Nov. 19, 2013 by Greg Waldron – FG

Dubai - Lockheed Martin believes that its status as the original manufacturer of the world’s F-16 fleet gives it an edge in the competitive market to upgrade the venerable type.

In an interview with Flight Daily News in the Lockheed chalet, F-16 business development executive William McHenry said that his company has a unique insight into the design of the aircraft, which allows it to better assess the possible ramifcations of decisions involved in major upgrading.

“Lockheed has delivered over 1,000 F-16 upgrade kits,” he says. “F-16s are our heritage.”

McHenry says that the typical upgrade candidate has 3,000 hours on its airframe. All customer requirements are different, with some air forces wishing merely to keep their aircraft serviceable, while others wish to conduct a major upgrade to the F-16V configuration Lockheed unveiled at the Singapore air show in 2012.

The F-16V upgrade adds an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, new mission computer, a new electronic warfare suite, and other improvements to the venerable type.

One trend McHenry has observed is that many countries wish to add the Link-16 datalink to the aircraft. Link-16 allows for better sharing of information among a nation’s military assets, and also improves interoperability with US forces.

As for USAF F-16s, of which about 300 are likely to be upgraded, McHenry said there is no word when the programme will move forward owing to the prevailing tight budget environment. Other major F-16 avionics upgrades in the world include South Korea, where BAE Systems beat Lockheed in competition to upgrade 134 examples, and Taiwan, where Lockheed will upgrade 144 examples.

November 19, 2013: Strategy Page

U.S. Army leaders recently admitted that budget cuts, continued costs for troops in Afghanistan (and removing $17 billion worth of equipment) as well as keeping many major procurement and development projects going has had some negative effects. One of these has been a decline in the combat readiness of most combat brigades. Training is expensive in terms of fuel and spare parts costs, not to mention wear and tear on equipment. Currently only two of 47 combat brigades are fully trained for combat. The army expects to change this as the need to keep troops in Afghanistan (and pay to withdraw equipment) and have the cash to resume training. This will require a reduction in the number of combat brigades over the next four years, from 47 to 33. Army personnel strength will also go down 14 percent (from 490,000 to 420,000) and some major procurement projects (like replacing the hummer with a more heavily armored vehicle) will be cancelled or delayed.

Growing costs (for equipment, supplies, and wages) makes these cuts even larger. For example, over the next decade defense spending will decline from 3.6 percent to 2.8 percent of GDP. These cuts are nothing new as army leaders have seen it coming for some time. Back in 2007, despite major combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. Army went through a major reorganization. The end result was the increase in the number of combat brigades from 33 to 48 (soon reduced to 45 because of budget cuts). This required the transfer of over 40,000 people from combat-support jobs to the combat brigades. In doing this, the army got some experience in reducing personnel strength without losing capability. Most of this reset was completed, with all the new brigades ready for service by 2010. In 2007 Congress ordered the army to increase its strength by 65,000 troops, and the army planned to add five more combat brigades. The army completed that personnel expansion, to 574,000 troops by 2009, but budget cuts reduced the combat brigade expansion.

Another major expense has been the reset process, which includes repairing and rebuilding the weapons and equipment that were used in the combat zone. While there was a lot of combat damage most of the reset work went into restoring gear that was simply used much more in combat than it would be in peacetime operations. This caused some serious problems, as much of the equipment dated from the 1980s and 1990s, and was due for replacement after 20-30 years. The rigors of combat wore out a lot of that stuff way ahead of schedule. But the reset effort enabled the army to get a more accurate idea of how to design and build new equipment.

The army scrambled to develop the next generation of vehicles, equipment, and weapons during the last decade. A new generation of trucks is now showing up. New weapons and other gear had been introduced gradually, with the specs of this new stuff driven largely by combat experience. One problem area was the new generation of armored vehicles. The FCS (Future Combat System) program envisioned radically new designs for tanks and infantry vehicles. The original FCS concepts were reconsidered, and then largely dropped, because of how well the M-1 tank, M-2 infantry vehicle, and Stryker wheeled armored vehicle performed in combat.

The 2007 reforms made the brigades, not the divisions, the primary combat unit. The new brigades have more support units permanently attached and can be more easily sent off to fight by themselves. In the past, doing this involved quickly adding a lot of support units to the brigade. But the new organization makes small support units part of the brigades and, more importantly, the brigades train using these support units and learn to work well with them. The divisions still exist but operate more like the corps has for the last two centuries (coordinating the actions of a few divisions and only having a few support units under its command).

The reorganized divisions originally had four of the new brigades but can control more (or less) in action. The budget cuts and combat experience have resulted in a return to three brigades per division. Each of the new brigades (or BCTs, for Brigade Combat Teams) has 3,500-4,000 troops (depending on the type). There are three types of BCTs: light (infantry, including paratroopers), heavy (mechanized, including tanks), and Stryker (mechanized using wheeled armored vehicles). This larger number of combat brigades is achieved by reorganizing the combat units of each division into four brigades, instead of the current three. There are several independent brigades as well.

New weapons and equipment (especially satellite based communications and battlefield Internet software) enabled the army to get the same amount of combat power per brigade using fewer combat troops. The actual number of infantrymen and tanks won't change but the number of communications, maintenance, and intelligence support will. For example, increased use of robots, sensors, and computerized vidcam surveillance systems makes it possible to do the same amount of work in combat with fewer troops. A lot of these new ideas, and equipment, were tested in Iraq and Afghanistan, and most of these items have worked well in combat.

This "reform and reorganize on the run" approach enabled the U.S. Army to leap way ahead of its contemporaries in terms of combat effectiveness. This caused lots of unease in the military headquarters of the other major military powers. But the American methods also depend on lots of cash for training and new equipment required by many of the new techniques and organizational ideas. Now the money is running out and the army has to concentrate on doing more with less.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, (Nov. 18, 2013) Lockheed Martin

The Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) Javelin Joint Venture received a $176 million contract for the production and delivery of 842 Block I Javelin missile rounds and 120 command launch units (CLUs). The contract was awarded to the Javelin Joint Venture in September.

The missiles will be provided through the U.S. government to the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and three international customers: Oman, Jordan and Indonesia. Funded with Special Defense Acquisition Funds, the CLUs will be delivered to the U.S. Army beginning October 2014.

“The Javelin Joint Venture is providing U.S. and allied warfighters with an affordable, versatile and lethal one-man-portable, anti-tank, guided missile and surveillance weapon,” said Jeff Miller, Raytheon Javelin program director and Javelin Joint Venture president. “This contract is important to the Javelin program because the CLU retrofit business keeps our production line warm through mid-2015.”

Javelin enhances direct-fire capability against armored vehicles, buildings and field fortifications. Using the Javelin missile system, a single infantryman can engage and defeat targets in close combat and at ranges up to two-and-a-half kilometers.

“This contract allows us to provide to our customers one of the most reliable and user-friendly systems in the world,” said Barry James, Lockheed Martin Javelin program director and Javelin Joint Venture vice president. “Javelin has proven and continues to prove itself time and time again in combat.”

About Javelin

Javelin is a compact, lightweight missile designed for one-soldier operations in all environments. It is made by the Javelin Joint Venture, a partnership between Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin. Javelin has been adopted by international armed forces around the world. It is currently fielded with the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps, and has also been approved for foreign military sales to 13 nations.

About Lockheed Martin Corporation

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 116,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s net sales for 2012 were $47.2 billion. For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com.

About Raytheon

Raytheon Company, with 2012 sales of $24 billion and 68,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, security and civil markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 91 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems; as well as a broad range of mission support services. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. For more about Raytheon, visit us at www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter @Raytheon.

Nov. 18, 2013 FG

One of the most sophisticated derivatives of the Boeing 737 ever flown is making its international show debut this week, with the US Navy’s new P-8A being put through its paces during the daily flying display.

Derived from the commercial 737-800 and equipped for maritime patrol, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare roles, the P-8A is in production for the US service under a 117-aircraft programme. Twelve have been handed over so far, with initial operating capability scheduled for late this year.

Boeing has so far secured one international buyer for the development, with the Indian navy having just received its second of eight P-8Is on order. Australia has also shown strong interest in the type as a Lockheed Martin P-3 replacement.

16/11/2013 rédaction de RTL.fr (AFP)

Les coupes budgétaires pourraient compromettre la capacité de l'armée américaine à mettre en œuvre des opérations humanitaires, selon le chef du corps des Marines.

S'exprimant devant des journalistes lors d'une conférence consacrée à la Défense à Simi Valley, en Californie, le général James Amos a dit craindre que les futures missions humanitaires de l'armée américaine souffrent d'un manque de moyens.

"Je pense que le problème viendra de notre capacité à avoir les fonds suffisants pour déployer les navires", a-t-il déclaré. Le général a dénoncé la fonte des budgets d'entraînement à des missions similaires à celle mise en place aux Philippines.

Restrictions de 10% du budget de la Défense

La Marine américaine a déployé près d'une dizaine de navires au large des côtes philippines, dont un porte-avions, tandis que plus de 600 Marines sont à pied d’œuvre dans les zones sinistrées, selon le corps d'élite de l'armée américaine.

Confronté l'an passé à 37 milliards de dollars de coupes automatiques faute d'accord au Congrès sur la réduction de la dette, le Pentagone fait à nouveau face en 2014 à 52 milliards de coupes supplémentaires, soit 10% de son budget. Ces coupes automatiques affectent principalement les budgets dévolus à l'entraînement et à la maintenance des matériels.

L'entreprise BAE, qui convoite un contrat de 2 milliards portant sur l'achat de 108 chars d'assaut, a annoncé dans le passé qu'elle retenait la société Soucy, de Drummondville, pour la fabrication des chenilles en caoutchouc.

15 novembre André Dubuc - La Presse

Des multinationales de l'industrie militaire multiplient les rencontres avec des fournisseurs québécois en vue d'étoffer le contenu canadien de leur soumission aux appels d'offres de la Défense nationale.

Des entreprises comme BAE Systems Hägglunds AB, Oshkosh Defense et la division défense de Mercedes-Benz Canada ont toutes participé en octobre à la 7e journée Donneurs d'ordres/Fournisseurs organisée par Sous-Traitance Industrielle Québec (STIQ), une association d'entreprises manufacturières.

STIQ recevait hier le ministre fédéral responsable de l'Agence de développement économique du Canada pour les régions du Québec, Denis Lebel, qui lui a confirmé hier l'octroi d'une subvention de fonctionnement de 1,6 million de dollars en trois ans.

Le ministre Lebel a profité de son passage dans la région de Montréal pour consentir une aide remboursable de 1,2 million au Groupe Meloche, de Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. Meloche est un fournisseur intégré de composants pour les secteurs de l'aéronautique et de la défense.

D'ailleurs, le Groupe Meloche est l'un de ces fournisseurs qui ont rencontré l'anglo-suédoise BAE Systems, a confirmé Hughe Meloche, président et chef de la direction de la PME ayant un chiffre d'affaires de 29 millions de dollars et employant 130 personnes.

Des chars et des camions

BAE est sur les rangs pour décrocher le contrat de 2 milliards portant sur l'achat de 108 chars d'assaut, appelés véhicules de combat rapproché (VCR). BAE a annoncé dans le passé qu'elle retenait la société Soucy, de Drummondville, en ce qui a trait à la fabrication des chenilles en caoutchouc de ses chars.

Retardée depuis deux ans, l'attribution des contrats d'acquisition et de soutien en service est prévue pour l'automne 2013, selon le site de Travaux publics et Services gouvernementaux Canada.

Oshkosh Defense a pour sa part dévoilé au milieu de l'été son intention de répondre à un autre contrat des Forces armées canadiennes, soit celui concernant 1500 camions de modèle militaire normalisé pour les unités opérationnelles et le soutien logistique. La valeur de celui-ci s'élève autour de 1,1 milliard.

Quant à Mercedes-Benz, elle fait équipe avec Armatec, de London, en Ontario, contre Oshkosh pour ce même contrat de 1500 véhicules de soutien.

Le gouvernement du Canada impose le critère des retombées industrielles et régionales dans le processus d'approvisionnement de la Défense nationale, ce qui explique le jeu des alliances entre donneurs d'ordres internationaux et sous-traitants locaux.

14 novembre 2013 Par Sylvain Arnulf - Usinenouvelle.com

La troisième génération de l'hélicoptère dronisé MQ-8 Fire Scout, utilisé par la Marine américaine pour des missions de reconnaissance ou des transports de charges en milieu hostile, vient d'effectuer ses premiers vols d'essais. Aeronews TV nous en livre les premières images et présente le dernier appareil de Northrop Grumman.

November 14, 2013 by Richard Sisk - defensetech.org

The Defense Department’s top research agency has focused on developing a program to make sure that the Navy is not “outsticked” by China as U.S. forces re-balance to the Pacific.

“We’re looking at a long-range anti-ship missile” to counter China’s development of its own long-range strike assets, said Dr. Arati Prabhakar, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. “We’re concerned about being ‘out-sticked’” in what has been dubbed the “Pacific pivot” of troops and ships following the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Prabhakar said.

Prabhakar spoke at the opening of an all-day forum on military issues sponsored by the Defense One website.

China’s development of the DF-21D ASBM (Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile), technically a cruise missile dubbed the “carrier killer,” has raised alarms on Capitol Hill. “We are technically ‘out-sticked’ by Chinese anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM) right now,” Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., head of the Readiness Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee.

Forbes told the RealClearDefense website last week that that the Navy’s main anti-ship missile, the Harpoon, “does not have the range or survivability” to match the threat from the Chinese Navy.

However, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service last spring reported that the threat from the Chinese anti-ship missiles was not quite the “game changer” that some defense analysts had feared.

The Navy and the Air Force could counter by “employing a combination of active and passive measures” against the Chinese missiles, the CRS said in a report. One of the methods suggested by the CRS to defeat the Chinese system would be to equip Navy ships with electronic warfare systems that could generate radar “smoke clouds” to confuse the terminal guidance systems of the Chinese missiles.

In August, DARPA and the Office of Naval Research conducted the first flight of a prototype in the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) program, which is meant to develop a weapon that can hit enemy ships out of the range of a counter-strike.

A B-1 bomber from the 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron conducted the mission from Dyess Air Force Base, Tex., to the Point Mugu Sea Test Range off the coast of southern California and successfully hit a moving target, DARPA said. Halfway to the target, the missile switched to its autonomous guidance system, which completed the mission, DARPA said.

“This fully functional test is a significant step in providing the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force with a next-generation anti-ship missile capability,” Artie Mabbett, the DARPA program manager for the LRASM, said after the test.

At the Defense One forum, Prabhakar said the autonomous guidance system for the LRASM was vital vital to counter an enemy’s potential ability to jam Global Positioning Satellite guidance.

Prabhakar also noted DARPA’s difficulty in doing work on space systems in an era of cost-cutting and declining budgets.

Space “is a place where cost is just an overwhelming issue,” Prabhakar said. “It’s so hard, it takes so long to do anything in space. Even the smallest satellite costs tens of millions of dollars,” she said.

The budget cuts also put the future of defense research at risk, Prahhakar said. Unless Congress lifts the sequester cuts that will take about $500 billion out of defense spending over the next 10 years, “we’re going to have a future of power point (presentations) and not real systems,” she said. “We want to do things that really get built.”

13 novembre 2013 Aerobuzz.fr

Boeing et Lockheed Martin ont décidé de s’associer pour réaliser le futur bombardier stratégique américain à long rayon d’action (LRS-B). Les deux constructeurs grillent la priorité à Northrop Grumman, le spécialiste de la question. Les racines de cette décision remontent aux années 80...

A défaut de savoir exactement ce que sera le futur bombardier stratégique américain, on sait déjà quelles seront les équipes alignées pour le réaliser. Boeing et Lockheed Martin ont annoncé fin octobre leur volonté de s’associer pour le concourir. Tandis que Northrop Grumman, grand spécialiste de la question depuis le très secret programme B2 « Spirit », l’avion le plus cher de tous les temps, réserve sa réponse.

Avec cette décision, Lockheed Martin et son département « Skunk Works » tiennent leur revanche. En effet, l’avionneur américain, auquel on doit le F/A 22 Raptor ou encore le F35 Lightning II est un pionnier des avions furtifs. Ses premières recherches, remontent aux années 60. L’avionneur avait d’abord tenté de diminuer la signature radar des avions espions U2, sans succès notable, car cet avion n’a jamais été conçu au départ pour avoir une faible signature radar.

Une leçon parfaitement intégrée dès les premières épures de son successeur, le fantastique SR-71 Blackbird. Ainsi, outre la silhouette générale de l’avant de l’appareil, aux formes douces, et l’inclinaison des dérives, un traitement spécifique des bords d’attaque de la voilure a été appliqué sur l’appareil. Le tout, complété par un ensemble de brouillage actif dernier cri pour l’époque. A défaut d’être furtif, cet avion était discret.

Mais le vrai saut technologique a été accompli dans les années 70, grâce aux équations du savant russe Ufimtsev, qui ont rendu possible la mise au point de l’avion d’attaque F-117 Nighthawk, parfaitement invisible et terriblement efficace lors de la première guerre d’Irak. Par la suite Lockheed Martin a travaillé pour le Pentagone sur quantité de programmes aussi furtifs que secrets. Pendant ce temps Northrop Grumman, grand spécialiste des avions embarqués, sentait le vent tourner et décidait de s’engager sur la voie des avions furtifs. C’est donc tout naturellement qu’il a tenté de débaucher le « père » du F117, feu Ben Rich. Peine perdue, car le chef d’alors et fondateur des « Skunk Works » veillait au grain. Aussi l’attribution du contrat de bombardier furtif B2 à Northrop Grumman dans les années 80 fut une vraie déception pour Lockheed Martin.

Aujourd’hui, les B52 en service ont aux alentours de cinquante ans, les B1B Lancer de Rockwell remontent aux années 80 tandis que les 19 B2 Spirit, récents et polyvalents coutent une vraie fortune à l’entretien. Pendant ce temps, les systèmes de détection et de défense anti aérienne réalisés en Russie, en Chine et en Europe sont de plus en plus performants. Pire, la Russie affirme vouloir se doter de bombardiers stratégiques furtifs réalisés dans le cadre du programme PAK-DA. Ces avions remplaceront les TU-95 et autres TU-160. Et la Chine ne cache plus ses ambitions en matière d’aéronefs avancés. Du coup le Pentagone réfléchit à un engin furtif, raisonnablement moderne et surtout abordable ; on parle de 100 à 200 M$ l’unité.

Le futur bombardier stratégique américain devrait être capable de mettre en œuvre des armes nucléaires et conventionnelles à plusieurs milliers de kilomètres de sa base de départ. Idéalement il devra être capable de pénétrer les défenses anti aériennes les plus modernes pour les détruire ou collecter des données tactiques. Certains spécialistes américains estiment qu’il pourrait même être doté d’armes à impulsions électro magnétiques ou laser. De son côté Lockheed Martin affine sa réponse et laisse filtrer dans la presse des vues d’artiste d’un engin de reconnaissance hypersonique, on parle de Mach 6, furtif baptisé SR-72…

November 13, 2013. By David Pugliese - Defence Watch

The Close Combat Vehicle project is now at least two years behind schedule and has faced resistance from some in the military who are worried the new armoured carriers are unaffordable. The Canadian Army wanted the government earlier this year to cancel the project but that was declined, according to military, government and industry sources.

Retired chief of the defence staff Gen. Rick Hillier has since come out in support of cancelling the project to purchase the Close Combat Vehicle or CCV, arguing that the $2 billion could be used to help offset the budget cuts the military faces.

The Close Combat Vehicle was announced with great fanfare by the Conservatives in the summer of 2009. The government will buy 108 of the armoured carriers. The army originally argued that the vehicles, which would accompany its Leopard tanks into battle, were a priority for future missions.

The winning bidder on the vehicle program was supposed to be announced “in the fall”…..or that was what DND stated earlier this year/late last year.

Well it’s the fall. So what is happening?

First, the good news for bidders on the project. “An announcement regarding the CCV will be made in due course,” Mike Graham, a DND communications advisor told Defence Watch.

And now for the bad news.

First, Graham states an announcement will be made. That doesn’t necessarily mean that a contract will be announced. Who knows what that “announcement” will be?

And secondly, what exactly does in “due course” mean?

For the average person that means soon. But in this case the DND can’t define what in “due course” means. “I regret I don’t have more precise information to provide at this time,” Graham stated in his email to Defence Watch in response to the question about what “due course” means.

The term “in due course” was used by then Defence Minister Peter MacKay 2009 in answers when the RCAF would receive a new Fixed Wing SAR aircraft. And that was four years ago….

November 13, 2013 defense-update.com

Officials at the 174th Attack Wing suspended all Reaper drone flights in Central New York yesterday after one of the MQ-9 unmanned aircraft crashed into Lake Ontario about 12 miles from the eastern shore, during a routine training flight. The 174th, the only attack wing in the total Air Force, began flying the MQ-9 remotely piloted vehicle in 2009. The last two F-16s flown by the wing left Syracuse in 2010. The Reaper that crashed Tuesday was unarmed and had been in the air about three hours when it went down in the lake. It was one of two drones that took off from Fort Drum, outside Watertown, during a training exercise. The other drone returned safely.

The drone crashed into the lake about 20 miles northeast of the Port of Oswego, and about 12 miles from the eastern shore. No decision has been made yet on when Reaper training flights will resume. the Syracuse.com reported.

The 174th Attack Wing flies the Reapers unarmed, across a wide swath of Upstate New York, from west of Rochester eastward to near Blue Mountain Lake, and from Syracuse north to the Massena area. The drones fly at 18,000 feet in airspace that is off limits to commercial aircraft. When the drones carry missiles, they are restricted to military air space in Northern New York.

The unit also flies MQ-9s in the skies above Afghanistan from an operations center at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base. The next step in the 174th’s transition to full-up MQ-9 operations is to fly the aircraft directly from Hancock Field. That should occur next summer, said Col. Greg Semmel, the 174th Attack Wing commander. The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing a request to fly Reapers out of Hancock Field north of Syracuse, but thus far has not granted it.

The 174th Attack Wing has been operating the MQ-9 at Fort Drum since 2009 and has been using hangar space belonging to the 10th Mountain Division‘s 10th Combat Aviation Brigade. This space did not allow enough hangar space to shelter all aircraft needed for flying operations and conduct routine maintenance on the aircraft.

The Wing has recently established a new base for its MQ-9 “Reaper” operations at Fort Drum’s Wheeler Sack Army Airfield. where the wing now operates a Launch and Recovery Element hangar. This hangar provides space to house and maintain two of the four MQ-9 aircraft the wing bases at Wheeler Sack. The new hangar took nine months to build and uses green technology to keep heating costs down in northern New York’s harsh winters.

The 174th trains MQ-9 maintainers at its Field Training Detachment at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse and uses Wheeler Sack Army Airfield to train MQ-9 pilots and sensor operators at its Formal Training Unit. The MQ-9 crews practice takeoff and landings from the airfield and drop live and inert munitions at the air-ground range the wing operates at Fort Drum.

The new hangar is the first step in a series of Air National Guard building projects planned for Wheeler Sack Army Airfield. The 174th Attack Wing plans to build a second hangar in the coming year to support launch and recovery operations which will allow MQ-9 operations to move completely out of the Army facilities.

Beyond Bullet Resistant Plates, Revision currently supplies the DND with Ballistic Eyewear (both spectacles and goggles) as well as best-in-class helmets, all in service of protecting Canadian soldiers.

November 7, 2013 David Pugliese - Defence Watch

News release from Revision:

Montreal, QC, Canada (November 7 2013) – Revision Military, the global leader in soldier protection solutions, has won the competitive bid to supply the Canadian Forces with new, lighter weight ballistic plates. This body armor will provide troops with superior, highly durable protection while lightening their in-theatre load. Initial deliveries for this contract are anticipated for April 2014. The contract also includes 5 option years.

In addition to the Batlskin® Bullet Resistant Plates, the contract calls for the supply of special training plates along with a carrier in which soldiers can readily transport this equipment when it’s not required to be worn.

“We are extremely proud that after several years of Research and Development on this program, Revision’s bid has been selected to supply Canada’s soldiers with plates that exceed the highest industry standards and the company’s rigorous Quality Assurance Plans,” said Jonathan Blanshay, CEO of Revision Military. “This contract will be fulfilled at Revision’s Composite Centre of Excellence in Montreal, providing the DND with a Made-in-Canada solution. With significant investment in facility, machinery, equipment, and state-of-the-art ballistic testing laboratories, Revision has entered an exciting new phase of our growth strategy. We expect that this contract will be a springboard for gaining additional ballistic plate business from other advanced militaries in the coming months and years.”

About Revision:

Revision develops and delivers purpose-built protective equipment for military use worldwide. The company, which began with eyewear, has expanded to face and head protection and continues to develop its capabilities for integrated, performance-enhancing soldier systems. To that end, Revision brings together the most advanced expertise, state-of-the-art facilities and finest technical minds. Clients include the U.S. Department of Defense, the Canadian Department of National Defence, the Netherlands Defence Materiel Organization, the German Federal Defence Force and the UK Ministry of Defence. Privately owned and ISO 9001:2008 certified, Revision’s operational headquarters is located in Essex Junction, Vermont, USA, with additional offices in the Netherlands and Canada.

11/11/2013 Defence IQ Press

South Korea's air force has asked for enhanced stealth capability for fighter jets set to be purchased, a government source briefed on the matter said on Monday, further bolstering the chances of Lockheed Martin winning the tender with its F-35s.

In September, South Korea's government bowed to public pressure and voted down a bid by Boeing to supply 60 warplanes, saying it would restart the multi-billion tender process to get a more advanced, radar-evading fighter.

At the time, only Boeing's bid had come within budget.

The source said the air force's request will need to be approved at a meeting of the country's Joint Chiefs of Staff expected near the end of November before being finalized at a committee chaired by the defense minister.

The Eurofighter consortium is also bidding in the 8.3 trillion won ($7.8 billion) tender. [Reuters]

Outgoing Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has been using some of his remaining days as the Pentagon's No. 2 to tout the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as a job-saving hedge against budget cuts.

In visits to Western air bases this week, Carter, who stunned the Pentagon last month with the announcement of his retirement, said that DoD's commitment to the F-35 would protect civilian and contactor jobs.

He said it would also protect bases flying the F-35 from another round of base closings that Congress has been pressed to consider.

At Hill Air Force Base in Utah, Carter told airmen and civilians that "Hill has a very bright future" because of its selection as one of the first bases to receive the F-35.

"You will host the F-35, which is the linchpin of our tactical future for all three services that will fly them, and Hill is going to have a big part in that future," said Carter, who will leave the Pentagon in December.

In tough times for military spending, Hill has been "a leader in simply getting better buying power for the warfighter and the taxpayer," Carter said.

Carter's remarks were aimed at relieving concerns at Hill about the long-term viability of the base that serves as one of Utah's top employers.  Nearly 3,000 civilian employes at Hill were furloughed during the 16-day government shutdown last month.

Carter's remarks at Hill on the F-35 followed on a major policy address by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in Washington on Tuesday. Hagel said that coming budget cuts would likely result in tradeoffs that would favor advances in technological capability, symbolized by the F-35, over maintaining current force levels. [Military.com]

The F-35 fighter jet continues to be the U.S. Defense Department’s highest acquisition priority despite looming budget cuts, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer said.

The stealthy, fifth-generation fighter, known as Lightning II and made by Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin Corp., is the military’s most expensive weapons program, estimated to cost almost $400 billion to develop and build 2,457 aircraft.

The Joint Strike Fighter program began in the 1990s and has been plagued by cost overruns and delays. The price tag alone makes it a big target for budget cutters on Capitol Hill and in the Defense Department. Yet Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, said the Pentagon is still committed to the aircraft.

“The F-35 remains our highest priority,” he said during a briefing Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, D.C.

There are still a number of developmental issues yet to complete, Kendall said, such as upgrading the plane’s software, improving the reliability of the aircraft and its components and enhancing the jet’s logistics support system.

“We’re at a point now where we need to get the job done,” he said. “I’m feeling much more positive about the program than I was a couple of years ago.”

Kendall’s comments echoed those made by Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the program manager, in September at the Air Force Association’s annual conference. “I’m encouraged by where we are today,” he said. “I’d like to be a little further along.” [DoDBuzz]