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Archives by category > Avionics (RSS)

Taiwan’s Force Modernization: The American Side

Jul 27, 2020 04:54 UTC DII

Latest updates[?]: Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) is under pressure from the military to complete the Initial Operational Test & Evaluation of its Hai Chien 2 anti-air missile by this year. The Navy wants to start limited production of the missile from March next year so that the Tuo Chiang Class corvettes can have an anti-air capability. Unfortunately for NCSIST, the institute has run into problems integrating the missile with air defense radar. To meet the deadline by next year, it has to start shipborne testing in the next few months. So far, the missile has only been fired at sea once in 2014. Another effort to have the missile fired from the Mk 41 VLS is also delayed as the indigenous Hsun Lien naval combat systems is behind schedule.
Taiwan military

Despite China’s ominous military buildup across the strait, key weapons sales of P-3 maritime patrol aircraft, Patriot PAC-3 missiles, and diesel-electric submarines to Taiwan had been sabotaged by Taiwanese politics for years – in some cases, since 1997. The KMT party’s flip-flops and determined stalling tactics eventually created a crisis in US-Taiwan relations, which finally soured to the point that the USA refused a Taiwanese request for F-16C/D aircraft.

That seems to have brought things to a head. Most of the budget and political issues were eventually sorted out, and after a long delay, some major elements of Taiwan’s requested modernization program appear to be moving forward: P-3 maritime patrol aircraft, UH-60M helicopters, Patriot missile upgrades; and requests for AH-64D attack helicopters, E-2 Hawkeye AWACS planes, minehunting ships, and missiles for defense against aircraft, ships, and tanks. These are must-have capabilities when facing a Chinese government that has vowed to take the country by force, and which is building an extensive submarine fleet, a large array of ballistic missiles, an upgraded fighter fleet, and a number of amphibious-capable divisions. Chinese pressure continues to stall some of Taiwan’s most important upgrades, including diesel-electric submarines, and new American fighter jets. Meanwhile, other purchases from abroad continue.

Continue Reading… »

The HISS Harrier Support Program

Jun 18, 2020 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Viasat won a maximum $8.9 million deal for AV-8B spare parts. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 US Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a three-month contract with no option periods. Using military service is Navy. The Harrier II Plus (AV-8B), manufactured by BAE Systems and Boeing, is a VSTOL fighter and attack aircraft operational with the US Marine Corps, the Spanish Navy and the Italian Navy. The Harrier II Plus extends the capabilities of the Harrier with the introduction of a multi-mode radar and beyond-visual-range missile capability. Location of performance is California, with a September 30, 2020, performance completion date.

AV-8B side hover

AV-8B Harrier II

The USA’s AV-8B Harrier IIs have gone from the most accident-prone fighter aircraft in the fleet to a much safer jet whose hover capability and LITENING surveillance and targeting pods proved extremely effective in the urban warfare scenarios of Iraq. In 2007, the USA, Italy and Spain signed a Harrier Integrated Supply Support (HISS) performance-based support deal, worth up to $400 million.

Is this a step forward in terms of contracting for support? Is the British contracting model of comprehensive through-life support on its way across the Atlantic? The answers are yes, and not exactly.

Continue Reading… »

Russia’s Yak-130 Trainer & Light Attack Jets

Jan 30, 2020 04:52 UTC DII

Latest updates[?]: Vedomosti is reporting that Vietnam has placed an order for at least 12 Yak-130 jet trainers. The contract is reportedly worth $350 million. The article added that the jets will be assigned to the 915th aviation training regiment. Previously, at the International Air and Marine Exhibition (LIMA-2017), the Vietnamese high-level military delegation had visited the site of the Yak-130 combat training ground. This is the type of aircraft that has been rumored by the Russian and international media that Vietnam is planning to buy. The Yak-130 combat trainer was selected as the winner of the trainer competition of the Voyenno Vozdushnyye Sily, Russian Federation Air Force, in April 2002. The aircraft is also actively marketed for export by Yakovlev, the Irkut company, and by Rosoboronexport. The Yak-130 is of classical swept-wing and empennage monoplane design and light alloy construction with carbon-fibre control surfaces. Kevlar armour protection is fitted to the engines, cockpit and avionics compartment.
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Yak-130

Yak-130

Russia’s air force (VVS) aged badly in the wake of the Cold War, and the recapitalization drought soon made itself felt in all areas. One of those areas involved advanced jet trainers, which form the last rung on the ladder before assignment to fighters. Russia’s Czech-made L-29 and L-39 trainers were left with questionable access to spare parts, and a competition that began in the 1990s finally saw Yakolev’s Yak-130 collaboration with Italy’s Finmeccanica beat the MiG-AT in 2002. Unfortunately, Russian budget realities allowed orders for just a dozen early production Yak-130s, even as the VVS’s L-39 fleet dwindled drastically.

The Yak-130’s multi-mission capabilities in training, air policing, and counterinsurgency make it an attractive option for some customers beyond Russia. Initial export successes helped keep Yak-130 production going in those early years, mostly via a confirmed order from Algeria (16). In December 2011, however, Russia finally placed a significant order that got production started in earnest. Russia continues to promote the aircraft abroad, and now that the plane’s future is secure, interest and orders are picking up…

Continue Reading… »

Billions to Upgrade and Up-arm Pakistan’s F-16s

Dec 18, 2019 04:52 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Booz Allen Hamilton won a $9.1 million contract to provide technical security team support services in support of the Pakistan F-16 program. On June 28, 2006, the US DSCA notified Congress via a series of releases of its intention to provide Pakistan with a $5.1 billion Foreign Military Sales package to upgrade the F-16s that serve as the PAF’s top of the line fighters. Pakistan has used the F-16 fighter jets against India, the latest being in the aftermath of the Balakot airstrike inside Pakistan by India. The Pakistan Air Force received its first F-16, in the Block 15 F-16A/B configuration, in 1982. Work under the deal will take place in Pakistan and expected completion is on June 18, 2020.

F-16A Pakistan Bombing

PAF F-16A drops Mk.82s

On June 28/06, the US DSCA notified Congress via a series of releases of its intention to provide Pakistan with a $5.1 billion Foreign Military Sales package to upgrade the F-16s that serve as the PAF’s top of the line fighters. Some of these items had been put on hold following the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan & Kashmir, but the request for 36 new F-16 Block 50/52s is now going ahead, along with new weapons, engine modifications, and upgrade kits for Pakistan’s older F-16 A/Bs. The buy went through, and was accompanied by the supply of 26 older F-16s from USAF surplus stocks. Then, a 2014 sale added 13 machines from from Jordan.

These items are detailed below, along with controversies the proposed sales have created, and some of the conditions attached to the sale by the US government….

Continue Reading… »

Belgium Upgrading its F-16s

Sep 10, 2019 04:54 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Four Belgian Air Force F-16 fighter aircraft touched down at Siauliai Air Base, Lithuania on August 29, 2019 to take over the lead of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing from the Hungarian Air Force JAS-39 fighter aircraft. The Belgian Air Force, which back in 2004 was the first ally to start NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission in the region, will be the lead nation for the last four months in 2019. The official handover-takeover ceremony of the mission took place at Šiauliai Air Base on the 3rd of September 2019. “It is great for Belgium to be back here in the Baltics,” said Major Simon Gerard, Detachment Commander of the 60-strong Belgian F-16 detachment.

BAF F-16 MLU

Belgian F-16

Belgium is embarking on minor but useful modernization of its remaining F-16 fleet, which is expected to serve until at least 2022, and could easily end up serving past 2030. Under Belgium’s 2000-2015 Modernization plan, the Belgian Defense Forces plan to keep just 60 F-16s in the fleet, creating a total of 48 operational aircraft (46 for NATO duties and 2 for domestic air defense).

Continue Reading… »

The Wonders of Link 16 For Less: MIDS-LVTs

Aug 09, 2019 04:58 UTC

Latest updates[?]: The US Navy contracted Data Link Solutions with a $75 million modification for the Block Upgrade II retrofit of Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) low volume terminals (LVTs). The MIDS LVT is a low-cost fighter terminal with flexible, open-architecture designs. It provides the critical airborne, ground, and maritime link that allows for simultaneous coordination of forces and situational awareness in battlefield operations. The MIDS program was inaugurated via a Memorandum of Understanding amongst the founding MIDS nations, namely Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and the United States. The terminals provide secure, high-capacity, jam-resistant, digital data and voice communications capability for Navy, Air Force and Army platforms, and for Foreign Military Sales customers. Work will take place in Wayne, New Jersey and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Estimated completion date is in December 2026.

Link-16 Display F-15

Link 16 Display
(click to see situation)

What one sees, all see. Jam-resistant Link-16 radios automatically exchange battlefield information – particularly locations of friendly and enemy aircraft, ships and ground forces – among themselves in a long-range, line-of-sight network. For example, air surveillance tracking data from an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft can be instantly shared with fighter aircraft and air defense units. More than a dozen countries have installed Link 16 terminals on over 19 different land, sea, and air platforms, making it an interoperability success story.

While recent advancements may make AESA radars the future transmitters of choice, Link 16 is the current standard. The Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Low Volume Terminals (MIDS LVTs) were developed by a multinational consortium to provide Link 16 capability at a lower weight, volume, and cost than the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS). This free-to-view DID Spotlight article throws a spotlight on the program, explaining Link 16, and covering associated contracts around the world.

Continue Reading… »

Germany Upgrading Its CH-53G Helicopters

May 30, 2019 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Sikorsky responded to the German „Schwerer Transporthubschrauber“ STH Program’s call for competition. It is offering the CH-53K King Stallion. A formal request for proposals for the "Schwerer Transporthubschrauber" (STH) program is expected this summer to replace the older CH-53 the German Air Force currently flies. The CH-53K has flown more than 1,400 test hours and has met all the outer reaches of the test envelope, according to Sikorsky. The King Stallion’s test program so far has included high altitude, hot temperature, and degraded visual environment flights, maximum weight single-point cargo hook sling load of 36,000 pounds (16,329 kilograms), forward flight speed of over 200 knots, 60 degrees angle of bank turns, altitude of 18,500 feet mean sea level (MSL), 12-degree slope landings and takeoffs; external load auto-jettison; and gunfire testing. Boeing’s CH-47F is another expected competitor for the program.

CH-53G

Heer CH-53G

From 1971-1975, 110 “CH-53G Mittlerer Transporthubschrauber” derivatives of the CH-53D Sea Stallions were built in Germany. Though they share the CH-53E’s ability to lift medium-heavy loads, including up to 2 of Germany’s Wiesel armored infantry support vehicles, the CH-53Gs lack the 3rd engine and additional features of the improved CH-53E Super Stallions that have been operated by the US Marine Corps since 1981. A 2002 decision set a future force goal of 80 CH-53G and upgraded CH-53GS helicopters in the German Army, via modernization and life extension projects.

Which leads us to the current modernization project, even as Germany and France prepare their European Heavy-Lift Helicopter project for introduction around 2020. That effort is also surrounded by more urgent modifications, including one set that aims to create longer-range combat search and rescue capabilities:

  • The Conversions [updated]
  • Contracts & Key Events [updated]

Continue Reading… »

Comanche’s Wi’ane: No New Armed Scout Helicopter

May 22, 2019 04:50 UTC DII

Latest updates[?]: Greece received 70 Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed reconnaissance helicopters and one Boeing CH-47D Chinook heavy-lift helo. The Hellenic Army purchased the OH-58Ds through the US Excess Defense Articles program. The shipment consists of 36 fully equipped aircraft, plus 24 that lack certain avionics, navigation, and communication equipment, and will be dedicated to training. The remaining 10 airframes are to be used for spares. Six of the helicopters came ready to fly. The deal for the Kiowa Warriors is valued at $44,2 million.

YRH-70 test

YRH-70 test, 2005

The US Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) program aimed to replace around 375 Bell Textron OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters, after the $14.6 billion RAH-66 Comanche program, was canceled in 2004. Instead, the Army would buy a larger number of less expensive platforms, with reduced capabilities. Bell Helicopter Textron initially won the ARH competition with a militarized version of its highly successful 407 single-engine commercial helicopter, but despite significant private investment after Army funding stopped in March 2007, spiraling costs killed the ARH-70 in October 2008.

What hasn’t changed is the battlefield need for on-call, front-line aerial surveillance and fire support. With its existing OH-58D stock wither wearing down, or shot down, the Army needs to do something. But what? The eventual answer: scrap the Kiowa fleet for a combination of attack helicopters and UAVs.

Continue Reading… »

F-X2: Brazil’s Saab Contract for Gripen’s a Done Deal

Apr 08, 2019 04:54 UTC DII

Latest updates[?]: During the LAAD 2019 Defense & Security exhibition, Saab revealed details of the current development status of the F-39 Gripen, the multi-mission fighter aircraft developed in a partnership between Sweden and Brazil. According to Mikael Franzén, head of Saab Brazil’s business unit, the Swedish and the Brazilian Gripen fighters will have the same configuration for the displays, harmonizing the programs. This would mean great savings to the aircraft maintenance and in future software development. The transfer of technology program also continues to advance. So far, 165 Brazilian engineers have been trained in Sweden and completed their technology transfer program. The Gripen’s FTI (Flight Test Instrumentation) aircraft is due to take flight for the first time in 2019.

FAB JAS-39E concept

FAB JAS-39E

As Brazil started boosting its defense budgets in past years, its Navy and Army received funds to replace broken-down equipment, while new fighters will be a critical centerpiece of the Forca Aerea Brasileira’s (FAB) efforts.

Boeing’s F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, France’s Dassault’s Rafale, Saab’s JAS-39 Gripen NG were picked as finalists. But after repeated stalling, for years the question was whether Brazil would actually place an order, or fold up the competition like the ill-fated 2011 F-X process. At the end of 2013, Brazil unexpectedly picked the Swedish offer, thanks to its offsets, price, and lack of diplomatic baggage. An initial contract is now in place, and this Spotlight article takes you through the competition, choices, and ongoing developments in a country that seems likely to become the world’s largest Gripen fleet.

Continue Reading… »

Morocco’s Air Force Reloads: And Now, The Training…

Mar 27, 2019 04:52 UTC

Latest updates[?]: The US Department of State approved a possible sale to Morocco of F-16C/D aircraft. The cost of the deal is estimated at $3.8 billion. Morocco has requested to purchase 25 F-16C/D Block 72 aircraft and other related equipment. According to a press statement, the proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a major Non-NATO ally that continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in North Africa. Morocco already operates an F-16 fleet and also requested an upgrade of the 23 aircraft to the F-16V configuration. The prime contractor for the sale and the upgrade is Lockheed Martin. According to the company, the F-16 Block 70/72 is the newest and most advanced F-16 configuration to date, with a structural life more than 50 percent beyond that of previous F-16 aircraft.

AIR Mirage F1s France

French Mirage F1s

Morocco’s combat air force currently flies 2 squadrons of old F-5 fighters, and 2 squadrons of only slightly newer Mirage F1s. T-37 light jets serve as high-end trainers. Their neighbor and rival Algeria flies MiG-23s of similar vintage, but the Force Aérienne Algérienne also flies SU-24 Fencer and SU-25 Frogfoot strike aircraft, plus even more modern and capable MiG-29s, and is receiving multi-role SU-30MKAs as part of a multi-billion dollar weapons deal with Russia.

Morocco can’t beat that array. Instead, they’re looking for replacement aircraft and upgrades that will prevent complete overmatch, and provide a measure of security. Initially, they looked to France, but key reversals have handed most of this modernization work to the United States.

Continue Reading… »
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