, their cost, and the capabilities and technologies used to perform those missions. Among other additions, this new ship is designed to operate the Marines’ new MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, alongside the standard well decks for hovercraft and amphibious armored personnel carriers.

While its design incorporates notable advances, the number of serious issues encountered in this ship class have been much higher than usual, and more extensive. The New Orleans shipyard to which most of this contract was assigned appears to be part of the problem. Initial ships have been criticized, often, for sub-standard workmanship, and it took 2 1/2 years after the initial ship of class was delivered before any of them could be sent on an operational cruise. Whereupon the USS San Antonio promptly found itself laid up Bahrain, due to oil leaks. It hasn’t been the only ship of its class hurt by serious mechanical issues. Meanwhile, costs are almost twice the originally promised amounts, reaching over $1.6 billion per ship – 2 to 3 times as much as many foreign LPDs like the Rotterdam Class, and more than 10 times as much as Singapore’s 6,600 ton Endurance Class LPD. This article covers the LPD-17 San Antonio Class program, including its technologies, its problems, and ongoing contracts and events.

• LPD-17 San Antonio Class: Capabilities and Features
• LPD-17 San Antonio Class: Program, Budgets & Timelines [updated]
  • LPD-17 Program: Performance Problems [updated]
  • The Vicious Cycle
• LPD-17 San Antonio Class: Contracts and Key Events (1996-Present) [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources – LPD-17 Ship Class
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Harpoon in flight

The sub-sonic, wave-skimming *GM-84 Harpoon is the US Navy’s sole anti-shipping missile, with the minor exception of small AGM-119B Penguin missiles and anti-tank Hellfires carried on some H-60 helicopters. The Harpoon has been adapted into several variants, and exported to many navies around the world. At present, the Harpoon family includes air, sea/land, and submarine-launched versions of the GM-84. Variants such as the land attack SLAM variant and the modern AGM-84K Joint Standoff Land Attack Missiles-Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) will also be covered in this DID FOCUS Article, which describes the missiles themselves, and covers global contracts involving this family.

The Harpoon family’s best known competitor is the French/MBDA *M38/39/40 Exocet, but recent years have witnessed a growing competitive roster at both the subsonic (Israel’s Gabriel family, Russia’s SS-N-27 Klub family, Saab’s RBS15, Kongsberg’s stealthy NSM, China’s YJ-82/C-802 used by Hezbollah in Lebanon), and supersonic (Russia’s SS-N-22 Sunburn/Moskit, SS-N-26 Yakhont, and some SS-N-27 Klub variants, India’s SS-N-26 derived PJ-10 BrahMos) tiers.

• GM-84 Harpoon Family: The Missiles [updated]
• GM-84 Harpoon Family: Contracts & Key Events, FY 2007 – Present [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
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UAE C-17: 1st delivery

The biggest news from the 2009 IDEX exhibition was the UAE’s twin selections of medium (12 Lockheed C-130J) and heavy (4 Boeing C-17) transport aircraft. Estimates at the time placed the total value at AED 10.7 billion (about $2.78 billion), but the estimates were low for the C-17, and would likely rise further if the C-130 order also goes through. The C-17 order later rose to a confirmed contract for 6 planes, and negotiations remain in progress for the C-130J-30 buy.

Given the country’s geographic position, and the global shortage of military airlift capacity outside of the United States, a force of this size and quality can be parlayed into international influence by supporting multi-national military deployments and humanitarian efforts from Africa to South Asia, and around the world:

• Do? Buy?
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
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