2011-02-15 (China Military News cited from AP) -- A new "carrier killer" missile that has become a symbol of China's rising military might will not force the U.S. Navy to change the way it operates in the Pacific, a senior Navy commander told The Associated Press.

Defense analysts say the Dong Feng 21D missile could upend the balance of power in Asia, where U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups have ruled the waves since the end of World War II.

However, Vice Adm. Scott van Buskirk, commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet, told the AP in an interview that the Navy does not see the much-feared weapon as creating any insurmountable vulnerability for the U.S. carriers -- the Navy's crown jewels.

"It's not the Achilles heel of our aircraft carriers or our Navy -- it is one weapons system, one technology that is out there," Van Buskirk said in an interview this week on the bridge of the USS George Washington, the only carrier that is home-based in the western Pacific.

The DF 21D is unique in that it is believed capable of hitting a powerfully defended moving target -- like the USS George Washington -- with pinpoint precision. That objective is so complex that the Soviets gave up on a similar project.

The missile would penetrate defenses because its speed from launch would not allow enough time for carriers or other large ships to complete countermeasures.

That could seriously weaken Washington's ability to intervene in any potential conflict over Taiwan or North Korea, as well as deny U.S. ships safe access to international waters near China's 18,000-kilometre-long coastline.

Van Buskirk, whose fleet is responsible for most of the Pacific and Indian oceans, with 60-70 ships and 40,000 sailors and Marines under its command, said the capabilities of the Chinese missile are as yet unproven. But he acknowledged it does raise special concerns.

"Any new capability is something that we try to monitor," he said.

"If there wasn't this to point to as a game changer, there would be something else," he said. "That term has been bandied about for many things. I think it really depends in how you define the game, whether it really changes it or not. It's a very specific scenario for a very specific capability -- some things can be very impactful."

The development of the missile comes as China is increasingly venturing further out to sea and is becoming more assertive around its coastline and in disputes over territory.

View the original article here

 MEADS: air view

FY 2012 budget request; American funding, and probably MEADS itself, to end in FY 2013. (Feb 15/11)
The Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program aims to replace Patriot missiles in the United States, the older Hawk system in Germany, and Italy’s even older Nike Hercules missiles. MEADS will be designed to kill enemy aircraft, cruise missiles and UAVs within its reach, while providing next-generation point defense capabilities against ballistic missiles. MBDA’s SAMP/T project would be its main competitor, but MEADS aims to offer improved mobility and wider compatibility with other air defense systems, in order to create a linchpin for its customers’ next-generation air defense arrays.
The German government finally gave their clearance in April 2005, and in June 2005 MEADS International (MI) formally signed a contract worth approximately $3.4 billion to design and develop the tri-national MEADS system. In February 2011, however, events began to signal the likely end of the program. This DID FOCUS Article covers that program, and has been converted into a free-to-view article…



MEADS: The System
MEADS was intended to match up against foreseeable enemy aircraft over the next 30 years, as well as stealthier and/or supersonic cruise missiles, UAVs, and even ballistic missiles. The system will incorporate its own 3-radar set, along with networked communications for use as either a stand-alone system, or a component of larger air defense clusters that include other missiles.
The core vehicle for the MEADS program appears to be the USA’s new FMTV 6×6 trucks. these 5-ton capacity vehicles will carry the radars, containerized Tactical Operations Center (TOC), launcher, and reload packs. FMTVs can be carried in C-130 aircraft, and MEADS International has already tested some of the prototype systems for fit.
During the MEADS SDD phase, MEADS International was asked finalize designs for equipment and complete their integration into the system. The system’s 6 major equipment items are:
Netted and distributed Battle Management, Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (BMC4I) Tactical Operations Center (TOC). The 3-workstation TOC shelter is a joint project of EADS, Lockheed Martin, and MBDA. It can be carried by 3 different trucks to meet national preferences, and adapter systems could probably be built to widen the number of compatible wheeled and/or tracked vehicles. This is likely to be the first element of MEADS fielded to the troops.360-degree, Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR, 2 radars). The X-band MFCR employs active phased array technology using transmit/receive modules developed in Germany. It also incorporates advanced identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) sensors with improved capabilities.Surveillance radar. These UHF radars will have self-diagnostic capability, to ease the maintenance load caused by replacing 1 Patriot radar with 3 improved MEADS radars.Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) certified missile round based on the current PAC-3 missile, augmented by Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) technologies that will give it greater range, and possibly greater performance.Light weight launcher, including a built-in winch to auto-load the missile packs.Reloader.
Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3 MSE is still a hit-to-kill missile, with upgraded batteries, an 11-inch dual-pulse solid fuel rocket motor, a thermally hardened front end, a enlarged fins and better control surfaces to improve maneuverability, upgraded guidance software. The desired end resut is a longer range missile that is more agile, and able to counter both tactical ballistic missiles and more conventional threats. Unless testing reveals serious weaknesses, it is the MEADS program’s most likely survivor.
MEADS: Mobility and Employment

 Harpy UAV’s dive attack

As attack drones like Israel’s anti-radar Harpy long-loiter UAV, loitering precision missiles, and improved anti-radar missiles like the Italo-American AGM-88E AARGM come into service, air defense assets will also find themselves needing to use “switch-on/ switch-off” and “shoot and scoot” tactics to survive. This was certainly the pattern used by one successful battery in Serbia which not only survived the NATO air campaign, but used its 1970s-era SA-3 missiles to down an American F-117 stealth fighter. The idea is to have MEADS elements or other air defense systems “plug and fight,” joining in or breaking off from a common-picture air defense network as needed, in order to protect or reposition themselves.
Existing Patriot systems have some mobility to provide this kind of self-protection, but they aren’t really designed to maneuver with attacking US forces. Indeed, during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, the Patriot system’s heavy HEMTT trucks and other large equipment found themselves hard-pressed to keep up with the US military’s rate of advance.

 MEADS Launcher & C-130

MEADS would be better than that, but it still isn’t really a forward air defense system for mobile units. It will be transportable by C-130 or equivalent medium transport aircraft, able to roll off the transport and begin operations very shortly thereafter. At present most elements are designed to be compatible with the USA’s 5-ton capacity FMTV 6×6 trucks; depending on their final weight, FMTV-mounted MEADS components may even be transportable as underslung loads on medium-heavy helicopters like the CH-47 Chinook, CH-53 Super Stallion, and the forthcoming Franco-German Heavy-Lift Helicopter. Even the container-sized Tactical Operations Center (TOC) is being designed to be able to drive on and drive off the C-130, or serve as an underslung load on CH-47/ CH-53 class helicopters.
Cutting set-up time and adding air-transportability should help MEADS improve on the Patriot system’s deployability into theater, and mobility within it. Even so, MEADS will retain mobility limitations of its own, due to the terrain limits inherent in all trucks. German forces will have options like their short-range LeFlaSys armored vehicle system for full front-line mobility, while US forward units on the move may end up relying on equally short range Stinger-based systems like hand-held FIM-92 missiles, Avenger Hummers, LAV-II ADs, or Bradley M6 Linebackers for short-range air defense. Note that a number of Bradley M6 and Hummer Avenger systems have been converted out of the air defense role, weakening US forward-based air defense options.
Designed to operate behind those forward defense systems, MEADS’ broader goal was an open architecture system that can plug into broader defensive systems, working with with shorter-range systems like the USA’s SLAMRAAM/CLAWS vehicle-mounted AMRAAMs, Italy’s Spada 2000, etc.; with wider surveillance systems like the JLENS tethered blimps; and with longer range theater-defense systems like the Lockheed/ Raytheon/ Northrop-Grumman THAAD, IAI/Boeing’s Arrow-2, or even Raytheon’s naval SM-3 missiles, connected to a common view of the battlefield via Co-operative Engagement Capability. That open architecture’s first big test, will be much simpler, however: integrating a vertical launch version of the European IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missile alongside the longer-range, radar-guided PAC-3 MSE.

 Systems-of-Systems

MEADS International claims that this emphasis on open architecture, plug-and-fight system capabilities in MEADS’ requirements has led to a MEADS Tactical Operations Center (TOC) that can support other MEADS stations, or even other air defense systems. Normal operations require only 2 of the 3 workstations, leaving an additional seat that lets the MEADS TOC be used as a wider task force TOC with German, Italian, U.S, and NATO command and control functionality. Germany already plans to use this capability to integrate MEADS with ground-launched IRIS-T short range infrared guided missiles.
Lockheed Martin is even touting the MEADS BMC4I TOC as a key component of the US Army’s competition for an IBCS system that would integrate all anti-aircraft defenses in a sector.
MEADS: The Program

 MEADS fire unit

As of January 2011, the program’s cost estimate was around $4.2 billion, but revised estimates threatened to push it even higher. The original plan for MEADS in the 1990s was for production by 2007, but the 2004 Memorandum of Understanding placed it at 2014. By 2011, however, that date had slipped to 2018 at the earliest, and the Pentagon had reservations about even that date. Those costs and uncertainties appear to have killed the program, which was structured as follows:
In September 2004, the NATO MEADS Management Agency (NAMEADSMA) awarded MI a letter contract valued in then-year terms at approximately $2.0 billion plus EUR 1.4 billion to design and develop the system, with an initial period of performance for which the overall maximum financial ceiling was approximately $54.5 million plus EUR 54.8 million. The initial letter contract was undertaken under the authority of the MEADS Design and Development Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed by the United States and Italy in September 2004. The signatures of the U.S. and Italy allowed the Design & Development (D&D) phase to proceed on a “limited basis.” Germany’s recent acceptance and signature of the Design and Development Memorandum of Understanding enabled NAMEADSMA to sign the approximately nine-year, $3.4 billion MEADS D&D risk-reduction contract, extending the period of performance of a previous letter contract that was awarded to MI by NAMEADSMA in September 2004.
The US Army intended to see benefits before that 9-year period is over, revising its MEADS acquisition strategy to combine management, development, and fielding of both the MEADS and PATRIOT systems. Under this spiral development approach, the Patriot/PAC-3 system will evolve toward MEADS through the early introduction of the MEADS Major End Items (MEI). The question is whether the US Army will buy it at all, after declaring in 2009 that it doesn’t want the system. Italy and Germany remain committed to the project, and even if the US Army declines, the US Missile Defense Agency may pick it up.
Key milestones for MEADS include a systems requirements review, followed by subsystem and system-level preliminary design reviews from about February 2007 to August 2007. Subsystem critical design reviews (CDR) were finished in 2009, followed by a system-level CDR that finished in 2010. A series of 9 flight-tests are planned from 2011 – 2013, and deployment was scheduled for 2018. That date, and indeed MEADS’ entire future, is now in doubt.
The MEADS venture is being led by Lockheed Martin Corp. and includes MBDA Italia, French-German aerospace firm EADS and Germany’s MBDA-LFK (LenkFlugKorpersysteme). Together, these companies have focused an international engineering team in Orlando to develop systems and technologies for the MEADS program. Development work will be allocated in accordance with national funding: USA 58%, Germany 25%, and Italy 17%.
Lockheed Martin will perform contract work at its locations in Orlando, FL; Dallas, TX; Huntsville, AL; and Syracuse, NY. MBDA-LFK will perform work on the BMC4I, launcher, Surveillance Radar; and MFCR elements at plants around Munich, Germany. MBDA’s Italian operating company MBDA Italia, will perform work on the BMC4I, MFCR, and launcher/reloader elements in Rome, Italy.
In MEADS’ absence, partner Germany and Italy would have several options on the international marketplace, if they wish to continue air defense modernization. They could simply buy Patriot PAC-3 systems. Or, they could accept less capability, and field replacement less expensive systems like the AIM-120 AMRAAM-based NASAMS from Kongsberg and Raytheon, a VL-MICA based system from MBDA, or even Israel’s SPYDER, modified to accept local missiles. Both countries already use AMRAAM missiles in their air forces, which could make a NASAMS option appealing.
They could also reach for more range than MEADS, and better ballistic missile defense than Patriot, by fielding SAMP/T systems based on MBDA’s Aster-30. Italy already uses those missiles on its ships, and common deployment of SAMP/T by France, Germany and Italy would offer useful industrial spinoffs as the system becomes the core of Europe’s missile defense, with enhanced export prospects. The down side to that option is its likely cost, which could be a problem given the Euro-zone’s fiscal woes and climate of budget austerity. On the other hand, Iran’s continued development of longer-range missiles and nuclear weapons is likely to continue ratcheting up the pressure for European missile defense. If Europe decides not to rely wholly on America’s “phased adaptive approach” of off-continent THAAD systems and land-based SM-3 missiles, SAMP/T would be the logical choice.
Contracts & Key Events

 MEADS: ground view

Feb 15/11: German lawmakers are pushing to follow the US lead and drop MEADS, but so far, Germany seems to be taking the same position as the US. Which isn’t really surprising, since the American decision would have been discussed extensively before it was made public. Opposition is coming from the Free Democrats and Greens, both minor players. The cost of continuing existing MoU commitments is about EUR 250 million for Germany, while the cost of cancellation is currently unknown. Bloomberg reports that:
“Germany will continue its commitments for the development phase of the project, according to a Defense Ministry official who declined to be identified in line with government rules. The official wouldn’t comment when asked about the government’s intentions beyond the development phase.”
Feb 14/11: Pentagon comptroller Robert Hale tells a budget briefing that the USA will fund MEADS up to its $4 billion cap and into FY 2013. After that?
“Yes, our proposal would be that we would invest no more U.S. funds in MEADS after 2013, fiscal year ‘13. We will – we will let the program run out under its current plan so we don’t incur any termination liability. But we wouldn’t spend money beyond there. And we would try to harvest some of the technology, and we may use that in other programs, and our partners may go forward with some MEADS. But it is not our plan to do so.”
At present, the USA is committed to spending another $804 million under the current MEADS MoU. With MEADS behind on cost and schedule targets, a recent restructuring proposal would have reportedly added another 30+ months (to the existing 110 month development period) and another $974 million – $1.16 billion of American funding to the program. The Pentagon estimates that another $800 million would be needed to certify MEADS and integrate it into existing US air defense systems. In addition, MEADS lateness meant that the USA would have to spending more money than they had planned on new Patriot missiles and system modernization. That burden, on top of existing MEADS overruns and fielding costs, is what pushed the Pentagon to the breaking point with MEADS. Hence the current proposal, which will spend the committed $804 million or so on MEADS development instead of termination costs, produce prototypes and limited integration, and look to incorporate anything promising into existing systems.
The odds that Italy or Germany would pick up the system are poor, given Germany’s ongoing disarmament and austerity program, and Italy’s slow-motion budget crisis. The FY 2013 date is significant for the USA, however, as it leaves the next Presidential administration the option of deciding to keep MEADS going. Hale briefing transcript | Pentagon’s MEADs Fact Sheet [PDF] | Bloomberg | DoD Buzz | Gannett’s Army Times | Reuters.
Feb 14/11: The Pentagon unveils the official FY 2012 budget request, which amounts to $570.5 million for MEADS components.
$406.6 million would be dedicated to MEADS development, down from $467.1 million requested in FY 2011, and $571.0 appropriated in FY 2010.
The FY 2012 request also includes $163.9 million in PAC-3 MSE missile work ($89M RDT&E, $75M procurement), up from FY 2011’s request for $62.5 million.
Jan 31/11: Lockheed Martin announces that the MEADS Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR) subteam at LFK in Germany completed integration of the antenna array in 2010, clearing the way for assembly-level testing of the Transceiver Group. Coolant pressure testing was completed, and cooling distribution was demonstrated at the slip ring and antenna rotary joint. Final rotation tests at both 15 and 30 rpm were successfully completed.
The X-band MEADS MFCR has not yet begun full system tests at Pratica di Mare air force base in Italy. The program is now completing final build, integration and test activities, hopefully leading to flight tests involving all system elements at White Sands Missile Range in 2012. If, that is, the program survives.
Jan 4/11: The FY 2011 US defense “budget” is passed in a very odd way, but it has a provision in it that’s specific to MEADS. About 75%, or $350.2 million of the approved $467 million annual funding, is frozen until a firm decision is made to either continue or cancel the program. There were also requirements in the Senate’s S.3454 bill, Sec. 233 around decisions by Germany and Italy regarding funding and production, and a variety of certifications and cost estimates. But the final bill passed was H.R. 5136.
Through June 30/10, the USA has approved spending about $2 billion on the program. So far, MEADS program estimates have grown in cost by about $900 million (to $4.2 billion), and its overall schedule has been delayed by 18 months. Bloomberg.
Dec 13/10: Lockheed Martin in Grand Prairie, TX receives a $9.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to design obsolete materials out of the PAC-3 and MSE solid rocket motor. These sorts of moves can improve performance, but their most important function is to ensure ongoing availability of spares and new-build components.
Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, TX, with an estimated completion date of Nov 30/13. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command Contracting Center in Huntsville, AL (W31P4Q-07-G-0001).
Nov 9/10: Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Dallas, TX receives a $7.3 million cost-plus-incentive fee contract for PAC-3 MSE contract overrun funding.
Work is to be performed in Dallas, TX (95.74%); Camden, AR (0.25%); and Ocala, FL (4.01%), with an estimated completion date of Feb 29/12. One bid was solicited with one bid received by the U.S. Army’s AMCOM Contracting Center at Redstone Arsenal, AL (DAAH01-03-C-0164).
Oct 25/10: Lockheed Martin announces delivery of the first 2 MEADS Message Routing Subsystem units, as essential elements of the MEADS Internal Communications Subsystem (MICS) hardware, which will provide IP-based secure tactical communications between the launcher, surveillance radar and multifunction fire control radar across a high-speed network.
The Message Routing Subsystem supports the networked exchange of command, control and status data between the major components and the Tactical Operations Center.
Sept 30/10: Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Dallas, TX receives an $11.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Patriot PAC-3 MSE missile program.
Work is to be performed in Dallas, TX (95.74%), Camden, AZ (0.25%), and Ocala, FL (4.01%), with an estimated completion date of Feb 29/12. One bid was solicited with one bid received by U.S. Army Contracting Command’s AMCOM Contracting Center at Redstone Arsenal, AL (DAAH01-03-C-0164).
Sept 22/10: Lockheed Martin touts the MEADS program’s estimate of its required life cycle costs, which has been submitted to the governments of the USA, Germany, and Italy as cash-strapped European governments and the US Missile Defense Agency decide whether to use their funds to put MEADS into production. The assumptions and data used in that estimate aren’t discussed in any depth, but they contend that:
“MEADS will especially reduce operation and support (O&S) costs. Ordinarily, over two-thirds of the total cost of ownership is spent in this area, but MEADS O&S costs are about half [DID: which would be a 37% reduction – unless the absolute total is 37% or more higher than previous systems]. Savings result from features of the MEADS design that include high reliability, automated fault detection, prognostics, two-level maintenance and a reduction in the number of system elements. Additionally, MEADS was shown to defend up to eight times the coverage area with far fewer system assets…. [DID: vs. Hawk? Nike Hercules? Patriot? Doesn’t say.]
NAMEADSMA General Manager Gregory Kee said, “The combination of advanced 360-degree sensors, near-vertical launch capability and the improved PAC-3 MSE Missile gives MEADS a far greater defended area. MEADS active phased array, digital beamforming radars make full use of the extended range of the PAC-3 MSE Missile.”
Sept 21/10: Lockheed Martin in Dallas TX receives $6 million in contract overrun funding for the Missile Segment Enhancement program’s cost-plus-incentive-fee contract.
Work will be performed at Dallas, TX; Camden, AZ; and Ocala, FL, and is expected to be complete by Feb 29/12. One bid was solicited, with one received by the US Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, AL (DAAH01-03-C-0164; Serial #1971).
Aug 26/10: MEADS completes its final Critical Design Review, leaving the United States, Germany and Italy to make decisions about moving on to low-rate production in October 2010. The government-industry team had to demonstrate 1,100 elements of design criteria during 47 separate critical design reviews, and the week of Aug 23/10 featured the final summary critical design review.
The next step will involve the NATO MEADS Management Agency, who will conduct an October 2010 program review during which decisions are expected concerning production rates and sizes during the LRIP and production and sustainment phases. The question is whether MEADS will continue beyond the development phase, and in what form. The US Army no longer wants the system, Germany’s Bundeswehr is in the midst of savage budget cuts, and Italy is finding it difficult to meet its existing budgetary commitments.
Meanwhile, the program’s initial phase continues, and MEADS International is now producing test hardware and prototypes. Current plans call for Practica di Mare AFB, Italy to begin receiving the system’s first battle management and command and control system in late 2010, followed by launcher and fire control radar hardware in early 2011. Surveillance radar integration activities will take place in Cazenovia, NY, before all of the hardware is shipped to White Sands Missile Range, NM for 3 years of flight testing, beginning early in 2012. Space News | Aviation Week | defpro | Lockheed Martin.
July 2010 MEADS battle management element demonstrates interoperability with the NATO Air Command and Control System (ACCS) during the Joint Project Optic Windmill (JPOW) test, which used NATO’s Active Layer Theatre Ballistic Missile Defense (ALTBMD) Integration Test Bed. During Optic Windmill, MEADS systems shared simulation and military communications data, including track reports for different tactical ballistic missile threats. The test represents the 1st time that the MEADS program has been authorized to exchange data outside of its 3 partner nations.
MEADS is designed to work with a wide range of platforms and command and control structures, and NATO interoperability is especially important to Germany and Italy. NATO ACCS is its overarching tactical command and control element for theater missile defense. NATO’s ALTBMD program is tasked with designing a theater missile defense architecture that will include MEADS as a key component.
Lockheed Martin’s Sept 27/10 release says that MEADS system elements are continuing integration and testing at system integration laboratories in the U.S. and Europe, and are on track for flight tests at White Sands Missile Range, NM, starting in 2012.
March 10/10: The meeting, involving senior Army officers and the US Missile Defense Agency, produces no resolution concerning the potential transfer of MEADS to the US MDA. Instead, senior officials from both organizations reportedly agreed that follow-up questions needed to be answered, and additional analysis was needed first. Defense News.
March 9/10: The Washington Post reports that the US Army wants to cancel MEADS:
“After several failed attempts, the Army is trying again to cancel a $19 billion missile defense system that the United States is developing in partnership with Italy and Germany…. the Army says MEADS has become too expensive, is taking too long to produce and is difficult to manage because any changes in the program require German and Italian approval. “The system will not meet U.S. requirements or address the current and emerging threat without extensive and costly modifications,” an internal Army staff memo concluded last month in recommending the cancellation of MEADS…. Officials said a primary reason for sticking with the project is that it would be too expensive to stop. If the Defense Department were to cancel the system now, it would be required to pay $550 million to $1 billion in penalties…. [and could] undercut the Pentagon’s relations with Germany and Italy, which need to replace their own aging missile defense systems…. The Army is scheduled to decide this week whether it will continue to oversee the development of MEADS or hand over responsibility to the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency.”
Feb 1/10: The Pentagon releases its FY 2011 budget request, and begin to break out MEADS-related spending from its Patriot programs, instead of aggregating them.
The FY 2011 request is for $467.1 million, down from FY 2010’s $566.2 million budget, but still above FY 2009’s $454.7 million.

MEADS elements

Oct 6/09: The MEADS program has received approval to use a European cryptographic device to implement SELEX Sistemi Integrati’s Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) in its radars, via a waiver from the U.S. National Security Agency. This makes MEADS the first American system ever to incorporate a foreign cryptographic device.
SELEX’s IFF will be packaged into MEADS’ UHF Surveillance Radar, and its X-Band Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR) used for missile targeting. Selection of the SELEX unit means that the MEADS IFF subsystem is available to begin testing this fall at Pratica di Mare AFB near Rome, Italy, ahead of schedule. Lockheed Martin describes SELEX’s products as:
“…more robust than current implementations of U.S. IFF systems…SELEX leads U.S. industry in IFF development because Europe has already adopted new standards for radar operation and civilian aircraft. The U.S. is moving to adopt these standards in the future.”
Sept 15/09: EADS Defence & Security announces that its transmit/receive (T/R) modules for MEADS’ Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR) have passed all required acceptance tests “with margin,” paving the way for integration into the 1st of 3 planned prototypes. The firm says that it has produced more than 10,000 of these modules already, which are core elements of the MFCR’s AESA radar. During the Design and Development phase, Defence Electronics will produce thousands of additional T/R modules, including the associated control electronics, under a EUR 120 million sub-contract.
These EADS DS T/R modules are the only ones in Europe which are certified in accordance with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard – as is the “Microwave Factory” clean room facility in Ulm, Germany. These modules and technologies are mature, and have already been used in other EADS SMTR family radars, including the TerraSAR space radar, the BUR vehicle-mounted ground and air surveillance radar, and the Eurofighter’s developmental E-Captor radar. EADS release.
Aug 5/09: MEADS International announces that they has successfully completed Critical Design Reviews (CDRs) for all major components, clearing the way for production of radars, launchers, tactical operation centers, and reloaders needed for the system.
Under its design and development contract, this clears the way for MEADS International to provide 6 Battle Management, Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence Tactical Operations Centers, 4 launchers, 1 reloader, 3 surveillance radars, 3 multifunction fire control radars, and 20 PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement missile rounds for system tests at White Sands Missile Range, NM.
The next stage is a set of CDRs for the system as a whole, instead of just its individual components. A total of 15 system-level CDR events will be completed in the year ahead, leading to final evaluations of MEADS’ survivability, logistics, safety, integration and test, life cycle cost, and performance. The final system-level CDR event is expected in August 2010, and initial flight tests are planned for 2012.
Feb 2/09: Lockheed Martin announces Germany’s request to add the IRIS-T SL (Surface Launched) as a secondary MEADS missile for German fire units. The request will involve software adaptation to integrate the missile and launcher Via a standardized plug-and-fight data interface, and incorporation of the second missile into existing MEADS simulations. This will be an early test of the system’s open architecture electronics. Incorporating the missiles themselves will not require any redesign of MEADS hardware.
The IRIS-T SL system is based on the concept of the short-range, infrared guided IRIS-T air-to-air missile, adding a larger solid-propellant rocket motor, a data link, and a nose cone for drag reduction. The combination of radar-guided PAC-3 MSE and infrared-guided IRI-T SL missiles would expand MEADS’ options by allowing for engagements even with the tracking radar shut down as a result of command decisions or damage. Competing launchers like Israel’s Spyder-MR (Derby radar-guided and enhanced Python-5 missiles) and France’s MICA-VL (MICA-IR and MICA-RF missiles) employ similar philosophies. Lockheed Martin.

 PAC-3 MSE drawing

March 28/08: Lockheed Martin Corp. in Grand Prairie, TX received a $6.7 million cost-plus fixed fee contract finalizing the change order for the CLIN 0002 PAC-3 missile segment enhancement, effort, and making changes to the PAC-3 MSE master test plan. See Jan 16/08 for more.
Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, TX and is expected to be complete by March 31/09. One bid was solicited on July 30/07 by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, AL (DAAH01-03-C-0164).
Feb 18/08: Northrop Grumman Corporation announces that MBDA Italia chose their navigation and localization system for NATO’s MEADS program within the design and development phase.
Feb 11/08: Lockheed Martin announces that the MEADS project has completed its System Preliminary Design Review (PDR), which tests whether the basic design of MEADS is ready to move forward into detailed design. Over the 6-month period leading to the PDR summary event on December 18, transatlantic review teams attended 27 multi-day design reviews to ensure that the needs of the three3 partner nations are being met.
The MEADS team will now focus on detailed design work for the system, with the Critical Design Review (CDR) scheduled for 2009, leading to initial MEADS flight tests in 2011. Lockheed Martin release.
Jan 16/08: Lockheed Martin announces that NATO’s MEADS Management Agency awarded them a $66 million contract to develop the Lockheed Martin PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) Missile as the baseline interceptor for the tri-national program. The baseline PAC-3 Missile was selected as the primary missile for MEADS when the design and development program began in 2004, but PAC-3 MSE adds additional range and coverage by using larger folding control surfaces, and a more powerful rocket motor designed to boost range by up to 50%, to about 30 km/ 18 miles.
The MEADS Steering Committee, composed of 1 government representative from each of the 3 participating nations, recommended the change following submittal of a study by MEADS International, Inc. that assessed the principal technical, schedule, cost, contract and program implications of integrating the PAC-3 MSE Missile instead. MEADS International Technical Director Claudio Ponzi:
“Changing the baseline interceptor during our Preliminary Design Review keeps risk to a minimum and keeps us on track to provide the three nations with the 21st century air and missile defense system they have requested.”

 BMC4I TOC

Nov 15/07: For the third consecutive year, MEADS International receives Superior ratings in an annual audit by the U.S. Defense Security Service (DSS). DSS has responsibility for approximately 12,000 cleared contractor facilities, and fewer than 5% demonstrate the top-rated “Superior” performance for an industrial security program. It’s reserved for contractors that consistently and fully implement the requirements of the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual in a documented fashion that provides a superior security posture, compared with other contractors of similar size and complexity.
In announcing the results, DSS team leader Rob Gerardi noted that although MI received a Superior rating in 2006, the inspection team found several improvements to the security program this year. Lockheed Martin release.
Aug 14/07: MEADS International releases more details concerning its Tactical Operations Center (TOC). With a large US Army contract on the horizon for an IBCS system that would integrate all anti-aircraft defenses in a sector, MI President Jim Cravens adds that:
“We have invested years of architectural and conceptual work to meet these requirements via an open, modular set of software that gives MEADS great flexibility to accommodate additional requirements. This flexibility offers the U.S. Army an opportunity to leverage the MEADS Battle Manager functionality as a backbone for its IBCS (common TOC) initiative.”
Lockheed Martin joined Northrop Grumman’s IBCS bid team in April 2007, becoming the 3rd member alongside NGC & Boeing. Their team’s main competitor is Raytheon, who is partnered with General Dynamics as well as Davidson Technologies, IBM, and Teledyne Brown Engineering.
Aug 7/07: Lockheed Martin announces that MEADS recently completed its 2-day Start of System Preliminary Design Review (PDR), which allows the project to continue on to detailed design.
The Start of System PDR marks the end of 33 months of Design and Development effort. It summarized previous Major End Item-level PDRs, including allocated baseline documentation, and addressed a set of operational and performance analyses. The PDF kicks off a series of 29 reviews over the next 4 months, leading to a Summary System PDR in late October 2007. Initial flight tests are still scheduled for 2011.
June 19/07: MEADS International announces that The US Defense Security Service (DSS) has announced that MEADS International is one of 30 companies to receive the James S. Cogswell Outstanding Industrial Security Achievement Award, the most prestigious honor DSS may bestow on a cleared facility. To be a candidate for the award, a facility must receive a minimum of two consecutive Superior industrial security review ratings and show sustained excellence and innovation in their overall security program, including a security program that goes well beyond basic National Industrial Security Program requirements.
This is MEADS International’s second James S. Cogswell award, and follows implementation of a transatlantic NATO classified network that enables MI’s 7 work locations to collaborate in designing the MEADS system. MEADS International release.
Jan 16/07: Lockheed Martin announces a $3 million contract from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to continue the Air-Launched Hit-to-Kill (ALHTK) initiative, which would enable fighter aircraft to carry and launch Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missiles to intercept hostile ballistic and cruise missiles.
Since a modified PAC-3 is slated to act as the MEADS system missile, and air-defense batteries can share information with fighters via channels like Link 16, the announcement has implications for future MEADS capabilities as well.
Feb 9/06: MEADS International announces 2 changes within its management organization on the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program, adding a finance director/ treasurer, and a planning manager.

Aug 4/05: MEADS International announces the expansion of its Orlando technical management organization to lead development of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) with a multinational set of appointments. In addition, 3 new positions have been added to the program management Team. See MEADS International release for more details.
June 17/05: MBDA buys a 100% stake in LFK, which used to be owned jointly by EADS and MBDA.
June 1/05: MEADS International Signs $3.4 Billion Design and Development Contract. The D&D contract extends the period of performance of a previous letter contract that was awarded to MI by the NATO MEADS Management Agency (NAMEADSMA) in September 2004. Lockheed Martin release.
April 20/05: Germany approves involvement in MEADS missile.
September 2004: NATO’s MEADS Management Agency (NAMEADSMA) awards MEADS International a letter contract valued in then-year terms at approximately $2.0 billion plus EUR 1.4 billion euros to design and develop the system, with an initial period of performance for which the overall maximum financial ceiling was approximately $54.5 million plus EUR 54.8 million.
Additional Readings
Diehl BGT Defence – IRIS-T SL / IRIS-T SLS. Will serve as as the secondary missile in the German MEADS system.DID FOCUS Article – Keeping Patriots in Shape. The Patriot Engineering Support contract already included provisions for MEADS-related MEI work.
DID FOCUS Article – THAAD: Reach Out and Touch Ballistic Missiles. A ground-based complement to MEADS that offers the next step up in range.
SLD (Oct 28 – Nov 5/10) – Regional Missile Defense: The Challenge of Crafting Integrated Missile Defense in NATO and Other Allied Regions. Read Part One | Part Two.
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By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS
Published: 15 Feb 2011 18:18

The upper part of the mast on the destroyer Gravely broke off Feb. 13 while the warship was underway off the northern Florida coast, the U.S. Navy has confirmed.
"While underway conducting routine operations Feb. 13, USS Gravely (DDG 107) experienced structural damage to the mast mounted antenna. No personnel were injured during the incident," Cmdr. Elissa Smith, a spokesperson for the Second Fleet in Norfolk, said in a Feb. 15 e-mail to Defense News. "USS Gravely's crews took immediate action and secured the damaged mast-mounted antenna. The cause and extent of the damage is unknown.
"The ship safely returned to Mayport, Fla. at approximately 10 a.m. local yesterday and is undergoing assessment. Commander, U.S. Second Fleet and Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic are taking prudent actions to ensure safe, efficient and effective repairs to the ship. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is leading the investigation to identify the root cause of the failure."
The Gravely, a DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyer, was built by Northrop Grumman's Ingalls Shipyard in Mississippi and is virtually a new ship, having been commissioned last November.
NAVSEA was unable initially to respond to a question as to whether other ships of the Arleigh Burke class have suffered similar damage. The Gravely is the 57th ship of the class, which remains in production.
"The investigation will determine the root cause of the failure and whether similar conditions exist on other ships of the class," said Alan Baribeau, a NAVSEA spokesman in Washington.
A video production crew from Discovery Channel Canada and Exploration Productions in Toronto was on board the Gravely at the time of the incident, working on an upcoming episode of the Mighty Ships series. A spokesman for the company in Toronto declined to comment on the incident.
Judging from a photo produced online by the Web site coltoncompany.com, the break was clean, coming at a weld joining the uppermost part of the mast to a lower part, just above and behind the URN-25 aircraft navigational beacon. The mast appears to have been kept from falling off completely by the electrical cables running inside.
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AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 15 Feb 2011 13:20

BUENOS AIRES - Argentine-U.S. tensions over items seized from a visiting U.S. military aircraft spiked higher Feb. 15 after Buenos Aires claimed its personnel "would have ended up in Guantanamo" if the situation were reversed.
"Imagine what situation Argentina would have found itself in if it had transported the same things to the United States?" asked Argentina's cabinet chief, Anibal Fernandez.
"We would have ended up in Guantanamo, in orange uniforms, in conditions I don't even want to get into," he told reporters.
"We are talking about national sovereignty."
The harsh words ratcheted up a row that started when Buenos Aires authorities seized on Feb. 10 what they said were undeclared weapons and drugs, including morphine, on a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane carrying experts and material for a hostage rescue training exercise.
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner's government said in a statement Feb. 13 it was lodging a protest with Washington over the attempt "to violate Argentine laws by bringing in hidden material in an official shipment."
Foreign Minister Hector Timerman on Feb. 14 told CNN that U.S. officials "refuse to cooperate with the investigation."
The U.S. State Department has said it was "disturbed" by the confiscation of what it described as routine equipment for police training - including batteries, medicine, a rifle and communications equipment.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Argentine officials carried out "an unusual and unannounced search of the aircraft's cargo" and that any discrepancy between the cargo manifest and the items seized could have been resolved on the ground, without escalation.
"We continue to call on the Argentine government to return our equipment," he said.
On Feb. 15, a State Department official, Matthew Rooney, told reporters from AFP and other outlets in Miami that the friction was all the result of a "misunderstanding."
"That there could have been problems with the plane's papers, maybe, but we'll clear up these discrepancies because there was no intent to illegally import prohibited things into Argentina," he said.
The incident comes amid a chill in U.S.-Argentine bilateral relations, and follows U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to exclude Argentina from his first scheduled trip to Latin America in March. Obama will travel to El Salvador, Brazil and Chile.
Timerman claimed Obama was not visiting Argentina because "it won't buy arms or even sign a defense agreement."
The spat also follows revelations in November last year by the activist website WikiLeaks of a 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable in which U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires about Kirchner's mental state.
"How is Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner managing her nerves and anxiety?" and "How does stress affect her behavior toward advisers and/or her decision making?" she asked. "What steps does Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner or her advisers/handlers take in helping her deal with stress? Is she taking any medications?"
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 A Mil Mi-28N like this helicopter crashed today killing the commander and seriously wounding the second crew member.
A Russian Army Mi-28N ‘Night Hunter’ helicopter crashed today injuring the two crew members. The gunship commander later died of his wounds at a nearby hospital. The helicopter crashed at the southern Stavropol territory. The helicopter on a training flight when it lost control at an altitude of some 400 meters and fell down near the settlement of Praskoveya in the Budennovsk district of the Caucasus, at about 10:40 a.m. Moscow time. According to preliminary assessment, the crash was caused by engine failure.
Two years ago another Mi-28N crashed during firing trials on a range near Moscow. The cause of that accident has not yet been confirmed, but is thought to be related to a loss of power following gas ingestion during rocket firing. The mishape occured when the helicopter was firing unguided rockets from a low hover of around 130ft (40m) when it suddenly lost power and landed heavily. Its tail rotor and pylon were destroyed in the crash, but both aircrew survived that crash unscathed, and left the crashed aircraft unassisted. Today’s accident apparently occured at a higher altitude and involved uncontrolled descent, causing severe, and fatal injury despite the plane’s inherent impact absorbing design.
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Britain and Turkey are negotiating a military agreement, which will enable the two countries to share their expertise, said the media reports.
The contract, which will help Britain to help its military's 7.5 percent budget cuts, will be signed by July 2011 hopefully.
Under the agreement, Britain can train helicopter pilots in Turkey, which has almost the same climate as Afghanistan. The two future allies are also to cooperate on equipment programs.
Turks will also help Britain in making Type 26 Frigate as part of the agreement, which is a naval ship designed for 2020. The two countries are to exchange personnel during their training programs.
With 517,100 personnel, Turkey has one of the largest militaries in the world, while British military has around 178,370.
Britain had previously signed an agreement with France. Under the agreement, France had to cooperate with Britain in developing new military technology.
British government is also having negotiations with a number of Northern European countries to develop its military ties
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2011-02-16 (China Military News cited from UPI) -- China's tech giant Huawei has said it won't cave in to U.S. congressional pressure to go back on a $2 million deal because of security concerns.
The Chinese firm was told by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States this week that if it didn't scrap its acquisition of U.S. computer technology, the committee would push U.S. President Barack Obama to undo the deal.
The committee, said Huawei in a statement, "asked us to withdraw from the regulatory review and sell patents but, in light of the possible further damage to the Huawei brand and reputation, we have been compelled to decline."
The acquisition, concluded in May, concerns the firm 3Leaf Systems, which recently created technology allowing groups of computers to work together like a more-powerful machine.
Huawei Vice President for Government Affairs Bill Plummer said the company was instead willing to negotiate a broad national-security agreement that could alleviate concerns from some government officials.
The company's decision not to heed the recommendations of the committee and take its chances with the U.S. president was described by the Financial Times as a "highly unusual move."
What's more, the move puts Obama in a difficult situation following last month's visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao to Washington. U.S. officials, also, have been aggressively lobbying Beijing to give U.S. technology firms bigger access to the Chinese market.
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India will launch seven satellites in the next four to six years to develop its own version of the Global Positioning System (GPS) for enhancing surveillance capabilities and improving accuracy of its weapon systems.
The Indian Navigation System (INS) satellites would provide coverage over India's areas of interest for military purposes along with its civilian uses, IAF sources told PTI here.
Till now, India is dependent on the American GPS and has signed a deal with Russia for using their GLONAS system but having an indigenous system would guarantee the availability of system during crisis or conflicts.

Asked about similar developments in the neighbourhood, they said China was developing its own version of the GPS which will cover the whole globe.
"But we don't want to cover the whole world and want to focus on the region important for us," the sources said.
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2011-02-16 (China Military News cited from PLAdaily) -- An AC-DC integrated dual-winding generator system with fully independent intellectual property right that is able to simultaneously provide high-quality AC and DC power supply for new-type submarines won the first prize of the 2010 National Scientific and Technological Progress Award.

 PLA Navy Type 039 Conventional Submarine
This presents the fruit of the research led by Ma Weiming, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and professor of the Naval University of Engineering of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), signifying a major breakthrough in the AC-DC integrated technology pioneered by China.
The generator developed by the research team headed by Ma Weiming through more than ten years’ efforts boasts edge-cutting technological properties. Compared with the two generating units respectively providing AC and DC, the new generator is 40% smaller and lighter, and reduces engineering cost by 40%.
At present, the generator has been mass produced and installed in troop units. The first generator of this type that has been working for quite a few years proves to be stable and reliable since no technical glitch ever occurred, making outstanding contributions to bringing out the tactical and technical performances of the PLA new-type submarines.
It is learned that the generator enjoys bright prospects of being widely used in ships, aircraft, mobile communications, oil rigs and many other independent systems that need AC and DC simultaneously.
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The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will roll out a more potent and indigenised variant of the Arjun tank in three years. DRDO chief VK Saraswat said the German engine on the current version of the tank would be replaced by an Indian power plant and the new variant (Arjun Mk-II) would have 90% indigenous component. The existing tank may be hailed as an indigenous project but imported items such as power pack, gunner's main sight and track account for 58% of the cost per tank.
Saraswat, also the scientific adviser to the defence minister, told HT at Aero India-2011, "The new variant will have high indigenous quotient, except for some hydraulic and electronic systems. The tank should be ready in early 2014. It will feature several modifications including superior missile firing capabilities. "
The army raised its maiden armoured regiment equipped with Arjun tanks in May 2009, more than 35 years after the project was conceived. The army has so far placed an order for 248 tanks, each costing R16.8 crore. The Arjun was earlier plagued with problems concerning its fire control system, suspension and poor mobility due to its weight.

The army accepted the Arjun tank only after a third-party audit by an international tank maker roped in by the DRDO to endorse the battle-worthiness of the tank after extensive evaluations. The tank has been designed and developed by the DRDO and the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment, Avadi.
Saraswat said the DRDO was laying the groundwork to develop future main battle tank. The tank would be lighter than the 60-tonne Arjun, he said. Currently, Russian T-90s and T-72s are the mainstay of India’s tank fleet.
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2011-02-16 (China Military News cited from defpro.com and written by Daniel Goure) -- The announcement that China has surpassed Japan as the world’s second largest economy is only one reason to pay renewed attention to the Asia-Pacific region. While not unexpected, the rise of China to superpower status economically is still a major event, one with significant implications for the balance of power in the world and China’s role in the global economy. Beijing’s newfound status is likely to only intensify its efforts to leverage economic strength into advantages in such areas as trade in high tech goods and the acquisition of intellectual property from its trading partners.
The second reason to pay greater attention to the Asia-Pacific region is because a storm is gathering in this area, one that could eventually expand to engulf not only the locals, but the United States and the entire world. The security situation in the Asia-Pacific region is rapidly deteriorating. The principal cause of this problem is China which is using the proceeds from its success as an international trading partner to invest in a military of regional consequence. With the same speed that Beijing overtook its regional rivals economically, it is moving to outstrip them militarily.
China has deployed more than a thousand short- and medium-range ballistic missiles with which it can bombard targets as close as Taiwan or as far away as Guam. It is rapidly expanding its naval forces, building five different classes of submarines and planning on acquiring a class of aircraft carriers with which to project power well beyond its shores. Recently, U.S. sources announced that Beijing had begun fielding a specially-design ballistic missile intended to attack U.S. aircraft carriers. Finally, China unveiled its newest long-range, stealthy, fifth-generation fighter, the J-20, at the very time U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was in Beijing for meetings intended to improve U.S.-Chinese military relations.
The gathering storm reflects more than just Chinese military developments. Russia too is seeking to improve its military. Moscow also has begun development of an advanced stealthy, fifth-generation fighter. The Russian Navy is also seeking to acquire advanced western military technology including French amphibious warfare helicopter carriers and Israeli UAVs. Even lowly North Korea is taking steps to make its military more formidable, expanding its special operations forces and restructuring its armored formations.
One consequence of these actions is to undermine the stability of the military balance in the Asia-Pacific region, one that has kept the peace there for some 50 years. According to the recently retired head of Air Force Intelligence, Lt. General David Deptula, “The United States has owned a monopoly on stealth for the last 25 years, and now, as both the Russians and Chinese acquire that same capability, you’re going to see that advantage we used to hold disappear very quickly, and that is going to have a very significant effect on our current operational plans.” Similarly, the U.S. Navy will have to operate very differently in the Western Pacific under the threat of Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles.
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 The AN/PAS-13 Thermal Weapon Sight (TWS), AN/PAS-13 family enables Soldiers with individual and crew served weapons to see deep into the battlefield, increase surveillance and target acquisition range, and penetrate obscurants, day or night. Photo: U.S. Army, PEO Soldier

 A view through the thermal sight shows targets even under total darkness. Photo: U.S. Army, PEO Soldier
The U.S. Army is ordering 21,877 Thermal Weapon Sights at an investment of about $195 million. AN/PAS-13 According to the U.S. Army Program Executive Office PEO Soldier, Thermal Weapon Sights (TWS) gives Soldiers with individual and crew served weapons the capability to see deep into the battlefield, increase surveillance and target acquisition range, and penetrate obscurants, day or night.
The TWS systems use uncooled, forward-looking infrared technology and provide a standard video output for training, image transfer, or remote viewing. Thermal Weapon Sights are lightweight systems that are mountable onto a weapon rail and operate to the maximum effective range of the weapon.? TWS are providing soldiers in Afghanistan better capability to see and aim at night, or in dark indoors and underground space where Image Intensifier sights do not perform well.

The Army is fielding three different types of TWS Sights. The heavier one, fitted with x10 magnification is issued to leaders, snipers and operators of heavy support weapons. Photo: U.S. Army, PEO Soldier
PEO Soldier is fielding three types of TWS – the An/PAS-13(V)1 Light weapon thermal Sight (LwtS) weighing only 1.95 pounds (0.88 kg) is issued to infantry soldiers using M16/M4 type assault rifles and carbines as well as for the M-136 Javelin guided missile0 system. The (V)2 Medium weapon thermal Sight (MwtS) weighs 2.9 pounds (1.3 kg) and offers magnification of x5, is used with M249 and M240 series medium machine guns, and the 3.9 pounds (1.76 kg) An/PAS-13(V)3 heavy weapon thermal Sight (hwtS) issused for squad leaders using M16 and M4 weapons, snipers using M24 and M107 sniper rifles, and heavy machine guns and automatic grenade launchers (M2 HB and MK19). This type has a magnification of x10.
Three TWS manufacturers have recently won orders for this equipment, Raytheon, DRS an BAE Systems have won new orders for Thermal Weapons Sights, under ongoing indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quality contract (IDIQ) contracts with the U.S. Army. Raytheon and DRS have each received orders worth $68 million while BAE Systems received an order worth $58 million. The unit costs represented by the different orders may reflect different types of thermal sights, as the DRS and BAE systems won the orders at unit price of 9922.- and 9670.- respectively while Raytheon is selling its product at a cost of $7630.- All deliveries will be completed by mid-year 2012.
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Syria is considering building its first nuclear power plant by 2020 to meet rapidly growing electricity demand, a document from the Arab state¡¯s Atomic Energy Commission showed.
Russia said in May last year, during a visit to Damascus by President Dmitry Medvedev, that it was studying building an atomic power plant in Syria.
Countries have the right to develop nuclear energy provided they comply with their commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the facilities are under IAEA oversight.
NUCLEAR RENAISSANCE
Like Iran, Syria denies ever having an atom bomb programme and says Israel should be investigated instead. Saying Dair Alzour was a non-nuclear, military facility, it has refused to grant an IAEA request to revisit it. ¨ûID:LDE71D24I¨ü
Western diplomats say the Dair Alzour issue is expected to be high on the agenda of the IAEA¡¯s 35-nation governing board when it meets in early March.
The Syrian document, from a presentation made at a closed-door seminar on nuclear energy at the IAEA¡¯s Vienna headquarters last week, made no mention of the dispute.
The country, which only has limited fossil fuel supplies, has been plagued for years with electricity shortages.
Its paper on ¡°the development of the national nuclear infrastructure¡± predicted that national power demand would increase by more than a third between 2010 and 2015.
Because of this development, it said building Syria¡¯s first nuclear power plant by 2020 as well as a number of hydro power plants within the next few years were being considered.
It said the IAEA, which supports countries in developing peaceful nuclear energy programmes, was providing assistance in the preparation of infrastructure.
Dozens of countries in the world, some in the conflict-prone Middle East, are looking into introducing possible nuclear energy programmes, to reduce their dependence on oil and gas.
To prevent this from also increasing the risk of atomic weapons proliferation, the United States, the European Union and Russia have backed plans to establish multilateral fuel banks so that nuclear power newcomers do not need to make it themselves.
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2011-02-14 (China Military News cited from businessweek.com and written by ELENA BECATOROS) -- Amid surging demand for rare-earth minerals used in everything from cell phones to gas-saving cars, Afghans are dreaming of cashing in on vast deposits they believe lie beneath their feet.

The problem is that they are in one of the country's most dangerous spots, on the south bank of the Helmand River in southern Afghanistan, where fighting rages in a traditional Taliban stronghold.

That Afghanistan sits on vast mineral wealth has been detailed in several surveys, the most extensive of which were conducted by the Soviets in the 1970s. Mining companies, both Afghan and foreign, already have shown interest, notably in its copper, iron and oil.

Last month, Afghan officials proudly presented what they say is $3 trillion worth of deposits scattered throughout the country, more than triple the initial dollar amount estimated by the U.S. Defense Department last June.

But with poor infrastructure and security that ranges from precarious to downright prohibitive, there is a limit to how much the country can hope for, at least in the medium term.

Among the most exciting right now are the rare earths, with a spat between China and Japan last fall highlighting China's near-monopoly on the minerals.

In 2007 the U.S. Geological Survey estimated 1.4 million metric tons of rare-earth elements lie in southwest Helmand. The Afghan Ministry of Mines says there is more elsewhere in the country, "huge deposits" overall, according to Jalil Jumriani, who deals with policy and promotion at the ministry in Kabul.

The U.S. Defense Department's Task Force for Business and Stability Operations estimates the Khanneshin area in Helmand holds some $89 billion in rare earths and niobium, minerals strategic for high tech and industrial industries.

"This deposit could represent a long-term development opportunity for Helmand province that would create jobs across the spectrum from low-skilled laborers to chemists, physicists and engineers," the task force said in a statement last month.

USGS scientists are analyzing samples taken over the past 18 months from Helmand to determine what exactly is there in the way of the 17 rare-earth minerals.

Jack Medlin, a USGS specialist, said it was too soon to call it "a world-class rare-earths deposit. We're not there yet. We will be there probably by midsummer."

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By DAVE MAJUMDAR
Published: 15 Feb 2011 19:31

The U.S. Air Force will begin training on new fifth-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft before the end of the year, the program's top official said.
The 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will take delivery of 20 F-35A-model conventional take-off variant aircraft with Block 1 training software after a brief informal operational evaluation so that instructor pilots can begin their training, said Vice Adm. Dave Venlet, the new JSF program executive officer.
"We're going to put them in the hands of the fleet and the Air Force is going to be operating [Conventional take-off and landing aircraft] in training at Eglin before the year ends," Venlet told a luncheon hosted by the National Aeronautic Association.
However, because it is unusual for an aircraft to be delivered to line pilots before formal operational testing is complete, Venlet said that the program will conduct an abbreviated informal test prior to handing over the new fighters.
"It's not a full operational test, it doesn't resolve any measures of effectiveness," he said.
However, it will provide an independent evaluation to the services as to how well the new fighter performs in the real world.
"It will inform [Air Education and Training Command]," Venlet said, referring to the Air Force's training arm.
Other than the "operational assessment" of the Air Force F-35 version, Venlet said he hopes to complete sea-trials with the Marine Corps' vertical-landing F-35B model in the fall. That variant has made 30 vertical landings this year, which is good progress towards taking the plane out to sea, he said.
Additionally, the F-35C version for the U.S. Navy's carrier fleet will complete "static structural tests" this year to verify the strength of its airframe. Carrier-borne aircraft require especially robust structures to withstand the stress of arrested landings onboard a ship.
One area where there is a problem is the aircraft's helmet-mounted display, Venlet said. While the helmet is safe to fly, and test pilots fly with the equipment everyday, the images are jittery, he explained. However, the problem is especially pronounced with the night-vision system, Venlet said. The F-35 uses a revolutionary apparatus called the Distributed Aperture System where images from six infrared cameras mounted around the aircraft's fuselage are displayed in the pilot's visor.
Because pilots have to train with the helmet-mounted display, the program is looking at short-term alternatives. One alternative could be to display the imagery on the aircraft's head-down flat-panel displays, Venlet said. Early training flights could use night-vision goggle similar to current aircraft, he added. However, those are not satisfactory solutions long-term, Venlet said. "We're not giving up on the requirement," he declared.
Venlet also said that developmental testing is now slated to end in the first quarter of fiscal year 2016 when flight sciences testing of the A-model and C-model jets, along with the mission systems testing for the variants, will be complete. The F-35B, which has an especially challenging flight envelope to clear due to its unique vertical-landing capability, will lag behind until the fourth quarter of that year. The formal operational testing plan is being reviewed, Venlet said, in order to better integrate it with the flight test plan.
Overall, the Air Force requirement is holding steady at 1763 jets while the Navy and Marine Corps are still planning on buying 680 planes, Venlet said.
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15-Feb-2011 21:15 UTC
Related Stories: Americas - USA, BAE, Bases & Infrastructure, Budgets, Contracts - Awards, Daily Rapid Fire, Helicopters & Rotary, Industry & Trends, Issues - Political, Mergers & Acquisitions, Robots, Russia, Scandals & Investigations, Support & Maintenance, Surface Ships - Combat, UAVs
The Russian Defense Ministry grounds its fleet of Mi-28 attack helicopters after an Mi-28N Night Hunter crashed in Stavropol, killing the pilot.I’ll be baaack: The worldwide military robotics market is expected to explode over the next 5 years, reaching $8 billion in 2016, compared with $5.8 billion in 2010, according to ABI Research.
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Despite the currently improving ties between the US and China, it can be expected that China will be the determining factor in US military development during the foreseeable future.
As those military operations, which urged western Armed Forces to refocus on so-called asymmetric warfare, are being considered more or less under control and probably achievable in a rather predictable time frame, other potential conflict areas that had been neglected during the past decade begin to slide back to the centre of attention. As if awakening from a nightmare of dirty wars in dusty countries, recently increased tensions on the Korean Peninsula and China’s military build-up have urged the US military leadership and defence analysts to rediscover the necessities of conventional warfare in order to sustain the United States’ superpower status in the future.*
China is very much helping to cement this reasoning: The J-20 fifth-generation fighter aircraft made its maiden flight while US Defense Secretary Gates was in the country, and reports of China’s tangible efforts to build an aircraft carrier emerged just as Chinese President Hu Jintao prepared to meet Barack Obama in Washington ... coincidences? Further, reports of an ominous Chinese anti-ship missile, capable of sinking US aircraft carriers, spooked through the media during the past months.
In this context, the US Navy in 2009 asked the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) to support its effort to speedily develop a next-generation stand-off anti-ship weapons system. As current systems, such as the Harpoon RGM-84, are ageing and may not meet future requirements in terms of range, lethality and resistance against defensive measures, the US Navy and DARPA established the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) programme. Within the framework of this programme, two different missile solutions will be developed and have to demonstrate their worth to be quickly introduced into service with the US Navy’s vessels.
PHASE 2 – DEMONSTRATION OF BOTH MISSILE VARIANTS
Having successfully completed Phase 1, which resulted in two preliminary system designs that will be further explored, DARPA has recently awarded contracts to Lockheed Martin for the programme’s next phase. As Lockheed Martin announced yesterday, it received two contracts worth $218 million for the demonstration of the LRASM-A and LRASM-B concepts. The second phase of the programme aims at achieving successful flight demonstrations of tactically relevant prototypes of both missiles.
Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control Strike Weapons division received a $60.3 million contract for two air-launched demonstrations of the LRASM-A, which is largely based on the company’s experience with the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile Extended Range (JASSM-ER) airframe. Further, under a $157.7 million contract, the Missile and Fire Control Tactical Missiles division will demonstrate the LRASM-B prototype, comprising four Vertical Launch System (VLS) launches. According to DARPA, the LRASM-B leverages Lockheed Martin’s prior ramjet development activities and a suite of supporting sensors and avionics. It is expected to provide a “supersonic cruise missile with balanced speed and stealth for robust performance.”
Despite being matched with the VLS, used on the US Navy’s destroyers and cruisers to launch state-of-the-art surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles (SAM/SSM), both missile solutions are also designed to be launched by aircraft. Thus, it will replace the air-launched Harpoon variant (AGM-84), which is deployed by various fixed-wing aircraft in the US inventory.
BAE Systems will provide a common sensor system for all missile variants. In addition to multiple sensors, allowing the missile to autonomously select targets even in a cluttered sea lane and in a GPS-denied environment, AviationWeek predicts that the core of the sensor suite will be based on passive radio-frequency technology.
Rick Edwards, vice president of Tactical Missiles and Combat Maneuver Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, explained: “Both of our LRASM solutions will deliver extraordinary range, willful penetration of ship self-defense systems and precise lethality in denied combat environments.”
“The maturity of these weapons and technologies allows near-term transition to Navy magazines at an affordable price. These are low risk, practical options with the Navy initiating studies of anti-surface warfare capability,” Edwards continued.
A CHALLENGING UNDERTAKING – TIME, CAPABILITIES, TECHNOLOGY
As its current anti-ship capabilities are limited in the face of today’s potential conventional threats, the Navy is anxious to introduce its next-generation anti-ship missile system as soon as possible. As yet, this is expected to be achieved as early as 2013. However, many challenges remain before a truly operational system will be available.
The Navy made high demands with regard to the systems’ capabilities. Currently deployed systems require a considerable amount of planning, as well as reliable data and precision guidance, to successfully strike their targets. Thus, the Navy needs a solution that allows its vessels to engage targets well outside their striking range while also providing a significantly increased flexibility and independence.
When the programme was initiated in 2009, Rob McHenry, programme manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, summarised the requirements as follows: “Once the missile flies that far, it has a requirement to be able to independently detect and validate the target that it was shot at. Once it finds that target, then it has to be able to penetrate the air defenses. The standard of maritime integrated air defenses has risen dramatically over the past few years.”
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By Nicolas von Kospoth, Managing Editor
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By DEFENSE NEWS STAFF
Published: 15 Feb 2011 17:11
The White House has vowed to veto a proposal by U.S. House Republicans to extend a continuing resolution (CR) to cover the remainder of fiscal 2011.
"The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 1, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes," a Feb. 15 White House statement said.
Offered by Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., the bill "proposes cuts that would sharply undermine core government functions and investments key to economic growth and job creation, and would reduce funding for the Department of Defense to a level that would leave the Department without the resources and flexibility needed to meet vital military requirement," the statement said. "If the President is presented with a bill that undermines critical priorities or national security through funding levels or restrictions, contains earmarks, or curtails the drivers of long-term economic growth and job creation while continuing to burden future generations with deficits, the President will veto the bill."
The White House statement comes in the wake of warnings by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other Pentagon and service leaders that the lack of 2011 legislation is hamstringing military planners and purchasers.
Congress has been unable to pass spending bills covering the fiscal year that began last October, agreeing only to continue spending at 2010 levels. The current resolution extends to March 4, which raises the prospect of a government shutdown unless the resolution is extended or budgetary legislation is passed.
The House opens debate on the proposed extension Tuesday.
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2011-02-15 (China Military News cited from PTI) -- The Army has taken elaborate measures to safeguard the borders with China and Pakistan and does not see any reason for worry, a senior army officer said on Tuesday. "Army is fully geared up as far as the security of the borderline with China and Pakistan is concerned. We have taken elaborate measure s," General Officer Commanding (GOC), 9 Corps, Lt Gen A K Choudhary told reporters in Yol Camp.
"There is no need to worry. We keep observing the movements and the postures of the neighbouring countries inimical to the peace of the country," he said.
Choudhary said the army was "prepared and alert" to ensure territorial integrity of the country. "We are at it. We are alert of the China border."
With regard to the changing security postures on this side of the border, he said, "We cannot just sit and wait. We change our own tactics and keep a tab on developments of the neighbouring countries".
In reply to a volley of questions on reported transgressions along Sino-Indian border, Choundary said, "It is a matter of perception.
"The border line with China is not fully demarcated and both the countries have their own perceptions of the border line and so the troops of the respective countries patrol the border line according to it," he said.
"Till the border line with China is not fully demarcated, the troops on the both the sides will continue to do security runs as per this perception," he said.
On the issue of Adarsh Society scam, in which several top officers were allegedly involved, he said it would not demoralise security forces as "it is an aberration".
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2011-02-16 (China Military News cited from rightsidenews.com) -- The U.S.-led war against the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan has deteriorated into a growing open conflict with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and threatens to rapidly fall into a full-blown war with Pakistan. Signs of such an upcoming clash between Pakistan and the U.S. can already be seen. In anticipation of such a full-scale clash with America, Pakistan is seeking an enhanced role for China on its side, thereby triggering a possible superpower clash, involving the U.S., China, Russia, NATO powers, and other regional players.
According to MEMRI, a high-profile Middle Eastern think-tank, China's involvement as a Pakistan ally is ongoing and becoming a good deal more obvious and pervasive. In the past year, Pakistan has sought the stationing of 11,000 Chinese troops at Gilgit-Baltistan in the sensitive Kashmir region. Pakistan denied the troop presence at first, but then explained the Chinese were there to help Pakistan with its flooding. MEMRI makes other points involving Chinese-Pakistan cooperation.
Pakistani tribal areas have been opened up for Chinese inspection. Chinese Army officials were welcomed into the Khyber Agency in October 2010 by Colonel Asad Qureshi. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani welcomed a Chinese role in Afghanistan in April 2010. Pakistan has signed a contract with China to build Pakistani warships that will carry missiles and heavy weapons. Pakistan sees itself as aligned against the West in a superpower clash.
The Chinese-built Pakistani port at Gwadar has a Chinese presence and serves as a counter to India's naval dominance in the Indian Ocean. China is building two nuclear reactors in Pakistan and just recently it became apparent that Pakistan was building a fourth nuclear facility to produce plutonium. Pakistan recently test-fired a Hatf-VII cruise missile that can carry a nuclear payload.
Pakistan is becoming steadily more aggressive. MEMRI tells us that in early February, Pakistani planes bombarded Afghan border police posts and civilian homes to warn to Afghan President Hamid Karzai against a visit to India. There have been more suicide bombings in Kabul itself. The Pakistan intelligence agency, ISI has begun leaking the names of CIA agents in the country – both station chief Jonathan Banks and Elizabeth Rudd from Peshawar.
Thus the theatre of the war expands. In "superpower" clash, as MEMRI calls it, Russia has allied itself with the West. Russia wants NATO troops to stay in Afghanistan indefinitely. Russia is providing Afghan police with weapons and ammunitions and is carrying out joint counter-narcotics operations.
MEMRI itself is not necessarily seen as an impartial observer when it comes to Middle East analysis, but in this case the facts "on the ground" seem clear. China and Pakistan seem to be drawing closer while Russia is casting its lot with NATO. Ultimately, this may not promise a larger war – it is hard to conjure up a vision of Chinese forces fighting frankly against Russian and NATO ones – but it does mean that the war remains an intractable morass for NATO.
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Military procurement by Middle Eastern states, primarily Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Israel, is expected to grow by 14 percent over the next five years, a new industry analysis concludes.
U.S. defense contractors will dominate the market, although the Persian Gulf states of the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and possibly Qatar are considering buying multi-role Rafale fighters built by France's Dassault in deals with a combined value of $5 billion-$6 billion.
"Russia has footholds in Syria and Yemen and is making efforts to help equip the Lebanese armed forces," analyst Dan Darling observed in the annual Middle East Arms market survey issued by Forecast International, which has headquarters in Newtown, Conn.
"But its regional market share pales in comparison to that of the United States, with (Russian) President Dmitry Medvedev signing a decree back in September banning the supply of a variety of Russian armaments to Iran."
Darling noted that Moscow, which has been striving to bolster its arms exports, is likely to have to cede its status as principal arms supplier to Iran to China.
That's because of Moscow's curbs on weapons sales to Iran following the imposition of harsh economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic by the U.N. Security Council in June over Tehran's contentious nuclear program.
Saudi Arabia is scheduled to receive U.S. arms worth around $67 billion over the next decade to boost Arab defense capabilities against feared expansionist plans by Iran.
The United Arab Emirates, along with other Arab states allied to the United States, are expected to spend as much again to upgrade their military forces over the same period.
This will largely comprise U.S. weapons systems, including ballistic missile defense systems, fighter aircraft, combat helicopters, battle tanks and missile-armed warships.
The acquisition of U.S. weaponry will, in theory at least, enhance interoperability with U.S. forces deployed in the region.
But long-running political and a dynastic rivalries between the ruling families of the Gulf Arab states continues to hamper the development of an integrated defense system between the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council -- Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain.
The possible acquisition of French combat aircraft by three of these states underlines the failure of the GCC members to forge a coherent common defense strategy.
The Saudis and Oman, buoyed by rising oil prices, are seeking advanced U.S. aircraft, such as Boeing's F-15S Eagle and Lockheed Martin's F-16 multi-role jet.
But, Darling noted, "despite the lack of progress within the GCC in terms of a common procurement approach, the one constant is that at the national level, defense investment remains robust, generally representing between 10-20 percent of total state expenditure annually.
"For 2010, combined GCC defense/security investment was $68.3 billion. Forecast International expects that total to increase to $73.4 billion in 2011 and continue growing to $82.5 billion by 2015."
Iran, the annual survey concluded, may lack access to the advanced modern weapons systems its regional adversaries are acquiring -- largely because of longtime international arms embargoes -- but it still spends $9.3 billion-$9.5 billion a year on defense.
That level of expenditure, which puts Tehran among the five highest defense spenders in the region behind Saudi Arabia, Israel, Iraq and the emirates, is expected to continue in the near term.
But, Darling points out, little of this is spent on modern weapons platforms. Most of Tehran's defense expenditure "goes toward personnel costs, missile programs, upgrading existing platforms and developing indigenous hardware."
With U.S. forces pulling out of Iraq, the Baghdad government is building up its own military forces and "will invest an average of $12.5 billion annually through 2015 toward the development of the Iraqi Security Forces," Darling said.
"Although the Iraqi government would like to diversify its supply chain, the U.S. remains its principal provider of military equipment."
Washington provides around $1.9 billion toward Iraq's procurement fund and so long as that's the case the United States will continue to be its main arms supplier.
"Should Washington turn off the tap," Darling commented, "others will surely step into the void, including France, Russia and suppliers from Eastern Europe."
These were Iraq's main arms suppliers during the dictatorship of the late Saddam Hussein from the 1970s until he invaded Kuwait in August 1990.
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By DAVE MAJUMDAR
Published: 15 Feb 2011 08:07
Though the overall U.S. Air Force budget will shrink from $170.8 billion in yet-to-be-passed fiscal 2011 budget to $166.2 billion in the president's fiscal 2012 budget request, and the service is set to begin several new acquisition programs in the next fiscal year.
The programs include a new Long Range Strike family of systems and a new trainer to replace the T-38 Talon. The service will also select the winner of the KC-X tanker aircraft and new Light Attack Aerial Reconnaissance Aircraft.
The Air Force will continue to purchase the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft, F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, C-27 Spartans, several C-130 variants, and the Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. The service is also pursuing modernization projects for a host of aircraft including the F-22, F-15, C-17, C-130 and C-5, among others. Additionally, the service is launching a new effort to stabilize its space procurement programs.
The Air Force's research and development budget has actually increased slightly over the previous year's budget request, growing from $18.2 billion in fiscal 2011 to $19 billion in fiscal 2012. The largest new program in the research and development account is the Long Range Strike Family of Systems, the "centerpiece" of which is a long range, stealthy, penetrating, nuclear-capable optionally manned bomber. The fiscal 2012 budget includes $197 million for the program, while the Future Years Defense Program includes a total of $3.7 billion for the new aircraft.
The Air Force hopes the new bomber will be operational by the "mid-2020s," said Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale.
After the cancellation of a previous effort to build a new bomber in 2009, the service re-examined its options and concluded that the Long Range Strike Family of Systems should include not just a bomber, but Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR), Electronic Attack (EA), and communication portions of the program, said Maj. Gen. Alfred Flowers, the Air Force's deputy assistant secretary for budget. He added that there would be one type of airframe, but with different missions depending upon the payload.
The Air Force, however, has not fully fleshed out the exact requirements for the aircraft. Important decisions remain, including how the concept of "optional manning" will work.
"Conceptually: optionally manned. To be determined: how that will work," Flowers said.
The service hopes to eventually buy between 80 and 100 of the new bombers, he added.
The Air Force is launching the T-X program to replace the T-38 trainer. The T-38 is increasingly unable to the meet the training needs of fifth-generation fighters such as the F-22 and F-35. The fiscal 2012 budget included $16 million for the new aircraft, Flowers said.
The Air Force also hopes to award the long-awaited KC-X contract to buy a new tanker. Boeing and EADS have offered the 767 and Airbus A330 respectively to meet the service's requirements. "We're asking for $900 million for the KC-X tanker and hope make an award within a month or so," Hale said.
Once the contract finalized, the Air Force will buy four KC-X developmental aircraft for tests, Flowers said. The lack of a fiscal 2011 budget will not affect the tanker program because it is technically not a new start program, Hale said. The Air Force will have to "reprioritize" money to pay for the aircraft, he added.
The Air Force is slated to buy nine Light Attack Aerial Reconnaissance Aircraft, Flowers said.
Other procurement programs are continuing at full-steam.
The Air Force will continue to buy MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft at the maximum possible rate of 48 aircraft a year, Flowers said. The Reaper procurement is part of a service effort to achieve 65 combat air patrols, he said. The Air Force had hoped to buy 48 aircraft in the fiscal 2011 budget, but has thus been stymied by the continuing impasse in Congress, he said.
The Air Force will slow down its purchases of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. While the service was to have purchased 23 F-35 fighters in fiscal 2011, the Air Force will only buy 19 jets in the coming year, Flowers said.
The Air Force will also buy nine C-27 Spartan transports and 11 C-130 Hercules transport derivatives. The service will buy six more CV-22 tilt-rotors and four HH-60G helicopters.
While the service is buying three more Global Hawks in fiscal 2011, the purchase of the Block 40 version of the aircraft is being limited to 11, Flowers said. The savings will be used to upgrade the electro-optical infrared cameras on the Block 30 version of the aircraft, he explained. Marilyn Thomas, Flowers' deputy, added that 11 Block 40 aircraft provided two combat air patrols of ground moving target indication radar aircraft, which combined with the existing E-8 JSTARS fleet, provides "sufficient capability." The increasing cost of the Global Hawk aircraft contributed to the decision to truncate the program, Flowers said.
The Air Force will fund modernization of the C-17, C-5, and older C-130s. It is also funding modernization of the F-15, B-1, B-2 and F-22. Under the new fiscal 2012 budget, the entire combat coded Raptor fleet will now receive the Increment 3.2 upgrade.
Previously, only the last 87 (now 86) Block 35 production Raptors would have received the new upgrade, which is now under development. Now, 63 older Block 30 jets will also receive the ability to carry the AIM-9X and AIM-120D missiles and receive the ability to target eight Small Diameter Bombs at eight separate targets.
The Air Force is working to stabilize its space programs, Flowers said.
The service's new approach uses block buys and multi-year contracts, he said, to "stabilize production." The new strategy would use "advanced procurement, procurement, and advanced appropriations" to achieve its goals, he said, which would require Congressional support.
As part of the new effort, the Air Force will buy two Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellites for $552 million in fiscal 2012. However, the purchase would function as a down payment of sorts, Flowers explained.
Other satellite programs will follow the same example, he said.
The new approach will also extend to rocket boosters, Flowers said. The Air Force will buy the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle in Blocks, he said. In fiscal 2012, the Defense Department will buy five boosters, four for the Air Force, one for the Navy. The service will also buy four more rockets in fiscal 2013 and five more in fiscal 2014.
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