The JAS-39 Gripen: Sweden’s 4+ Generation Wild Card

Jan 17, 2020 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Sweden has decided not to sell its General Electric F414G engine that powers the Gripen E to the United States for scheduled servicing. It has now decided that the engines will be serviced at Trollhättan instead. All F404 engines for the Swedish Gripen C/Ds are currently maintain at Trollhättan. The Saab JAS 39 Gripen is a light single-engine multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace company Saab. The Swedish Armed Forces commissioned the Swedish Defense Material Administration to establish technical support and maintenance for RM16 / F414 for Gripen E at GKN in Trollhättan. This means that technical support and maintenance down to component level will be co-located in the Trollhättan for the JAS 39 Gripens engines

South African JAS-39D

As a neutral country with a long history of providing for its own defense against all comers, Sweden also has a long tradition of building excellent high-performance fighters with a distinctive look. From the long-serving Saab-35 Draken (“Dragon,” 1955-2005) to the Mach 2, canard-winged Saab-37 Viggen (“Thunderbolt,” 1971-2005), Swedish fighters have stressed short-field launch from dispersed/improvised air fields, world-class performance, and leading-edge design. This record of consistent project success is nothing short of amazing, especially for a country whose population over this period has ranged from 7-9 million people.

This is DID’s FOCUS Article for background, news, and contract awards related to the JAS-39 Gripen (“Griffon”), a canard-winged successor to the Viggen and one of the world’s first 4+ generation fighters. Gripen remains the only lightweight 4+ generation fighter type in service, its performance and operational economics are both world-class, and it has become one of the most recognized fighter aircraft on the planet. Unfortunately for its builders, that recognition has come from its appearance in Saab and Volvo TV commercials, rather than from hoped-for levels of military export success. With its 4+ generation competitors clustered in the $60-120+ million range vs. the Gripen’s claimed $40-60 million, is there a light at the end of the tunnel for Sweden’s lightweight fighter? In 2013 a win in Brazil started to answer that question.

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France’s Rafale

Jan 16, 2020 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Egypt now has the capability to aerial refuel combat aircraft, Janes’s reports. An official video released by the Ministry of Defense shows 'buddy-buddy' systems fitted to Air Force MiG-29M 'Fulcrum' fighters. The video is supposed to highlight capabilities of the Egyptian Armed Forces. It shows a pair of MiG-29Ms equipped with centerline hose-and-drogue units preparing to offload fuel to two Dassault Rafale combat aircraft. The 'buddy-buddy' system seen fitted to the MiG-29M in the video is called the PAZ-MK Refueling Pod. According to its manufacturer, Zvezda-NPP, it was designed to increase the range of carrier-borne MiG-29K/KUB aircraft, as flown by the Russian and Indian Navies.

Dassault Rafale
(click for cutaway view)

Will Dassault’s fighter become a fashionably late fighter platform that builds on its parent company’s past successes – or just “the late Rafale”? It all began as a 1985 break-away from the multinational consortium that went on to create EADS’ Eurofighter. The French needed a lighter aircraft that was suitable for carrier use, and were reportedly unwilling to cede design authority over the project. As is so often true of French defense procurement policy, the choice came down to paying additional costs for full independence and exact needs, or losing key industrial capabilities by partnering or buying abroad. France has generally opted for expensive but independent defense choices, and the Rafale was no exception.

Those costs, and associated delays triggered by the end of the Cold War and reduced funding, proved to be very costly indeed. Unlike previous French fighters, which relied on exports to lower their costs and keep production lines humming, the Rafale has yet to secure a single export contract – in part because initial versions were hampered by impaired capabilities in key roles. The Rafale may, at last, be ready to be what its vendors say: a true omnirole aircraft, ready for prime time on the global export stage. The question is whether it’s too late. Rivals like EADS’ Eurofighter, Russia’s Su-27/30 family, and the American “teen series” of F-15/16/18 variants are all well established. Meanwhile, Saab’s versatile and cheaper JAS-39 Gripen remains a stubborn foe in key export competitions, and the multinational F-35 juggernaut is bearing down on it.

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P-8 Poseidon MMA: Long-Range Maritime Patrol, and More

Jan 13, 2020 04:58 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Boeing won a $42.3 million modification, which exercises an option for integrated logistics services and site activation support of P-8A aircraft for the Navy and the government of Australia. The P-8A Poseidon is an aircraft designed for long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, maritime surveillance and reconnaissance missions, capable of broad-area maritime and littoral operations. It is also effective at search and rescue missions. The US. fiscal 2020 defense budget has allocated major war-fighting investments worth $57.7 billion for aircraft. The financial plan also includes an investment plan of $1.5 billion for 6 P-8A Poseidon jets. Such proposed inclusions highlight BDS segment’s solid prospects, which in turn, are likely to boost the company’s profit margin. Work will take place in Washington, Oklahoma, and Australia. Estimated completion date is in September, 2021.

P-8A Poseidon

Maritime surveillance and patrol is becoming more and more important, but the USA’s P-3 Orion turboprop fleet is falling apart. The P-7 Long Range Air ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) Capable Aircraft program to create an improved P-3 began in 1988, but cost overruns, slow progress, and interest in opening the competition to commercial designs led to the P-7’s cancellation for default in 1990. The successor MMA program was begun in March 2000, and Boeing beat Lockheed’s “Orion 21” with a P-8 design based on their ubiquitous 737 passenger jet. US Navy squadrons finally began taking P-8A Poseidon deliveries in 2012, but the long delays haven’t done their existing P-3 fleet any favors.

Filling the P-3 Orion’s shoes is no easy task. What missions will the new P-8A Poseidon face? What do we know about the platform, the project team, and ongoing developments? Will the P-3’s wide global adoption give its successor a comparable level of export opportunities? Australia and India have already signed on, but has the larger market shifted in the interim?

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AH-64E Apache Block III: Evolving Battlefield Roles

Jan 13, 2020 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: The US Army is buying an unspecific number of SPIKE Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) missiles for its Apache helicopters Defense News reports. This was disclosed by Brig. Gen. Wally Rugen on January 8. The US Army has chosen the Israeli made long-range Spike precision missile to use on attack helicopters as an interim solution for greater stand-off capabilities during future operations. While Apache helicopters can currently take out targets like enemy tanks, light bunkers and personnel from some 12 km. away with the Hellfire Anti-Tank Guided Missile, the US Army wants a missile capable of striking from a longer distance. Developed and produced by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the SPIKE s a fifth generation precise electro-optical missile with a range of up to 25 kilometers.

AH-64 in Afghanistan

The AH-64 Apache will remain the US Army’s primary armed helicopter for several more decades, thanks to the collapse of the RAH-66 Comanche program, and the retirement sans replacement of the US Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH). Apaches also serve with a number of American allies, some of whom have already expressed interest in upgrading or expanding their fleets.

The AH-64E Guardian Block III (AB3) is the helicopter’s next big step forward. It incorporates 26 key new-technology insertions that cover flight performance, maintenance costs, sensors & electronics, and even the ability to control UAVs as part of manned-unmanned teaming (MUT). In July 2006, Boeing and U.S. Army officials signed the initial development contract for Block III upgrades to the current and future Apache fleet, via a virtual signing ceremony. By November 2011, the 1st production helicopter had been delivered. So… how many helicopters will be modified under the AH-64 Block III program, what do these modifications include, how is the program structured, and what has been happening since that 2006 award? The short answer is: a lot, including export interest and sales.

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Serious Dollars for AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD)

Jan 02, 2020 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Lockheed Martin won a $138.5 million contract to exercise options for AEGIS Combat System Engineering Agent (CSEA) efforts for the design, development, integration, test and delivery of Advanced Capability Build (ACB) 20. Under this contract, the AEGIS CSEA develops, integrates, tests and delivers computer program baseline Advanced Capability Builds; supports Technology Insertions (TI) (a replacement and/or upgrade of combat system computing hardware and associated middleware/firmware-design development); develops engineering products to support ship integration; supports developmental test/operational test events; develops training and logistics products; and provides field technical support for designated AEGIS baselines. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for Aegis CSEA efforts. The systems engineering, development and integration work under this contract will begin with Advanced Capability Build (ACB) 16 and technology insertion 16, and continue with a future ACB/TI through the period of performance of the contract. Work will take place in Moorestown, New Jersey. Estimated completion will be by December 2020.

AEGIS-BMD: CG-70
launches SM-3

The AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense System seamlessly integrates the SPY-1 radar, the MK 41 Vertical Launching System for missiles, the SM-3 Standard missile, and the ship’s command and control system, in order to give ships the ability to defend against enemy ballistic missiles. Like its less-capable AEGIS counterpart, AEGIS BMD can also work with other radars on land and sea via Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC). That lets it receive cues from other platforms and provide information to them, in order to create a more detailed battle picture than any one radar could produce alone.

AEGIS has become a widely-deployed top-tier air defense system, with customers in the USA, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Norway, and Spain. In a dawning age of rogue states and proliferation of mass-destruction weapons, the US Navy is being pushed toward a “shield of the nation” role as the USA’s most flexible and most numerous option for missile defense. AEGIS BMD modifications are the keystone of that effort – in the USA, and beyond.

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India’s IGMP Missile Programs: Export contenders?

Dec 19, 2019 04:54 UTC

Latest updates[?]: The Philippines will ink the contract for India’s BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missiles in the first or second quarter of 2020. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana added that two batteries will be purchased and they are being bought under “government-to-government mode”. The missile, which can be fired from land, submarines, ships and fighter jets, will be acquired for the Philippine Army for coastal defense missions and for Air Force. BrahMos will become the nation's first weaponry with deterrent capability. The BrahMos is a medium range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land. It is the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world. India on December 17 successfully conducted separate trials of two variants of supersonic cruise missile BrahMos to check its capability to hit targets with precision and accuracy.

PJ-10 BrahMos

Back in November 2005, The Hindu newspaper reported that India’s government had given the go-ahead for exporting missiles, and that India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was looking to market several of its products internationally. The missile systems in question included several products from the decades-long Integrated Guided Missile Program (IGMP) set of development programs, and one new success that used a very different approach. DRDO has led the long, turbulent development histories of the Trishul (“trident”) short-range surface-air missile (SAM), the Akash (“sky”) medium-range SAM, and the Nag (“cobra”) vehicle-mounted anti-armor missile. In contrast, the Indo-Russian PJ-10 BrahMos medium-range supersonic cruise missile was developed very quickly, and performed as advertised.

As of August 2010, India has not made an export sale, or even formally decided which countries would be eligible to receive these missiles. The programs themselves have also seen changes and developments, with Trishul canceled, Akash finally ordered, BrahMos expanded, and ongoing IGMP work in other areas.

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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.

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….

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Russia Improving its Mi-28 Attack Helicopter Fleet

Dec 16, 2019 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: A Russian Mi-28 Attack Helicopter crashed on December 11, about 2.5km from Korenovsk airfield. Two crew members were killed. The helicopter was carrying out a training flight at that time. The aircraft had no ammunition on board. Mi-28 Night Hunter, known as Havoc is an attack helicopter analogous to the US Apache. The Night Hunter is a modern attack helicopter designed to carry out search and destroy operations against tanks, armored and un-armored vehicles, and enemy personnel in combat, as well as low-speed airborne targets. It can operate night and day, and in adverse weather conditions.

Mi-28N with MMR

In August 2012, Russian Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev pledged that the state would buy 60 Mi-28UB attack and training helicopters by 2020. That would be good news for the VVS, as well as the Rosvertol plant at Rostov on Don.

Russia is slowly modernizing its military, and its attack helicopter force is one of the areas being given priority. New Ka-52 Alligator and Mi-28N Night Hunter machines are beginning to replace the VVS’ 240 or so old Mi-24 gunships, but training has been an issue for the nascent Mi-28 fleet.

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Raytheon’s APG-79 AESA Radars

Dec 12, 2019 04:58 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Raytheon won a $45.1 million delivery order for APG-79 Radar System spare parts. The AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar is an airborne radar made for F/A-18 E/F aircrafts. It is comprised of numerous solid-state transmit and receive modules to practically eliminate the possibility of mechanical breakdown. With a range of 150 km, the AN/APG-79 provides instantaneous track updates and multi-target tracking capabilities. The AN/APG-79 is strategically valuable because of its active electronic beam scanning. This feature allows the radar beam to be steered at nearly the speed of light, optimizing situational awareness and providing superior air-to-air and air-to-surface capabilities. Performance location will be California. Estimated completion date is December 30, 2022.

AN/APG-79 AESA Radar

The AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar began life as a replacement. Initial F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet production batches installed Raytheon’s all-weather, multimode AN/APG-73, but the APG-79 has intrinsic technical features that offered revolutionary increases in capability, reliability, image resolution, and range.

Unlike the APG-73 that equipped the first Super Hornets, the APG-79’s AESA array is composed of numerous solid-state transmit and receive modules that are fixed in place, eliminating a common cause of breakdowns. To move their beams, they rely on electronic changes in each module’s transmissions, creating useful interference patterns in order to aim, focus and shape their output. Other system components include an advanced receiver/exciter, ruggedized commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) processor, and power supplies. With its open systems architecture and compact COTS parts, it changes what both aircrews and maintenance staff can do with a fighter radar – and does so in a smaller, lighter package.

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KF-X Fighter: Korea’s Future Homegrown Jet

Dec 10, 2019 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) signed a contract with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) to update the Link 16 tactical datalink system for the Republic of Korea Air Force’s (RoKAF’s) fleet of FA-50 light attack aircraft, according to Jane’s. The FA-50 Link 16 Performance Improvement Project aims to enhance security in the encryption system and harden it against interference. DAPA has also plans to sign contracts in the first half of 2020 for similar updates to be performed on nine other platform types, including E-737 airborne early warning and control aircraft, F-15K fighters and KDX-III Aegis-equipped destroyers.

KODEF ’11 slide

South Korea has been thinking seriously about designing its own fighter jet since 2008. The ROK defense sector has made impressive progress, and has become a notable exporter of aerospace, land, and naval equipment. The idea of a plane that helps advance their aerospace industry, while making it easy to add new Korean-designed weapons, is very appealing. On the flip side, a new jet fighter is a massive endeavor at the best of times, and wildly unrealistic technical expectations didn’t help the project. KF-X has progressed in fits and starts, and became a multinational program when Indonesia joined in June 2010. As of March 2013, however, South Korea has decided to put the KF-X program on hold for 18 months, while the government and Parliament decide whether it’s worth continuing.

Indonesia has reportedly contributed IDR 1.6 trillion since they joined in July 2010 – but that’s just $165 million of the DAPA’s estimated WON 6 billion (about $5.5 billion) development cost, and there’s good reason to believe that even this development budget is too low. This article discusses the KFX/IFX fighter’s proposed designs and features, and chronicles the project’s progress and setbacks since 2008…

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