26 septembre 2011 par Daniel Favre / INFO-AVIATION

Le 19 septembre, le président roumain Traian Basescu a déclaré que son pays ne pouvait se permettre d’acheter des chasseurs F-16, sans une solution de financement à long terme (source: actmedia).

Ce n’est pas la première fois que la Roumanie renonce à s’équiper de F-16. En juin 2010, le gouvernement roumain avait déjà jeté l’éponge pour acheter des F-16 d’occasion. La facture est en effet estimée à 300 millions de dollars par an pour les 5 à 6 prochaines années.

« En tant que membre de l’OTAN, la Roumanie doit opérer 48 avions de combat compatibles avec l’équipement de l’Alliance Atlantique Nord. Peu importe qu’il s’agisse de F-16, de Rafale ou de Saab, l’essentiel est de trouver une solution de financement « , a déclaré la président Basescu.

Ces F-16 A/B seraient destinés à remplacer les MiG-21 roumains qui arrivent en fin de vie. Mais il se pourrait fort que la Roumanie conserve encore quelques années sa flotte de MiG Lancer (photo) dont les performances équivalent d’ailleurs les premières versions du F-16.

Le chef de l’Etat roumain a ajouté que les États-Unis avait proposé un projet de financement régional où plusieurs membres de l’OTAN, comme la Bulgarie, la Croatie, et éventuellement la Hongrie, qui seraient regroupés dans un consortium pour co-financer l’achat d’avions F-16.

La Bulgarie se serait déjà vu proposé un plan de financement américain pour l’achat de 8 à 12 chasseurs F-16. L’ambassadeur américain Mark Gitenstein a ajouté que l’option d’un financement régional impliquerait de nouveaux avions et l’extension de la production de Lockheed Martin.

Ce projet d’un « pool » des pays de l’Est est dans l’intérêt de l’Amérique, car il permettrait de prolonger la production du F-16, et de faire monter le prix de l’avion

photo Radomil

September 24, 2011: STRATEGY PAGE

Poland has been replacing its Cold War era MiG-29s with F-16s. Currently Poland has 48 F-16s and 32 MiG-29s in service, and those remaining MiG-29s are in serious need of upgrading. There is not a lot of money available to upgrade aircraft. So as a compromise, 16 of the MiG-29s will undergo a basic upgrade. At a cost of about $3 million per aircraft, the MiGs will get new electronics, including jam-resistant GPS and fire control computers. The upgraded MiG-29s will remain in service until 2030, and will probably undergo another upgrade before that date. The second MiG-29 squadron, that did not get the upgrade, will probably be retired in the next five years.

Poland is in the midst of upgrading its forces. The defense budget went up 7.1 percent this year, to $8.9 billion. This will mark a decade of setting the defense budget at 1.95 percent of GDP. In that time, Poland has been spending heavily to bring its forces up to NATO standards, helped along by a robust economy. The upgrade was accomplished by spending more on procuring Western weapons and equipment (new and used) and cutting personnel strength and the use of conscription. Large quantities of Cold War era gear (most of Russian manufacture or design) was discarded or sold.

A decade ago, the military had 185,000 troops and depended a lot on conscripts who were in for only a year. Now troop strength is down to 100,000 and, as of last year, conscription is gone. Civilian defense employees were also cut. The personnel cuts, and over 70 base closings, saved over a billion dollars a year. Also useful was the retirement of old Soviet era equipment, which was very expensive to maintain. This was especially the case with Russian warplanes, like the MiG-29. That is one reason Poland is replacing most of them with F-16s. Newly obtained, second hand, Leopard 2A4 tanks provide Poland with a more powerful tank than anything the Russians have. Most Polish tanks are still Polish made upgrades of the T-72 (the PT-91). Most Polish forces are up to NATO standards, and all will be by the end of the decade. This is immensely reassuring to Poles, who have been threatened by their Russian neighbor for centuries.

File image: Guiana Space Center.

Sep 23, 2011 Los Angeles AFB CA (AFNS) SpaceWar.com

The U.S. Air Force Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload was successfully launched Wednesday from the Guiana Space Center, Kourou, French Guiana. CHIRP, a hosted payload aboard a commercial communications satellite, was carried into a geosynchronous orbit by an Ariane V rocket.

"We overcame many challenges on the way to [Wednesday's] launch," said Col. Scott Beidleman, Space and Missile Systems Center's Development Planning Director.

"This effort is unique because the CHIRP launch marks not only the first-ever commercially hosted payload for the Air Force, but also the first ever wide field-of-view infrared staring payload in space. I commend the CHIRP government and contractor teams for their dedication to mission success."

CHIRP is a technology maturation and risk reduction experiment to collect real-world data, investigate spacecraft-sensor interactions and sensor behavior in the space environment, explore operational issues relevant to these sensors, and evaluate long-term suitability of commercially hosted payloads.

CHIRP will first power on approximately 30 days after launch, with on-orbit experiments to follow.

CHIRP technology is applicable to missile warning/defense, technical intelligence, and battlespace awareness missions.

The CHIRP team is a government-industry collaboration led by the Air Force's Space and Missile System Center Development Planning Directorate. CHIRP is a pathfinder for both WFOV IR staring technologies and commercially hosted payloads.

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 22 (UPI)

ATK of Minnesota has received a $37 million contract to provide lightweight 30mm ammunition to Britain's Ministry of Defense.

The order includes M788 TP target practice training rounds and the M789 High Explosive Dual Purpose tactical round. Both rounds will support Britain's fleet of AH-64 Apache Helicopters.

These two rounds make up ATK's family of LW30mm ammunition and were developed and fielded for the M230 automatic cannon and the AH-64 attack helicopter.

The M789 HEDP round provides the accuracy and armor penetration capabilities necessary to effectively defeat today's threats and the cost-effective, ballisticly matched M788 training rounds enable improved warfighter performance around the globe, the company said.

ATK said it has produced more than 14 million LW30mm rounds since 1977.

"Lightweight 30mm ammunition provides superior multi-role, multi-target defeat capabilities," said Dan Olson, vice president and general manager, ATK Integrated Weapons Systems.

"Our M789 rounds are currently in use supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we are proud to provide U.S. and allied forces worldwide with the medium-caliber munitions necessary to prevail in mission-critical scenarios."

ATK's Integrated Weapon Systems Division in Mesa, Ariz., was awarded the contract. Production of the LW30mm rounds will take place at the company's facilities in Rocket Center, W.Va., and Radford, Va.

Deliveries to Britain scheduled to begin early next year.

22 septembre 2011 Par Rédacteur en chef. PORTAIL DES SOUS-MARINS

Les pilotes français effectuant des missions d’attaque en Libye contre les troupes pro-Kadhafi n’utilisent pas les images précises et les renseignements fournis par les avions américains de intelligence surveillance, selon des déclarations faites mercredi par des pilotes français participant à ces sorties.

Depuis le premier jour des frappes aériennes en Libye, les pilotes français cherchent à identifier positivement sur « qui ou quoi » ils tirent, a expliqué un pilote français devant des industriels et des pilotes assistant à une conférence à Londres. « Le pilote dans son cockpit est entièrement seul ».

Lorsqu’on lui a demandé pourquoi les forces françaises ne profitaient par des images fournies par les moyens aériens de surveillance (drones et avions), les pilotes ont répondu que cela prenaient trop de temps pour se coordonner avec le commandement de l’OTAN du Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC), en Italie du Nord. Les pilotes préfèrent s’appuyer sur leur propre pod de reconnaissance. Les pilotes ont aussi indiqué qu’ils n’utilisaient pas les images des drone Predator pour identifier leur cible, expliquant qu’il fallait trop de temps pour que ce type d’images soit autorisée par le CAOC.

Les pilotes français ont aussi indiqué qu’ils préféraient l’imagerie de leurs propres pods parce qu’il y avait des matrices intégrées de ciblage. En général, ils envoient un avion de reconnaissance, prennent les photos, identifient les cibles et envoient un avion attaquer la cible, le tout en moins de 5 heures.

Les pilotes français ont insisté sur l’inquiétude permanente d’éviter des frappes aériennes sur des civils et ont dit la difficulté d’identifier positivement les cibles au sol sans l’aide de contrôleurs au sol expérimentés. Aucun pays de l’OTAN n’a engagé de troupes au sol en Libye.

Le département américain de la défense a refusé de faire des commentaires sur les déclarations des pilotes de la marine nationale ou sur les frappes aériennes françaises en Libye.

Ces déclarations sont en totale contradiction avec celles faites par le général Stéphane Abrial, qui avait déclaré que « Nous n’aurions pas pu atteindre un tel niveau d’efficacité en Libye sans la participation importante des Etats-Unis. » Le général a précisé que cela s’appliquait en particulier à l’identification des cibles.

Référence : AOL (Etats-Unis)

photo baesystems.com

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 20 (UPI)

BAE Systems received a $9 million contract from the U.S. Army to produce and deliver nine second-generation International Light Armored Vehicles.

The ILAV is a 4x4 v-shaped hull, mine-protected vehicle used in several countries to fulfill a variety of roles.

Under the foreign military sales contract, BAE Systems will provide six ILAV Explosive Ordnance Disposal variants and three ILAV Interrogator Arm variants. The company will also supply repair parts for the fleet of Interrogator Arm variants.

The name of the country to receive the vehicles wasn't disclosed.

BAE said work on the contract began in August and is anticipated to be complete next May. A significant portion of the work will be performed by Force Protection Industries Inc. and Spartan Chassis. Work will also be performed at BAE Systems' facilities in Aiken, S.C., and York, Pa.

Since 2006, more than 700 ILAVs have been produced and delivered to the United States and foreign allies.

September 20th, 2011 MDAA

An SM-3 missile is launched from a U.S. Navy Aegis-class destroyer. Raytheon has ambitions to sell SM-3s to European countries for ballistic missile defense. (Photo: Raytheon)

Raytheon has proposed that 10 European warships be equipped with the company’s standard SM-3 missile, so that the burden of providing a missile defense shield over Europe can be shared more equally among the NATO countries. The alliance has crafted a Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) to extending the shield, so that it covers the entire European continent. But the U.S. is providing the only system that can currently perform the exo-atmospheric interception of incoming missiles required to defend an entire region. That system is the Aegis onboard U.S. Navy warships, which fires the SM-3 Block 1A.

Wes Kramer, vice president for air and missile defense, said that Raytheon had invested its own funds over the past 18 months to add an X-band datalink to the SM-3’s existing S-band datalink. This enables guidance of the SM-3 by the Smart-L or Active Phased Array Radars (APARs) carried by the 10 European warships–three German F124 frigates, three Danish patrol vessels and four Dutch ADCF frigates.

The SM-3 missile fits in the Mk41 launchers that are carried by all these warships, Kramer said. He noted that a further 15 European warships are capable of ballistic missile defense. They are the five Spanish Aegis destroyers, six British Type 45 destroyers, and four Horizon-class frigates operated by France and Italy (two each). European missile house MBDA has ambitions to equip at least the Horizon and Type 45 warships with a ballistic missile defense capability, by adapting the Aster missiles that they already carry.

Kramer said that the SM-3 is the most widely tested exo-atmospheric kill vehicle, despite a recent failed flight of the latest Block 1B. This version is slated for ground-based deployment in Romania from 2015 in the second phase of the PAA. The company has invested in a new factory at Huntsville that can produce up to eight SM-3s per month. Kramer said that in addition to Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain, Australia and Korea are also interested in acquiring the SM-3.

SOURCE: Aviation International News

BAE Systems Hawk AJTS – photo BAE Systems

20 septembre 2011 par Nicolas Perron / aeroweb-fr.net

BAE agira à titre de maître d’œuvre et Northrop Grumman comme partenaire de fabrication. L’appareil proposé sera le Hawk AJTS (Advanced Jet Training System). Évidemment, afin de rencontrer les demandes du gouvernement américain, les avions seront assemblés aux États-Unis à un endroit qui n’a pas été annoncé.

«La vaste expérience de Northrop Grumman en tant que fabricant du T-38 Talon couplée à notre expertise de formation fera du Hawk AJTS - déjà une offre formidable – un candidat des plus compétitif dans ce marché », a déclaré Larry Prior, vice-président exécutif de BAE Systems. 

« L’équipe BAE Systems/Northrop-Grumman appliquera son expertise tirées de décennies de formation d’équipages et de fabrication aérospatiale à ce projet, permettant à l’USAF de réussir dans leurs missions essentielles », a déclaré Thomas E. Vice, vice-président de Northrop Grumman. Il a ajouté: « Nous sommes dans cette compétition pour gagner ».

Plus de 900 BAE Hawk ont été vendu depuis l’introduction de l’appareil en 1976. 18 clients utilisent le Hawk tel que le Canada, la US Navy, le Royaume-Uni et l’Australie.

Au moins trois autres candidats potentiels ont démontrés leur intérêt pour cette appel d’offre : le duo Lockheed Martin et Korean Aerospace Industrie avec le T-50, Alenia Aeronautica, qui recherche un partenaire américain, avec son M-346 et finalement Boeing, qui a montré de l’intérêt pour développer un tout nouvel appareil sans toutefois annoncé quoi que ce soit d’officiel.

À terme, l’USAF pourrait commander jusqu’à 350 exemplaires du nouvel appareil d’entraînement sélectionné.

Voici les spécifications du BAE Hawk AJTS :

• Équipage : 1 élève et 1 instructeur
• Longueur : 12,43 m
• Envergure : 9,94 m
• Hauteur : 3,98 m
• Poids à vide : 4480 kg
• Charge utile : 3000 kg
• Poids maximal au décollage : 9100 kg
• Motorisation : 1 x Rolls-Royce Adour Mk 951 de 6500 lb de poussée
• Vitesse maximale : Mach 0,84 (1028 km/h)
• Autonomie : 1360 nm (2520 km)

source Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria

September 19, 2011 defpro.com

"For the first time Bulgaria has hosted Multinational Special Operations Forces Exercise in which participate European NATO member states and partner states," said Bulgarian Defence Minister Anu Anguelov after the demonstrations on the VIP day of the Jackal Stone 2011 Multinational Special Operations Forces Exercise at Novo Selo training range.

The exercise takes place in the period September 6th – 30th on the territories of three states – Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine simultaneously and is coordinated by U.S. Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR).

"The exercise allows us to enhance interaction and improve the results of the units' preparation," emphasized Minister Anguelov.

The performance of the Bulgarian Special Forces was commended by Mr. Boyko Borisov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria who followed the demonstrations together with Minister Anguelov and H.E. James Warlick, Ambassador of the USA to Bulgaria.

Pursuant to the scenario, the joint Bulgarian-American groups apprehended weapons trafficker and a leader of a terrorist organization. They demonstrated activities on seizing and search of a building, taking biometric data for individual identification and blockage of moving motorcade.

The Special Forces performed "fast rope" airborne landing from Air Force Cougar helicopters where the aircraft hovered in close proximity to the target. The helicopters enabled the troops from air and demonstrated medical evacuation of a wounded in the course of action personnel.

The Exercise was also attended by Mr. Dobroslav Dimitrov, Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Policy and Defence, Mrs. Avgustina Tsvetkova, Deputy Minister of Defence, Vice Admiral Minko Kavaldzhiev, Deputy Chief of Defence, Lieutenant General Atanas Samandov, Commander of Joint Force Command, Major General Michael S. Repass, Commander of SOCEUR, Army and Air Force Commanders Major General Stefan Vasilev and Major General Konstantin Popov, General Plamen Lilov, Commander of 68 Special Forces Brigade, Mr. Marin Kavrakov and Mrs. Tanya Dimitrova, Sliven and Yambol District Governors, defence attaches, representatives of municipalities, etc.

For the first time Bulgarian military units have participated in the Joint Jackal Stone 2011 Multinational Special Operations Forces Exercise. Jackal Stone Exercise takes place in the period September 6th – 30th on the territories of three states – Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine simultaneously. More than 1500 Special Operations Forces troops from nine states – Bulgaria, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, the USA, Croatia, Ukraine and Hungary take part in it. Jackal Stone-2011 is coordinated by U.S. Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). Chief of the Multinational Joint Special Operations Forces Component Command HQ is Colonel Yavor Mateev, head of the Bulgarian MoD "Joint Facilities" department.

U.S. Defense Department's first F-35 Lightning II arrives at Eglin AFB.

(Photo: U.S. Air Force, Samuel King Jr)

September 19, 2011 defpro.com

(Unofficial translation of the Norwegian press release by defense-aerospace.com)

OSLO | The difficult economic situation in the United States makes this autumn's budget deliberations closely monitored from the Norwegian side. The House of Representatives has recently finalized the budget for 2012 and sent the proposal to the Senate. So far, there have not been any major cuts in the proposal for next year's defense budget, but one cannot ignore the fact that the budget process in the Senate, which is now ongoing, may result in the F-35 program being affected.

“From the Norwegian side, the ongoing budget process in the United States is followed continuously. Considering the financial situation in which the United States now finds itself, it is important to note that there may also be adjustments in programs that affect us,” says State Secretary of Defence Roger Ingebrigtsen.

“We are therefore in constant contact and dialogue with U.S. authorities at different levels, so we should be well informed. For the four training aircraft whose acquisition was decided in the spring, we have taken into account a possible adjustment of the purchasing and production plans in our uncertainty analysis,” continues Ingebrigtsen.

During the ongoing budget process in the Senate, it appears that one of the committees has proposed reducing funding for the F-35 program. The proposal means that the planned increase in production rate of F-35 will be postponed by two years.

This proposal from the committee is now being taken forward in the budget process and the final decision must be awaited before we know what the 2012 budget for F-35 is.

A decision in line with this proposal could result in a shift of the U.S. procurement plans.

The Norwegian F-35 program has been prepared for such delays, and they also have been taken into account in our cost calculations. But only when the budget is finalized, it can a thorough analysis be done of what a possible shift of the U.S. procurement plan entails. Such analysis is routinely performed by the Norwegian F-35 program when any such changes occur.

The Ministry's analysis of the situation in the United States suggests that there is strong political and military support for the F-35 program. Statements from senior politicians in Congress confirms this, and that the administration and military leaders have repeatedly stated that there are no alternatives to the F-35.

The Defense Ministry continues to follow developments in the budget process in the U.S. and looks continuously at the consequences that a possible cut in the F-35 program from the American side can have for Norwegian participation in the program.

However, there is still considerable uncertainty around the finalization of the U.S. budget and where any cuts are going to be taken.

18 Sep 2011 DefenseNews AFP

BUCHAREST - Romania cannot afford to purchase second-hand F-16 combat aircraft unless granted a long-term financing plan, Romanian president Traian Basescu said on Sept. 18.

"We have no money and we cannot commit ourselves to such a contract without a long-term financing scheme," Basescu said during an interview on private TV channel ProTV.

"There is no pressure from the U.S. to buy aircraft, but on joining NATO we committed ourselves to equipping the armed forces with 48 fighter jets compatible with the Alliance's," he added.

Romania had announced in March 2010 its decision to purchase 24 F-16 aircraft currently used by the U.S. air forces, at a cost of 1.3 billion dollars(1.1 billion euros), in order to replace its ageing, Soviet-made MiG Lancerjets.

The announcement triggered criticism from European groups Eurofighter and Saab, which stressed authorities should have issued a call for tenders. But a few months later, struggling with a deep economic crisis, the government announced it would not be able to finance the buy in 2010.

The American ambassador to Romania, Mark Gitenstein, this week said that a regional plan involving the purchase of new F-16 also by Croatia and Bulgaria was "in the works" in order to reduce costs. Maybe even the Hungarians and the Czechs might be interested, he said.

"Then you have a flow of orders that makes it easier to keep the assembly line open and reduces the cost per airplane," he said.

source FlightGlobal

September 16, 2011 Tony Osborne, SHEPARD GROUP

London - Lockheed Martin has revealed a possible solution to an expected Royal Navy requirement for helicopter-based airborne early warning system for its future aircraft carriers.

Currently the Fleet Air Arm operates a fleet of Sea King ASaC7 helicopters equipped with the Thales Searchwater radar system which provides airborne early warning and also an element of GMTI capability which has proved extremely useful for the coalition forces in Afghanistan. The aircraft have also recently been heavily tasked on Operation Ellamy in support of NATO operations in Libya.

Because the Sea King expected to exit service in 2016, before the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft is operational, work is underway to find a new methods of delivering helicopter-borne early warning capability.

Lockheed Martin are proposing a podded system which could be fitted onto the side of a Merlin helicopter. Inside the pod is a active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar which could be integrated into the mission consoles in the back of the upgraded Merlin Mk2 - work which is currently being undertaken by Lockheed Martin under the Merlin Capability Sustainment Programme (MCSP). Lockheed Martin says the benefits of the system include a 'low cost ownership as dedicated aircraft are not required.'

The pod also includes ESM sensors and the pods are expected to weigh around 280 kg. It's not clear how many pods would be fitted as a standard mission fit, but one pod on each side of the aircraft would give the radar operators 360 degrees of coverage.

AgustaWestland and Thales have also suggested using the Merlin as an AEW platform but this would require dedicated Merlins for the task, as the idea involves transferring the Searchwater radars and associated electronics out of the Sea King and into the Merlin with the radar retracting down under the tail boom where the rear ramp would be.