Malaysia Wants ATFLIR Targeting Pods for its F/A-18D Hornets

Malaysian F/A-18D:
Bersama Shield 2010

Malaysia has an unusual air fleet, which includes Russian MiG-29s and very advanced SU-30MKMs, alongside Boeing’s F/A-18D Hornets. The MiG-29s are declining in numbers, and Malaysia had hoped to phase them out, but it expects the Hornets to soldier on for a little while longer.

Part of their efforts in that regard involve upgrades, to give their Hornets the same advanced surveillance and targeting pod capabilities enjoyed by advanced air forces around the world.

Rapid Fire Jan. 9, 2013: Afghanistan Zero Option | Pilot Training

• Some within the Obama administration see post-2014 US troops in Afghanistan down to just a few thousands, while others don’t rule out a complete withdrawal. WaPo | WSJ | UPI | CSIS.

• BAE and Boeing are interested in the huge F-16 worldwide aftermarket, reports Bloomberg.

• Bell and Boeing to Canada: why don’t you have a look at the V-22? But then they started making that pitch more than a year ago.

Rapid Fire Jan. 8, 2013: Latest Estimate on Sequester FY13 Size

• DOD Comptroller Robert Hale spoke at the Brookings think tank, where he confirmed, between a couple decent jokes, that a delay in the FY14 budget request was likely. His number for the impact of sequestration on FY13 – starting on March 1st unless it is further delayed or cancelled – is $45B, vs. earlier estimates of $62B in cuts (back when the sequester was supposed to kick in on Jan. 1st). Hale does not rule out an extension of the current Continuing Resolution. Video embedded below.

• A timely 2014 President Budget is definitely not going to happen by its legal due date (i.e. next month), as the US government first needs to sort out – again – how to deal with its debt ceiling. The Bipartisan Policy Center offers a helpful analysis.

• NAK Browne, the Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force, is complaining that a recently-announced decrease in the defense budget will slow down modernization efforts.

• India’s Business Standard is accusing the Ministry of Defence of lowering its requirements for a forthcoming purchase of night vision devices in order to favor Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), despite the Army’s demands for equipment that works under practically no light.

The Global C-17 Sustainment Partnership

C-17 over Hawaii

The rising cost of maintenance has made it a greater concern to the world’s militaries, and new contract vehicles are reflecting that. Under the C-17 GSP/GISP, Boeing has total system support responsibility for the big transport aircraft, including materiel management and depot maintenance, to support customer fleets around the world. The goal is total aircraft sustainment support under a single contract, in order to achieve improvements in mission readiness, while reducing operating and support costs.

While the C-17 may have limited production time in its future, the C-17 GSP is likely to continue for many years. The initial C-17 GSP contract has grown and broadened, even as Boeing’s customer base grew in the USAF (now 223), Australia (6), Britain (8), Canada (4), India (10-16), Qatar (4), NATO (3), the UAE (6) – and possibly Kuwait (1).

This in-depth, public-access DII Spotlight Article offers key statistics for the C-17A, explains the Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership’s (GSP) components, and details its contracts.

Game-Changer: USA Developing UAV Aerial Refueling

2007 AAR experiment

Quick question: what’s the biggest limiting factor in today’s aircraft? Answer: the pilot. Fortunately for pilots, they’re also an aircraft’s greatest advantage, which will keep them in the mix, and in the cockpit, for some time to come. Those limitations are bringing unmanned aircraft into the combat picture, however, especially when it comes to the greatest limitation a pilot places on an aircraft: aerial endurance. Remaining awake, active, and effective in a manned fighter aircraft for 72 hours straight is simply not within the realm of possibility. On the other hand, a UAV with that endurance level, flown by pilots on the ground or at sea who can hand the aircraft off to a colleague while they depart for a coffee, bathroom break, or sleep, could easily remain aloft that long. All it needs is an appropriate level of mechanical reliability – and, of course, the ability to take on fuel from an aerial tanker aircraft.

That simple concept has profound implications for the ways in which airpower might be used.

Rapid Fire Jan. 7, 2013: Picking a Secretary, Or a Fight?

Rapid Fire Jan 4, 2013: US Navy Revises INSURV Process

• The US Navy is increasing the frequency of its Inspection and Survey (INSURV) program: inspections will occur every 30 months instead of 5 years. They want reports to reflect a more granular understanding of ship’s readiness, and the goal is to measure material condition as a ship has been readying for deployment, rather than for the inspection itself. US Fleet Forces Command.

• Dawne Hickton, CEO of titanium producer RTI International Metals tells the WSJ she is diversifying away from defense into medical devices: “the elderly population [is] a growing market. We don’t know what the defense market is going to do.” A similar movement was afoot two decades ago during the post-Cold War defense slump, though contractors had mixed results at the time.

Rapid Fire Jan. 3, 2013: Uncertainty Reasserted

• Yesterday we rolled out a brand new version of our website. We are working on fixing a number of already-identified issues, but we hope that you will already enjoy a better user experience, from better printing to enhanced embedded media galleries and more. Feedback and bug reports are welcome at feedback@defenseindustrydaily.com.

• The US Congress reached an agreement that delays sequestration by 2 months within a broader deal on taxes that nevertheless is more a stopgap than a fundamental solution. Secretary Panetta | HASC Chairman McKeon | OMB | HR-8 bill [PDF]| CBO scoring [PDF] | Stimson Institute | McAleese.

• The Pentagon and the White House will have to factor in this deal into their FY14 calculations. They are still pretending that submitting the next federal budget next month – while the overall tax and spend equation is still not resolved – is making sense. It is more likely that the FY14 PB rollout will be delayed.