* If you haven't read enough about how and why Republicans won the US Senate and increased their control of the House [The Hill], here are a couple pointers: Military Times' elections guide | Familiar Faces in New Places on Senate Defense Committees [Defense News]. *...
Daily Rapid Fire Articles
US Marines Publish New Aviation Plan, Aircraft Retirement Schedule
* The US Marines released their 2015 aviation plan [PDF], which shows they plan to retire their Harriers then their Hornets as they phase in F-35s in the second half of next decade. US Biz Dev * DARPA will hold a presenter's day [FBO] about Electrical Prescriptions...
Syrian Regime Increases Bombing While Some Rebels Yield to AQ
* Syrian rebels armed and trained by the US surrendered to al-Qaeda [The Telegraph], with armament that may include TOW missiles. These aren't an international concern, but they will make Daesh more formidable. See DID's coverage from December last year of Saudi TOW...
New Zealand’s New NH90 & A109E Helicopter Fleets
NH Industries’ NH90 helicopter has been selected to replace the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s aging UH-1 Iroquois, which will remain in service until 2009. A firm deal has not been finalized with respect to numbers or dollars. The 10-tonne NH90, which first flew in 1996, uses composite materials instead of riveted alloy plates, and electronic fly-by-wire systems to save the weight of the usual strong and heavy power-boosted hydraulic control systems. This allows…
Euronaval Brings Local Shipbuilding to the Forefront
* Herve Guillou, the new boss at French shipbuilder DCNS, is eager to get a share of Canada's huge forthcoming naval programs, and is willing to build ships in Canada with local partners as well as transfer technologies to sweeten the deal. National Post. * Dutch...
UK MOD Consolidates Military Air Traffic with Billion Pound Contract
* The UK awarded a £1.5 billion contract ($2.4B) to Aquila, a joint venture set between Thales and NATS to update and sustain military air traffic management. They're merging what used to be about 70 contracts into a single program called Marshall, whose geographical...
You Can Track Your F-35s, At ALIS’ Maintenance Hub
Keeping track of...(click to view full) For the last 50 years, newer fighters have been sold as requiring less maintenance than their predecessors, due to technical advances. As people like Chuck Spinney and the Congressional Research Service have documented, the...
Spain Announces Procurement Revival But Reportedly Faces Poor Jet Readiness
* After years of belt-tightening by postponing procurement programs, Spain's Defense State Secretary and former Boeing executive Pedro Argüelles announced a €10B investment plan that includes F-110 frigates and 8x8 infantry vehicles, writes La Semana [in Spanish]....
Russian, US 2014 Armament Exports
* US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) reached $31.2B in FY14 (i.e. ending Sept. 30), and with additional exports handled through other mechanisms, total sales announced by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) reached $34.2B. That's slightly above the previous...