The US Air Force (USAF) has begun an immediate action Time Compliance Technical Order (TCTO) on the F-22 Raptor's Emergency Oxygen System (EOS) to ensure full functionality in the wake of its increased usage under current operating procedures.

12 December 2011 airforce-technology.com

USAF pilots operating the F-22 experienced performance abnormalities on some of the EOS activations, which were analysed and corrective measures validated and verified.

The EOS is a self-contained, pilot-activated backup liquid oxygen system mounted on the jet's ejection seat and designed for use during main life-support system failure.

The EOS is a precautionary measure to protect pilots when they are faced with air supply problems.

The radar-evading F-22 Raptors have been barred from flying above 25,000ft since January 2011 following the crash of a jet in Alaska during a training flight as well as reports about pilots facing oxygen-related problems while flying the aircraft.

The fleet resumed flight operations in September 2011 following a four-and-a-half month grounding after mitigating the risk factors associated with the aircraft's oxygen system.

The F-22A Raptor is a supersonic, advanced tactical jet powered by dual F119-100 Pratt & Whitney engines, and is designed for stealth and greater cruise speed and agility. The aircraft has been used by the USAF since December 2005.

It features a radar warning receiver, information and electronic warfare systems, intra-flight data link, joint tactical information distribution system (JTIDS) link, and an identification friend system.

The aircraft, designed to replace the F-15, is armed with AIM-120A and AIM-120C AMRAAM missiles and two 1,000lb GBU-32 joint direct attack munitions (JDAM).

The USAF currently operates about 175 Raptors and is scheduled to receive new F-22s from Lockheed Martin.

Image Caption:The F-22A Raptor is a supersonic, advanced tactical fighter jet designed for stealth and greater cruise speed and agility.

Computer-generated imagery of one of several configurations that the US Army is looking at as part of the initial development work on its next-generation helicopters. (US Army imagery)

Dec. 12, 2011 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: US Army; issued Dec. 9, 2011)

WASHINGTON --- The Pentagon and the U.S. Army are in the early stages of a far-reaching Science & Technology effort designed to engineer, build and deliver a next-generation helicopter with vastly improved avionics, electronics, range, speed, propulsion, survivability, operating density altitudes and payload capacity, service officials said.

The Army-led Joint Multi-Role, or JMR program is a broadly-scoped Pentagon effort, including input, officials and working group members from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, other military services, Coast Guard, Special Operations Command and NASA, among others.

"Our overall philosophy from a program perspective is to leverage what we are learning from the user communities and establish what technologies will provide the desired new capability. Right now the Future Vertical Lift community is working on developing the capabilities document," said Ned Chase, chief, Platform Technology Division, Aviation Applied Technology Directorate, and science and technology lead for the JMR Technology Demonstrator Program.

VISION OF CAPABILITIES

Building a helicopter able to sustain speeds in excess of 170 knots, achieve an overall combat range greater than 800 kilometers (combat radius of 424 kilometers) and hover with a full combat load under high/hot conditions (altitudes of 6,000 feet and 95 degrees F) are among the many capabilities sought after for the JMR. Plans for the next-generation aircraft also include having a degree of autonomous flight capability or being "optionally manned," successful weapons integration and compatibility, a core common architecture in terms of next-generation electronics, sensors and on-board avionics, manned-unmanned teaming ability and shipboard compatibility.

"We're trying to create a vision," Chase said, referring to the effort to harness technological innovation with a mind to looking beyond current force technology and identifying possible next-generation solutions in a range of areas such as propulsion, airframe materials, rotor systems, engine technology, survivability equipment and Mission Systems, among others.

The JMR program, which seeks to begin designing several "demonstrator" aircraft by 2013 and conduct a first flight in 2017 as a series of first steps toward developing a next-generation fleet of helicopters, is a subset of the Pentagon's Joint Future Vertical Lift effort squarely aimed at exploring emerging technologies and best identifying the realm of the possible with respect to future aircraft and helicopter capabilities. The DOD plans to begin fielding a new fleet of next-generation helicopters by 2030.

TECHNOLOGY TO YIELD SAVINGS

"The JMR Program is a key part of our strategy to modernize vertical-lift capability long term. With current budget pressures, it is critical that a strong industry-government-academia team be fleshing out the technology enablers in integrated relevant contexts to establish a solid case for both the operational and fiscal benefits of these advanced aircraft," said Army Chief Scientist Dr. Scott Fish.

"This team will be leveraging not only lessons learned from recent conflicts, but a broad spectrum of Army and DOD basic and applied research investments made in areas which include: engine and driveline efficiency and cost reduction, advanced materials including polymeric and metal matrix composites, sensor/weapon/other payload integration cost reduction, and very high-performance aerodynamic and reliability modeling and simulation. These investments position us well for risk and cost reduction in our vertical-lift endeavors," Fish said.

JMR CONFIGURATIONS

Planned mission sets for the JMR include cargo, utility, armed scout, attack, humanitarian assistance, MEDEVAC, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, land/sea search and rescue, special warfare support, vertical replenishment, airborne mine countermeasures, and others, according a Nov. 9 Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator Phase 2 Mission Systems Demonstration Request for Information, or RFI.

The over-arching JFVL efforts span a range of four classes of future aircraft, ranging from light helicopters to medium and heavy-lift variants and an ultra-class category designed to build a new fleet of super-heavy-lift aircraft. The ultra-class aircraft will be designed to lift, transport and maneuver large vehicles around the battlefield such as Strykers and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles known as MRAPs. The ultra-class variant, described as a C-130 type of transport aircraft, is part of an Air Force led, Army-Air Force collaborative S&T effort called Joint Future Theater Lift, or JFTL.

TWO PHASES

The JMR Technology Demonstrator effort is broken down into two distinct, measurable phases; phase one includes an 18-month Configuration and Trades Analysis, or CT&A, designed to explore technological possibilities for a new platform or Air Vehicle. Phase one also includes the design, fabrication and test of several demonstrator aircraft, Chase explained.

Phase two will be focused on trade studies and the development of mission systems. The idea is to build several "Technology Demonstrator" helicopters as a method of refining and informing the requirements for the new aircraft, requirements which will likely evolve and change as technologies mature and emerge over time, officials said.

The JFVL effort, which includes both the JMR acquisition program as well as the JMR Technology Demonstrator effort, is designed to incorporate findings from a series of OSD-led studies and analyses on Future Vertical Lift directed by the secretary of Defense in 2009, including a Rotorcraft Survivability Study, a capabilities-based assessment, an S&T plan and a strategic plan.

FOUR INDUSTRY TEAMS

The JMR S&T effort, led by the Army's Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center, or AMRDEC, at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., has awarded "concept trade and analysis" deals with four industry teams tasked with examining the set of attributes, designs and technologies needed to build a new, more capable attack or utility helicopter, said Dave Weller, science and technology nanager, Program Executive Office - Aviation.

"The real focus of JMR is to get at the three major tenets: improve the performance, improve the survivability and significantly reduce the operating cost. The next-generation aircraft will have to be a whole lot less expensive to operate than the current fleet," Weller added. "Also, a big issue is increasing reliability and shortening the supply chain to get the logistical benefits of commonality of parts. When we did an adjunct capability-based assessment done to identify gaps - we came up with some 55 gap areas. The number one gap was reliability."

While the JMR program includes the exploration of light, medium and heavy-lift helicopter variants, the effort will initially focus on medium-lift options.

The Army' s Aviation Applied Technology Directorate, or AATD, at Fort Eustis, Va., which leads the execution of the tech-demo effort on behalf of AMRDEC, awarded 18-month Technology Investment Agreements to Boeing, a Bell-Boeing team, Sikorsky and a 15-month contract to the AVX Corporation. The first phase of the process will be for the government and its industry partners to conduct analytical studies and trade assessments designed to articulate the scope of what might be technically possible. These initial findings will help inform the specifications to describe the rotorcraft demonstrator vehicles which will then be built.

TWO DEMO AIRCRAFT

"Right now the plan is to go through the first phase to define what the state of the possible would be, followed by a down-select to build two demonstrators. The idea is to identify, develop and demonstrate the best trade solution that covers the attribute matrix. The government is doing the same kind of analysis that industry is doing, so we plan to compare our results," Weller explained.

Initial results from these efforts are due by the end of next year, Weller said.

"We're doing these trade studies to figure out the best way to optimize aircraft. We are working very closely with our user committees who have identified the types of capabilities they would like these future aircraft to have," Chase added.

Building a new aircraft from the ground up is part of an overall strategic effort to harness the best new technologies, allow for the platform to be upgraded as new technologies emerge, integrate systems into a common architecture and, perhaps most of all, drive down costs.

AFFORDABILITY IMPORTANT

Affordability is the utmost priority with the JMR effort, Chase and Weller emphasized. "It is envisioned that some of these novel ideas may not only drive down the acquisition cost, but also allow much easier and cheaper incorporation of upgrades to the aircraft and its systems," the JMR RFI documents state.

With these Configuration Trades and Analysis studies, Army S&T has taken the lead in exploring the operational benefit and technical feasibility of advanced vertical lift air vehicles, working in concert with the Army's acquisition and requirements communities, said Mac Dinning, AMRDEC aviation liaison for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology).

"While this program is currently wholly funded by the Army, other services are actively participating to define and develop a Joint Service Air Vehicle system that might replace the existing Black Hawk/Seahawk and Apache medium fleet aircraft," Dinning said.

PHASE I - Air Vehicle

The goal of the JMR S&T program is to leverage the S&T needed to successfully influence the development of a program of record, Weller explained. The program plans to have an approved initial capabilities document by April 2013.

The areas of S&T focus on the JMR Technology Demonstrator program span a wide spectrum of emerging technologies from composite materials to electronics and various rotor configurations designed to increase speed without compromising hover ability, Weller said.

For example, one of several existing "compound helicopter" technologies under examination is the potential use of a coaxial rotor system. With this technology, the idea is to place auxiliary propulsion technologies or "thrusting" devices at the back end of the aircraft to provide extra speed, Weller explained.

Another example of these so-called configurations is to build a helicopter which uses two turbo-shaft engines and two small fixed wings on each side of the aircraft fitted with a pusher-propeller for extra propulsion.

TILT-ROTOR TECHNOLOGY

Also under examination is the potential use of tilt-rotor aircraft technology such as that currently used for the V-22 Osprey; with this design, the aircraft can reach high speeds in airplane mode and then maintain its ability to hover successfully in helicopter mode.

"When you develop capability like these, however, you give up some hover ability. A main focus of the research is to look at ways of increasing speed without sacrificing the ability to hover," Weller said. "Part of the Science and Technology program is to look at different configurations."

One of the options being taken up through this effort is the exploration of multi-speed transmission capability, a unique configuration designed to increase speed while avoiding the aerodynamic phenomenon of transonic shock, Dinning explained.

"All of the helicopters we develop now are built with a single-speed transmission. We are looking at how we can leverage technology and put in a multi-speed capability," he said.

NEW MATERIALS

In addition, the new Air Vehicle may contain composite materials and or items now in development, Chase explained.

"We are exploring how to get the most efficiency out of the new structure that we can. One way to do that may be by using composite materials," he added.

Increasing Air Vehicle speed can shorten the response time for these extended missions or combat radius, a critical necessity for saving lives through MEDEVAC operations, and getting supplies such as food, water and ammo to forward-positioned forces, Dinning explained.

"Current helicopter systems are designed to operate for about two hours without refueling. Typical cruise speeds of 140 knots limit the range that these aircraft can operate in," Dinning said.

Short of off-loading payload (troops, weapons, cargo) to add extra fuel bladders, extended-range operations must rely on Forward Arming and Refueling Points, or FARPs, where fuel and armaments are pre-positioned. "The Army recognizes the need to reduce the manned footprint of these forward operation positions," Dinning said.

Non-linear, asymmetric or counterinsurgency-type environments, such as the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, underscore the need to reduce the risks associated with having deployed units travel to potentially hostile pre-positioned locations to set up FARPs, he said.

Phase 1 will be followed by a Phase 2 extensive Mission Systems and Aircraft Survivability Equipment, or ASE S&T developmental effort.

photo Presse Canadienne

Les militaires utilisent principalement des appareils de type CP-140 Aurora dans le cadre de leurs missions de surveillance, mais l'avenir de ces avions demeure couronné d'un point d'interrogation.

11 décembre 2011 La Presse Canadienne Kingston

Les forces spéciales du Canada se tournent vers le secteur privé afin qu'il les prévienne de toute éventuelle menace de terrorisme en provenance de la mer.

L'organisation ultrasecrète compte tirer profit d'un contrat de surveillance et d'application des règlements de pêche accordé à Provincial Airlines, filiale de Provincial Aerospace, à Saint-Jean de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador, afin d'avoir à l'oeil les mouvements des bâtiments jugés d'un intérêt particulier, au large de des côtes canadiennes.

Dans une note d'information préparée à l'intention de l'ancien commandant des forces d'élite, il est expliqué que le gouvernement compte de nombreux appareils, incluant des hélicoptères militaires et de la Gendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC) utilisés en cas d'urgence au sol, mais que les «options sont considérablement réduites» lorsqu'il est question de menaces maritimes.

Les militaires utilisent principalement des appareils de type CP-140 Aurora dans le cadre de leurs missions de surveillance, mais l'avenir de ces avions qui datent d'une trentaine d'années demeure couronné d'un point d'interrogation, malgré les récentes modifications apportées à leur système électronique.

D'éventuelles améliorations supplémentaires à ces quadrimoteurs sont matière à débat, selon des sources au sein du ministère fédéral de la Défense nationale.

Le ministère des Pêches et Océans confie ses tâches de surveillance au secteur privé du transport aérien, et les militaires financent déjà en partie cette entente, payant pour des heures de vol d'appareils Super King Air 200 basés à Saint-Jean, à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador, Halifax, en Nouvelle-Écosse, et Comox, en Colombie-Britannique.

Provincial Airlines «pourrait combler le vide à un coût minimal» pour le commandement des forces spéciales, peut-on lire dans la note datée du 8 juillet 2010, préparée pour le brigadier-général Mike Day, qui assume aujourd'hui un poste de commandement au sein des troupes assurant la formation de l'armée afghane.

Les forces spéciales, largement indépendantes de l'armée régulière, ont depuis fait appel aux services du secteur privé à au moins deux reprises, dans chaque cas pour des missions de formation.

Cela reflète une tendance croissante dans les Forces canadiennes. L'aviation a loué des véhicules aériens sans pilote dans le cadre de la mission afghane et a confié à une partie extérieure l'entretien à long terme de certains de ses nouveaux appareils.

L'actuel commandant des forces spéciales, le brigadier-général Denis Thompson, a assuré que le recours au secteur privé n'avait rien de préoccupant en ce qui a trait à la sécurité. Il a ajouté que son expertise était utile.

«Il s'agit de la plus complexe des opérations quand on y pense», a-t-il affirmé lors d'une entrevue avec La Presse Canadienne.

12 décembre 2011 par info-aviation

L’US Air Force a finalement exprimé sa préférence pour l’Embraer 314 Super Tucano au détriment du Hawker Beechraft AT-6 Texan II dans le cadre du programme d’avions légers de soutien (LAS).

L’US Air Force (USAF) a rejeté de son appel d’offres pour son programme LAS (Light Air Support) l’avion d’entraînement militaire présenté par Hawker Beechcraft et quelques partenaires, dont les sociétés québécoises Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC), CAE et CMC Esterline.

Hawker Beechcraft a dénoncé cette décision et a demandé au Government Accountability Office, l’équivalent américain du Vérificateur général, de la réviser.

Les partenaires québécois se sont cependant montrés philosophes.

« Évidemment, cette nouvelle nous déçoit, mais il y a d’autres occasions d’affaires pour cet appareil sur la scène mondiale », a déclaré la directrice des relations publiques de CMC, Janka Dvornik.

L’USAF avit lancé un appel d’offres pour 35 avions légers de soutien (des appareils turbopropulsés), un contrat évalué à près de 1 milliard de dollars US. Les 20 premiers appareils doivent servir aux forces afghanes alors que les 15 autres doivent être utilisés comme appareils d’entraînement pour les pilotes de l’USAF. Des commandes subséquentes pourraient faire grimper le nombre total d’appareils à 55.

Hawker Beechcraft a fait équipe avec CMC, CAE, P&WC, L-3 WESCAM et Lockheed Martin pour présenter l’AT-6, un appareil qui devait être construit à Wichita, au Kansas. Hawker faisait face à un seul autre concurrent : le Super Tucano d’Embraer, présenté par l’avionneur brésilien et la société américaine Sierra Nevada. Embraer a fait savoir qu’elle assemblerait les appareils à Jacksonville, en Floride.

À la mi-novembre 2011, l’USAF a informé Hawker Beechcraft qu’elle excluait l’AT-6 du processus d’appel d’offres. L’USAF n’a toutefois pas fourni de motifs et a refusé de rencontrer Hawker Beechcraft pour discuter de la question.

« Cette décision nous déconcerte, a fait savoir Hawker Beechcraft dans un communiqué. Cela fait deux ans que nous travaillons de près avec l’USAF. Nos partenaires et nous avons investi plus de 100 millions de dollars pour pouvoir répondre aux critères de l’USAF. »

Mme Dvornik a reconnu que CMC avait investi du temps et des ressources, mais elle n’a pas voulu préciser la valeur de cet investissement. CMC doit fournir de l’équipement avionique pour l’appareil.

CAE a également refusé de révéler la valeur de son investissement, mais la porte-parole du fabricant de simulateurs de vol, Pascale Alpha, a affirmé qu’il ne s’agissait pas d’une somme significative. Comme Mme Dvornik, elle a fait valoir que cet investissement ne visait pas spécifiquement le contrat de l’USAF, mais l’ensemble des occasions qui se présenteront pour l’AT-6.

« Nous continuons à travailler sur ces autres possibilités, a-t-elle déclaré. Nous avons un très bon produit. »

CAE est responsable du volet de formation pour l’AT-6. Le motoriste de l’avion d’Hawker Beechcraft, P&WC, a également investi dans le projet d’AT-6.

« Nous avons comme politique de ne pas révéler ce genre d’investissement, mais pour P&WC, il s’agit d’un montant non matériel », a déclaré la vice-présidente aux communications de l’entreprise, Nancy Germa.

L’entreprise de Longueuil occupe cependant une position particulièrement confortable dans le cadre de l’appel d’offres de l’USAF. En effet, P&WC propulse le concurrent de l’AT-6, le Super Tucano, avec le même moteur, le légendaire PT6A. P&WC a fabriqué plus de 36 000 de ces moteurs depuis le lancement d’une première version, dans les années 60.

December 11, 2011: STRATEGY PAGE

After nearly a decade in Afghanistan and Iraq the U.S. Marine Corps wants to get away from being a U.S. Army auxiliary and back to being an amphibious strike force. Talk in Congress about "what do we need two ground combat forces for?" adds to the urgency. The marines have always been sensitive about criticism that they are a second army, a second ground combat force that simply duplicates what the U.S. Army does. In terms of active duty forces the marines are about 40 percent the size of the army. Add in organized reserves and the marines are closer to 30 percent the size of the army.

The marines can perform the same jobs as the army but consider themselves mainly an amphibious force trained for assaults and other difficult special operations. These are things the army has also done but the marines invented modern amphibious operations during the 1930s and 40s and continue to specialize in it. The marines noted how the British Royal Marines went on to help develop the modern concept of commandos and went in that direction as well.

With all this in mind, in the last decade, the navy and marines have sought to reorganize into 12 ESGs (Expeditionary Strike Groups; i.e., a reinforced battalion of marines and their amphibious ships, including a smaller amphibious aircraft carrier). While not a new concept, the ESG was meant to add some new twists to an old idea. This has been difficult because of the need to send marines to Iraq and Afghanistan. September 11, 2001 came as a surprise to the marines as well and they had to adapt. The marines like to consider themselves good at adapting.

The main fighting element of the ESG is a battalion of Marines. In support are a Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron and a Service Support Group. All of these travel on three amphibious ships (an LHA, LPD, and LSD). The rest of the ESG consists of warships (usually a cruiser, a destroyer, a frigate, and an attack submarine.) Supporting firepower will come from cruise missiles and some 127mm (five inch) guns on the cruiser and destroyer, plus attack helicopters. The ESG is also supported by land based P-3 patrol aircraft. The first ESG went to sea in 2003. But because of the need for marines in Iraq and Afghanistan there were not enough marines to keep all twelve ESGs going. To keep the ESGs operational marines follow a cycle with infantry battalions spending nine months ashore, with six months devoted to training, followed by six months at sea with an ESG.

There are 27 marine infantry battalion and each ESG is built around a battalion landing team. This consists of one marine infantry battalion, an artillery battery (six guns), an armored car company, a platoon of M-1 tanks, an amphibious assault platoon (operating armored amphibious vehicles), an engineer platoon, and a recon platoon. In all, over 1,200 troops plus helicopters and landing craft from the amphibious ships, along with their troops.

With so many marines needed in Iraq and Afghanistan there were not enough trained (in amphibious operations) battalions for ESGs. Now, with fewer marines needed for land operations (Afghanistan), the marines want to train all their infantry battalions to handle amphibious assault and special operations chores. This would allow more ESGs to be at sea. The marines see the Pacific as their main area of concentration. China, and smaller crises in Asia, the Persian Gulf, and Africa, is now the future of the marines. This will kill all that talk of a "second, unneeded, army."

Le porte-avions américain George H.W. Bush (CVN 77)

crédits : US NAVY

12/12/2011 MER et MARINE

Le dernier-né des porte-avions américains a retrouvé samedi la base de Norfolk, en Virginie, sur la côte Est des Etats-Unis. L'USS George H.W. Bush achève, ainsi, son premier déploiement opérationnel. Une mission de 7 mois au cours de laquelle il a manoeuvré en Atlantique, Méditerranée, mer Rouge et océan Indien. Le porte-avions est rentré à sa base en compagnie de son escorte, composée du croiseur lance-missiles USS Anzio, ainsi que des destroyers lance-missiles USS Truxtun, USS Mitsher et USS. Le croiseur USS Gettysburg, qui appartenait également au George H.W. Carrier Strike Group (GHWB CSG) a, quant à lui, regagné sa base de Mayport (Floride).


Le George H.W. Bush rentrant à Norfolk (© : US NAVY)

Dixième et dernière unité du type Nimitz/Theodore Roosevelt, le CVN 77 a été mis sur cale en 2003 aux chantiers Huntington Ingalls Industries de Newport News et remis à l'US Navy en janvier 2009. S'en est suivie une longue période d'essais, 7 mois d'arrêt technique et une montée en puissance progressive de l'équipage et du groupe aérien embarqué, sans compter la capacité du navire à s'intégrer dans un groupe aéronaval. Une fois opérationnel, le bâtiment avait quitté Norfolk le 11 mai dernier pour son premier grand déploiement, dans les zones de responsabilité des 5ème et 6ème flottes.

Long de 333 mètres pour un déplacement de 98.000 tonnes en charge, le navire, armé par 5600 marins, peut embarquer 68 avions et hélicoptères. Il dispose de deux réacteurs à eau pressurisée fournissant une puissance de 205 MW et assurant une vitesse maximale de 31 noeuds. Pour son autodéfense, le CVN 77 compte, en plus de sa chasse embarquée, deux lanceurs verticaux (24 missiles ESSM) et deux systèmes surface-air à courte portée RAM.

December 2, 2011 By Stephen Trimble - The DEW Line

Lockheed Martin has quietly launched two new variants of the 57-year-old (and counting!) C-130 Hercules. The C-130XJ and the C-130NG both appeared in a presentation by Ralph Heath, executive vice president of Lockheed's Aeronautics division, on 1 December at the Credit Suisse aerospace and defense conference in New York.

Few details of both configurations have been made available so far. The C-130XJ is aimed at the export market, and is designed to make the aircraft affordable to a broader set of foreign buyers, Heath said. The "X" in the designation stands for "expandable", Heath added, and buyers can upgrade to the C-130J's full capability.

It appears the C-130NG, which includes winglets and a redesigned nose and tail, will be offered after 2020 to replace the C-130H fleet. See a comparison between the old and new versions of the C-130J and C-130NG below.

Nearly 60 years has passed since Lockheed designer Willis Hawkins first unveiled the C-130 design. His legendary boss, Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, instantly hated the aircraft, warning Lockheed chief engineer Hal Hibbard the C-130 would "ruin" the company. Johnson was right about many things, such as his designs for the U-2 and SR-71, but he was completely wrong about the C-130. Rather than ruining the company, the C-130 series will be produced for at least 65 years, and possibly longer.

In the last several years, the C-130's reign over the tactical airlift market has been challenged like never before. The Airbus Military A400M and Kawasaki C-2 offer a larger platform as airlift demand increases, although the latter is forbidden to be sold outside of Japan. Meanwhile, the Embraer KC-390 and the Antonov An-178 are designed to compete directly against the C-130, albeit with a jet-powered aircraft.

The Pentagon awarded Lockheed Martin a $4 billion contract to produce 30 more F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. (Lockheed Martin)

9 Dec 2011 By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS Defensenews

Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $4 billion contract to produce 30 more F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, the Pentagon announced Dec. 9.

The fixed-price-incentive (firm target) contract provides for 21 F-35A conventional take off and landing (CTOL) Lightning IIs for the Air Force, three F-35B short-take off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft for the Marines, and six F-35C carrier variants for the Navy.

All the aircraft are being procured under low-rate initial production Lot V.

Broken down by service, two-thirds of the value of the contract - $2.65 billion - is for the Air Force; $937 million, or 23 percent, for the Navy; and $426 million, or nearly 11 percent, for the Marine Corps.

The contract also provides for "associated ancillary mission equipment and flight test instrumentation" for the planes, and flight test instrumentation for the United Kingdom.

The contract was awarded through the Naval Air Systems Command.

photo khardan

9 Dec 2011 Defensenews (AFP)

WASHINGTON - Top U.S. military officer Gen. Martin Dempsey said Dec. 9 he was "extraordinarily concerned" about the euro's viability due to the potential for civil unrest and the breakup of the European Union.

"The eurozone is at great risk," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters, saying it was unclear whether measures taken so far "will be the glue that holds it together."

"We are extraordinarily concerned by the health and viability of the euro because in some ways we're exposed literally to contracts but also because of the potential of civil unrest and breakup of the union that has been forged over there," Dempsey added.

His comments came as EU leaders banded together to back tighter budget enforcement with 26 of the 27 members signaling their willingness to join a" new fiscal compact" to resolve the crisis. But a Franco-German drive to enshrine new budget rules in a modified EU treaty failed, when non-euro Britain refused to go along.

The U.S. military is revising its strategy to adapt to budgetary cuts designed to reduce the ballooning U.S. deficit. Dempsey, the president's top military adviser, spoke about his concerns for the euro as he discussed the strategic risks posed in different parts of the world.

In a study published Thursday, the Council on Foreign Relations ranked the eurozone among the main threats facing the United States. It pointed to a risk of "intensification of the European sovereign debt crisis that leads to the collapse of the euro, triggering a double-dip U.S. recession and further limiting budgetary resources."

Other countries identified as priorities for U.S. national interests included China, Iran, North Korea, Mexico, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

SM-3 launch from the USS Shiloh, 2006 - photo USNavy

December 9, 2011 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: U.S Department of Defense; issued December 8, 2011)

The Missile Defense Agency is announcing the award of a sole-source modification to its cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00027-07-C-6119) with Raytheon Missile Systems Co., Tucson, Ariz.

The modification will exercise an option to procure material for the Standard Missile-3 Block IB missiles.

The total value for this modification is $35,000,000, increasing the total contract value from $1,569,089,651 to $1,604,089,651.

The period of performance for this contract action is from December 2011 through May 2012. The work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz. Fiscal 2011 Research, Development, Test and Evaluation funds will be used to fully fund this effort. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

The Missile Defense Agency, Dahlgren, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Lockheed file photo

Dec 9, 2011 By Jen DiMascio - AviationWeek.com

WASHINGTON - While the nation’s top uniformed officer says the U.S. military is committed to developing a fifth-generation fighter jet, he indicates that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter may be on a path to a slowdown.

“There are some fact-of-life changes that we’ll probably have to make based on the ability to procure on the time lines that we’d like to have,” Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a Dec. 9 event sponsored by the Atlantic Council.

U.S. funding problems could be exacerbated by economic woes across the Atlantic Ocean, he adds. If the euro zone collapses, “they’d have to make some national decisions about reallocation of resources that could potentially have to affect the JSF,” he says.

Dempsey, who has been studying up on economic policy at West Point and the U.S. Federal Reserve, says he is still knee-deep in planning current and future Pentagon budgets.

In the near term, strategic changes are “not incremental, nor are they something I’d describe as bold,” he says; rather, he called the changes “significant.”

He is building toward bolder changes by 2020 that will not be rolled out during this budget cycle, posing hypothetical overhauls, such as making Special Operations Command the global combatant command.

Dempsey stopped short of describing details of either the Pentagon’s ongoing strategic review or the potential effects of steep, congressionally directed budget cuts on the military.

To that end, the military, he says, received notice of more than $450 billion in long-term reductions only eight or nine weeks ago. “We just literally have not had the intellectual bandwidth to think about it and to do any of the analytics related to sequester.”

He says the military is looking at rebalancing and how to remain capable on many fronts in an era of lower budgets. “Everything we do is in the context of understanding the economic condition of our nation and understanding that our national power is the sum of military, economic and diplomatic power. You can’t ignore that fact,” Dempsey says. “We’re looking at what we can afford to do.”

photo USAF

December 8, 2011 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: U.S Department of Defense; issued December 8, 2011)

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Poway, Calif., is being awarded a $319,236,484 firm-fixed-price contract for 40 MQ-9 Block 1 aircraft, and 40 aircraft containers.

The location of the performance is Poway, Calif. Work is expected to be completed September 2013. This was a sole-source acquisition; one proposal was received.

ASC/WIIK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-10-G-3038 0017).

09 December 2011 - by Andrew White and Tony Osborne – Shepard Group

Images of an alleged US Air Force RQ-170 Sentinel UAV have been aired on television following claims that Iran has captured the ‘low-observable’ and highly-secretive ISR airframe.

Shown on 8 December, footage showed Iranian military officials examining what appeared to be the fuselage of the UAV. Unofficial reports suggest the UAV had flown across Afghanistan’s western border into Iranian airspace.

The US Office of the Secretary of the Air Force refused to comment, telling Unmanned Vehicles that there was no official statement regarding the incident.

In an address to the media, a Pentagon spokesperson admitted that a UAV had gone missing but refused to comment on specifics, instead referring to the sensitive nature of reconnaissance missions.

However, on 4 December an official statement from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed a UAV ‘to which the Iranians are referring may be a US unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that had been flying a mission over western Afghanistan late last week’.

‘The operators of the UAV lost control of the aircraft and had been working to determine its status,’ the statement continued.

The manufacturer of the UAV in question, Lockheed Martin, could only add: ‘The US Air Force acknowledged in December 2009 that it had developed the RQ-170 Sentinel as a low-observable unmanned aircraft system with a primary mission of ISR.’

However, according to a Tehran-based website purporting to represent the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the UAV was ‘ambushed’ by electronic means and landed with ‘minimal damage’.

The report then went on to quote dimensions of the airframe –figures which have yet to be publically released by the USAF. However, some industry sources have questioned the validity of the UAV paraded on television.

According to USAF literature, the RQ-170 is a ‘low-observable UAS being developed, tested and fielded by the Air Force. It will provide reconnaissance and surveillance in support of the joint forces commander.

‘The RQ-170 will directly support combatant commander needs for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to locate targets,’ it continued.

The RQ-170 is flown by Air Combat Command's 432nd Wing at Creech Air Force Base and the 30th Reconnaissance Squadron at Tonopah Test Range, both located in Nevada.