Sept. 17, 2013 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: US Department of Defense; issued Sept. 16, 2013)

WASHINGTON --- In a global environment where crises such as the one occurring in Syria become sudden priorities and where fiscal, cyber and geopolitical disasters simmer on the world’s back burners, intelligence is a critical guarantor of U.S. national security, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency said here last week.

Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn spoke to those attending a panel on intelligence community challenges and priorities at the Intelligence and National Security Alliance Summit. INSA is a nonprofit public-private organization whose members include current and former high-ranking intelligence, military and government agency leaders, analysts and experts.

“In light of future trends … and in light of the absolutely critical role of intelligence for our national security, we must do the following,” Flynn said. “We must adjust our operating model to refocus on our mission and our unique strengths. We must continually emphasize burden sharing, partnerships and integration. And we must instill flexibility and agility to respond to crises. That is our new normal.”

Flynn said these undertakings must be woven into the fabric and culture of DIA and everything it does.

“At DIA,” he said, “we have already laid the groundwork for that future.”

The agency recently reorganized into a centers-based model that networks and integrates talent from across the agency -- analysts, collectors, collections managers, technicians, technical experts, targeteers -- and brings them together as one team to solve critical problems, Flynn said, describing the model as a “critical personal lesson that I learned from the past decade of war.”

At the core of the centers are the following three qualities, the general explained.

-- A fusion of analysis and collection, which, based on experience from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, is the most successful model for intelligence production and support;

-- Flexibility, so team members no longer have to contend with organizational boundaries; and

-- Integration, as each center has interagency embeds from across the intelligence community and tight relationships with combatant commands and service intelligence centers.

“That's not the model that we had coming into the last decade of war,” he said.

Today, Flynn said, DIA’s Middle East-Africa Regional Center, in close coordination with U.S. Central Command, the Joint Staff, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the White House, is handling the DIA assessments of the Syria crisis.

“And I have the utmost faith that they have the right talent, the right tools and the right resources to get the job done,” he said.

The agency also has pushed more of its intelligence professionals -- collectors and analysts -- into the field to “thicken the edges,” the general said, ensuring that they and the agency have an appreciation and working understanding of developments across the globe.

“My constant drumbeat is to make the edge the center,” Flynn said. “The unique perspective of these officers in the field often made the crucial difference in our support to policymakers during the [al-Qaida] threats in Yemen, operations in Mali, instability in Egypt and certainly growing unrest in Syria.”

Recently, he added, feedback from an intelligence officer in a particular country went directly to the secretary of defense in advance of his talks to allies about instability in the Middle East.

As the United States finds itself with new national security crossroads to navigate, the general observed, DIA is focused on being in the right place at the right time.

Flynn said DIA’s role in the U.S. government’s response to the crisis in Syria has been intense and continuous from the beginning.

“In our agency we have over 6,000 civilians who have served in a combat environment in the last decade,” he said. “That's pretty extraordinary. Those that served in Iraq and focused on … al-Qaida, … but certainly on the Middle East militaries and the kinds of capabilities they have. They're worth their weight in gold right now.”

The Defense Intelligence Agency is deeply involved as a member of the community, the general added. DIA, he said, is part of “an integrated team supporting Central Command, European Command, Africa Command, certainly Cyber Command. And we also support the military planning that's going on at every level up to and including the Joint Staff.”

DIA also is involved on the policy side, he said.

“We have provided what I would call the nation's experts on chemical warfare to the State Department. They are today helping Secretary [John F.] Kerry negotiate that issue. They were called on a dime, and the individual I'm thinking about in this case absolutely jumped right into it,” Flynn said.

The crisis in Syria shows how rapidly a challenge from the list of global threats can bubble up to the surface and completely change the nation's course and commitment of resources, the general said.

Another such issue on the horizon, he noted, could be the tactical use of cyberattacks for strategic purposes.

“We are all aware of the cyber threat,” Flynn said.

Summit attendees spent a significant part of the afternoon talking about a range of cybersecurity topics, he said, from rogue hackers to insider threats to state-sponsored actors.

In May, the general added, appropriately at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in no uncertain terms that the destructive potential of cyberattacks has become the national security challenge of the age.

“While we grow ever more worried about threats to infrastructure in our increasingly wired society, DIA is increasingly focused on threats that can degrade our military capabilities,” Flynn said.

Militarized cyber weapons are a new world for DIA, he added, one in which the agency needs to understand the doctrine and intent of cyber foes to best manage the risk such enemies pose to the nation.

“DIA has been the all-source leader on enemy doctrine and discipline, order-of-battle research and offensive capabilities for more than 50 years,” Flynn said.

The agency is working hard with its intelligence community partners, he added, “to understand the security challenges that we face in our era.”

Sailors from the Maritime Civil Affairs and Security Training (MCAST) team exchange best practices with a Royal Malaysian Navy boarding team as part of SEACAT 2013 drill. Photo: courtesy of US Navy photo.

17 September 2013 naval-technology.com

Navies from the US, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore have conducted their annual Southeast Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism (SEACAT) 2013 exercise from 2-12 September 2013.

During the exercise, the participating navies performed planning exercises at the Changi command and control (C2) centre at Changi Naval Base, Singapore.

The US Navy's Freedom-variant of the littoral combat ships (LCS), USS Freedom's (LCS 1) boarding team carried out a visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) exercise with the Indonesian Navy, during the at-sea training event.

Freedom's commanding officer commander, Pat Thien, said: "We did exactly what the ship was built to do: we operated in a near-shore environment, in littoral waters, with other ships similar in size and we were successful."

In addition, the drill involved both command post exercise at Singapore's Changi Naval Base and a field training exercise in several regional locations at sea.

The allied navies also conducted other drills such as tracking of ships, and the boarding of a merchant vessel simulating to be engaged in terrorist-related activities at sea.

First conducted in 2002, the SEACAT exercise aims to improve sea-based information-sharing and the coordination of maritime security responses in the region.

The exercise has witnessed patrol vessels from the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), accompanying sea security teams, patrol boats from the Singapore police coastguard and maritime patrol aircraft from the Republic of Singapore Air Force.

In addition to enhancing dialogue and practical cooperation during realistic scenarios, the drill provides hands-on practice for participating navies in maritime security operations, while highlighting information sharing and multilateral cooperation in scenarios.

TUCSON, Ariz., Sept. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire

The U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) a $14 million Lot 2 contract to continue full rate production of High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) Control Section Modification (HCSM) upgrade units.

The modification adds a GPS receiver and an improved inertial measurement unit (IMU) for precision navigation to the existing HARM. HCSM also features a digital flight computer that merges targeting solutions from navigation and seeker systems.

"HCSM upgrades to the HARM allow the enhanced weapon to precisely engage the target set," said Jack Roosa, HARM program director for Raytheon Missile Systems. "These upgrades negate many counter tactics of sophisticated radar-directed defenses and add a stand-off, high-speed strike capability against time critical targets of known location."

Raytheon began modification of existing HARMs early this year. Delivery of HCSM units is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2013. Raytheon has teamed with Honeywell, Rockwell Collins and others for the HCSM program.

The contract was awarded in Raytheon's second quarter of 2013.

About HARM and HCSM

The AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile is a key battlespace element to suppress or destroy surface-to-air missile radars, early warning radars and radar-directed air defense artillery systems. HARMs have made hostile airspaces worldwide safer for U.S. and allied warfighters. The missile resides in the inventories of eight countries.

    More than 4,000 HARMs have been employed in combat.

    HCSM adds GPS/IMU navigation accuracy, giving HARM the ability to engage time-critical targets.

    HCSM has new features that degrade counter-HARM tactics, while reducing the risk of fratricide or collateral damage.

About Raytheon

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

Sept. 17, 2013 by Dave Majumdar - FG

Northrop Grumman and Bombardier are set to deliver the last of four Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) aircraft to the US Air Force.

“There is going to be an official delivery ceremony in the coming weeks,” says Ben Boehm, Bombardier’s vice-president for sales and marketing. “It’s kinda up to the air force when they want to have the ceremony. The airplane is actually ready to go.”

The BACN, which will be used to facilitate communications between disparate US airborne assets, has been in development by Northrop since 2005. The idea was to use the communications node to translate data transmitted from stealthy fifth-generation fighters such as the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter into a format usable by fourth-generation aircraft such as the Boeing F-15 Eagle and vice versa.

Originally, BACN was tested on board a NASA-operated Martin WB-57 Canberra bomber. However, a later prototype was installed on a Bombardier BD-700 business jet in 2011, which was ultimately designated as the E-11A.

After the success of the original E-11A prototype, which is being retained by the USAF, the service ordered three additional production aircraft based on the Bombardier Global Express 6000. It is the last of those three aircraft that is set to be delivered, Boehm says.

Boehm says that the USAF might order five more BACN II aircraft that would be somewhat modified from the current jets. Sensors, he says, are constantly evolving.

Bombardier says that further opportunities in the US market might arise from a programme to replace the USAF’s aging fleet of Northrop E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft. Service leaders, however, have said previously that while a business jet-derived JSTARS replacement is desirable, the USAF does not have the money to purchase such an aircraft.

Bombardier also hopes to leverage its new CSeries airframe for the military market, Boehm says. Two potential customers have already expressed interest in an airborne early warning platform based on the new aircraft.

Sept. 17, 2013 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: Rand Corp.; issued Sept. 16, 2013)

This report seeks to inform the debate over the extent of U.S. military presence overseas by providing a rigorous estimate of the costs associated with maintaining U.S. Air Force installations and units overseas rather than in the United States. The authors describe the various types of expenditures required to maintain bases and military units overseas and estimate current costs using official data and econometric modeling.

They provide a cost model of overseas presence for policymakers to weigh alternative posture options. Their main findings are that while it does cost more to maintain force structures and installations overseas rather than in the United States, the total cost of doing so for the Air Force's current overseas posture is small relative to the Air Force's overall budget.

KEY FINDINGS:
The costs of maintaining force structures and installations overseas rather than in the United States are small relative to the air force's overall budget

•It does cost more to maintain bases and personnel overseas rather than in the United States: Personnel costs are roughly one-quarter more per person, while base support fixed costs are roughly two to two-and-a-half times U.S. analogs.

•However, the costs of overseas presence are small relative to the cost of maintaining the overall force. The costs to maintain the Air Force's current overseas force structures and installations overseas rather than in the United States are roughly $3.4 billion, which amounts to about 2 percent of the Air Force's total obligation authority. From a grand strategic perspective, a U.S. Air Force of a given size and capability will cost essentially the same regardless of where in the world it is based.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

•In the debate over overseas presence, it is important to distinguish personnel and force structure costs from basing costs. For example, the magnitude of savings associated with (1) realigning (i.e., moving) a given unit from overseas to the United States, (2) cutting that unit entirely, and (3) closing the overseas base at which the unit was located are very different, as are the strategic implications of each.

•A forward-deployed Air Force costs about the same as an Air Force confined to domestic bases. Therefore, the burden of proof in the presence debate should therefore be on opponents of presence to show that presence cannot offer even the minimal benefit necessary to offset its costs.


Click here for the full report (55 PDF pages) on the Rand Corp. website.

Overseas Air Force installations

Links to base pages at Military OneSource.com, and to the bases' official sites

16 septembre Aerobuzz.fr

L’IMAV 2013, International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Flight Compétition, a lieu cette année, du 17 au 20 septembre, à l’ENAC Toulouse.

Cet événement annuel a pour objectif de promouvoir le développement des micro-drones en permettant aux scientifiques du monde entier de présenter leurs travaux et aux différentes équipes de se mesurer lors de compétitions indoor et outdoor.

C’est l’occasion de faire un état de l’art du domaine et de discuter des verrous technologiques qui restent à lever.

180 participants sont inscrits venant du monde entier : Allemagne, Espagne, Portugal, Grande-Bretagne, Pologne, Roumanie, USA, Iran, Australie, Thaïlande, Russie, Chine...

Le Programme des 4 journées (9h00-18h00) :

- Mardi 17 septembre : journée conférence à l’ENAC, site de Toulouse

- Mercredi 18 septembre : journée compétition outdoor à l’ENAC, site de Muret L’Herm

- Jeudi 19 septembre : journée compétition indoor à l’ENAC, site de Toulouse

- Vendredi 20 septembre : journée conférence à l’ENAC, site de Toulouse.

50 publications sont prévues durant les 2 journées de conférences. Un "Best Paper Award" sera attribué. Ce dernier sera décerné par le comité scientifique avec pour récompense une publication dans la revue "International Journal of MAV".

20 équipes sont inscrites pour les compétions indoor et outdoor. Deux "Special Jury Prizes" seront attribués. Les équipes devront pour ces prix mettre en avant les aspects innovants de leurs drones :

- "l’Innovative MAV System" (simulation, utilisation des capteurs...) parrainé par MATHWORKS

- "l’Innovative MAV Design" (conception de cellule, architecture du systeme...) parrainé par AIRBUS.

L’édition 2013 est organisée par l’ENAC et coordonnée par Catherine Ronflé-Nadaud qui anime L’Unité de Recherche et d’Innovation Drones de l’ENAC avec l’ISAE et le MAV Research Center.

MOSCOU, 17 septembre - RIA Novosti

Paris, Londres et Washington coordonnent leurs positions sur la Syrie. Premier résultat : l’élaboration d’un projet de résolution commun pour le Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies, écrit mardi 17 septembre le quotidien Nezavissimaïa gazeta.

Les mesures austères suggérées par la France pourraient entraîner une nouvelle impasse au Conseil de sécurité et remettre en cause le règlement pacifique du conflit syrien. Les Etats-Unis ont laissé entendre que le plan de désarmement d'Assad pourrait être appliqué pour forcer d'autres régimes à détruire leurs armes de destruction massive.

Le désarmement chimique de Damas, conformément au plan convenu à Genève la semaine dernière par les ministres des Affaires étrangères russe et américain, Sergueï Lavrov et John Kerry, était le thème central de la réunion d'hier entre les ministres des Affaires étrangères français, américain et britannique. Le ministre turc des Affaires étrangères Ahmet Davutoglu était également invité par Kerry à cette réunion à Paris.

Ankara a salué le plan Lavrov-Kerry, tout en soulignant qu'Assad pourrait en profiter pour gagner du temps.

Malgré tout Paris, Washington et Londres ont préparé hier un projet de résolution qui fixerait la procédure de destruction des arsenaux chimiques syriens. La France et le Royaume-Uni ont reconnu l'aspect positif de l'accord Lavrov-Kerry mais aspirent à la destitution du président Bachar al-Assad et veulent continuer à faire pression sur le régime syrien.

"Il faut prévoir des sanctions en cas de non respect de l’accord par le régime syrien, a déclaré le président français François Hollande." Selon lui le projet de résolution pourrait être soumis au vote au Conseil de sécurité cette semaine et il estime qu'il pourrait être adopté.

Il est évident que les menaces évoquées dans le projet de résolution soulèveront des questions au Conseil de sécurité de l'Onu, notamment de la part de la Russie. "Les déclarations sur la nécessité d'une résolution sévère sont une déformation de la réalité. Une décision doit d'abord être prise par l'Organisation pour l'interdiction des armes chimiques", a rappelé hier Sergueï Lavrov.

Il semblerait que le jeu politique autour du projet de résolution risque de pousser le débat au Conseil de sécurité de l'Onu dans une nouvelle impasse, bien qu'il reste du temps pour travailler sur la rédaction du document. La France compte insister sur la version sévère de la résolution et les Américains vont tenter de l'assouplir.

"Au cours de la préparation de la réunion du Conseil de sécurité la Russie et la Chine donneront leur point de vue et tenteront de trouver un terrain d'entente sur les formulations, a déclaré l'académicien Alexeï Arbatov, chef du Centre de sécurité internationale à l'Institut de l'économie mondiale et des relations internationales (IMEMO). Les USA veulent éviter de tomber dans une nouvelle impasse : l'utilisation de la force militaire serait alors à nouveau évoquée, chose que les Etats-Unis cherchent à éviter. Personne ne souhaite une guerre en Syrie, à l'exception de l'opposition armée."

Le secrétaire d'Etat John Kerry cherche à s'assurer le soutien des Européens dans la mise en œuvre du plan convenu avec Lavrov. Il a également besoin de la Turquie et de l'Arabie saoudite, qui sponsorisent la partie radicale de l'opposition syrienne.

Enfin, il a besoin de l'approbation d'Israël. Il a expliqué dimanche dernier au premier ministre israélien Benjamin Netanyahou les différents points du plan de désarmement chimique et a déclaré que si le désarmement d'Assad était un succès, cette méthode pourrait être appliquée aux régimes nord-coréen et iranien.

Le président américain Barack Obama a confirmé la pertinence d'une telle approche en déclarant sur ABC News que les armes chimiques syriennes n'étaient pas pour lui un problème aussi important que le dossier nucléaire iranien. Il a précisé que le plan de désarmement de la Syrie ne signifiait pas qu'il n'entreprendrait pas de mesures militaires à l'égard du régime iranien.

13/09/2013 Par Ross Marowits La Presse Canadienne

MONTRÉAL – Un directeur senior du géant de la défense Lockheed Martin soutient que l’industrie aéronautique canadienne pourrait perdre environ 10,5 milliards $ en contrats étalés sur plusieurs décennies si le gouvernement fédéral choisit de ne pas aller de l’avant avec sa commande controversée de 65 avions de chasse F-35.

Le vice-président exécutif de Lockheed Martin, Orlando Carvalho, affirme que la compagnie respectera des contrats d’une valeur totale de 500 millions $ déjà accordés à des partenaires canadiens, mais que d’autres contrats seront à risque sans la commande du gouvernement canadien.

«Si le gouvernement canadien décidait de ne pas choisir les F-35, nous respecterions certainement les engagements que nous avons pris avec l’industrie canadienne, mais notre approche, à l’avenir, serait d’essayer de faire des affaires avec les industries des pays qui nous achètent des avions», a-t-il affirmé lors d’un entretien suivant l’ouverture officielle des nouvelles installations d’inspection des moteurs à Montréal.

La compagnie Lockheed Martin estime que l’industrie canadienne pourrait potentiellement recevoir 11 milliards $ de contrats sur 25 à 40 ans, période pendant laquelle elle pourrait construire 3000 avions pour les armées de partout dans le monde.

Près de 72 entreprises canadiennes ont obtenu du travail à travers le projet des F-35. Industrie Canada a calculé que la valeur potentielle pourrait être de 9,8 milliards $ US, incluant les montants des contrats déjà accordés.

Ottawa évalue les solutions de rechange potentielles à son plan initial, qui était d’acheter 65 appareils F-35. L’an dernier, un rapport de la firme de services-conseil KPMG avertissait que la facture totale, incluant service et entretien, pourrait s’élever à 45,8 milliards $ sur 42 ans.

M. Carvalho affirme que Lockheed continue de réduire le coût de ses F-35. Les avions coûteraient au Canada autour de 75 millions $, au coût d’aujourd’hui, ou environ 85 millions $ avec inflation lors de leur éventuelle livraison en 2018.

«À mesure que les lignes de production et les connaissances gagnent en efficacité, que nous construisons de plus en plus d’avion et que la production augmente, le coût des avions ne peut que baisser», a affirmé M. Carvalho.

Il a ajouté que les particularités de l’avion, dont la technologie furtive et les capacités de surveillance, en font le choix idéal pour le Canada.

De son côté, le directeur de Boeing, le concurrent de Lockheed Martin, s’est dit la semaine dernière confiant que ses appareils F-18 Super Hornet puissent combler les besoins militaires canadiens à moindre coût.

Selon James McNerney, ce n’est qu’une question de temps avant que le gouvernement canadien retourne en appel d’offres.

Company officials unveiled the design for the Scorpion, in works since January 2012, during the annual Air Force Association Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md. (Textron AirLand)

Sep. 16, 2013 - By AARON MEHTA – Defense News

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. — Textron and AirLand today unveiled the Scorpion, a clean-sheet light attack platform that the companies are confident can make inroads in both the international and domestic markets.

The plane is in the “final stages” of integration tests, with a flight expected before the end of the year, Scott Donnelly, chairman and CEO of Textron, told reporters today. He said the aircraft has already run successful tests of the ejector seat and engines.

Company officials unveiled the design, in works since January 2012 at a Wichita, Kan., facility, during the annual Air Force Association Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md.

The Scorpion comes with twin turbofan engines and a tandem cockpit, although the jet is designed to be flown by a single pilot. There are six hard points on the plane that could hold a variety of equipment, from extra fuel to Hellfire missiles.

Potential competitors to the Scorpion, such as the Embraer Super Tucano and Beechcraft AT-6, are turboprop designs notable for their low-cost design. Donnelly, however, expressed confidence that his design would be priced similarly to a turboprop, while providing greater capabilities.

Donnelly expects a per-hour operating cost of around $3,000, significantly less than highly capable aircraft such as the F-16 or F-35.

The backing officials see the ISR capabilities as what really sets the plane apart. The Scorpion can carry 3,000 pounds of ISR equipment, with a modular design to allow customers to select what equipment should be on the plane. It boasts five hours of long-loiter time as well.

While the company has had conversations with potential customers, it was not willing to identify any specific areas of growth. However, both the Middle East and the Pacific have proven fertile grounds for light attack craft in the past.

Given budget cuts around the world, it seems potentially dangerous for a company to create a new plane without a requirement. But Donnelly insists that gives his group an entrance into the worldwide market.

“Our view has always been that we know the US and partner nations are all going to have budgetary challenges, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a mission requirement,” he said. “We’re offering a solution to people who have budgetary challenge and still have mission requirements. This is not a competitor to an F-35. The vast majority of missions don’t need that.”

Domestically, the Scorpion team is also keeping an eye on the Air Force’s T-X trainer replacement program. Donnelly indicated that by swapping the two engines with a single engine and changing the wings on the plane, the fighter would match up ideally with the expected requirements for the T-X program, potentially worth billions of dollars.

That kind of design flexibility will be key for making market headway, said former Air Force Secretary Whit Peters, who consulted for AirLand on the design of the plane.

“For the international market, its’ critical,” Peters said of the flexibility of the plane. Because its can be hard to know what technologies will and will not be exportable, it is important to be able to make a baseline airplane that can be exportable and then modified for customers, Peters said.

He indicated that worldwide fleets of A-37s, as well as the US Air Force’s fleets of A-10s and F-15Cs, could be platforms replaced by the Scorpion. Both those Air Force platforms are potentially on the cutting block due to sequestration.

Sources say the US Air Force is considering eliminating its entire fleet of KC-10 tankers in order to save money. (US Air Force)

Sep. 15, 2013 - By MARCUS WEISGERBER and AARON MEHTA  - Defense News

WASHINGTON — Faced with steep budget cuts and the desire to keep existing procurement initiatives on track, the US Air Force is considering scrapping its entire fleet of KC-10 tankers and A-10 attack jets, according to multiple military and defense sources.

Also on the chopping block are F-15C fighter jets and a planned $6.8 billion purchase of new combat search-and-rescue helicopters, these sources say.

While these proposals are far from final, the options show the magnitude of the decisions facing Air Force leadership as the service wrestles with the prospect of cutting billions of dollars in planned spending over the next decade.

“You only gain major savings if you cut an entire fleet,” Gen. Mark Welsh, Air Force chief of staff, told sister publication Air Force Times last week. “You can cut aircraft from a fleet, but you save a lot more money if you cut all the infrastructure that supports the fleet.”

When directly asked about phasing out the A-10 fleet, Welsh declined to comment on specific aircraft.

“We are looking at every platform we have, every one of those five core missions and trying to decide where must we recapitalize versus where can we modernize,” Welsh said.

The Air Force’s 2015 spending plan is due to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) by Sept. 23.

Each US military service is developing two budgets for 2015 — one that includes sequestration spending cuts and another that builds on the Pentagon’s 2014 budget proposal, which is $52 billion above the sequestration cap.

OSD must approve the services’ budget proposals during a series of back-and-forth deliberations in the coming months before a final spending plan is sent to lawmakers in February.

In an emailed statement, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said no decisions have been finalized.

“As the Air Force plans for a future with sequestration, we are looking at all options to accomplish our mission within available resources,” Stefanek said. “At this time, all options being considered are pre-decisional.”

Deep Cuts

The four-month-long Strategic Choices and Management Review — a DoD effort that looked at ways the Pentagon might have to modify its military strategy due to budget cuts — found the Air Force could cut up to five tactical aircraft squadrons, DoD announced in July.

The proposed aircraft cuts, particularly the 340-aircraft A-10 fleet, are sure to face scrutiny in Congress. About half of the A-10 fleet resides in the Air National Guard. An Air Force proposal to cut five A-10 squadrons last year faced stiff opposition in Congress and from state governors.

The Air Force Reserve also operates A-10s, which were heavily used to provide support to ground troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. A-10s also are based in South Korea.

Sources say the Army is interested in obtaining A-10s should the Air Force decide to retire the twin-engine jets, which have been flying since the 1970s.

The Air Force operates 59 KC-10s, according to a service fact sheet. The tri-jet, which is based on the commercial McDonnell Douglas DC-10 jetliner, is the workhorse of the Air Force aerial refueling fleet.

The tankers — equipped with both boom and hose-and-drogue refueling systems — can refuel Air Force, Navy and international military aircraft on a single sortie.

Also on the table is an unspecified number of cuts to the Boeing F-15C Eagle fleet. The Air Force has about 250 of the fighter jets, which, along with the F-22 Raptor, make up the service’s air-to-air fighter arsenal.

Pentagon leaders for several years have said they would like to get rid of single-mission platforms.

An Air Force plan to cut the A-10 doesn’t come as a surprise, said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Virginia-based Teal Group. He said the active service has been trying to kill off the platform for years. But while congressional pressure has saved the planes in the past, budget realities may make cuts realistic for the first time.

“These are strange and dangerous times budgetarily, which means the Air Force might finally get their way,” Aboulafia said. He pointed out that the A-10 is not particularly useful for either counterinsurgency actions or for the so-called pivot to Asia, leaving the platform strategically on the outside looking in.

“If there were any plans to fight a land war, this would not be good news. But everything about the budget implies they have stepped away from land wars,” he said. “It’s a good way for the Air Force to save cash and declare victory in a turf war.”

Conversely, Aboulafia calls the potential KC-10 cuts “a baffler,” citing the relatively young age of the aircraft and its importance for movement across the Pacific. He speculated that including the KC-10 may be the Air Force attempting to drive home the impact of sequestration and budget cuts, as the program still provides a number of jobs that members of Congress would want to protect.

Retiring the F-15C would save maintenance and upgrade costs, Rebecca Grant, president of IRIS Research and a former USAF official, said. The service could then use those funds to speed procurement of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

“It’s a gutsy move assuming a lot of risk, but there’s risk to all these scenarios,” Grant said. “It may be there is less risk retiring the F-15C right now than there is in getting the fleet we need some years down the road.”

Air Force leaders are still locked in a passionate debate over whether to move aircraft and personnel into the Guard and reserve. Advocates for this move say the savings achieved could allow the Air Force to keep aircraft in the inventory.

New Rescue Helos Still in Limbo

While the Air Force sequestration budget proposal cancels the Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) program, a separate 2015 budget proposal — the one that builds on the Pentagon’s 2014 budget plan — funds the effort, sources said.

Sikorsky is the only company to publicly announce a bid in the CRH program. A contract award was expected this month, but has been pushed to the first quarter of fiscal 2014, which begins Oct. 1.

If CRH is canceled, the service could coast with its inventory of HH-60 Pave Hawks, perhaps with limited procurement to replace losses. Grant, however, cautions that could be a mistake.

“The Air Force needs [CRH], but it wouldn’t surprise me to see it flip,” Grant said. “We’ve taken risk in the helicopter fleet for close to a decade now, and it’s time to take the risk somewhere else. They need to get that one done.”

While many factors can change over the next five months of budget deliberations, the decision to abandon the service’s one-time No. 2 acquisition program shows the desire of Air Force leaders to protect procurement programs already in production or of higher priority, sources said.

The Air Force brass wants to continue funding Boeing KC-46A refueling tankers, Lockheed Martin F-35 joint strike fighters and development of a new long-range bomber.

Pentagon officials do not want to break the fixed-price tanker contract that requires Boeing to pay for development or production hiccups. The bomber is a key component in the Pentagon’s long-term, Pacific-focused strategy, and the F-35 is the only fifth-generation US combat fighter aircraft in production.

In the end, Congress will have the final say. Lawmakers were less than thrilled with the Air Force’s 2014 budget proposal, reversing several big-ticket items.

Jeff Schogol contributed to this report.

13/09/2013 Par François Julian – Air & Cosmos

Lockheed Martin a récemment publié, sur le site internet de son magazine Code One  une vue d'artiste du Speed Agile.

Ce démonstrateur technologique, qui pour le moment fait l'objet d'essais en soufflerie, doit permettre de défricher un concept de futur avion de transport militaire, qui pourrait succéder au C-130 Hercules.

Le Speed Agile est le fruit de recherches réunissant Boeing, Lockheed Martin, la NASA et l'US Air Force. Il s'agit d'étudier un futur avion cargo, pouvant évoluer depuis des pistes sommaires, ce qui impose une bonne tenue aux basses vitesse, tout en étant capable de voler en croisière à Mach 0,8.

L'accent serait d'ailleurs mis sur l'utilisation de dispositifs hypersustentateurs performants et de conception simple, qui permettraient à l'appareil de décoller et d'atterrir sur une distance de moins de 700 m.

Pour le moment, Speed Agile n'est encore qu'un avion de papier. Mais qui sait, il pourrait peut être intéresser un jour les décideurs du Pentagone, soucieux d'offrir au C-130 Hercules une retraite bien méritée.

13 septembre 2013 maghrebemergent.com

Entre 5.000 et 8.000 militaires libyens seront formés par les armées américaine et bulgare dans les bases militaires bulgares de Novo Selo (est) et de Graf Ignatievo (sud), a annoncé jeudi le ministre bulgare de la Défense, le socialiste Anguel Naydenov.

La durée de la formation des soldats libyens sera de 5 à 8 ans, a précisé le ministre, cité par l'agence Focus.

Les Etats-Unis ont proposé en juillet à la Bulgarie "une exploitation plus active des installations militaires communes à Novo Selo (est) et à Graf Ignatievo (sud), la proposition concernant la formation de militaires de l'armée libyenne", a ajouté M. Naydenov. "Selon le ministère de la Défense, cette proposition est acceptable".

"On peut s'attendre à ce qu'elle fasse partie de la mission de l'Otan de formation d'unités des forces libyennes de sécurité", a déclaré le ministre.

Les Etats-Unis ont signé en 2006 un accord d'utilisation du polygone de Novo Selo près de Sliven (est), des bases aériennes de Graf Ignatievo près de Plovdiv (sud) et de Bezmer près de Yambol (sud-est), ainsi que d'un entrepôt de matériel près d'Aïtos (est), dans le cadre du redéploiement des troupes américaines vers l'est.

Selon le ministre de la Défense, la formation de militaires libyens s'inscrit dans le cadre de l'accord bulgaro-américain de 2006 et ne nécessite pas d'autorisation spéciale du gouvernement ou du Parlement.