Defense Projects and News

Brunei has received the first two of 12 Sikorsky S70i helicopters it has on order at the Brunei International Defence Exhibition.

Boeing remaining optimistic about F/A-18 orders

Boeing expects its F/A-18 production line in St Louis, Missouri to keep humming for the foreseeable future, despite mixed signals from the US Navy about acquiring additional aircraft. "I can easily envision the production line going beyond 2020," says Michael Gibbons, vice president and programme manager of Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and E/A-18G Growler aircraft. "I could envision, easily, several more years of buys by the US Navy."

Iraq has signed a $1.1 billion contract for 24 Korea Aerospace Industries T-50 advanced jet trainers, giving the South Korean firm its second international customer for the type. The deal was signed between Iraqi government officials and senior officials from KAI on 12 December. “I am thankful to the Iraqi government to purchase the T-50 aircraft,” says Ha Sung-yong, president and chief executive of KAI. “I think that the T-50 is the most optimal aircraft suitable for Iraq’s military operations. We will make our utmost efforts to support the Iraqi air force and ensure the smooth operation of the T-50.”

Textron AirLand has successfully completed the first test flight of the Scorpion which is the company's new tactical twinjet. If you are not familiar the twinjet was announced earlier this year. The Scorpion left McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, on its first flight and flew for approximately 1.4 hours.

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Sikorsky is one step closer to bringing its “unmanned rotor blown wing concept” aircraft to reality. The Stratford, Connecticut-based helicopter manufacturer has been awarded a $14.4 million contract by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a preliminary design for a “vertical take-off and landing experimental aircraft,” DARPA’s so-called VTOL X-Plane. (FG)

How about this, ever wondered how the USAF cleans its aircraft, well C-130s?

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/this-is-how-the-us-air-force-showers-its-giant-cargo-pl-1499933091

U.S Navy F-18 Hornet crashes off Virgina...

http://news.yahoo.com/navy-f-18-jet-crashes-atlantic-off-virginia-210213576.html

Global Hawk’s prospects maybe looking up. The Pentagon is reconsidering its bid to wind down the big UAV

HE UAV TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR SUCCESSFULLY PERFORMED REMOTELY PILOTED FULL TEST FLIGHT

Piaggio Aero, together with Selex ES, announces at the Dubai Air Show 2013 that the P.1HH HammerHead Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) has achieved the demonstration and validation phase of the programme with the maiden flight of the P.1HH DEMO, Piaggio Aero's UAV technology demonstrator. This flight is a fundamental milestone that paves the way to the next phase of the programme development. The flight readiness of the P.1HH DEMO flight Technology Demonstrator had been confirmed by the first flight, which occurred on Thursday 14th November 2013, at the Trapani (Italy) "Birgi" Italian Air Force base.

The P.1HH DEMO UAV has taken off at a rotation speed of 110 kts and performed a flight over the Mediterranean sea for approximately 12 minutes, while being remotely piloted from the Ground Control Station, which allowed for testing of the navigation system and verification of maneuvering capabilities in both manual and automatic flight modes. The flight was performed in mid-flap configuration with landing gear extended. The aircraft reached an altitude of 2,000 ft. and a speed of 170 Kts, flying at 12 miles from the base. The UAS landed at 1.15 pm at the Trapani military airport completing its first flight test.*

Beechcraft Corporation today announced that its Defense Company has signed two contracts to provide a comprehensive pilot training system for the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). The foundation for the system is 11 Beechcraft T-6C Texan II turboprop military training aircraft. It also includes spare parts, training, logistics and maintenance support.

Boeing [NYSE: BA] will deliver an additional 2,550 Combat Survivor Evader Locator radios – which are vital to the rescue of downed pilots and other warfighters in dangerous situations – under a new $24 million contract with the U.S. Air Force. A global emergency call system that enables the safe, fast and efficient recovery of warfighters in harm's way, CSEL is used by the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy for search and rescue operations. The system consists of hand-held radios, over-the-horizon relays and other ground and user equipment.

"CSEL radios have proven themselves to be instrumental in helping locate isolated personnel and getting them out of danger," said Steve Capps, Boeing CSEL program manager. "Wherever they fight, our forces can depend on CSEL for secure satellite communications, line-of-sight voice connectivity, global position and navigation information, and beacon functions." Boeing has delivered some 55,000 CSEL radios to date. The new deliveries are scheduled for 2014 and 2015. Boeing also received separate contracts to enhance the capabilities and information security of the global CSEL base-station network.

Britain has lifted a flying suspension on its fleet of six Airbus-made Voyager military aircraft, the operator of the aircraft and the Ministry of Defence said on Friday. The Royal Air Force (RAF) said on February 12 that it had stopped flying its Voyager fleet after an "inflight issue" on February 9. Reuters news agency was told the plane dropped around 4,000 feet while flying over Turkey.

Britain is one of the biggest customers for the Voyager, supplied by the Airbus-led AirTanker consortium. It has ordered 14 of the converted A330-200s from AirTanker in a GBP£14 billion (USD$23.3 billion) leasing contract. An AirTanker spokesman said an investigation was ongoing and he was unable to comment on the cause of the incident. "We continue to give this investigation our full support and cooperation," he added.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it was inappropriate to speculate on the cause of the incident but, following critical safety advice, the RAF chain of command had been reassured that the likelihood of a repeat was negligible. "Local training sorties have commenced, with European training sorties planned over the weekend," the MoD added.

The RAF grounding applied to six aircraft on the military register. A seventh aircraft in military service, which is on the civil register, continued to fly. In 2008, several passengers were injured when an A330 operated by Australia's Qantas went into a sudden descent, but no connection has so far been identified with the RAF incident, people familiar with the matter said. The AirTanker consortium includes Babcock, Cobham, Rolls-Royce and Thales. Airbus declined to comment while the Ministry of Defence was not available to comment.

(Reuters)

Deep cuts in military spending ordered by the Obama Administration would reduce American military forces to their lowest level since before World War II and signal the end of the line for two iconic military aircraft, the high-flying Lockheed U-2 spyplane and tank-busting A-10 Warthog.

Under the proposed military budget, the entire A-10 fleet would be eliminated and replaced by the Lockheed Martin F-35A and other aircraft. The U-2 spyplane, the stalwart of Cold War reconnaissance, would be retired in favor of drones like the unmanned Global Hawk. The Defense Department says the high costs of maintaining these aging aircraft are behind the decision.

(FLYING Mag)

The pilot of a Marine F/A-18 operating on a training flight with the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center in Nevada was killed when his airplane crashed in the desert about 70 miles from Naval Air Station Fallon on Saturday, the Navy said.

U-2 Still Has Edge Over Global Hawk in terms of its continuation in high-altitude spying.

F-18 has an emergency...listen to how well the ATC deals with the situation...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jxNddpuLHs&feature=youtu.be

A British Airbus Voyager military aircraft carrying 198 people dropped thousands of feet during a flight to Afghanistan last month because a camera became wedged against a control stick, an interim report said. The report did not say how the camera came to be in the cockpit but said it was confident "human factors" and not technical error was the cause of the incident. The preliminary conclusion removes blame from the Airbus-led AirTanker consortium, which is under contract to supply Britain with 14 of the converted A330-200s.

The British Royal Air Force (RAF) said on February 12 it had grounded its fleet of six Voyager aircraft after an "inflight issue" three days earlier which saw the Afghanistan-bound plane being diverted to Turkey. It lifted the suspension on February 21. In its interim report, the Military Aviation Authority (MAA) said the aircraft pitched nose down while flying at 33,000 feet and dropped 4,440 feet within 27 seconds before its self-protection system helped it recover.

The MAA said the flight data and cockpit voice recorders showed movement of the captain's side stick and seat caused the aircraft to pitch downwards. This, it said, was caused by a digital SLR camera that had lodged between the captain's arm rest and the base of the control stick. "The Flight Data Recorder has shown no indication of system failures which could have led the aircraft to pitch down," the report said.

(Reuters)

The Pentagon's fiscal 2015 budget strategy prioritizes funding for the stealthy F-35. Some are questioning 'but at what cost'? This question is in relation to perceived less-emphasis on Electronic Warfare (EW) platforms. With the Forces looking to mothball C130 EW aircraft in a cost-cutting measure and purchase some 138 EA-18G Growlers (Electronic Warware version of the FA-18). Is the service putting too much emphasis on the F-35 program?

Not sure how current this is but A C-160 Transall cargo plane bounced off a road in front of the runway before properly landing at an airport in Germany.