MDA Adds Boeing to Kill Vehicle Competition | Navy Awards Contracts for C4ISR; JHMCS | Portugal F-16s Get NG LITENING Upgrade

Americas

• The Navy is reportedly considering reducing the number of F-35C fighters it plans to procure, alluding to budgetary concerns. The Navy is also less enthused by the Joint Strike Fighter compared to the Marines and Air Force because of the Service operating more modern aircraft, including new and upgraded Super Hornets

• The Air Force has alluded to future development of a replacement for the A-10 as the Service’s primary Close Air Support platform, according to the Air Combat Strategy 2015 report released earlier this week, citing a requirement to ‘explore opportunities for a future CAS platform’. With the Air Force pushing the line that the A-10 has no place in future combat, as well as making a dubious financial case for the aircraft’s retirement, the report’s call for a new CAS platform appears to run counter to the Air Force’s plan to use the F-35 for tactical CAS operations, despite embarrassing setbacks.

• On Thursday the Navy handed M. C. Dean Inc and Honeywell Technology Solutions two multiple-award contracts totalling $1.66 billion for the installation and certification of C4ISR systems, while Rockwell Collins-ESA Vision Systems was handed a $20.9 million contract for 120 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) Night Vision Cueing and Display (NVCD) systems.

• Meanwhile Boeing was awarded a $9.8 million contract by the Missile Defense Agency for the development of the Multi-Object Kill Vehicle, following similar contracts awarded to Raytheon and Lockheed Martin earlier this week totalling $9.8 million and $9.6 million respectively. The MDA is reportedly planning a move to proof-of-concept prototype development by the end of the decade.

Europe

• Belarus is buying four more Yak-130 combat jet trainers, according to local press reports [Russian]. The country ordered the first four aircraft in December 2012, with deliveries beginning this April.

• Portugal is planning to upgrade the targeting and navigation pods equipping its fleet of F-16s. The Northrop Grumman-manufactured Litening Advanced Targeting pods will be upgraded to the G4 standard, with this $22.7 million contract reportedly scheduled for completion by 2022. Denmark ordered this variant in June 2012, with India also a major operator of the G4 variant.

• The Polish Defense Ministry has responded to claims that its selection of the Airbus H225M Caracal helicopter in April broke procurement law. Accusations in the Polish media that the selection of the Airbus bid over AgustaWestland’s AW149 and Sikorsky’s S-70i Black Hawk/S-70B Seahawk saw a legal challenge from AgustaWestland subsidiary PZL Swidnik in June, with negotiations over the final contract between the defense ministry and Airbus ongoing. The Polish opposition Law and Justice Party has also criticized the incumbent Civic Platform administration for selecting a foreign bid over a domestic supplier.

• US and British military trainers in Ukraine are learning lessons from their students, with their experience of the highly kinetic fighting in Eastern Ukraine providing a useful insight into the type of ‘hybrid’ war for which the Pentagon is now practising.

• The Royal Navy’s third Astute-class submarine has begun sea trials. HMS Artful is the third of seven Astute-class boats, with HMS Astute and HMS Ambush, the first two subs in class already in service with the Royal Navy. Artful is slated to join the fleet toward the end of this year.

Asia

• India is planning to dry-dock its INS Vikramaditya carrier next year, with the ship’s maintenance and repair operation set to be the largest of its type to have taken place in India. The vessel reportedly requires dry-docking every eighteen months, recently departing from Karwar in July after being fitted with new ship defense equipment, including the Barak-1 missile system.

• The Indian Defense Ministry is considering excluding private firms undergoing corporate debt restructuring from tendering for defense contracts. The proposal would bar these companies from competing for projects under the “Make in India” procurement category, which sees the Indian government fund the majority of prototype development (80%) and the company filling the remaining 20%, with some of the country’s most expensive projects falling into this category.

• Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) has completed testing of scramjet engines in Norway as part of the joint Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE) program, in collaboration with the US Air Force Research Laboratory, Boeing and the University of Queensland. Dating back to 2009, the project is seeking to develop understanding of hypersonic flight, with the Air Force recently restarting development of a hypersonic test vehicle, with a view to field the new vehicle for testing by 2023.

Today’s Video

• HMS Artful’s first dive in October:

Portugal Selects LITENING AT Pods for Its F-16s

FAP’s F-16AMs

Portugal currently owns 45 F-16s as the backbone of its air force: 20-25 fly with 201 Sqn as F-16A/B Block 15s, while another 20 were upgraded via the Mid-Life Upgrade program to F-16AM status for 301 Sqn. The F-16AMs add considerable air-ground capabilities via improved radars, and compatibility with modern laser and GPS-guided precision weapons. In order to use any of those weapons, however, targets must still be found and marked.

These days, many countries are buying small surveillance and targeting pods, as a bolt-on addition that gives their fighters full surveillance, designation, and precision strike capabilities. At present, the 2 main competitors in the global market are Lockheed Martin’s Sniper ATP, and Northrop Grumman/RAFAEL’s LITENING.

On July 31/08, the Portuguese Air Force announced a program to buy 12 LITENING AT pods from Northrop Grumman Corporation, as the winning candidate in their F-16 Advanced Targeting Pod upgrade program. Deliveries will begin in 2008, and finish in 2009. Note that the LITENING has been integrated on F-16 Block 15 aircraft, widening the number of Portuguese aircraft that might be given access to its surveillance and strike-enhancing capabilities. NGC release.

Update

August 13/15 Portugal is planning to upgrade the targeting and navigation pods equipping its fleet of F-16s. The Northrop Grumman-manufactured Litening Advanced Targeting pods will be upgraded to the G4 standard, with this $22.7 million contract reportedly scheduled for completion by 2022. Denmark ordered this variant in June 2012, with India also a major operator of the G4 variant.

JHMCS: Fighter Pilots’ “Look & Shoot” Helmets Changing Aerial Warfare

(click to view larger)

In the 1970s, fighter aircraft began to appear with Head-Up Displays (HUD) that projected key information, targeting crosshairs etc. onto a seemingly clear piece of glass. HUDs allowed pilots to keep their eyes in the sky, instead of looking down at their instruments. In the 1990s, another innovation appeared: helmet-mounted displays (HMDs) put the HUD inside the pilot’s helmet, providing this information even when the pilot wasn’t looking straight ahead. The Israelis were already pioneering a system called DASH (Display And Sight Helmet) when a set of former East German MiG-29s, equipped with Soviet HMDs, slaughtered USAF F-16s in NATO exercises. Suddenly, helmet-mounted displays became must-haves for modern fighters – and a key partnership positioned Elbit to take DASH to the next level.

This DID Spotlight article offers insights into the rocky past, successful present, and competitive future of a program that has experienced its share of snags and controversy – but went on to become the #1 helmet-mounted sight in the world. It also details the game-changing effects of Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems on air combat, its production sets and known customers, and all contracts since full-rate production began.