Japan’s Defense Agency Chief Yoshinori Ohno says Japan has completed the joint technology research stage on a missile defense system it has been researching with the United States, and will include several billion yen (tens of millions of dollars) in its next fiscal year budget to start developing the system. Kyodo News also quotes him as saying they would also like to expand the scope of the missile defense system, so it will have the capability to respond to decoys that are used to avoid anti-missile interceptors.
Production will begin following a five-year development phase that ends in fiscal 2011, but Ohno also stressed the need to develop and produce the interceptor missiles as soon as possible. Ohno said Japan and the United States would jointly carry out the first missile interception test for the sea-basedStandard Missile 3 interceptor next March in Hawaii. Agence France-Presse: Japan Aims to Start Missile Defense Development with U.S.
The U.S. Defense Department notified Congress on June 6, 2005 of a proposed sale to Japan of Raytheon’s SM-2 Block IIIB surface-to-air missiles. The sale includes 40 SM-2 Block IIIB missiles with MK 13 MOD 0 canisters; 24 SM-2 Block IIIB Telemetry Standard missiles with MK 13 MOD 0 canisters, and associated equipment. It would be worth up to $104 million if all options are exercised, with contracts going to Raytheon and United Defense LP.
The Pentagon’s Defense Security and Cooperation Agency said Japan requested the missiles for use on ships of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force fleet and said it would enhance Japan’s defense of critical sea-lanes. Reuters: U.S. Moves To Sell Japan SM-2 Missiles
Boeing Co. subsidiary McDonnell Douglas in Saint Louis, MO received a $31.4 million contract to convert 9,000 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) selective availability anti-spoofing modules (SAASM) procured under JDAM Lot 9 to selective availability anti-spoofing module/anti-jam (SAASM/AJ) configuration, and procure anti-jam non-recurring equipment.
Defense Industry Daily has noted that the proliferation of quiet diesel subs, especially in and around Asia’s vital shipping lanes, is forcing changes in U.S. tactics and technology. Now Australian scientists may have found a better way to find these quiet subs, and in an environmentally safe fashion too.
MAGSAFE uses the detection of changing magnetic fields to identify and monitor a moving submarine. It’s unique in that it captures 12 magnetic field-related data values per reading, as opposed to the single number measured by a conventional magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) magnetometer. DefenseTech.org has further details.
Boeing researchers have changed the wing design of the P-8A Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft, which is designed to replace the P-3C as the U.S. Navy’s primary patrol aircraft.
The wing extension is being altered from a blended winglet to a raked or backswept wingtip. They are heavier and create drag, but provide for easier insertion of de-icing components.
Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. in Fort Worth, TX received a $17.6 million not-to-exceed modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0001) for initial spare parts in support of FY 2005 Lot II UH-1Y and AH-1Z aircraft. Work will be performed in Amarillo, TX and is expected to be complete in September 2007. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD issued the contract.
