Nimrod Was Actually a Fine Hunter: The End of RAF Aerial Maritime Patrol

Nimrod MR2 at work

British naval theorist Sir Julian Corbett saw the navy’s proper role as “directly or indirectly either to secure the command of the sea or to prevent the enemy from securing it.” Airpower plays a prominent role in both of those missions. In 1996, Britain began a program to rebuild their existing Nimrod MR2 maritime patrol planes to the MRA4 standard with new wings, new engines, and new internal technologies and mission systems.

Unfortunately, that program has faced a series of budget cuts, stalls, and conditions that have reduced the program from 21 aircraft, to 12, to 9 – and then to 0. In 2010, Britain decided to give up fixed-wing maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft entirely, then scrapped all of its Nimrod MR2s. Its MR1 electronic eavesdropping planes followed, in June 2011. Leaving the burning question: now what? Periodic “reminders” from Russia and other entities have kept that question very current, indeed.

Qinetiq Eager to Turn the Page After Divestiture of US Services

• Qinetiq announced sales for the year ended March 31 2014 that were down by 10.3% to £1.2B ($2B). Growth in the UK and the rest of Europe was not nearly enough in absolute terms to compensate for a tough Y/Y comparison in the US. Theirs is a cautionary tale for foreign companies giving the US defense market a shot:

“QinetiQ’s disposal [announced last month – FT link added by DID] of its US Services division removes the Group’s exposure to the US federal services market. US Services was not delivering on its role in the portfolio which was to grow profitably by building market share, because it was too small to generate significant economies of scale, but too large to benefit from US government small business set-aside initiatives.”

US, Anglo Partners to Combine Some Space Operations

• The US, UK, Australia and Canada are establishing [PDF] combined space operations among their armed forces. One concern on the agenda is maintaining operations as satellites are threatened with collisions. It sounds like Five-Eyes (FVEY) is coming back for an encore, with the exception of New Zealand.

• A week ago the US State Department published its updated regulations [PDF] controlling satellite exports.

• Bloomberg reports that a panel advising the Air Force and Pentagon recommended that they seek a replacement for Russian engines used for space launches.

Cobham to Acquire Aeroflex to Lessen Dependence on Defense

• Cobham announced its intent to acquire Aeroflex for $1.46B, in order to grow commercial sales, especially in connectivity products. The resulting entity will see commercial revenue reach more than 40% of total sales, up from Cobham’s current 35%.

VA Mismanagement Making Headlines as US Congress Works Through FY15 Defense Bill

• The House of Representatives will start debating the FY15 NDAA this week, while the Senate Armed Services Committee will mark up its own version the the bill.

• LA Times: Growing evidence points to systemic troubles in VA healthcare system

• Gannett’s Army Times: VA’s Shinseki must step down.

India Decisively Elects Modi, BJP Who Promise to Continue Defense Indigenisation Policy

• Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have won India’s general election by a landslide, on a platform of infrastructure development, economic efficiency, and better governance. They got a high vote share backed by a high turnout.

• On the defense side though, the BJP doesn’t sound very different from the Congress party they’re about to replace in power:

“First, India needs to cut down its excessive reliance on foreign arms manufacturers and focus its energies on indigenisation and becoming a manufacturer of technologies and equipment that can be used by our military. Not only will this effort save us crucial foreign exchange but also lead to generation of millions of jobs that will act as a booster for the Indian economy.”

• As a reminder that in India you’re not in Kansas anymore, here’s the BJP’s victory video clip. Catchy tune! For a more substantial video, see this recent interview with Modi.
  

The USA’s RAID Program: Small Systems, Big Surveillance Time

TCOM 17M RAID Aerostat

The RAID program is a combination of cameras and surveillance equipment positioned on high towers and aerostats, in order to monitor a wide area around important locations and bases. The RAID concept began with a smaller TCOM 17M aerostat as the base platform, instead of the TCOM 71M JLENS aerostats used for cruise missile and air defense. Its sensors were also optimized for battlefield surveillance, rather than JLENS’ focus on powerful air defense radars. The result is a form of survivable and permanent surveillance over key areas that has been deployed to Afghanistan & Iraq.

“Aerostats” has actually become something of a misnomer, however – RAID can also be deployed as a tower system, and this “Eagle Eye/ GBOSS” deployment is turning out to be the preferred mode. Raytheon continues to receive contracts from the US Marine Corps and US Army for new towers, as well as maintenance of existing systems…

Textron Systems Pursues Aggressive Export Growth Goal

• Textron Systems CEO Ellen Lord wants to grow exports from 35% to 50% of total sales by next year, noting strong foreign interest in its Ship to Shore Connector (SSC) hovercraft. The primary target markets are of course the Middle East followed by Asia.

• Russia has ambitious export goals too, and wants to pursue markets traditionally served by Western firms.
  

India Buys GPS-Guided “Cans of Whup-Ass”

CBU-97 & BLU-108s

Going after a vehicle such as a surface to air missile launcher, or a cluster of vehicles like a formation of enemy tanks, can be a tricky business for a fast jet pilot. Vehicles hide, they shut off their radars, or there are just too many of them to effectively target and destroy en masse. Weapons like ATK’s AGM-88E AARGM and MBDA’s Brimstone missile can help, but there’s another solution. Textron’s Sensor-Fuzed Weapon (SFW) bomb scatters 40 projectiles to cover 30 acres. The “skeet” projectiles, which look like tuna cans, will search for targets as they descend, then fire the explosive-formed equivalent of a cannon shell through the target’s weak top armor. If no targets are found, 3 safety modes ensure that the area is safe for troops to move through within several minutes – which means it’s also safe for civilians years later.

On Sept 30/08, the US DSCA conveyed India’s formal request for a variant of the SFW with GPS guidance… and now we know which IAF aircraft will carry them.

More Tit for Tate Between Russia, Ukraine, West

• Reuters: Russia targets space station project in retaliation for U.S. sanctions.

• The Kremlin has made hay of Ukraine’s reliance on Russia’s defense industry, but that dependence is reciprocal.

• The US State Department and NATO are saying that, like last months, satellite imagery does not back up Vladimir Putin’s claims that Russian troops have been withdrawn from the Ukrainian border.