Final preparations of an RAF Tornado GR4 for the first UK air combat mission over Libya. (Photo: UK MoD, Lisa Conway)

July 1, 2011 Daniel Goure, Ph.D. - Early Warning Blog, Lexington Institute  / defpro.com

One of the eye-opening features of the three month old NATO air campaign in Libya is the hollowness of the world’s premier military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Let’s be honest, this is not a major conventional war against a capable adversary. The real challenge for NATO airpower is finding targets to hit. The Alliance publishes daily statistics of sorties flown and strike missions conducted. Of course, the vast majority of those strike missions are unsuccessful meaning that the aircraft went out armed and came back without having expended any ordinance.

Yet, without significant U.S. assistance, NATO would not have been able to initiate the air campaign and the Alliance’s air armada would be grounded today. The Libyan campaign began with several hundred cruise missile strikes on Libyan air defenses, most of which were conducted by U.S. ships and submarines. Ongoing patrols to suppress residual enemy air defenses are being conducted by U.S. Air Force F-16CJs and U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft. According to a White House report, the U.S. is providing nearly 70 percent of NATO’s ISR capability. This is not just a matter of numbers of sensor platforms. The U.S. deploys a range of unique capabilities for which there is no NATO counterparts including the U-2, the E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System ground surveillance aircraft, and the Navy's P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. The U.S. provides nearly 70 percent of the NATO operation's ISR capacity, according to the White House report. Without U.S. ISR assets, NATO would be conducting its air operations in the blind.

In a speech a few weeks ago to NATO leaders, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates directly took on the Alliance’s failure to invest wisely and strategically in capabilities any modern military needs to conduct operations. Speaking of the ongoing Libyan operation, Gates said:

“In particular, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets are lacking that would allow more allies to be involved and make an impact. The most advanced fighter aircraft are little use if allies do not have the means to identify, process, and strike targets as part of an integrated campaign. To run the air campaign, the NATO air operations center in Italy required a major augmentation of targeting specialists, mainly from the U.S., to do the job – a “just in time” infusion of personnel that may not always be available in future contingencies. We have the spectacle of an air operations center designed to handle more than 300 sorties a day struggling to launch about 150. Furthermore, the mightiest military alliance in history is only 11 weeks into an operation against a poorly armed regime in a sparsely populated country – yet many allies are beginning to run short of munitions, requiring the U.S., once more, to make up the difference.”

Advocates of cutting defense spending should ruminate on the current state of European defense before speaking so casually of reducing the defense budget by hundreds of billions of dollars. Only a handful of Alliance members other than the United States spend above the established minimum level which is 2 percent of GDP. Some of the other countries such as Belgium, Norway and Denmark have been able to, in Gates’ words, “punch above their weight” by focusing their limited resources on doing just a few missions. That is not an option for the United States. Europe is becoming militarily irrelevant. Cutting the defense budget risks doing the same thing to the United States.

Un C-2 A Greyhound au catapultage

crédits : US NAVY

01/07/2011 MER et MARINE

L'intervention militaire en Libye a mis en lumière une lacune de l'aéronautique navale française : le manque d'avions logistiques. Ces appareils, spécialisés dans le transport de fret et de personnel, sont conçus pour effectuer des rotations entre les bases à terre et les porte-avions. Lorsque ces derniers sont en opération, ils ne sont alors pas contraints de quitter la zone d'intervention pour se rapprocher d'un côte et effectuer des navettes avec leurs hélicoptères, moins rapide, à l'autonomie plus limitée et, in fine, plus coûteux. Le rayon d'action de ces avions procure, en outre, une autonomie totale du porte-avions, l'appareil pouvant franchir près de 1500 nautiques sans avoir besoin d'une base terrestre ou d'une autorisation de survol. Acheminement de pièces détachées ou de fret divers, relèves de personnel, évacuations médicales... L'avion logistique est un « taxi » des plus polyvalents, offrant une vraie valeur ajoutée au groupe aéronaval. Car il ne bénéficie pas uniquement au porte-avions, mais également aux bâtiments qui l'entourent, comme les frégates, qui ont également des besoins, notamment en rechanges. Ce mois-ci, la mise à disposition par l'US Navy durant deux semaines de deux Grumman C-2 A Greyhound affectés au soutien du Charles de Gaulle a clairement démontré les avantages de cet outil.


C-2 A Greyhound à l'appontage (© : US NAVY)

Une vielle demande

Depuis de nombreuses années, la Marine nationale a exprimé le besoin de disposer de ce type d'appareil. Mais, jusqu'ici, le projet a été retoqué pour des questions budgétaires. Pourtant, sur la durée, les militaires assurent que disposer d'un petit parc d'avions logistiques n'est pas plus coûteux. Pour bien faire, il en faudrait trois ou quatre. Mais, s'il était possible à la fin des années 90, alors que le Charles de Gaulle était en achèvement, d'acheter des C-2 d'occasion aux Etats-Unis, cette option n'est aujourd'hui plus envisageable. Car le Greyhound, entré en service en 1966 (il avait alors remplacé le C-1A Trader, dérivé du S-2 Tracker de lutte anti-sous-marine) vit ses dernières années. L'US Navy doit retirer cet appareil du service en 2014/2015 et le parc existant, limité à une trentaine de C-2 A, n'est pas trop important pour assurer les besoins de la marine américaine et de ses 11 porte-avions. C'est d'ailleurs pour cette raison que les deux C-2 A ayant récemment assuré des navettes entre Hyères et le Charles de Gaulle n'ont pu rester plus de deux semaines.


L'E-2 D Avanced Hawkeye (© : NORTHROP GRUMMAN)

Trouver un remplaçant

Les réflexions se poursuivent aux Etats-Unis pour trouver un successeur à cet avion, prolongé à plusieurs reprises. Alors que dernier programme d'extension de la durée de vie du Greyhound date de 2002, l'US Navy a évoqué en 2005 la possibilité de développer un nouvel appareil à partir de la cellule de l'avion de guet aérien Hawkeye. La formule n'est pas nouvelle puisque le C-2 A, lui-même, est dérivé de l'E-2 A, avec modification du fuselage et des trains d'atterrissage. Le recours à une base de cellule existante permettrait, comme il y a 50 ans, de réduire les coûts de développement et mutualiser la maintenance avec le parc d'Hawkeye, dont la dernière version, l'E-2D, sera bientôt opérationnelle. Si, pour l'heure, aucune décision n'a encore été prise quant au futur avion logistique embarqué, le dossier devrait revenir au goût du jour à l'approche de la date de retrait du C-2 A. Dans ce contexte, les marines française et britannique pourraient être intéressées par le nouveau programme, en vue de disposer enfin d'un parc d'avions logistiques. La Marine nationale disposerait alors d'une capacité qui lui fait cruellement défaut (et pourrait mutualiser la maintenance avec ses Hawkeye) et la Royal Navy, qui a décidé de doter son futur porte-avions de catapultes, bénéficierait des mêmes avantages. De plus, dans le cadre des accords de défense franco-britanniques et des projets de coopération entre les deux pays en matière de groupes aéronavals, il serait même possible d'imaginer un parc commun pouvant être utilisé pour les besoins de chacun.


C-2 A sur le Charles de Gaulle (© : US NAVY)

June 30, 2011 USS Bataan Public Affairs / NNS - defpro.com

USS BATAAN, At Sea | Sailors and Marines of the U.S. Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (BATARG) and 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) completed the bilateral Spanish Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX) 2011 off the coast of Spain June 29.

The exercise, which began June 22, partnered 800 Spanish service members with 4,000 Sailors and Marines from the BATARG/22nd MEU for combined joint air and amphibious operations from the sea and on the shores of Spain.

"It was great to be out here conducting valuable training with our long-standing Spanish partners," said Capt. Steve Yoder, commander, Amphibious Squadron (PHIBRON) 6. "Over the past several days we've tested our amphibious capabilities as a bilateral team, and I could not be more proud of how each Sailor and Marine performed. This was truly a graduate-level exercise, and every person rose to the challenge by accomplishing each task smoothly, safely and professionally."

PHIBLEX was specifically developed to improve interoperability, increase readiness and develop professional relationships between the two forces.

"It was an absolute success," said Capt. Steve Koehler, USS Bataan (LHD 5) commanding officer. "Having the opportunity to integrate with the Spanish naval forces throughout the planning and the execution of this exercise has built invaluable mutual trust and cooperation that our navies will be able to build upon for years to come. It was a tremendous experience for our Sailors and Marines."

PHIBLEX took weeks of planning and coordination between Spanish and U.S. forces.

"PHIBLEX was the culmination of over six months of very deliberate planning and coordination between 22nd MEU, [U.S.] 6th Fleet, U.S. Embassy [Spain], and Spanish planners that paid off over the last 10 days with some tremendously valuable military-to-military training," said Col. Eric Steidl, 22nd MEU commanding officer. "Sharing the common bond found between brothers-in-arms, we and our Spanish counterparts developed lasting relationships and took away many valuable lessons learned. This was truly a great experience and one that will be remembered for a long time. Congratulations to the Marines and Sailors of BATARG/22nd MEU for the safe and timely execution of a very dynamic and complex exercise."

PHIBLEX events included amphibious operations from the well decks of Bataan, dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41) and amphibious transport dock USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19), flight operations ashore and from the flight deck of Bataan, as well as parachute, fast rope, medical evacuation and non-combatant evacuation training from a military training facility in the area of Sierra Del Retin, Spain.

"It's always a benefit when our two countries can work together," said Spanish Marine Corps Major Carlier Grana, Commander Naval Group 2 operations officer. "In our current international environment, emerging risks exist that make it extremely important for us to be familiar with one another."

The exercise culminated during a full-scale amphibious landing demonstration that combined surface, amphibious and flight operations.

"What we do is train to go to war," said Marine Corps Capt. John Bradley, PHIBRON-6 combat cargo officer. "So this is important when it comes time to go to war and do your job in the military. It equips us to train as a team; to train to fight, so if we actually get the call in a real-world situation to debark Marines, go ashore and fight in harms way … then the amphibious portion that takes place is not going to be an issue.

PHIBLEX required the movement of approximately 1,400 Marines, 134 vehicles and tons of equipment. Bradley coordinated with combat cargo teams from the Spanish military and aboard all three ships to conduct the massive offload ashore and keep the movement as smooth as possible.

"A lot of people were involved," said Bradley. "We've learned so much from the planning process, to the communications from higher headquarters and the ships, to the Marines on the beach. All of those came together. Everybody got some experience together as a team, and we got to work together as a team on a large scale. That can only make our next exercise that much better."

The BATARG and 22nd MEU deployed three months ahead of their original schedule to relieve the Kearsarge ARG and 26th MEU. The blue-green team conducted integrated training throughout April to arrive on station and provide the combatant commander with a versatile sea-based force that can be tailored to a variety of missions.

Bataan is the command ship of the BATARG, supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility.

La frégate Ventôse et le destroyer russe Chabanenko, lundi à Norfolk

crédits : US NAVY

29/06/2011 MER et MARINE

La frégate de surveillance Ventôse participe depuis lundi à l'exercice quadripartite FRUKUS, réunissant des bâtiments des marines française, russe, britannique et américaine (France, Russia, UK United States - FRUKUS). Ces manoeuvres, qui se déroulent au large des côtes de Virginie, réunissent, outre le Ventôse, les destroyers lance-missiles Admiral Chabanenko, HMS Dauntless et USS James E. Williams. Créé dans les années 90, FRUKUS permet aux quatre flottes de mener régulièrement ensemble des exercices et renforcer ainsi l'interopérabilité des moyens comme de partager les différentes pratiques entre pays. Cette année, l'exercice, qui porte sur différents domaines de lutte, s'intéresse notamment à la lutte contre la piraterie et les opérations d'interdiction maritime.

28/06/11 By Craig Hoyle SOURCE:Flight International

The Swedish air force is nearing a decision on a long-planned avionics modernisation programme for its Lockheed Martin C-130H transports, according to the service's inspector general, Maj Gen Anders Silwer.

"We have offers, and the FMV [Defence Materiel Administration] is looking at them right now," Silwer said at the Paris air show on 22 June. "We don't have a decision yet, but the requirement is funded."

Flightglobal's MiliCAS database records the Swedish air force's oldest of eight C-130s as having been delivered in 1965, while its five most recent examples entered use in 1981.

Stockholm had previously planned to put its eight-strong Hercules fleet through the US Air Force's Boeing-led C-130 avionics modernisation programme, but Silwer said its interest ended when proposed unit costs increased after Washington reduced the scale of its upgrade project.

One of Sweden's C-130s - 1969-vintage aircraft 842 - saw use as a tanker during the early part of the air force's "Karakal" contribution to NATO's Unified Protector campaign over Libya.

This has since returned to Sweden, where it is now being used to support additional air-to-air refuelling training for pilots flying the Saab JAS39 Gripen. The air force's Gripen detachment at Sigonella in Sicily now relies on tanker support from US Air Force McDonnell Douglas KC-10s and Boeing KC/C-135s from the US and French air forces while performing reconnaissance missions over the Libyan mainland.

In addition to operating its C-130s, Sweden also is a partner in NATO's Strategic Airlift Capability programme, through which it pays for 500 flight hours a year on the Heavy Airlift Wing's three Boeing C-17 airlifters.

Un C-2 A Greyhound sur le porte-avions Charles de Gaulle

crédits : EMA

28/06/2011 MER et MARINE

Après deux semaines d'opérations au profit de la Marine nationale, les deux C-2 A Greyhound mis à disposition de la France par les Etats-Unis ont repris leurs missions au sein de l'US Navy. Les avions, ainsi que le détachement américain présent à Hyères, sont partis le 18 juin. Les militaires français auraient souhaité pouvoir profiter de ces appareils plus longtemps mais l'US Navy, dont le parc de C-2 est limité à une trentaine d'avions, a été contrainte de récupérer ceux déployés en France pour ses propres besoins. L'expérience est, en tous cas, jugée très positive par les militaires français. Pendant deux semaines, les Greyhound ont fait la navette entre Hyères et le porte-avions Charles de Gaulle, déployé au large de la Libye dans le cadre de l'opération Harmattan/Unified Protector. La présence des avions logistiques américains a permis d'acheminer du fret (notamment des pièces de rechange) et des personnels à bord du bâtiment, sans que celui-ci soit contraint de se rapprocher d'une côte pour réaliser des liaisons avec ses hélicoptères (méthode peu commode en opérations, plus longues et plus onéreuse). « Ce qui a été fait est remarquable. Le fait que les Américains acceptent de venir sur le Charles de Gaulle prouve que nous sommes à un standard compatible avec le leur. Il y a une vraie confiance mutuelle », souligne un officier, rappelant que ce soutien est le fruit de nombreux échanges menés ces dernières années entre la Marine nationale et l'US Navy.

On notera enfin que pendant Harmattan, les C-2 A n'ont pas uniquement travaillé au profit du Charles de Gaulle, mais en fait pour l'ensemble du groupe aéronaval. Les frégates ont, ainsi, pu récupérer des pièces détachées très rapidement. « La livraison des pièces pour certaines frégates a pris deux jours, contre une dizaine si nous n'avions pas eu ces avions ».


Un C-2 A à l'appontage sur le CDG durant l'opération Harmattan (© : EMA)

27/06/2011 par Guillaume Atchouel - .ladepeche.fr

Le président et le responsable commercial d'Aerotechnic, une entreprise aéronautique de Pinsaguel, en Haute-Garonne, viennent d'être inculpés de trafic d'armes vers l'Iran par un juge des États-Unis.

L'information vient d'être révélée par le ministère de la Justice américain. Le président et le responsable commercial d'Aerotechnic, une entreprise de Pinsaguel en Haute-Garonne ont été, en fin de semaine dernière, inculpés aux États-Unis de trafic d'armes vers l'Iran.

Selon Dean Boyd, un porte-parole du ministère de la Justice américaine, l'entreprise, qui est spécialisée dans le stockage et la revente de pièces détachées pour l'aéronautique, est accusée de s'être « illégalement procurée aux États-Unis de l'équipement militaire destiné à des hélicoptères d'assaut et des chasseurs et de l'avoir expédié en Iran ». Selon l'acte d'accusation il s'agirait de pièces détachées et d'équipements militaires destinés à des hélicoptères d'assaut Bell AH-1 et UH-1 Huey, ainsi qu'à des chasseurs F-5 et F-4.

Sept personnes et cinq sociétés poursuivies

Au total, dans ce dossier, sept personnes et cinq sociétés basées aux États-Unis, en Iran, en France et aux Émirats Arabes ont été inculpées par un tribunal de Géorgie (Sud des USA) pour « violation de la législation sur le contrôle de l'exportation d'armes et des réglementations des transactions avec l'Iran, complot pour escroquer les États-Unis, blanchiment d'argent et fausses déclarations ».

Philippe Sanchez, le PDG d'Aerotechnic se dit « stupéfait » de cette inculpation et assure que rien ne lui a été notifié sur cette affaire.

Il dément les faits qui lui sont reprochés et indique avoir eu très peu de contacts voire aucun avec les autres entreprises incriminées.

Philippe Sanchez et Luc Teuly, son responsable commercial, devraient très certainement en savoir davantage dans les jours qui viennent sur les faits qui leur sont reprochés.

Leur inculpation devrait quelque peu compliquer, voire stopper nette, l'activité d'Aerotechnic aux États-Unis, entreprise qui compte 25 salariés sur son site de Pinsaguel.

L'activité principale d'Aerotechnic, qui possède aussi des entrepôts de stockage en Afrique du Sud, est de fournir des pièces détachées d'aéronefs partout dans le monde, et ce, dans un minimum de temps.

June 27, 2011: STRATEGY PAGE

For the second time in three years, Britain has found itself with too small a stockpile of spare parts for its combat aircraft. This time it’s the new Typhoon jet fighters. For the last three months, eight of Britain's Typhoons have been operating over Libya. This has exhausted the supply of spare parts. So several Typhoons were taken out of service and are being picked apart to supply spares. The Royal Air Force put the Typhoon into service three years ago, and about 60 are now operational (less aircraft being cannibalized for spares.)

Three years ago, Britain had the same problem keeping eight AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships operating in Afghanistan. The parts shortage caused some other problems as well. Back then, Britain had 67 AH-64s, and was supposed to have 144 two man crews (pilot and weapons operator). But there were only 68 crews, and the Royal Air Force (RAF) then has lowered the goal to 120 crews. Because of parts shortages, and cannibalizing helicopters for parts, only about a third of the AH-64s were fit for service, either in Afghanistan, or for training pilots back in Britain. Crews serve two month tours in Afghanistan, often twice a year.

The problems have been building for several years. Cuts in defense spending have led to low stockpiles of spare parts for many major weapons systems. As a result, the hard working British AH-64 helicopter gunships in Afghanistan were suffering a chronic shortage of spare parts. In reaction to this, hundreds of parts were removed from Britain's AH-64 fleet in order to keep those in Afghanistan in working order. Some British commanders wanted to get more AH-64s to Afghanistan, but the spare parts situation makes that inadvisable (as it would ground a large number of other AH-64s that were cannibalized.) Three years later, the same thing is happening with the Typhoon.

Britain has been cutting back on defense spending since the end of the Cold War in 1991, as have most other European countries. But operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have put more helicopters into the air, more often, and in very demanding (hot and dusty) conditions. This has used up spare parts stockpiles (which were not large to begin with), causing many helicopters to be sidelined and often cannibalized for parts, to keep others in the air. The lack of flyable AH-64s has been a major cause of the crew shortage (machines not available for training), in addition to difficulty in recruiting suitable candidates to operate the AH-64s. A similar pattern is developing with the Typhoon.

Britain is not alone in suffering from this problem. A study of the first year of the Iraq war revealed a lack of U.S. war reserve stocks. These are supplies (especially ammo and spare parts) that are stockpiled in peacetime so that, when a war comes, the troops would have adequate supplies for the first few months of the conflict. Or at least until new supplies could be ordered and delivered.

After the Cold War ended in 1991, the war rather large reserve stocks were allowed to run down, or were sold off. The Cold War stocks were large, and expensive to maintain. It made sense to reduce them. But not much was purchased to create “post-Cold War” war reserve stocks. To compound the problem, the Pentagon had not developed an effective inventory control system for wartime operations. The military war reserve stocks were managed like there would never be a war. Strange, but true. The Afghanistan operations used so few resources that it had hardly any impact on the war reserve stocks. But Iraq gave the system a real workout, and the logistics and supply people had to make things up as they went along. The result was an expensive scramble, producing too few, or too many needed items. The lack of planning led to problems like being unable to accurately track the movement of the two million tons of supplies shipped that year. It was so bad, that some items were not even packaged properly to survive shipment overseas. Supplies weren’t the only thing that didn’t move properly. The lack of planning, and peacetime training exercises, also meant that money was often not delivered to key vendors in time. This was particularly troublesome when the vendor happened to be an air or sea freight company.

The U.S. Transportation Command, and several other agencies involved in this mess, all pledged to set things right and sin no more. They were half right. Everyone hustled to get the system patched up and functioning for now. But in the future, the same rot and sloppiness will seep back in. That’s what has happened time and again in the past. Odds are, it will happen yet again. People like to talk about future wars, but no one likes to spend money on getting ready to buy, store and ship the needed supplies.

photo army.mod.uk

24 Jun 2011 By DAVE MAJUMDAR DefenseNews

PARIS - BAE Systems is proposing a new millimeter wave radar-based imaging system for the U.S. Army's nascent Brownout Landing Aid System Technology (BLAST) effort.

Brownouts are a phenomenon where particulate matter is kicked into the air in a desert or dusty environment by a helicopter's rotors and obscures the pilot's view of his surroundings when a helicopter is very near the ground, Brownouts can potentially lead to a crash.

Although one solution is increased training, the infusion of technology could greatly reduce the number of accidents, especially if both are done in tandem.

BLAST is an Army effort to do just that, said Mark Sadel, BAE Systems' director of international business development.

"We've come up with BLAST, which is a capability to see though all obscurants," Sadel said.

BAE's solution uses very lightweight 94 GHz millimeter wave radar to create a synthetic image of the helicopter's surrounding, which can then be fed into the pilot's helmet to restore his situational awareness.

The development of small computers capable of generating massive processing power enabled the breakthrough, Sadel said. "That's the secret," he said.

The radar has enough processing power to image even moving contacts, he said.

Though the company has not studied the issue, the system also could have tactical applications, he said.

23.06.2011 army-guide.com

KONGSBERG has booked an order valued at NOK 315 million from the US Army. The order is part of the increase of the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Stations (CROWS) framework agreement for up to 11.690 systems signed in February 2011.

The initial CROWS II framework agreement was disclosed on 22 August 2007.

CROWS is a joint acquisition program for weapon stations for the US Army`s vehicle programs. A common solution will result in substantial efficiency gains in respect of protection, training, support and further development.

The Protector Weapon Control System protects military troops by allowing the vehicle's weapons to be operated from a protected position inside the vehicle.

PARIS, June 22 (UPI)

U.S. company Sikorsky Aerospace Services and Saab of Sweden are supporting UH-60M helicopters recently bought by Sweden's military.

Under the teaming agreement, SAS and Saab will provide logistics support for 15 UH-60M Black Hawks that will be operated by the Swedish air force in Linkoping.

The companies, in an announcement from the Paris Air Show, said the agreement will commence when the first UH-60M is delivered this year.

"We look forward to working with Saab to ensure this powerful aircraft operates at peak readiness rates and enables the Swedish air force to successfully conduct their missions," said David Adler, president of Sikorsky Aerospace Services.

The Swedish air force, which is receiving the UH-60Ms through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales process, intends to use the aircraft for medical evacuation, utility, and search-and-rescue missions.

"This is yet another key step in our efforts regarding maintenance, support and training in the helicopter field," said Lars-Erik Wige, senior vice president and head of Saab Business Unit Support and Services. "Our collaboration with Sikorsky means that we are building up expertise with regard to Sweden's new helicopter system."

The UH-60M helicopter is the latest version in the long and highly successful Black Hawk. It provides additional payload and range, advanced digital avionics, improved handling qualities and situational awareness, active vibration control, and improved survivability compared with the predecessor UH-60L model.

08 June 2011 ThalesRaytheonSystems

FULLERTON, Calif. – ThalesRaytheonSystems today announced that advanced Firefinder radars have been fielded in theater supporting and protecting U.S. troops and allies.

Forty percent of deliveries are complete with final delivery scheduled in early 2013.

Reliability and maintainability improvements have been added to the AN/TPQ-37 Firefinder Weapon Locating Radar system that supports an extended service life with reduced life-cycle costs. Currently fielded in Iraq, upgraded Firefinders are scheduled to be deployed into Afghanistan in the coming months.

ThalesRaytheonSystems, in conjunction with Tobyhanna Army Depot, is delivering modernized radars that include a new modular, air-cooled transmitter; a new Operations Control shelter; and a new, common radar processor applied across the U.S. Army’s entire fleet of AN/TPQ-37 Firefinder systems. It is known as the Reliability Maintainability Improvement (RMI) program. Forty percent of deliveries are complete with final delivery scheduled in early 2013.

“These RMI systems can be deployed with confidence for effective operations in challenging environmental conditions,” said Kim Kerry, chief executive officer, ThalesRaytheonSystems, U.S. Operations. “The Firefinder modernization provides the U.S. Army and allies around the world with the capabilities needed for detection and troop protection.” Firefinders are precise detection and location systems designed to find enemy artillery, mortar and rocket firing positions. The radar also predicts impact zones and transmits data to friendly forces, allowing time for effective counter-fire tactics. Nearly 400 Firefinders are deployed by 18 nations worldwide. Sized for easy transport, they are prized for their accuracy, mobility, reliability and low life-cycle costs.

Along with its Improved Sentinel Battlefield Air Defense Radar (AN/MPQ-64F1) and the AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder Weapon Locating Radar, ThalesRaytheonSystems’ radar capabilities are currently unmatched by prototypes and other unproven technologies too costly and cumbersome to meet 21st century battlefield requirements.

source naval-technology.com

22 Jun 2011 | Ref. 113/2011 BAE Systems

Minneapolis, Minn. – BAE Systems received a $26.6 million contract modification from the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to produce two additional units of the Virginia Class Propulsor. This award is an important step in strengthening BAE Systems’ Propulsor manufacturing base in Louisville, Ky., following its move from Minneapolis. BAE Systems has already produced and delivered 11 Propulsor units to the U.S. Navy.

"It is important to BAE Systems to demonstrate our commitment to cost, quality, and schedule to our valued Navy customer," said Mark Signorelli, vice president and general manager of Weapon Systems for BAE Systems. "Through multiple reviews and hard work by our team, we are reinforcing the high standards we've set for this product. We believe this award is a reflection of earned trust in our capabilities in Louisville."

The award includes funding for the manufacture and delivery of fiscal year 2011 Propulsor units, long-lead material funding for fiscal year 2012 units, and associated spare hardware for the Virginia Class Submarine program.

Production of fiscal year 2011 units will begin this summer, with delivery scheduled for 2013. Work under this contract is expected to be completed by March 2014.