At 6 a.m., it's another early April morning in Iraq as the two pilots deployed from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, get ready to venture into harm's way yet again.
When my air conditioning broke in mid-July I was very nervous about the repair costs, but I remember that my real estate agent purchased a home warranty for my home. I called Nationwide Home Warranty and within a few hours my a/c was fixed for only a service call fee. My realtor really helped me out.
Russia's foreign ministry on Tuesday said that Abkhaz rebels were responsible for shooting down a Georgian unmanned spy plane over the weekend.
Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center for the development and flight-testing of a signals intelligence sensor payload for the U.S. Air Force MQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) and for the preliminary design of an expanded sensor package for the MQ-9 Reaper UAS.
Raytheon Company has received a $241 million U.S. Foreign Military Sales contract to provide the Republic of Korea with command and control, communications, maintenance support, and training equipment for the Patriot air and missile defense system.
On the 66th anniversary of the historic Doolittle Raid on imperial Japan, Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley gathered every Air Force general officer and senior civilian to chart the future of air, space and cyberspace power at the Blue Summit.
Lockheed Martin and Rice University today announced the creation of an innovative, strategic partnership to develop new technologies for a broad range of applications in electronics, energy and security.
The Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) System Block 10 team, led by Boeing with Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. providing the space vehicle, today announced completion of the payload electronics, high-speed gimbal and testing of the space vehicle's visible sensor
ThalesRaytheonSystems has been awarded a contract by the Ministry of Defense, government of Malaysia, to upgrade the Malaysian Air Defense Ground Environment system. Financial details of the contract were not disclosed.
The most difficult weapons decision by the new administration that enters the White House next January will likely be the fighter issue -- how many and what kinds of fighters should be procured for the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.
The George W. Bush administration--with Secretaries of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and Robert M. Gates -- has mapped out a fighter procurement strategy. Particularly controversial was the decision to produce only 183 to 187 F-22 Raptor advanced fighters for the Air Force. But many Air Force leaders believe that the service needs as many as 381 F-22s to bridge a "fighter gap" until the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) becomes available in numbers. The recent problems with the F-15 Eagle have provided ammunition for the advocacy of more F-22s in the near term.
Meanwhile, some Navy officials are becoming concerned about a "fighter gap" in that service. Their solution would be to increase the current procurement of F/A-18E and F Super Hornet aircraft. These strike-fighters would be for Navy service as the Marine Corps has kept with older F/A-18s and does not fly the E/F models.
All three services plan to acquire specific variants of the F-35 JSF -- officially named Lightning II, a moniker that is rarely used. But what impact would additional buys of F-22s or F/A-18s have on the F-35 program? Air Force Major General Charles R. Davis, the F-35 program executive officer, was recently quoted in Defense News (7 April 2008) stating, "Any time there is a discussion of a service or country pulling out airplanes from the program, the other service leaderships get very concerned. But we have told the Navy that buying them [F-35C aircraft] sooner at greater rates gives you a lower cost and more capability on your [carrier] decks than any other buying profile."
In realty, the Air Force has the least interest in near-term procurement of the F-35 JSF as it would take several years to buy up to an F-22 force of 381 aircraft. Similarly, the Navy is pleased with the F/A-18 Super Hornet for the next decade or more. That aircraft has both a fighter and attack capability, and the nature of expected air threats -- both in terms of quantity and quality -- should be effectively countered by the Super Hornets. Also, an "all F/A-18 Super Hornet force" -- including the new A-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft -- simplifies maintenance and training.
More critical is the U.S. Marine Corps situation. The Marines now fly the F/A-18C and D variants and, of course, the AV-8B Harrier STOVL aircraft. Both will be in need of replacement within a decade and the F-35B STOVL is the planned -- and needed -- replacement. STOVL aircraft can operate from the Navy's large carriers as well as the so-called amphibious assault ships (LHA/LHD), which are "flattops" as large as World War II-era fleet carriers but lack catapults, arresting gear, and angled flight decks.
Similarly, the Britain is planning procurement of the F-35B to succeed the less-capable Harriers flown from their carrier decks (by Royal Navy and Royal Marine pilots).
In the long-term, the U.S. Air Force has discussed buying about a thousand F-35A and possibly other JSF variants to replace all of its F-15/F-16/A-10 aircraft.
Thus, there are major fighter issues to be addressed when the new administration is sworn in next January. Because of aircraft production line and component concerns, some decisions will have to be made quickly. Still, an objective, all-service study of U.S. fighter requirements and options should be conducted as soon as possible by the new administration -- preferably during the November -- January transition period.
-- Norman Polmar
Sea trials have found eight major concerns with the Coast Guard's new National Security Cutter, but service officials say they are confident the ship, christened Bertholf, will pass acceptance tests soon.
Northrop Grumman Corp. is building the Bertholf as part of the Coast Guard's Deepwater Modernization program, a $24 billion effort to upgrade the agency's ships, aircraft and communications gear. So far, it's been a bumpy ride -- the Coast Guard had to shelve one of its boat projects as too ambitious, while another project foundered after eight upgraded 123'-foot cutters proved unseaworthy.
Now the Coast Guard is hoping the Bertholf will change the project's momentum. The ship is a few months behind schedule, but Coast Guard officials say there haven't been any big hiccups this year. The mid-April acceptance trials were a big milestone -- the Coast Guard wants to accept the ship by the end of this month so it can start training its crew. The latest list of technical issues hasn't dented the agency's optimism.
"These acceptance trials are good news for the Coast Guard because the number of starred cards written for Bertholf is extremely low, considering this is a first-in-class ship. The Coast Guard is confident that the contractors will be able to resolve all materiel deficiencies aboard Bertholf in a timely manner," Coast Guard spokeswoman Laura Williams said Monday.
The Navy also put a good spin on the Bertholf's performance. The latest trials turned up about 2,800 "trial cards", which identify areas that need more work. That compares to between 6,000 and 16,000 cards for first-in-class Navy ship. In addition, about 1,360 of the Bertholf's trial cards dealt with previously identified issues. This led the Navy to commend the Coast Guard's "superb quality assurance" while managing the project, the Coast Guard said.
Here's the new ship's honey-do list of major things that need fixing, as identified by Coast Guard and Navy inspectors:
- Machinery Control Monitoring System: a computer system that enables automated or manual operation of main propulsion and electrical systems.
- Line Shaft Bearings-These bearings support and align the ship's propeller shafts. The bearings require maintenance and re-alignment.
- Starboard Anchor-The anchor machinery requires additional lubrication.
- Mooring Line Controllers-The Navy recommended modifying these line controllers for portable operation to improve crew safety.
- Gantry Crane Hoists-Designed to raise and lower the NSC's cutter boats (Short Range Prosecutor and Long Range Interceptor), the hoists require adjustment to the wire ropes and swivel hooks.
- 57mm Ammunition Hoist-The ammunition handling system's brake must be repaired for safe operation.
- Incinerator-Requires repair for testing.
- Flight Deck-The Navy wants the Coast Guard to correct 14 deficiencies before BERTHOLF earns certification for naval flight operations. These deficiencies include: removing hoses from the flight deck; installing sound power communications between stations on the flight deck; installing additional tie downs; correcting flight deck markings for the Aircraft Ship Integrated Secure and Traverse (ASIST) system, etc.
In addition to this major list, there are 78 other items that require additional safety-related adjustments, the Coast Guard said. The new ship also has started TEMPEST testing, a Pentagon protocol required for classified communications systems, the agency said. Integrated Coast Guard Solutions, the Lockheed Martin-Northrop Grumman joint venture that is coordinating a big chunk of the Deepwater contracting, did not have comment on the acceptance trials when contacted Monday.
-- Rebecca Christie
A B-2 Spirit made a successful return to flight April 15 here after a 53-day safety pause for the aircraft following the first-ever crash of a stealth bomber Feb. 23 in Guam.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates established a new task force last week to ensure the Defense Department is doing everything possible to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets to support warfighters, he announced today.
While typical perceptions associated with the Air Force in combat might involve aircraft dropping bombs on targets, the several hundred security forces Airmen deployed here are proving these stereotypes outdated.
Ok, I gotta get into this fray...
So yesterday Gates dressed down the Air Force during an address at its war college in Texas. He said getting the service to deploy enough drones to Iraq and Afghanistan was like "pulling teeth" and he cited the struggle as an example of services refusing to adapt to the new era of warfare.
His criticism was greeted with quiet applause by many in the analyst/journalist/military world who are mainly concerned that the Air Force is focusing too much of its efforts on legacy platforms like the F-22. Don't get me wrong, I like it when a defense secretary shows a little backbone and acts like he's leading the services rather than being led by them (or Congress).
But I think we should inject some perspective into his undiplomatic attacks. I'll get this one out of the way first: Can you imagine the outcry if it had been Rumsfeld who delivered this critique? When the former secretary slapped the Army upside the head, he was slammed for being too wedded to an outmoded "revolution in military affairs" mentality and that he favored technology over manpower. Army generals initiated a whisper campaign to discredit him. And after a while it worked. Wonder if the powerful Air Force brass will start the same thing? Only time will tell.
I also think it's a bit unfair to say the Air Force is stuck in the old ways of doing business:
In my view we can do and we should do more to meet the needs of men and women fighting in the current conflicts while their outcome may still be in doubt," he said. "My concern is that our services are still not moving aggressively in wartime to provide resources needed now on the battlefield."
He cited the example of drone aircraft that can watch, hunt and sometimes kill insurgents without risking the life of a pilot. He said the number of such aircraft has grown 25-fold since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to a total of 5,000.
Gates has been trying for months to get the Air Force to send more surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, like the Predator drone that provides real-time surveillance video, to the battlefield.
"Because people were stuck in old ways of doing business, it's been like pulling teeth," Gates said. "While we've doubled this capability in recent months, it is still not good enough."
If you really think about it, the Air Force has been pretty agile in this fight. They've deployed Airmen as provisional convoy security teams, sent over explosive ordnance disposal teams to augment Army, Navy and Marine IED hunters, scattered hundreds of tactical air controllers around the globe to help the ground pounders in close air support missions, their planes fly constantly over Iraq and Afghanistan helping spot IEDs, killing senior insurgent and al Qaeda leaders and tracking bad guy mortar teams. The service has done a lot of filling in on missions it's not traditionally done before and stepped up to the plate with little complaint.
Maybe complaining about the number of UAVs the Air Force has deployed is reasonable. A colleague in one of my email loops put it this way:
Gates apparently does not know about the real issues involved in deploying more Predators, and is paving the way to the inevitable day when an Army Warrior crewed by 19-year-old NCOs has a midair with a loaded C-130, directs a barrage of guided artillery on to a school bus or puts Hellfires through a group of allied vehicles.
The Air Force argues the delay in deploying UAV squadrons is due to training needs back home. My colleague above might be going a little far in his analogy -- I don't think we need winged aviators necessarily to fly UAVs on all missions -- but his point brings up a larger issue that Gates ignores in his UAV critique.
The bottom line is ALL the services need to adapt to a new way of fighting, and in large part they have. Now the Air Force's obsession with the F-22 is an easy mark for critique. But at least someone's thinking about air-to-air while everyone else is handing out soccer balls and building insurgent network wire diagrams.
-- Christian
French Prime Minister François Fillon has confirmed at a seminar in Rabat that DCNS has finalised the contract for a multimission frigate for the Royal Moroccan Navy.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday launched a push for more unmanned drones, complaining that the military is "stuck in old ways" and not moving aggressively to meet battlefield needs.
Soldiers can now look forward to less time away from their families as the Army finalizes plans for shortened deployment lengths in support of the war on terror.
The Land Forces of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a multi-million euro contract with BAL Bauer Industries Ltd. for the procurement of large-scale mine clearance machines “MineWolf”.
Spain appealed to France, the United States and NATO on Monday for help in ending a crisis sparked when pirates seized 26 crew members of a Spanish fishing boat off the Somali coast.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today challenged military officers to become forward thinkers with the courage to advance new approaches needed to confront current and emerging threats.
BAE Systems has cut metal on its first component for the F-35 Lightning II production aircraft. This opening cut, on a component part of the aft fuselage, signifies a major milestone for the F-35 Lightning II programme.
General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, has been awarded two contracts valued at $57 million for Abrams Tank Urban Survivability Kits (TUSK).
Pakistan on Monday test-fired the Shaheen-II long-range ballistic missile, which can carry nuclear and conventional warheads and hit targets within India, for the second time in three days.
This action will the procurement of non-recurring engineering activity for aircraft production program changes at a not-to-exceed price of $31,480,000 for the Peace Drive I (Pakistan) program for foreign military sales F-16 Block 52M aircraft.
AERO Vodochody a.s. finalizes already the 200th S-76C helicopter for Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (SAC). "The S-76C production is the largest program of AERO Vodochody in the field of aerostructures, which represent a key part of the current strategy of our company.
New software vulnerabilities are announced all the time. In fact, according to the NITS database, last year a new software vulnerability was announced every 57 minutes.
A software vulnerability is defined as a flaw in a software program which may allow a third party or program to gain unauthorized access. Some experts say that over 70% of the nearly 7,000 vulnerabilities discovered last year were exploitable remotely. This remote capability makes them valuable assets for cyber attackers.
The ability to rapidly respond to and mitigate the risks posed by these vulnerabilities is one of the most important parts of computer and network security. Vendors rapidly respond to the reports of newly discovered vulnerabilities in their products. But wouldn't we all be better off if the vulnerabilities did not exist in the first place?
I consulted a 25 year veteran of the software industry that hails from one of the icons of the software industry and posed the following question to him: Based on your experience, how often do software vendors investigate the root cause of reported vulnerabilities? He said, "They Don't -- they jump in and try to create a patch."
I followed up and asked so you are saying they do not look to see if the vulnerability was purposefully programmed? After a significant pause he said, "We never considered that possibility, we only worked to respond to the vulnerability."
If that's not bad enough think about the amount of software being developed offshore. Product liability exists in virtually every other category except software. How would you react if every 57 minutes your car dealer called you and said there is a problem with your car? We have been conditioned to accept software products with these problems and have allowed organizations to protect themselves by hiding behind the armor of the "Software License."
If software vendors, whose products run our critical infrastructure, do not investigate if these vulnerabilities are actually acts of espionage, that would seem to be a critical flaw in our efforts to protect ourselves against cyber attack.
I guess it's not news unless AP or one of the majors reports it, but today's lead story on Military.com has an interesting advance on the M4 debate.
It seems that Colt's strangle hold on the Army's carbine buy might be slipping as M4 oponents on Capitol Hill look to the 2009 budget season as an opportunity to force a competition for a new carbine.
There's not a weapon out there that's significantly better than the M4," says Col. Robert Radcliffe, director of combat developments at the Army Infantry Center in Fort Benning, Ga. "To replace it with something that has essentially the same capabilities as we have today doesn't make good sense."
Colt's exclusive production agreement ends in June 2009. At that point, the Army, in its role as the military's principal buyer of firearms, may have other gunmakers compete along with Colt for continued M4 production. Or, it might begin looking for a totally new weapon.
"We haven't made up our mind yet," Radcliffe says.
As you already know from our reporting here, the gas system on the M4 has been criticized for being way too maintenance intensive. The AP story goes into all that and delivers a pretty good summary of the testing and debate so far.
It also advances the story a bit by injecting another senator into the "let's have a competition" camp, as well as former Army chief Jack Keane voicing agreement with Coburn.
In 2006, a non-profit research group surveyed 2,600 soldiers who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan and found 89 percent were satisfied with the M4. While Colt and the Army have trumpeted that finding, detractors say the survey also revealed that 19 percent of these soldiers had their weapon jam during a firefight.
And the relationship between the Army and Colt has been frosty at times. Concerned over the steadily rising cost of the M4, the Army forced Colt to lower its prices two years ago by threatening to buy rifles from another supplier. Prior to the warning, Colt "had not demonstrated any incentive to consider a price reduction," then-Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, an Army acquisition official, wrote in a November 2006 report.
Coburn is the M4's harshest and most vocal critic. But his concern is shared by others, who point to the "SCAR," made by Belgian armorer FN Herstal, and the HK416, produced by Germany's Heckler & Koch, as possible contenders. Both weapons cost about the same as the M4, their manufacturers say.
The SCAR is being purchased by U.S. special operations forces, who have their own acquisition budget and the latitude to buy gear the other military branches can't.
Or won't.
"All I know is, we're not having the competition, and the technology that is out there is not in the hands of our troops," says Jack Keane, a former Army general who pushed unsuccessfully for an M4 replacement before retiring four years ago.
Again, I think it's important to give the troops the best technology out there. And if there's something that takes a beating better than the current system, let's field it.
The dispute over the M4 has been overshadowed by larger but not necessarily more important concerns. When the public's attention is focused on the annual defense budget, it tends to be captured by bigger-ticket items, like the Air Force's F-22 Raptors that cost $160 million each.
The Raptor, a radar-evading jet fighter, has never been used in Iraq and Afghanistan. For the troops who patrol Baghdad's still-dangerous neighborhoods or track insurgents along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, there's no piece of gear more critical than the rifles on their shoulders. They go everywhere with them, even to the bathroom and the chow hall.
Yet the military has a poor track record for getting high-quality firearms to warfighters. Since the Revolutionary War, mountains of red tape, oversize egos and never-ending arguments over bullet size and gunpowder have delayed or doomed promising efforts.
-- Christian
A prominent research organization estimated Thursday that 300,000 of the 1.5 million U.S. troops who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan have symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder or major depression, and a similar number may have suffered traumatic brain injuries, mainly from explosions.
Ray guns and light sabers may be weapons of science fiction, but using energy as a war fighting tool is one area that members of the Air Force Cyber Command's 450th Electronic Warfare Wing will be charged with exploring.
US military commanders operating in Afghanistan have sought permission to attack Pakistani militants hiding in tribal areas inside Pakistan, but so far have been denied it because of diplomatic considerations, The New York Times reported on its website Saturday.
At least 29 people were killed Sunday in the heaviest clashes to rock Mogadishu in two months, bringing to 47 the death toll for two days of fighting between Ethiopian-backed Somali forces and Islamist insurgents.
French Defence Minister Herve Morin Sunday cast doubt over plans for a second aircraft carrier announced by President Nicolas Sarkozy, citing a cash crunch, and said a decision would be taken soon.
A Palestinian cameraman killed by tank fire in the Gaza Strip along with five other civilians this week may have been deliberately targeted by Israeli forces, Human Rights Watch said on Sunday.
Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations April 19, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the United Kingdom of continued participation in the USAF/Boeing Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership as well as associated equipment and services.
BAE Systems has developed a satellite navigation receiver system that provides uninterrupted operation of the Global Positioning System for air, land, and sea platforms and applications.
Fokker Elmo, a Stork Aerospace company, and Lockheed Martin have signed a Memorandum of Agreement identifying Fokker Elmo as the supplier of wiring harnesses for the F-35 Lightning II.
Two Air Force medical leaders told the Senate Subcommittee of Defense April 16 in Washington that the Air Force's state of medical readiness is aligned with the service's top priorities.
Northrop Grumman Corporation was awarded a five-year contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to support theoretical studies and engineering research for Army, Navy and Air Force research and development programs.
The Netherlands are destroying their CBU-87 cluster-bombs. Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop has told the Lower House that they can cause too much unacceptable human suffering.
Pakistan on Saturday test-fired a long-range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads, the military said.
I don't know how many times I've worried about this very thing happening to me during one of my many embeds. I know the troops don't like reporters very much and sometimes the Port-a-Jon is the only option.
Have a great weekend.
-- Christian
The most powerful communications satellite in the Department of Defense inventory is circling the Earth and went operational April 15.
The Lockheed Martin team developing the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) has successfully delivered two key blocks of ground software integral to supporting the program's geosynchronous orbit (GEO) and highly elliptical orbit (HEO) constellation.
The United States on Thursday for the first time admitted it was scaling back its demands of North Korea in a bid to break a diplomatic stalemate on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear arms programs.
I just received this release from Humvee manufacturer AM General describing its team concept for the development of the next-generation tactical transport: the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.
As you all know, I think the JLTV project is a long time coming and is an exciting opportunity to leverage armor, powerplant, mechanical, vehicle systems and weapons advances since the design and fielding of the Humvee.
Its good to see some many companies jump into the program -- and there's a part of me that's glad to see AM General isn't fighting for the services to cling to its current technology, but is instead getting on the bandwagon with a strong effort on JLTV.
From "General Tactical Vehicles (a conglomerate of AM General and GD Land Systems):
Leveraging over 120 years of combined experience in the design, production and support of more than one million combat and tactical vehicles, General Tactical Vehicles has submitted its proposal for the Technology Development phase of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program.
GTV's offer for the JLTV optimizes survivability while maximizing power and payload. The approach focuses on commonality of systems and components along with modular armor, resulting in an innovative and agile vehicle system that will provide enhanced crew protection, considerable cargo capacity, ready transportability and unprecedented networked mobility.
"Our JLTV will provide America's Soldiers and Marines a vehicle with the strong performance, flexibility, protection and sustainability they need across the full range of missions, locations and operational scenarios," said Don Howe, GTV's JLTV program director. "GTV's JLTV will give our armed forces the rapid deployability, reliability, networking capabilities and survivability they need today and in the decades ahead."
General Tactical Vehicles applies proven technologies along with a modular design that will accommodate continuing advances in armor and vehicle systems. "While it's a significant advancement in design, it's also affordable and practical," said Howe. "Combined with manufacturing readiness that allows an accelerated path to production, our design will make the JLTV program a smart, low-risk investment for America's armed forces and taxpayers."
Innovative features of the GTV design include:
General Tactical Vehicles is a joint venture between AM General and General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics formed to provide the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps a low-risk, affordable, technically advanced and economically sustainable solution to their Joint Light Tactical Vehicle requirements. In 2006, both AM General and General Dynamics were awarded JLTV "Best Technical Approach" trade studies by the Office of Naval Research.
I've asked AM General for a photo or artist's rendition of the vehicle, but I'm intrigued by this idea of a "modular and scalable trailer." Sounds like their making the vehicle itself smaller to generate a lower profile and adding a trailer for gear and other stuff. I wonder how well this is going to go over with the Army and Marine Corps. They could read it as just something else to break.
Just a thought...
-- Christian
Israel carried out a successful test on Tuesday of a dummy ballistic missile that will be used in the development of an advanced missile interception system, the defence ministry said.
The Boeing Company has delivered the first Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition (LJDAM) kits to the U.S. Air Force. The Precision Laser Guidance Set (PLGS) kits are being produced to satisfy the Air Force and Navy's urgent need for engagement of fast-moving land targets.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA ASI), a leading manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical reconnaissance radars, today announced the successful flight of the first Sky Warrior Block 1 aircraft for the U.S. Army’s Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ER/MP) UAS Program on March 31 from the company’s El Mirage Flight Operations Facility in Adelanto, Calif.
The first A400M, MSN001, has just left station 40 where all the aircraft systems’ interfaces have been connected and the electrical system has been successfully tested with power-on.
Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne took administrative action on three members, including a general officer, and referred action for two others to their chain of command, for their roles in the Thunderbird Air Show Production Services contract.
The Upper House wants the defence budget to be made a fixed percentage of Gross National Product.
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems has awarded Hamilton Sundstrand, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., a follow-on procurement contract to supply additional constant frequency electric systems for the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, under Lots 12-16 of the program.
The Boeing Company, through its commercial launch business, Boeing Launch Services, has been awarded a contract to launch DigitalGlobe's second WorldView Earth-imaging satellite on a Delta II launch vehicle.
Raytheon Co. won a $400 million Pentagon contract this week to move a missile defense radar from the Marshall Islands to the Czech Republic.
So far, the company has only received about $5 million to start planning for the transfer. But more work under the contract could be in train before long -- a Missile Defense Agency spokesman said Thursday that a permission deal with the Czech Republic could come "within weeks."
The U.S. wants to put an X-band radar in the Czech Republic to work with a missile interceptor site in Poland, to defend Europe against attack from Iran. Neither Poland nor the Czech Republic has given final go-ahead, however, and Russia continues to oppose the deal. For its part, the U.S. insists the interceptors would pose no threat to Russia, or even change the current military balance between Russia and Europe.
Raytheon's new award is an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract that extends through 2013. The initial task order covers money only for "site surveys, studies, analysis, planning, design, and similar activities," as provided for in the 2008 defense budget. Congress restricted what MDA can spend on the plan until the host countries have given the all-clear.
The X-band radar that will be used in the Czech site comes from the Marshall Islands, where it has been for about a decade. MDA says that radar is no longer needed for U.S. missile defense testing, which has moved away from the Marshall Islands to California and Alaska. So Raytheon will disassemble it, upgrade it and move it to Europe.
Because the radar has already been built, there won't be that many opportunities for local industry. But Raytheon says it's already talking to Czech officials about ways to get local workers involved in the project.
Official announcements of the new contract are expected in coming days from Raytheon and from MDA. The Defense Department announced the deal in one of its daily contract roundups. Earlier this year, Boeing received a similar contract to begin work on its plans for the Polish interceptor site.
-- Rebecca Christie
DT friend and Osprey investigative reporter for the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram Bob Cox sent me an alarming note today. Turns out a V-22 at New River caught fire in the nacelle a month ago and no one seemed to catch it until now (yep, not until after the $10 billion contract award for 167 new MV-22s). According to Bob's investigation, this isn't a new problem.
And it looks like there's still more concern about an oil cooling system that's malfunctioning, risking gear box damage.
From the Star-Telegram's Sky Talk blog:
Just two weeks prior to that award, yet another Osprey operated by Marines in North Carolina suffered an engine nacelle fire, a recurring problem. The good folks at Amarillo.com backed into the story a few days ago with a nice story on a local Marine who had to be hospitalized for inhaling too much fire suppressant while extinguishing the blaze.
No word yet on the degree of damage to the aircraft, which was apparently on ground at the time preparing to take off. A similar fire a few months ago, that broke out in flight and required an emergency landing in the middle of nowhere, essentially destroyed the engine nacelle -- the compartment on the end of the wing that contains the jet turbine engine -- and left the wing itself in very bad shape, according to both Marine and Bell sources.
The Marines have had a number of these fires over the last couple of years but fortunately none have caused a crash. No word on whether there have been any fires involving V-22s in Iraq, which were the first to have a nacelle fire prevention fix installed. What happens is hydraulic and other flammable fluids leak inside the nacelle and then get ignited by hot engine components.
The Marines have acknowledged that the Osprey's reliability in Iraq (and stateside) continues to be less than desired and now have said the aircraft's engines are wearing way too fast. Then this week we learned of another significant problem that has popped up in Iraq.
It seems that the oil cooling system that supplies both a generator and one of the tilt-rotor gearboxes has a nasty tendency to go bad, allowing temperatures to rise to levels that could damage the gear box components. On four occasions V-22s at forward bases were grounded until repairs could be made. generators aboard the aircraft has a problem with its oil cooling system.
An internal Marine memorandum says it has been very fortunate that the cooling system hasn't failed in flight and forced a flight crew to make an emergency landing in hostile territory. The memo says the oil cooling system is lasting just 25 percent of its expected life.
All I can say is that when I spoke with maintainers, pilots, crew chiefs and squadron officials in Iraq, nothing like this came up. They mentioned slip ring failures and avionics hiccups from the fine dust, but nothing as alarming as nacelle fires and oil cooling system failures.
And a Marine spokesman told me the fire on March 14 happened because someone neglected to remove an engine intake cover. I should have more on this later.
So, thanks again to Bob Cox for the head's up.
-- Christian
Ok, so I met today with a senior Northrop Grumman official who chatted with me about the ongoing Tanker Tango from the NorGrum/EADS perspective.
Sure, a lot of the conversation was about KPPs this, and job opportunities that. But he dropped a couple news tidbits I thought I'd throw your way.
First of all, the official told me the Air Force had formally submitted a request to the GAO to throw out the Boeing protest on Wednesday.
This is different from an earlier request to dismiss. That one concerned issues Boeing had brought up in their protest that the Air Force considered invalid, such as WTO conflicts and government subsidies.
GAO rejected that request for dismissal, so the Air Force compiled its case against the Boeing protest on the merits of the company's specific allegations, this official told me. The service has asked the GAO to dismiss the protest in its entirety.
I asked for a copy of the AF protest, but couldn't get it because the companies need to redact any proprietary information before it can be released.
Second, and kind of along the same lines, it turns out the Air Force, stung by the last tanker implosion that forced its secretary out of office and jailed two Boeing officials, Red Teamed the heck out of the tanker award before it was announced. I've been thinking all along that it seems to me the Air Force wouldn't risk a mis-dotted "i" or an un-crossed "t" given its previous experience.
Well, the NorGrum official told me that for a month and a half, the Air Force convened a Red Team of the Army and Navy's top procurement officers, staffers from Pentagon acquisition chief John Young's office and Pentagon IG officials at Wright Patterson Air Force base. The team was tasked with poking holes in the contract process to make sure there could be no protest from either side on how the Air Force handled the competition.
So it seems, on the face of it, that if proponents of the protest are trying in some way to impugn the Air Force on a slip shod process, assuming this Red Team happened, it doesn't hold much water.
Again, I just thought I'd pass along the info. And, I'd be happy to speak with Boeing's tanker team any time to get their side of the story if they offer.
-- Christian
On 16th March the CAMCOPTER S-100 UAV System successfully completed flights from a Type 21 Frigate of the Pakistan Navy in the Arabian Sea.
NATO's progress towards information and decision superiority in mission areas—including friendly force tracking, intelligence and surveillance sharing—will be the focus of a high-level Alliance conference in Antalya, Turkey on 30 April – 2 May.
Scientists from the University of Dayton Research Institute have manipulated the process of shell and pearl formation in oysters to demonstrate a method for depositing pearl-like coatings onto various metal surfaces.
In the skies over Basra, a crack squad of highly trained RAF Regiment snipers have been hard at work supporting ground troops and Immediate Response Teams (IRT) under fire from Iraqi militia.
The Boeing KC-767 Advanced Tanker would save billions of dollars over the anticipated lifetime of the aircraft compared with the larger Airbus-based KC-30.
The Navy’s Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (PEO C4I) announced the successful testing of two critical components of its planned upgrade to the Tactical Data Link (TDL) system onboard Navy ships.
BAE Systems has been awarded a $43.6 million contract by the U.S. Army to manufacture 730 Long Term Armor Strategy (LTAS) cargo vehicles.
Alliant Techsystems has received a contract option worth $134 million from Northrop Grumman Corporation to refurbish components and replace propellant on Minuteman III Stage 1, 2 and 3 rocket motors.
In a laboratory in Enköping there are seven green boxes which could have a major effect on the way in which the Armed Forces communicate.
U.S. military readiness is at risk due to rising defense operations and maintenance costs and ballooning personnel expenditures, a new report by the Aerospace Industries Association concludes.
Yesterday afternoon we ran a story on Military.com about a U.S. drone strike that killed four Shiite "militants" in Basra.
An unmanned U.S. drone fired two Hellfire missiles at militants attacking Iraqi soldiers in a Shiite militia stronghold in the southern city of Basra on Wednesday, killing four of the gunmen, the military said.
The airstrike in Basra occurred about 1 a.m. after militiamen attacked an Iraqi army patrol with rocket-propelled grenades on the eastern side of the Hayaniyah district, the U.S. military said. A vehicle suspected of containing more weapons and ammunition also was destroyed.
To me this strike seemed interesting for it's "close air support" flavor. Up until only recently, the armed Predators and Reapers have been used primarly for strategic and infrastructure strikes. We all know about drones going after HVTs in a "surgical" hit, but this time it seems they were used to support Iraqi troops on the ground.
We also saw reports of drones being used in this way during last week's fighting in Sadr City.
Does this signal a paradigm shift in the use of combat drones? I'd be interested to know what the coordination for CAS is with this kind of asset -- what's the response time? Seems to me it's a good idea in a place where US assets are thinly distributed like Basra. And as the US withdraws more and more troops over the coming years, we could see a lot more of this kind of drone-kills-man scenario.
-- Christian
Here's a great first-person review of the MRAP from my good friend Charlie Benbow who I met up with in Iraq. He posts as "Slab" on OpFor.
In January, my team traded out our well-worn M1114 Up-armored HMMWV for a 4X4 JERRV, one of the models of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles purchased by the Marine Corps. We were pretty excited to have the new vehicle, especially after our first look inside. I mean, the thing looks like the Cadillac Escalade of tactical vehicles. The IED threat in our little slice of Al Anbar had long since dropped to non-existent, but it felt good to have something that was specifically engineered to combat the threat, you know? It didn't take long for the novelty to wear off, however, and by the end of the deployment we had taken to operating mainly from a Humvee again. The MRAP is a superb EOD and convoy security vehicle (the acronym JERRV stands for Joint EOD Rapid Response Vehicle), but it is merely a passable utility and/or fighting vehicle. The thing was obviously designed with the EOD mission in mind, and if any operator input was incorporated into the design, it clearly did not come from the infantry community.
On the good side, it is obviously better equipped to resist blast-type mines and IEDs than any other vehicle in the inventory. On top of the increased protection, the MRAP has a fantastic communications system installed, much better than what we had in our Humvee. Most ANGLICO Humvees look like Monster Garage rejects - additional antennas installed in weird places, additional radios installed in all sorts of unauthorized fashion, all trying to maximize the communications capability of our vehicles. Here we had a vehicle that came with brand new multiband radios, all tied in to an intercommunications system. Although many of the comm capabilities are completely unnecessary for most units, it almost seemed like this thing was made for ANGLICO. In addition, the designers were definitely looking to improve crew comfort in these things - the seats are much more comfortable than the ones in a Humvee, the Vehicle Commander's (VC) seat was MUCH roomier than in a Humvee (even my 155 lb ass ends up wedged between the door and the Blue Force Tracker mount in a Humvee), the air conditioning system was top-notch, etc.
For a motorized infantry mission, however, the MRAP's shortcomings are many. It handles atrociously offroad. The suspension is incredibly stiff, with the end result being that you must be tightly strapped in to survive the jostling in the back of the vehicle. Well, my radio operator sits in the back, and those wonderful radios I mentioned before are placed in such a way that the only person who can readily access them is the gunner. Someone that I would prefer keep his attention oriented, you know, outside the vehicle. My radio guy can certainly reach around the gunner's legs and work on the radios, but not if he's tightly strapped in trying to survive the ride.
Because we frequently live and fight from our vehicle, we have to carry an assortment of odds and ends for our radios, weapons, and ourselves. Things like water, MREs, ammunition, spare barrels for the machinegun, and spare items for the radios. The jostling that I just mentioned makes it nearly impossible to store any of these items in the interior of the vehicle without significant modification. We tried removing one of the seats and putting in a wooden box with space for some of these items, but many items were tossed completely out of the box and ended up strewn about the floor of the vehicle. There is a complete lack of weapons stowage for passengers in the rear of the vehicle, and the weapons racks for the driver and VC are designed for M16s, not M4s. One aspect that seems to elude many tactical vehicle designers is that motorized infantry typically store their sustainment load (i.e. rucksacks) externally (see below). This allows the vehicle's internal space to be utilized for items that I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph, which must be readily accessible throughout the day. Sustainment items can typically wait until a long halt of some sort before they are needed. Yet, the MRAP has no provision for strapping a rucksack to the outside of the vehicle.
The MRAP is a vehicle that is well-suited for a particular niche, but due to pressure from people such as our lawmakers in Congress, it has been pressed into service in roles that it is not suited for. For a unit that never leaves a paved surface, and rarely spends more than 24 hours outside of some sort of operating base at a time, the MRAP's protection and communications capabilities make it a superb asset. For units that must remain expeditionary, be able to operate in a wide variety of terrain and pursue the enemy wherever he is found, the MRAP is ultimately a poor choice, and I in retrospect I am very glad that Gen Conway is reducing the number of these vehicles on order. Personally, if given the choice, I would take an M1114 or M1152 HMMWV over the JERRV 4X4, and would seek other means to reduce the IED threat through such things as tribal leader engagement and refining mounted patrol TTPs.
For more reading on the subject, try Defense Tech. As you can see, Christian has been leveling similar criticism since last year. Christian's article is one of the more down-to-earth articles I've seen on the subject. He and I had a good discussion about personal body armor at the Milbloggies last year, it looks like we are of generally the same opinion on the MRAP issue as well.
-- Slab
The IDF recently deployed the Keshet 120 mm Autonomous Self Propelled Recoil Mortar System (manufactured by Soltam Systems Limited) that the head of the Army Headquarters Weapons Department, Lieutenant Colonel Eren Garnet, explained would enable a battalion commander to fire artillery autonomously. "The battalion commander should be able to guide the fire in the unit he commands as opposed to requiring outside assistance."
The Keshet can be integrated on any M1064 Tracked Vehicle and is currently in serial delivery to the US Army, the IDF and other customers. The autonomous mortar system is capable of a maximum range of 7KM (with NATO std unassisted bombs) and can fire all types of 120mm smooth bore ammo. Its rate of fire burst is 16 per minute (intense burst, 4 rounds). The total weight is 750kg, elevation (deg) 40-85 and traverse (deg) 360.
According to Valentec Systems Inc., the Keshet offers commanders of infantry and armor unique enhanced operational capabilities. Indeed, improvements in inertial navigation systems and a sophisticated target acquisition system further enhance the accuracy of mortar ammunition delivery.
IDF Lieutenant Colonel Tal Aharon notes that the "Keshet weapons system is, without a doubt, the most advanced weapons system of the Infantry Corps."
Other Mortars Compared:
The XM1204 Non-Line-of-Sight Mortar (NLOS-M) is a turreted, self-propelled mortar vehicle with a four man crew. The NLOS-M is currently in development for the U.S. Army and is a component of the Future Combat System.
The Non-Line-of-Sight Mortar (NLOS-M) offers unparalleled responsiveness and lethality (http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/ic/fcs/bia/050923_resupply_rfi.pdf) to the Unit of Action (UA) commander. The mortar provides fires in close support of tactical maneuvers that include destructive fires and special purpose fires. While working as part of an NLOS-M battery, the Non-Line-of-Sight mortar-firing Precision Guided Mortar Munitions deliver lethal fires to destroy targets and provide area suppression in support of UA companies and platoons.
The command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) network enables the FCS NLOS-M)fire control system to conduct semi- to autonomous computation of technical fire direction, automatic gun lay, preparation of the ammunition for firing and mortar round firing. Vastly improved handling, loading and firing systems will be another centerpiece of the NLOS-M. The mortar platoon will also retain a dismounted 81mm mortar capability for complex terrain.
According to Chinese Defense Today, the YW-381 self-propelled 120mm mortar system is mounted inside the troop compartment of a YW-531 APC and is capable of an indirect fire range of 7,700m. The 13.2t mortar is mounted (or fixed) on the APC floor, and cannot move in traverse. As such, the mortar tube elevation range is limited to 45-80 degrees. Auxiliary weapon include a Type 59 12.7 anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on the APC's roof.
The Russian Tulpan is based on the GMZ tracked minelaying vehicle carrying an externally mounted M-240 240 mm breech-loading mortar on the hull rear. The M-1975 mortar (130kg per projectile) is capable of a 9,650m range, but an extended range munition could possibly raise the range to 20,000 m. The Tulpan is limited to a firing frequency of one round per minute. However, the Tulpan can also fire laser-guided, armor-piercing, chemical and nuclear rounds.
Enemy Forces notes that the 240-mm mortar is lowered into the firing position under remote-control and when in position can be elevated from +45 to +80° with a traverse of 8° left and right. The sighting system is located on the right side of the mortar.
Growing concerns with the U.S. having enough Army and Marine Corps land forces to react to potential unforeseen crises overseas are drawing attention on Capitol Hill.
The concerns come as lawmakers craft fiscal 2009 defense bills and eye post-Bush administration budget-making, keeping in mind the looming potential for a significant number of troops operating in Iraq for years to come and the strain that deployments so far have placed on the volunteer U.S. military.
"We have had 12 military contingencies in the last 31 years, some of them major and most of them unexpected," House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) said at a recent hearing.
"We must have a trained and properly equipped force ready to handle whatever comes. But my strong concern is that our readiness shortfalls and the limitations on our ability to deploy trained and ready ground forces have reached a point where these services would have a very steep uphill climb with increased casualties to respond effectively to an emerging contingency," Skelton said.
Skelton made the remarks at an April 9 hearing with the four-star vice chiefs of the Army and Marines, both of whom admitted that they were not satisfied with their respective service's so-called strategic depth to respond to crisis scenarios like the post-9/11 invasion of Afghanistan.
Army Gen. Richard Cody testified that the Army remains "out of balance," repeating what has become a common official Army phrase referring to the need to recruit, station, train and equip soldiers for more than just counterinsurgency operations.
"The current demand for our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan exceeds the sustainable supply and limits our ability to provide ready forces for other contingencies," Cody said.
"Overall, our readiness is being consumed as fast as we build it. If unaddressed, this lack of balance poses a significant risk to the all-volunteer force and degrades the Army's ability to make a timely response to other contingencies," the Army vice chief said.
Read what the Marines have to say about all this from our Aviaton Week friends at Military.com.
-- Christian
Defense industry advocates seem to see budget cuts coming and they're trying to get out of the way.
The Aerospace Industries Association on Tuesday called on policy makers to start thinking about defense spending -- and consider ways to make sure weapons purchases don't get pushed aside. Operating costs and personnel are getting more expensive, the big trade group said, and the next administration will also face a host of other budget pressures. But that won't stop the Pentagon's airplanes and helicopters from getting older, or ease the need to replace them, the group said.
"Our country's current path for military aerospace modernization is not viable," AIA's new defense modernization manifesto said. "As part of adequately funding national defense, DoD needs to increase annual procurement spending to a steady state range of $120 billion150 billion, in constant dollars, simply to modernize an aging, increasingly obsolete and potentially vulnerable force."
The trade group said Congress needs to keep passing emergency spending bills, so that war costs don't make modernization unaffordable. It also called for the next administration to give a little extra thought to the defense budget, so that weapons buying won't fall to the bottom of the priority heap as military support costs rise.
"By 2013, over a 25-year period, the operations and support element of the budget will have more than doubled faster than the growth in the defense budget itself. In contrast, investment will increase by slightly more than 50 percent, well below the growth path of the general budget.
These trends suggest an ongoing, permanent change in composition of the defense budget," the trade group said. "Continuing this trend beyond current projections will make it even more difficult for defense planners to adequately resource the investment spending upon which our military superiority and technological edge depends."
-- Rebecca Christie
The US rationale for war in Iraq has morphed from ousting strongman Saddam Hussein, to countering Al-Qaeda militants to its latest incarnation -- facing down what officials in President George W. Bush's administration call the Iranian "threat".
President George W. Bush accepts a tentative deal reached by US and North Korean negotiators which is aimed at breaking a deadlock in nuclear disarmament talks, the White House said Monday.
Russia's Sukhoi aircraft manufacturer will rank fourth globally in terms of fighter plane production up to 2012, the company's press service said on Monday, citing a market researcher.
The United States has agreed to connect Israel to its ballistic missile early warning system to warn of any missile attack from archfoe Iran, a senior Israeli defence official said on Monday.
US-led moves to turn a forum grappling with the North Korean nuclear crisis into a permanent security mechanism are frustrating Southeast Asia's bid to become a key player in regional security, experts say.
Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a contract to consolidate and centrally manage information technology (IT) resources for the U.S. Army's 5th Signal Command in Mannheim, Germany.
In today's headlines at Military.com, we ran the following story on still more delays to the re-bidding of the CSAR-X competition. This time it's one of Congress' protectionist mandates, forcing the bidders to restrict the use of imported specialty metals.
From Military.com:
The long-anticipated awarding of a $10 billion contract for a military search-and-rescue helicopter has been delayed again -- from July to October -- to comply with changes in the law restricting use of imported specialty metals.
Boeing said April 14 that it had received a draft of the new bid proposal, called Amendment 6, in what the Air Force calls its CSAR-X competition.
Great...this is going to help us with domestic competition, entry into world markets and smoothing over images of a "go-it-alone" foreign policy isn't it?
And, as if Boeing needs more headaches as it wages the Tanker War with EADS/NorGrum...
The latest draft of the bid request, which incorporates changes in the law on the use of specialty metals, was issued last week. Boeing said April 14 that it would submit comments and questions today.
Boeing said the drive shaft, transmission, leading edges of the blades, and other critical parts contained high-strength steels, titanium and other specialty metals.
It could not say how much foreign specialty metal is used in its CSAR-X entry or the Army CH-47 F and G models, which it builds in the suburbs of Philadelphia for transport and special-operations missions. The United States has long sought to use domestic sources for those metals.
The rivals are single-rotor aircraft: Sikorsky H-92 Superhawk and Lockheed Martin US101, which is based on a design developed in Europe. The US101 has been selected for the new "Marine One" presidential helicopters and is destined to replace the aging Sikorsky VH-3D Sea Kings in that role.
And doesn't this restriction seem to prejudice anything made in Europe, like the US101? So much for free and open competition in a world market. Maybe the Soviets had it right after all...
-- Christian
The establishment of early-entry and operational command posts in late March during the deployment phase of Austere Challenge 2008 marked a significant milestone in the merger of U.S. Army Europe and V Corps into a single organization known as 7th Army.
Phoenix Express 2008 (PE 08) wrapped up the inport portion of the exercise on April 13 and began the underway portion of the two-week exercise on April 14 with 12 ships getting underway from Naval Support Activity, Souda Bay, Crete.
Airmen with the 354th Operations Support Squadron Intelligence Flight here are providing U.S. and allied forces intelligence scenarios and targeting materials to support Exercise Red Flag-Alaska 08-2 running April 3 through 18.
Prague called for US help to modernise its armed forces in return for its cooperation with Washington's anti-missile radar plan, a Czech minister told public television on Monday.
The United States' top military commander in Japan on Monday called for greater military transparency from China, saying the reasons for its rising defence spending remained unclear.
When Russia surprised the world a half century ago by launching the Sputnik satellite through Earth’s atmosphere, the ripple effect spurred the White House into action.
At a speech in Indianapolis today, Hillary Clinton outlined a plan to maintain a strong national security and keep good jobs in the U.S. Her plan will invest in a new generation of defense manufacturing jobs and research and development to maintain America’s competitiveness, innovative edge, and to provide our military and our soldiers with the equipment and technology they need.
Alliant Techsystems recently delivered the 100,000th DSU-33 Proximity Sensor to the U.S. Air Force. The company reached this production milestone after consolidating fuze operations in 2005 into its Allegany Ballistics Laboratory manufacturing center of excellence in Rocket Center, West Virginia.
Aura Systems, Inc. announced today that Naval Special Warfare has requested ownership of the SEALION II high performance technology craft powered by the 16,000 Watt AuraGen VIPER system...
The Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2008 third quarter event kicked off here April 14 and will run through April 25 after two years of planning and preparation by Air Force officials.
The U.S. Postal Service is helping the Air Force Reserve celebrate its 60th anniversary with a commemorative pictorial cancellation that went into circulation April 14.
Arianespace has been selected to launch the BSAT-3b satellite by Japanese operator Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT). This was announced today by Arianespace Chairman & CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall and B-SAT Corporation President & CEO Kazuo Takenaka during the visit of France's Prime Minister to Tokyo.
In 1992, the first line combat air strength of the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) consisted of approximately 200 aircraft, organized into six fighter/ground-attack squadrons and five fighter-air defense squadrons. However, the RSAF declined during the 1990s' as the Kingdom's F-5EIIs and F-5s lost substantial operational capability.
In September 2007, Saudi Arabia and Britian signed a deal for the sale of 72 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft for 4.43bn (British pounds). The deal followed a £21bn al-Yamamah contract negotiated by the Thatcher government and involving the sale of BAE Systems Tornado jets and medical equipment.
Now, the US is reportedly considering a sale of the advanced stealth F-35 Lightning II to Saudi Arabia. In an effort to maintain military superiority, Israel has asked the Bush administration to purchase the the F-22 Raptor, despite the fact that foreign sales of the aircraft are currently banned by Congress.
In addition, Israeli defense officials have requested two new advanced JDAM models (laser-guided and immune to jamming) to offset the standard JDAM smart-bomb kits sold to Saudi Arabia that converts existing 500-, 1,000- and 2,000-pound unguided free-fall bombs into accurately guided "smart" weapons.
Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., has expressed concern over US arms sales to Saudi Arabia, noting that the Kingdom has not been a true ally in furthering the United States interests in the Middle East, and noted that about 40 percent of all foreign fighters [in Iraq] are Saudi.
However, according to US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States will help bolster forces of moderation and support a broader strategy to counter the negative influences of al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran."
Nevertheless, Daryl G. Kimball of the Arms Control Association has compared the Bush administration arms sales policy of sell, sell, sell to throwing gasoline on a brush fire.
The possibility of a rogue pilot or the eventual overthrow of the Saudi regime also concerns officials and analysts. Dr. Michael Donovan of the CDI emphasized that as of Sept. 11, [Saudi] stability can no longer be taken for granted...The Islamic values upon which they based their authority for so long are now, seemingly, in conflict with forces they could not control even if they chose to do so.
(Gouge: NC)