Defense Projects and News

A major player in the United States Defense industry was noticably absent at an industry day for military jets that Canada wants to buy. Boeing appeared to have not attended the event more than likely in protest with Canada. The two countries have been locked in a trade war of sorts recently, since last year. The American made Boeing jets company lost a major deal from Delta Airlines that went to Canadian airframer Bombardier for a large number of their CSeries aircraft. Boeing asked the United States Department of Commerce to investigate the Canadian airframer and since then alot has happened between the two companies.

Around 200 participants hailing from seven countries took part in the first industry day for Canada’s proposed purchase of a new fighter jet. Boeing wasn't there though. Canada is looking to purchase 88 new fighter aircraft that could cost them around 12 billion USD. Canadian officials said as many as 108 firms took part in Monday’s gathering that outlined the basic parameters for a next-generation fighter jet.

Boeing receives United States Navy contract for the modernization of the F/A-18 Super Hornet fleet. Once the program starts it will be extending the life of existing Super Hornets from 6,000 to 9,000+ flight hours. In the early 2020s, Boeing will begin installing initial updates to the aircraft that will convert existing Block II Super Hornets to a new Block III configuration. The Block III conversion will include enhanced network capability, longer range with conformal fuel tanks, an advanced cockpit system, signature improvements and an enhanced communication system. The updates are expected to keep the F/A-18 in active service for decades to come. The indefinite-delivery contract is for up to $73 million. Work begins in April on an initial lot of four aircraft at Boeing’s St. Louis production center. An additional production line will be established in San Antonio, Texas in 2019. Additional follow-on contracts could be awarded over the next 10 years. The U.S. Navy fleet consists of 568 Super Hornets.

With interesting developments of Airbus Commercial side of the business, the military arm is also going through issues of its own. The A400M transport is expected to have its assembly rate slashed. 8 aircraft per year is the new tally that will take effect from 2020. The A400M tactical transport was perking along with a rate of around 19 aircraft per year in 2017. "Production will be adjusted to eight units per year as of 2020, following production of 15 A400Ms in 2018 and 11 units in 2019," Airbus says.

The Embraer KC-390 that was involved in the stall incident and subsequently taken out of test service has now resumed testing. The KC-390, "experienced an event beyond the planned limit" while conducting a simulated icing test, which took the aircraft beyond its airspeed and load factor operating limitations, the company said last November. Before returning to testing Embraer replaced several panels on the exterior of the aircraft.

Nextant Aerospace, builders of the 400XTi, G90XT, and Challenger 604XT, announced that it has been awarded the United States Air Force (USAF) T-1A Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) Contract as a subcontractor to Field Aerospace. As part of the award, Nextant Aerospace will share the responsibility for modernizing the entire fleet of 178 T-1A trainer aircraft, 16 operational flight trainers, and 14 part task trainers. Other sub-contractors on the program include Rockwell Collins and Flight Safety International. The contract will call for the team to upgrade the existing cockpits to Pro Line 21™, as well as building multiple simulators, training aids, and courseware.

On February 23 Saab rolled out the first GlobalEye Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft to the media at its Linköping site, Sweden. GlobalEye is an advanced, swing role airborne surveillance system based on a Global 6000 jet aircraft from Bombardier

Seven US service members were killed Thursday in a helicopter crash in western Iraq, the US military said. Army Brig. Gen. Jonathan P. Braga, the director of operations for the combined task force leading the fight against ISIS in the region, said all personnel aboard the HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter were killed. (CNN)

State Department approval of the sale of F/A-18 Super Hornets to Kuwait was first announced in November 2016, with the country requesting a total of 40 Super Hornets, including 28 fighters for initial delivery, plus the option to order 12 more.

GlobalEye first flight...

The Indonesian Air Force celebrated the arrival of the newest addition to its fleet -- 24 F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney’s F100 engines -- during a ceremony at Iswahyudi Air Force Base on Feb. 28. The ceremony was attended by representatives from Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence, U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), U.S. Ambassador Joseph R. Donovan Jr., the U.S. Office of Defense Cooperation, Hill Air Force Base Program Management, Lockheed Martin, and Pratt & Whitney.

Boeing recently achieved a major certification milestone following a successful refueling flight between two KC-46 Pegasus tankers. The company's tanker program has now completed its required Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) fuel on-load testing. During the three-hour, forty-eight minute flight, a KC-46 successfully transferred 146,000 pounds of fuel to a second KC-46, while achieving the maximum fuel off-load rate of 1,200 gallons per minute. Both aircraft took off and landed at Boeing Field, south of Seattle.

On the eve of the ILA Berlin Air Show 2018, Airbus and Eurofighter GmbH have submitted their offer to the German Ministry of Defence for a replacement of the Bundeswehr’s ageing Tornado combat aircraft, which was developed in the 1960s, and have established the Eurofighter as its ideal successor. Currently, the German Air Force is planning to phase out the Tornado from 2025 onwards and to transfer capabilities to another weapon system. As the Eurofighter system is already in use by Germany, this system could seamlessly adopt the capabilities of the Tornado aircraft. In addition, increased use of the same type of aircraft would result in considerable cost savings in terms of support services and training costs due to economies of scale, which would also reduce per-hour flying costs within the German Armed Forces.

CH-53K at the ILA Berlin showcase.

A Military C130 went down near Savannah, Georgia not too long ago. The Savannah Fire Department tweeted on Wednesday afternoon that it was working a fire and a plane crash. Officials with the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport confirmed there was an "incident" involving a military plane off of airport property, but did not provide any other details. The United States Air Force said it was a C-130 operated by the Air National Guard.

Bell V-280 Valor achieves first cruising flight recently. The V-280 Valor is a military tilt-rotor aircraft that is in the testing phases of development. If you may remember the V-280 Valor made its first flight in mid December 2017. 280-knots is the maximum speed of this aircraft but for the first cruising test flight they only pushed it to 190-knots. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the FVL program is designed to find a replacement for the Army’s Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks and the Bell UH-1 operated by the U.S. Marine Corps.

It appears that the United States Air Force (USAF) has grounded its fleet of B-1B Lancer Bombers as a result of safety issues. “The safety of airmen is the command’s top priority,” said the USAF. “The Air Force takes safety incidents seriously and works diligently to identify and correct potential causes.” Apparently escape hatches on one aircraft were blown prematurely without an ejection taking place. The particular B-1B Lancer and its Four man crew landed safely without further incident at the Midland International Air & Spaceport. This incident happened on May 1 and the USAF took action to ground the fleet for now on June 7th.

An A-29 Super Tucano crashed during a light attack exercise recently. The Embraer aircraft was participating in what is described as a light attack experiment on June 22. It crashed in New Mexico after the two person crew safely ejected from the aircraft. The crew sustained minor injuries. The cause of the incident remains unknown at this point.

Some unfortunate news regarding United States Air Force aircraft. A number of KC-135 tankers deployed to Andersen Air Force Base were damaged this week as Typhoon Maria swept through Guam, Pacific Air Forces confirmed on Friday.

“A small number of aircraft were damaged during Typhoon Maria. Operations continued after recovering from the immediate impacts of the storm. Damage assessments are ongoing,” said Lt. Col. Megan Schafer, a spokeswoman for Pacific Air Forces.

The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin have reached a handshake deal for the eleventh batch of F-35 joint strike fighters, the Pentagon’s top acquisistion official confirmed July 15. The lot 11 order will be the largest so far for the F-35 program, purchasing 141 jets for U.S. and international customers. "The JPO and Lockheed Martin have made progress and are in the final stages of negotiation on the Lot 11 production contract,” said Ellen Lord, the Pentagon’s undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, in a statement. (Defense News).

It appears that the C-32A (757-200 derived) will be getting upgrades very soon to match that of the VC-25A (747-200 derived Presidential jet). The C-32A is generally utilized to carry the American Vice President, Senators, Cabinet members, First Lady etc. 16 million dollars was approved for Boeing to make the C-32A appear more 'Presidential'. "The requirements necessitate a combination of the following: upgraded interior elements; refurbished interior elements; painting and cleaning; replacing double-seat configuration with triple-seat configuration, aft of Door 3," says the USAF’s contract notice online. The work is expected to be completed by August 2019. This aircraft is popularly known as 'Air Force Two'... but it is only referred to as that when the Vice President of the United States is onboard.