COPYRIGHT © 2015 PENTON

DEFENSE MARKET INTELLIGENCE NOTES

Continued

North America  ▶ At the Air Force Association Air Warfare Symposium on Feb.

12th, U.S. Air Force officials suggested that developing a follow-on platform to the A-10 was under consideration by the service. At issue is how to conduct close air support (CAS) in a medium-threat environment. Joint working groups are currently examining the state of CAS now and in the future, once the A-10 retires and the F-35 enters service.

  ▶ Northrop Grumman is looking to its subsidiary Scaled Composites to develop a clean-sheet design for the U.S. Air Force’s $1 billion T-X development program after abandoning its initial proposal of a modified BAE Hawk. According to the Feb. 6th announcement, it had become clear to Northrop Grumman that the Hawk would not meet the service’s specifications.

  ▶ The U.S. Air Force has acknowledged that its 2016 budget request includes a plan to begin funding modifications to the selected T-X trainer aircraft in fiscal 2018 to enable it to operate in an aggressor role.

  ▶ Lockheed Martin will experience disruptions in the delivery of propellers for the C-130J transport aircraft after a fire destroyed around 80% of General Electric’s Dowty production site in the U.K. on Feb. 5th. Lockheed Martin currently has 363 C-130Js in the firm order backlog.

  ▶ The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency released the details of a $339 million deal to sell four General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper UAS to the Netherlands on Feb. 6th. The aircraft will be equipped with multi-spectral targeting systems, General Atomics Lynx synthetic aperture radar, radios and satellite communications systems.

  ▶ General Atomics has announced it has completed laboratory testing of a “third generation laser system” that sets new standards in efficiency, beam, quality and system weight. It has three times the beam quality of the Laser Weapon System (LaWs) currently being tested by the U.S. Navy and is more refined than its predecessor, the High-Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS) predecessor. The 150 kW weapon system is expected to be delivered to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for further testing.

  ▶ On Feb. 17th, the Obama administration announced the “U.S. Export Policy for Military Unmanned Aerial Systems” which has been under development for at least a year. According to the U.S. State Department, potential sales must occur under the Foreign Military Sales system and will be reviewed on case-by-case basis under the U.S. Conventional Arms Transfer Policy. Conditions on exports will likely include end-use monitoring and agreement over principles for proper use of UAVs.

Europe  ▶ Slovakia has submitted a letter of request to the U.S. government for

a Foreign Military Sale of Sikorsky’s UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter. Sikorsky has identified six nations in Eastern Europe interested in the type or the similar S-70 version, as concerns about Russia’s supply of spare

parts have grown due to Moscow’s actions in the Ukraine.

  ▶ On Feb. 6th, the German ministry of defense grounded the Army’s NHIndustries NH90 transport helicopter after the manufacturer, Airbus Helicopters, said it had found a potential design error that could result in a short-circuit and trigger the engine fire extinguishers.

Middle East and Africa  ▶ On Feb. 16th, Egypt signed a €5.2 billion contract with the French

Defense Minister for 24 Dassault Rafale fighters, the first export order for the type, as well as a DCNS Fremm multimission frigate and MBDA missile systems. Egypt hopes the ordered equipment will be delivered as soon as possible.

  ▶ Israel Aerospace Industries will introduce a new maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) based on the Bombardier G-5000 business jet at Aero India 2015. The aircraft is configured with the new generation ELI-3360 MPA system to offer high performance at lower cost compared to heavier platforms like the P-8 Poseidon.

South and Central Asia  ▶ Speaking at an annual media address on Feb. 9th, France’s arms

procurement chief stated the primary sticking point in the country’s $12 billion deal to sell 126 Rafale fighters to India remains Dassault’s reluctance to guarantee the performance of the 108 units that will be manufactured by India’s Hindustan Aerospace Ltd. However, both sides profess they remain committed to the deal.

  ▶ Officials at Russia’s Irkut Corporation announced that deliveries of 222 Su-30MKI fighter kits to India’s Hindustan Aerospace Ltd. (HAL) will be completed during 2015. Currently, HAL is manufacturing parts from the raw material stage with full technology transfer from Irkut Corporation.

  ▶ Boeing has warned India it may be forced to increase the $2.5 billion negotiated price for 22 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters and 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy transport helicopters if the ministry of defense does not approve the deal by March 31st. Commercial negotiations between the government and Boeing ended 18 months ago and, since then, the company extended prices twice with the latest six-month extension being granted in October 2014.

  ▶ On Feb. 5th, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) announced that it had won a $176 million contract to supply the Indian Air Force with 14 Dornier-228 aircraft, six reserve engines, a flight simulator and associated equipment. HAL hopes to begin delivery of the aircraft in 2016.

  ▶ On Feb. 16th, officials from the U.S. and Indian defense industries inaugurated the Cheel unmanned aerial system (UAS) pilot production facility in Bangalore, India. The Cheel next-gen, small UAS will be jointly produced by India’s Dynamatic Technologies and U.S.’ AeroVironment.

  ▶ An official in the Russian aviation industry has confirmed that a contract had been signed to sell Su-30SM fighters to Kazakhstan.

COPYRIGHT © 2015 PENTON

—Cameron Hobbs

DEFENSE MARKET INTELLIGENCE NOTES (Continued)

Deliveries are set to begin in 2015 but representatives from Irkut Corp., the subsidiary of Russia’s United Aircraft Corp. that manufactures the Su-30SM, refused to provide further details on the deal.

East Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania   ▶ South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Agency postponed its

deadline to submit bids for the KF-X fighter program from Feb. 9th to

Feb. 24th after receiving an offer from only Korea Aerospace Industries. It appears the competitor, Korean Airlines, did not have time to prepare a bid following its official partnership with Airbus just a week before. Boeing has confirmed that it has decided not to participate in the competition. However, Eurojet has given a formal proposal to supply its EJ200 turbofan to Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and is providing input to KAL in the same regard.

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