Facing Drop in Demand, Oshkosh Defense to Cut Workforce by 29%

• Oshkosh announced the termination of 760 jobs at its defense division between June and July, most of them being hourly positions.

Samson’s Wings: Israel’s New C-130 Hercules Fleets

Israeli C-130

In July 2008, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced Israel’s request to buy up to 9 stretched C-130J-30 aircraft, which will replace some of the aging C-130 aircraft that Israel made famous in its 1976 commando raid at Entebbe, Uganda.

It took some time, but Israel finally became the 13th C-130J customer nation in April 2010. Appropriately, Israel’s new “Samson” planes will contain a number of features associated with the new special forces variants bought by India and the USA. The first plane landed in Israel in April 2014, but program of up to 9 planes looks like it will take a while to finish…

General Dynamics Vindicated in GMV Lawsuit

• Defense News reports that the US Federal Claims Court rejected AM General’s lawsuit against USSOCOM over its GMV award to General Dynamics.

• Israel launched Ofek-10, a surveillance satellite with a reported 0.5m resolution.

• Thomas de Maizière, Germany’s Interior Minister (~Homeland Security for our American readers) (and former defense minister), after almost a year of Snowden revelations: the US is operating without any kind of boundaries.

• Boeing announced that the US Navy certified their Phantom Badger combat support vehicle for transport aboard V-22s.

• This video from the Des Moines Register shows how ludicrous it is for local police to use MRAPs. But hey, they get brand new impressive vehicles for cheap.

• VentureBeat reports that a US Air Force evaluation group is testing Google Glass and likes its fast information retrieval capabilities.

• Today’s video from the UK’s MoD shows their “Porton Man” robotic mannequin, developed to test NBC suits:

SAIC’s 2013 Sales Testament to Services Doldrums

• Post-spinoff SAIC announced FY2013 revenue down 14% to $4B, confirming the generally depressed state of defense services.

• Pursuing a more thorough overturn of sequestration beyond FY15 is again on the Senate Armed Services Committee’s agenda.

• The Government Accountability Office disagrees with the US Navy’s decision to decommission the USS Port Royal (CG-73) missile cruiser. In 2013 the Navy postoned their initial decommissioning timeframe, but USS Royal is set for retirement next year.

• The US Navy cancelled its RFP issued in March 2013 for a Joint Terminal Control Training and Rehearsal System (JTC TRS) “due to a change in requirements.”
  

Alternate Narratives Continue to Compete Over Ukraine As Russia Maintains Pressure

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov wrote with a straight face: “It’s not Russia that is destabilising Ukraine.” The Russians even go as far as saying that removing their stooges from Ukrainian government buildings could lead to a civil war.

• Kiev Post: Kharkiv settles down, while pro-Russian separatists still hold buildings in Luhansk, Donetsk.

Russia Follows Crimean Playbook in Eastern Ukraine

• Pro-Russian operators have seized Ukrainian government buildings in 3 eastern cities, including Kharkiv where Spectechnoexport has a military vehicle plant. Separatists in Donetsk declared independence and announced a referendum on May 11, right when pro-Russian mobs seemed to be waning.

• Russia’s RIA Novosti notes that Ukraine puts mothballed Mig-29s back in service, but also the self-admitted sorry state of Ukrainian readiness.

• Poland will keep 18 of its 32 old Su-22M strike fighters until 2024, as part of a complex set of choices that were partly tied to Poland’s selection of its new trainers. When Poland opted for lowest-bid over dual-use capability, retaining its close air support fighters was inevitable, but compatible weapon shortages will create interesting problems. Maybe the USA should just sell them decommissioned A-10Cs?

Good Bad News: 100 APCs for Ukraine

BTR-4E

Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, and ongoing mobilization near Ukraine’s borders, left Ukraine in a difficult position. The new government was still trying to come together after the sudden popular overthrow of its predecessor, and faced an array of serious problems, but national defense remains top of the list. One of their early steps has been to appoint a new head of state firm Ukroboronprom, which runs the military-industrial complex. The task before temporary Acting Director Yuriy Tereshenko is huge, as he tries to reform an inefficient industry with quality and corruption problems. As one of his first acts, he’s offering 100 wheeled APCs to the new Ukrainian National Guard, mostly BTR-4 models.

Where do they come from? Well, that’s the bad news…

India Moves to Boost Anti-Tank Capabilities

Indian T-90S

India’s armed forces have been complaining of a severe shortage of tank ammunition, and the fleet’s new T-90 tanks have had their share of problems. In 2012, India’s Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) began moving to patch these gaps, by approving budgets for a pair of purchases. One is a gun-launched missile that can make the T-90 fleet more effective, while supplementing existing tank ammunition. The other is a follow-on order for an anti-tank missile that can be used by the infantry or mounted on vehicles. That has been followed in 2014 by a more prosaic order for basic ammunition, as a fix for self-inflicted injuries.

Taken together, India hopes to add some punch to its mechanized divisions in particular.

Sluggish Defense Services Sales Get Companies Spinning

• Exelis is spinning off another of its parts by letting loose its services business. The Corporate Name Generator spat out “Vectrus” for the spinoff out of the words vector and trust, which the new company will probably change in two years when they’ve grown tired of that name. Sadly “Tructor” is already taken by the bastard child of a truck and a tractor.

• WSJ on defense services: Where’s the Spending? Defense Companies Get the Jitters.

What’s in Store for Excess MRAPs?

• The US government is reportedly considering giving (or selling?) 160 MaxxPro leftover MRAPs to Pakistan. This would be a curious outcome, given how much Pakistan got in the way of affordable exit logistics during the past several years, leading to the scrapping of many MRAPs. And India wouldn’t like it.

India Buys Russian Shells

• India signed an order for Rs 2,600 crore (~$432M) to buy 66,000 anti tank shells, reports Brahmand.

Carrier Uncertainty

• According to USNI News the Pentagon’s finalized unfunded wishlist appended to its FY15 budget doesn’t feature a line item for the refueling of USS George Washington (CVN-73), unlike the Navy’s own submission to the Defense Department.

Marines Still Want an ACV

• USMC Commandant Gen. James Amos was at the Atlantic Council earlier this week (video) and mentioned the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) as a program making good progress. Breaking Defense has a few additional details on what it might look like, but it’s still several years out.

3rd Gowind Export Sale

• After Malaysia and Egypt, Uruguay is lining up as another customer for DCNS’ Gowind offshore patrol vessels. They still have to finalize contrat terms, and may opt for leasing instead of buying. La Tribune [in French].

Libya in Hindsight

• In today’s video the Libertarian CATO Institute asks whether the military intervention in Libya succeeded: