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We are out of the office today! As a result, there will be no Daily Rapid Fire published tomorrow, Friday October 27. But fear not. Regular publishing will resume Monday, packed full of your favourite defense industry news, contracts, and scandals.

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Elta tapped for radar work on Canadian SAR | Israel resumes Apache flights | Griping Bulgarian MiG pilots strike, AF blames weather

Americas

• New search-and-rescue aircraft (SAR) aircraft being manufactured by Airbus for Canada will come equipped with Elta Systems’ ELM-2022A maritime patrol radar. 16 radars will be delivered for integration on the C295 aircraft being procured, however, Elta’s parent company, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), did not disclose any further details in relation to the sale. IAI did say that the multi-mode radar will assist in all aspects of the Canadian SAR mission, offering detection, localization, classification, and tracking of targets over water and land in all weather conditions, day and night. So far, 250 ELM-2022 radars have been supplied to customers worldwide in more than 25 countries, and this is the eighth project IAI have collaborated with Airbus on for maritime patrol radars. Costing Ottawa some USD$2.4 billion, deliveries of the new SAR aircraft will run from 2019 until 2022, with the C295s gradually taking over duty from Canada’s six de Havilland Canada CC-155 Buffalos and 13 Lockheed Martin CC-130H Hercules at four bases spread across the country.

• Orbital ATK has been selected by Lockheed Martin to produce additional composite components for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Valued at $24 million, the three-year deal calls for delivery of F-35 bullnose and blade seals, adding to the upper and lower wing skins, engine nacelles and access covers that Orbital already produces for the next-gen fighter. Work will take place at Orbital’s facility in Clearfield, Utah.

• The US Navy has tasked Engility Corp. with providing electronic warfare enhancements for aircraft operated both by the service and the Australian government. The $9.3 million modification adds to a previous indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract worth more than $39.8 million dollars in award obligations for electronic warfare weapon system modifications to the Navy and Australian government’s electronic warfare aircraft, and will cover aircraft such as the Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler, the Boeing EA-18G Growler, Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye, Sikorsky MH-60 Seahawk, Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton and the Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft. Modifications to the EW weapons system include internal software system upgrades to allow for better threat analysis and sensor intelligence mission data files, along with other enhanced capabilities like signals jamming techniques. Contract completion is scheduled for September 2018 with work to be carried out at Point Mugu, California.

Middle East & Africa

• Israeli military authorities have lifted the remaining restrictions on AH-64 Apache flights following an accident this summer. The IAF Apache fleet had been temporarily grounded in the immediate aftermath of the August 7 crash—which resulted in the death of one crew member—but flights were later resumed under heavy restrictions while a final report on the incident was being compiled. The final report found that the crash at Ramon air base was caused by incorrect installation of a tail rotor control rod after a preliminary report ruled out a previously identified problem of tail rotor blade cracks which caused a temporary halt to operations in July.

• IAI announced Tuesday that the firm has supplied several advanced 3D surveillance and defense radars to an unnamed NATO customer. Produced by the firm’s radar-specialising subsidiary, Elta Systems, no further details, including the cost, of the systems delivered have been disclosed. IAI noted that the radars had been integrated within the national and NATO air and missile defense system, providing close-to-the-force air defense support that can pick up an array of airborne equipment, including low-altitude high-speed fighter aircraft, helicopters, UAVs and low-speed ultra-light aircraft.

Europe

• Despite Bulgaria’s government announcing a new tender to replace its MiG-29 fighter aircraft, Bulgarian Air Force (BAF) pilots have reportedly refused to fly in the the ageing Soviet-era aircraft. The training flights had been scheduled to take place on the morning of October 24 from Graf Ignatievo Air Force Base, and BAF brass later attributed the cancelled flights to bad weather. But media reports cite a mixture of safety concerns and low morale for the stand down, and pilots are said to be unhappy over Sofia’s delay in choosing a new fighter after ditching an interim government’s decision to move ahead with purchasing Saab’s JAS-39 Gripen aircraft. The government meanwhile, accused a rabble rouser of “artificially creating tension” among the pilots and that the Defense Ministry was looking into the situation.

Asia Pacific

• Japan needs a long-range strike capability, according to a piece from RAND political scientist, Jeffrey W. Hornung. Arguing that Japanese governments since the Ichiro Hatoyama administration (1952) had agreed in theory that the constitution allows Japan to strike enemy missile sites, Hornung suggested that now “may be time to move beyond the theoretical,” and move forward with procuring the munitions in order to boost its deterrence capabilities, removing the pressure on its two-tiered ballistic missile defense system. He added that in order to fill in the gaps, Tokyo could proceed with plans to purchase the land-based Aegis Ashore system and deploy more advanced missile interceptors for Japan’s sea-based and land-based systems, adding range, altitude and accuracy.

• India completed Tuesday an Indian Air Force (IAF) drill that saw the touchdown of 20 military aircraft on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway. Aircraft involved in the exercise included Mirage 2000, Su-30MKI and Jaguar fighter aircraft, as well as An-32 and the C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft. The Super Hercules landing, the first of its kind on the highway, saw commandos exit the aircraft and take positions on either side of the makeshift airstrip to cordon if off for fighter operations.

Today’s Video

• Indian Super Hercules lands on Agra-Lucknow Expressway:

Rescue Required: Canada’s Search-And-Rescue Aircraft Program

The USA isn’t the only country whose SAR (search and rescue) aircraft programs are having a hard go of it lately. In 2004, Canada announced a program to replace its aging DHC-5 (CC-115) Buffalo (West Coast) and CC-130E/H Hercules (East Coast) search-and-rescue planes with at least 15 new aircraft. Some of the Canadian Forces’ CC-130s have already been grounded after flying 40,000 – 50,000 hours, and a contract has been signed for C-130J replacements.

The SAR project hasn’t been so lucky. The first SAR aircraft was supposed to be delivered in 2006, with all deliveries complete by 2009. Unfortunately, the Conservative Harper government temporarily shelved the project when it came to power, and subsequent efforts to restart it have featured one poor performance after another. The competitors have since expanded beyond the familiar duo of the Alenia C-27J Spartan with its speed advantage and C-130J compatibility, vs. the EADS-CASA C-295M with its longer fuselage and lower operating costs. Yet expanded options are no substitute for serving planes, and at least 1 victim has already died because the current fleet was unserviceable. What Canada’s SAR program really needs right now is transparency and urgency. Neither is currently in evidence.

Israel’s AH-64A Attack Helos Get Custom Upgrades – Despite the USA

Israel’s attack helicopter fleet still flies AH-1 Cobras, but larger and more heavily armored AH-64 Apache helicopters began arriving in 1990, and have distinguished themselves in a number of war since. The country received 44 AH-64A helicopters from 1990 – 1993. Additional buys, conversions, and losses placed the fleet at 45 helicopters as of Flight Global’s World Air Forces 2013 report, split between AH-64As and more modern AH-64D Longbows.

The AH-64D Longbow’s sophisticated mast-mounted radar can quickly pick up tanks and other dangerous targets, but isn’t designed to distinguish civilians from combatants, or to hover close over the deck in highly populated areas. Confronted by asymmetrical urban warfare and budget priority issues, and faced with a lack of cooperation from the Obama administration, the IAF decided in 2010 to forego AH-64D upgrades for their remaining helicopters. On the other hand, the type’s consistent usefulness has led Israeli to make extensive improvements of their own, to the point where Israel has effectively created their own improved AH-64A configuration…