Rapid Fire Oct. 31, 2012: J-31 Maiden Flight

• According to the usual blogs dedicated to watching (or intentionally leaking?) China’s military efforts, AVIC’s J-31 prototype jet fighter made a short maiden flight earlier today. However the Chinese will have to spend dearly to develop competitive homegrown engines.

• The Philippine’s Coast Guard is finalizing the purchase of 5 French patrol vessels for a total of $4.8B pesos (around $116M). Manila Standard.

• French contractors have their sights on a much bigger market, with 20 billion euros at stake in Qatar, between jets, helicopters, air defense systems and more. La Tribune [in French].

• Talks of Russia’s “secret” B-90 Sarov submarines are resurfacing, as they are reportedly close to testing one equipped with hydrogen fuel cells. How to achieve Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) – aside from using nuclear power of course – was already envisioned about 80 years ago, but since then achieving it reliably and safely has proven difficult until fairly recently. German Type 212 subs use fuel cells developed by Siemens and HDW.

• The US DoD announced publicly that its Military Intelligence Program for 2012 amounted to $21.5B down from $24B in 2011, though it alone is higher than many countries’ entire defense budget. The administration’s request for FY13 is $19.2B. That’s about all you will know about it short of having the right clearance.

• The European Union is considering sending 200 troops to train Mali’s military, but that will take time and they are not to be involved in a fighting role. Reuters.

• Finmeccanica signed a “global supply chain deed” with the Australian Ministry of Defence, in the footsteps of other large contractors including Thales, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. The contractors commit to hiring a team that finds and certifies Australian businesses to join their supply chains.

• The Maritime Security Challenges conference that was held in Canada earlier this month posted videos of its panels that include several sessions on aircraft carrier developments in the US (embedded below), the UK, and China.

Rapid Fire Oct. 30, 2012: Oshkosh in for a Fight

• After Oshkosh’s board of directors rejected Carl Icahn’s tender offer, it is not surprising that they do not like the candidates the investor lined up to replace them.

• Lockheed Martin won a $114M 5-year contract to deliver and upgrade combat vehicle simulators for the US Army and Marine Corps. Press release | FBO.

• China likes their medium-weight armored vehicles to pack a punch. AviationWeek.

Rapid Fire Oct. 29, 2012: Spike This

• Japan’s Board of Audit says Mitsubishi Electric has overcharged the defense ministry for decades. AP | Japan Times.

• The US Navy’s first launch of Rafael Spike missiles from an unmanned surface vessel was successful. NAVSEA.

• Two days after nominating a new chief for AFRICOM, Rear Admiral Charles M. Gaouette has been temporarily reassigned off the command Carrier Strike Group (CSG) Three (deployed in the Middle East) until a pending investigation by the Navy Inspector General is finished. What’s being investigated is unclear. US Navy | AP.

Rapid Fire Oct. 26, 2012: Russian Aircraft Acquisition Plans

• Russia intends to renew a significant part of its air force through the modernization or procurement of new aircraft over the coming years. Dmitry Gorenburg (based on a VPK article in Russian).

• Rolls-Royce is putting together a new ship design team dedicated to developing support, surveying, and offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) for navies and coast guards – but not heavier combat ships. Press release.

• A report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) questions the decision by the Corps of Engineers to reach a settlement with DynCorp after structural failures were seen in a garrison built in Afghanistan. The company “absolutely disagree with several of the report.s conclusions”. SIGAR [PDF] | Bloomberg.

Sub contracting: HII’s USN Submarine Fleet Support Contracts

SSN-23 at Kitsap

Huntington Ingalls, Inc. (HII), headquartered in Newport News, VA is issued regular contracts to support all American submarine classes: SSN-688 Los Angeles, SSN-21 Seawolf, and SSN-774 Virginia Class fast attack boats, and SSBN/SSGN Ohio missile submarines. HII will support the fleet as needed by managing configuration, support, and engineering data; providing parts and engineering; and conducting modernization, trade, and industrial studies. They may also be called to help with special mission submersibles, submarine support facilities, and some Foreign Military Sales programs.

The USA’s other submarine manufacturer, General Dynamics Electric Boat, has a larger support contract of its own; together, these awards maintain both the USA’s submarines and its industrial capacity.

Rapid Fire Oct. 25, 2012: Euronaval 2012

• The Euronaval tradeshow is taking place this week in Paris, France. They publish a daily bilingual wrap-up, here is yesterday’s [PDF].

• Lockheed Martin’s Q3 2012 sales decreased by 2% Y/Y to $11.87B, a smaller decrease than reported by Northrop Grumman or Boeing BDS for the same period. Electronic Systems grew and actually passed Aeronautics to become the largest segment by revenue.

• Raytheon’s Q3 sales are down 1% to $6.05B. Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) saw the best topline performance among their divisions. The backlog remains stable around $35B.

• Contrarily to other prime contractors, General Dynamics’ revenues for the quarter were up 1% to $7.93B, driven by a +30% surge in the Aerospace segment that more than compensated declining combat and information systems revenue. However their total backlog has lost about $7B from a year ago.

ATTAC! Britain Hammers Out Through-Life Support Framework for Tornado Fleet

Tornado maintenance

Under ATTAC (Availability Transformation: Tornado Aircraft Contract), BAE will take over depot-level support and maintenance for the RAF’s Tornado fleet, with the responsibility of ensuring that enough of Britain’s Tornado GR4 strike aircraft and Tornado F3 interceptors are available to fly, rather than paying BAE for selling spare parts and maintenance hours.

This “future contracting for availability” approach is a major departure from traditional military and commercial practice; but it has been proven on a smaller scale within the UK’s Tornado fleet, and a number of other platforms are already operating under these types of contracts in Britain. BAE hopes to achieve the required availability levels using a combination of embedded diagnostics, rear-echelon repair process improvements, and what BAE executive and former Air Vice-Marshall Steve Nicoll referred to as the “Dirk Gently approach” to problem diagnosis and maintenance during the September 2006 TFD Group Conference. DID explains what Nicoll meant, and discusses the ATTAC contract and its follow-ons in more detail.

Rapid Fire Oct. 24, 2012: Primes Continue to Lose Ground in Q3

• When President Obama said sequestration “will not happen” during the last pre-election debate, it seems he meant “should not happen.”

• The US Navy continues to play a significant role [PDF] in the economy of the Hampton Roads area in Virginia.

• Northrop Grumman’s Q3 2012 sales are down 5.2% (Y/Y) to $6.27B, but their total backlog is up by $1.5B to $41B. Continuing a trend seen in previous quarters, information and electronic systems are driving revenue down, while aerospace has grown 5% to $2.59B thanks to UAVs and the F-35.

Rapid Fire Oct. 23, 2012: Does Not Follow

• The final debate between President Obama and Governor Romney (full video | transcript) showed relatively little differences between the two candidates on foreign policy. They agreed on a number of policy choices, from not sending US troops to Syria, to withdrawing from Afghanistan in 2014. Romney regrets that negotiations on renewing a status of forces agreement [PDF] with Iraq allowing the presence of US troops there eventually fell apart, a fact Obama seemed eager to brush aside. Yet the Obama-Biden 2008 platform stated that “a residual force will remain in Iraq” and “it is vital that a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) be reached.”

• When the debate touched on the defense budget, President Obama said the sequester “will not happen.” He also rejected that counting how many ships there are in the US Navy is a relevant metric, in a weird twist of logic that suggests the US is the only country benefiting from technological advances. But quantity does matter, especially when you want to maintain a worldwide blue water footprint.

Lease and Learn: L-3’s EW Training Aircraft

L-3 Learjet, EW-Equipped

L-3 Flight International’s modified Learjets include uprated on-board power systems, internal electronics, and the ability to carry a range of external pods to help them simulate enemy radar and communications jammers in Navy training exercises. The modified business jets can also tow targets for gunnery training, and perform related tasks.

L-3 has performed this role for many years now, and chartered aircraft of various kinds play a significant role in US Navy exercises, within the commercial air services (CAS) program.