SKIOS for Sea Kings: Availability Contract Covers Through-Life Maintenance

Commando transport

H-3 Sea Kings are used in a variety of roles by the Royal Navy and RAF, from the transport of Royal Marines (Mk 4, Mk 6CR), to search & rescue (Mk 3/3A and Mk 5), Airborne Early Warning (Mk 7), and classic utility roles. These medium helicopters are known for their ability to float, for their ability to fly though icing conditions, and for stability and fine control. One interesting TV show had a Sea King SAR helicopter maneuver its rescue crewman into position, then hover in place while he poured champagne into a glass that was held steady by the TV host on the ground.

Britain’s Sea Kings have been updated with some frequency, and are projected to remain in service until 2016. Many will be replaced by Agusta-Westland’s Merlin helicopter, a variant of the AW101. Until then, these old helicopters need to be maintained, and the Ministry of Defence needed a way to keep the cost under control. Hence the Sea King Integrated Operational Support program (SKIOS).

Rapid Fire Dec. 24, 2012: Merry Christmas!

Survivable Laser-guided Expeditionary Integrated Gift Handling system

Today isn’t really a publishing day, but the Eurofighter articles below provide further updates on Friday’s news. Defense Industry Daily will publish on the 26th and 27th. After that we’ll see you again in 2013, hopefully with a few site improvements in tow.

Meanwhile, we have a Christmas wish request. Blackfive’s C. Blake Powers has been a media embed before, has his ITOs, and is a member of the Indiana Guard Reserve. If there’s a unit who can use a good embed, whose integrity we will happily vouch for, this article explains who he is, and what he does:

“So, what I want from Santa is a good embed. One that will let me be as much a part of the team as possible, and will allow me to let that team tell their individual stories in such a way that we tell the larger story, and tell it well.”

Rapid Fire Dec. 21, 2012: New US Senate Appropriations Chair

• David Cameron’s Middle East November 2012 Tour paid off with a deal with Oman for 20 aircraft including 12 Typhoons. Details to follow in our own coverage. As Britain and France compete for several fighter export contracts, Cameron’s personal involvement may remind of former French president Sarkozy’s hands-on approach, in contrast to François Hollande’s more distant involvement – if any – in such deals.

• On the other hand BAE Systems is having a setback in Australia and is withdrawing from the JP2072 Phase 2B tender process a C4ISR land project. Australian Defence | The Australian.

• Senator Barbara Mikulski [D-MD-3] has been confirmed by the Democratic Caucus as the Chairwoman of the US Senate’s Appropriations Committee, after senator Leahy turned down the opportunity. Mikulski, 76, was already a member of the SAC and its defense subcommittee, which still needs a new chairman to replace Daniel Inouye.

MTA: HAL and Irkut’s Joint Tactical Transport Project

Irkut concept

In late December 2006, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) announced a $700-million joint venture (JV) agreement with Irkut Corporation of Russia for manufacturing 60-tonne multi-role transport aircraft (MRTA). Under this 50/50 arrangement with HAL, Ilyushin Design Bureau of Russia would design the MRTA (now MTA) and Irkut corporation of Russia will develop the aircraft, while series production would be taken up by the transport aircraft division of HAL at Kanpur. Irkut is a major investor (40% of project expenses), and will be the coordinator of the Russian side. For HAL, the move is part of an effort to forge new partnerships with global aviation majors for military and civil projects, with an eye on trebling their annual turnover to $3 billion by 2011.

The project has moved very slowly, even as competitors like the C-130J gained traction around the world, including in India, and future rivals like the KC-390 began picking up international partners. Now, a joint venture is supposed to get underway to build 145 aircraft for its initial customers in Russia and India.

Rapid Fire Dec. 20, 2013: Drawdown Cost/Benefit; UK Troop Levels

• The GAO on the forthcoming logistics costs of withdrawing from Afghanistan and what to leave vs. what to bring back:

“Because the services have not consistently performed and documented analyses to support decision making concerning the return of excess major end items from Afghanistan, there is a risk that the costs of returning excess items may outweigh the benefits of returning them.

• Canada still has 400 containers in Kandahar of low priority, but still worth shipping back, according to 45eNord.ca [in French]. But keeping them there incurs exposure to rental costs and theft risk.

• Prime Minister Cameron told Parliament that the UK will lower its forces in Afghanistan to about 5,200 by the end of 2013, down from 9,000 now.

Switzerland’s Hornet Upgrade 25 Program

Swiss F/A-18Cs

Until and unless new fighters arrive, Switzerland is depending more and more heavily on its 33 Swiss Luftwaffe F/A-18C/D fighters (26 F/A-18Cs, 7 F/A-18D 2-seat), in order to handle air sovereignty and policing over the nation.

In order to keep them up to date, programs like “Upgrade 21” and “Upgrade 25” continue to add to their capabilities. Upgrade 21 included a successful trip to the USA, which allowed them to use American weapon ranges to test the integration of their new AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles with their existing Hornet fleet. Those will go well with Switzerland’s JHMCS helmet-mounted sights, which were also part of Upgrade 21. A December 2007 request to the US DSCA placed the total potential cost of Upgrade 25 Phase 1 at over $500 million. The Upgrade 25 request, subsequent political developments, and follow-on contracts include:

Pakistan’s P-3 Orion Maritime Aircraft – and their Harpoons

Pakistani P-3

Pakistan’s location on the Indian Ocean next to the Persian Gulf, and its rivalry with India, ensure that its maritime patrol and strike capabilities will need to operate across a wide expanse of ocean. Maritime patrol aircraft are critical to that effort, because of the surveillance area that a single plane can cover. Like India, Pakistan relies on a mix. In its case, that mix includes converted Fokker F27 twin-turboprops, a couple of early-model Dassault Atlantiques, and a high-end force of 2 P-3C Orion aircraft, reactivated in 2006. The 4-engine Orions have much better range than Pakistan’s other maritime patrol aircraft, which widens that country’s sphere of naval influence.

Subsequent orders have served to detail the modernization work for Pakistan’s Orion fleet, via a deal for 8 more P-3 aircraft, refurbishment orders, and the accompanying orders for AGM-84 Harpoon missiles that can attack naval or land targets.

Rapid Fire Dec. 19, 2012: British Reform, Nuclear Deterrent

• The British government submitted its 2012 report [PDF] to parliament on the future nuclear deterrent, noting the ramp up in public and private resources via an Integrated Programme Management Team (IPMT).

• Lord Levene, a former chief of defence procurement now at the UK’s House of Lords and Chairman of General Dynamics UK, submitted a report [PDF] that notes strong progress from the Ministry of Defence against recommendations [PDF] made in favor of defense reform 18 months ago.

• General David Richards, Chief of the Defence Staff [UK MoD] in a speech at the Royal United Services Institute:

ALE-55 Towed Fighter Decoys for US Navy, Australia

AN/ALE-55

The AN/ALE-55 (V) is a related system made by BAE, consisting of an electronic frequency converter (EFC) and a fiber optic towed decoy (FOTD). It works together with an aircraft’s onboard electronic warfare (EW) equipment, throughout the entire ECM cycle of Suppression (harder to acquire or track the towing plane), Deception (active jamming techniques aimed at enemy launchers); and Seduction (active jamming aimed at the missile, and being a decoying target itself if all else fails).

The ALE-55 was introduced after Raytheon’s similar ALE-50 towed decoy, but it is carving out a parallel market share, and has been ordered by the USA and Australia to equip F/A-18 Hornet & Super Hornet aircraft.

Turkey Orders 30 F-16C Block 50s etc. for $2.9B

TuAF F-16s

More than 200 F-16 aircraft currently make up the backbone of Turkey’s current fighter fleet. On Sept 28/06, the US DSCA (Defense Security Cooperation Agency) notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Turkey of 30 more F-16C Block 50 aircraft, as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $2.9 billion. This sale is in addition to Turkey’s billion-dollar upgrade program for its existing F-16 fleet, which aims to bring all of its aircraft to a common configuration.

Turkey is one of 5 countries that has built F-16s locally (USA, Belgium, Netherlands, South Korea, Turkey), and the final Turkish F-16 under this contract will be delivered in 2013. This article will cover the deal, as its component contracts and agreements come together.