NZ Seasprite Helicopter Project Approved

Defence Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman says the government has approved the purchase of an upgraded and expanded Seasprite helicopter fleet for the New Zealand Defence Force.
A total of eight Seasprites (plus two spare airframes) will be purchased from the United States company Kaman Aerospace in a NZ$242 million dollar deal, which includes a training simulator, missiles, and additional components.
“The Defence Force currently has five Seasprites which have been in service since the late1990s and are due for replacement,” said Dr Coleman.
“This package from Kaman Aerospace will provide the Navy with an upgraded variant, the Seasprite SH-2G(I), and increase the fleet from five to eight helicopters. It will allow helicopters to be embarked on the two ANZAC-class frigates (Te Mana and Te Kaha) as well as the offshore patrol vessels and the multi-role ship HMNZS Canterbury,” he said.
“These helicopters come with modernised sensor, weapons and flight control systems and will be a major boost to our maritime surveillance and search capability. The helicopters will also ensure that our naval fleet is able to operate at its full potential,” said Dr Coleman.
The replacement helicopters were originally built for the Australian Defence Force. In 2009 the Australian government elected to cancel the contract and not to introduce them into service after questions about their suitability to meet Australia’s requirements.
“The New Zealand Defence Force and Ministry of Defence officials are acutely aware that the Australian government decided not to fully introduce these aircraft into service after concerns about a range of technical issues,” said Dr Coleman.
“As a consequence the New Zealand Ministry of Defence has invested considerable resources into examining all aspects of this project over the last two years. This included commissioning an independent study by Marinvent Corporation of Canada.”
“Ministry of Defence officials have advised the government this aircraft will prove a very capable purchase, meet all of the New Zealand Defence Force’s requirements, and can be introduced into service.”
“Based on this advice and after looking at other replacement options the government approved this project. The replacement Seasprites will have a multiplier effect on the capability of the Navy and what’s more the price is very good with alternative helicopter replacements costing three times the amount,” said Dr Coleman.
Questions & Answers
Why do we need new helicopters?

• The current Seasprite fleet is nearly 15 years old and some of the systems are failing. Spare parts are becoming scarce. Manufacturers no longer support some of the systems, and newer versions have improved capabilities.
• The current fleet of five helicopters is too small. Only two aircraft are regularly available for use on the Navy’s ships (one is used for training and two are in maintenance).
• Five of the Navy’s ships can operate a helicopter. This is up from three when the current Seasprites were acquired. To get full value from our investment in the frigates and other naval vessels, we need a larger fleet of helicopters with upgraded components and better communications capability.

What does the Kaman package include?

• The Kaman package consists of ten Super Seasprite helicopters (two will be used as spares), a full motion flight simulator, training aids, spares inventory and publications.

How do the new aircraft differ from the current fleet?

• The new aircraft have updated flight control systems and modern radar and sensors. They also have a modern communications system that allows sensor data to be shared between the helicopter and ship.
• The new sensors provide a much greater range and ability for surveillance and search and rescue.

Has the NZDF tested the aircraft?

• Defence Force personnel have conducted several evaluation flights in one of these helicopters. The pilot and crew members were impressed by the step-up in capabilities these new aircraft will bring to the Defence Force.
• Separately, Marinvent Corporation, the Canadian airworthiness expert contracted by Defence to examine the aircraft, were involved in flight trials as part of their own evaluation process.

What missile does the new Seasprite carry?

• Our current fleet of Seasprites carries a Maverick missile, which is a general-purpose air-to-surface missile, designed for use against ground targets and shipping. The new aircraft will carry the Penguin missile, which is an anti-ship missile.
• The Penguin is a better missile. It is bigger, faster, has a warhead three times the size of the Maverick, has twice the range, and once launched the aircraft is free to turn-away. The Penguin can also perform random weaving manoeuvres and strike the target close to the waterline, making it more difficult to counter.

Are these new aircraft?

• Unlike the current New Zealand Seasprite fleet which were new at the time of purchase, Australia chose to refurbish former US Navy airframes.
• The practice of refurbishing airframes is common. It involves a complete re-build of the body to a point where it is regarded as new and the fitting of new avionics, engines, wiring, software, fittings, and weapons and sensor systems. The aircraft have a service life out to 2030.
• Refurbished aircraft are common to all defence forces, and the Seasprite airframes will be no different in age to our upgraded C-130 Hercules and P3K2 Orions, except the entire Seasprite fleet only has a total of 1200 flying hours.

Why would these helicopters be suitable when Australia cancelled its contract?

• At the time Australia bought 11 Seasprites for $1 billion but decided to add bespoke enhancements, including a sophisticated computer controlled flight operating system. After a series of delays, project management issues, and cost over-runs the Australian government cancelled the project.
• A key issue was the Australian Defence Force specified an aircraft that could be flown by a two-person crew and have a computer flight system that could operate the aircraft with “no hands” on the controls.
• The NZDF has a different requirement. It will operate the aircraft with a three-person crew, as is current practice with its standard operating procedure for pilots to retain a hold on the controls at all times. The “no-hands” requirement is not being adopted.
• All other technical issues have been resolved by Kaman who continued to further develop the aircraft after Australia cancelled the contract.

When will the aircraft arrive?

• The aircraft are currently in storage in Connecticut, USA. They will need to be returned to flying condition, and undergo some minor modifications to suit New Zealand’s requirements. The NZDF will undertake the usual airworthiness and certification process in preparation for operational flying.
• The first three aircraft are due in New Zealand in late 2014. The fleet should all be in service during 2016.

What is a breakdown in the purchase price?

• The purchase price includes $US120 million (about $NZ147 million) for the 8 aircraft going into service and two further airframes. The additional project costs are for missiles, the flight simulator, ship decklock modification, additional components, testing and introduction into service activities.

Northrop Launches CUTLASS, Next Generation Unmanned Ground Vehicle

Northrop Grumman Corporation has launched CUTLASS, its latest generation unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), expanding its range of industry-leading capabilities in unmanned systems for the remote handling and surveillance of hazardous threats.

CUTLASS has been designed, developed and manufactured by Northrop Grumman in the U.K., and includes significant advances in technology and performance and a range of features that provides state-of-the-art capabilities for national security and resilience applications.

“Our CUTLASS vehicle is setting new standards in the UGV market and significantly enhancing the ability of users to handle hazardous threats safely. It is more dexterous, cost effective and, as a package, four times faster than any other UGV,” said Greg Roberts, managing director, defence and security, Northrop Grumman Information Systems Europe. “The vehicle is already in service across the U.K. and has proven itself to be robust and capable in the most demanding environments. We look forward to exploiting the potential opportunities for exporting this capability into international markets.”

CUTLASS will be on display in Northrop Grumman’s exhibit at the Counter Terror Expo, where it will also show its range of capabilities in daily live scenario-based demonstrations. The international exhibition and conference Counter Terror Expo takes place at the National Hall, Olympia, London, April 24-25.

CUTLASS offers the latest technology in a modular design, enabling the user to deal safely with the full range of hazardous threats from a distance, including the detection and disposal of explosive ordnance. Its highly versatile design means that it is capable of accommodating a wide range of payloads, sensors and tools. It carries all of the tools and sensors it needs to perform the full range of operations required for explosive ordnance disposal and other applications, avoiding the need to deploy two standard UGVs. CUTLASS saves up to 50 percent on the through-life costs when compared to owning and operating two standard UGVs.

The manipulator arm is equipped with a three-fingered, state-of-the-art gripper and has nine degrees of freedom for greater movement and agility inside limited spaces. With a specialised sensing system it provides a high level of control and dexterity to minimize damage to property and preserve forensic evidence.

Using CUTLASS, a hazardous situation can be restored to normal up to four times more quickly than with any other UGV. The combination of the speed of the wheeled platform, which can reach speeds of up to 12 kph, and the ability of CUTLASS to carry multiple tools and sensors negates the need to return to the incident control point, thus saving considerable time. The robot is able to creep along at deliberately slow speeds for delicate operations and may accelerate to high speeds to enable rapid travel. The six-wheeled design offers mobility on all types of hard and soft terrain and in all weather conditions.

Northrop Grumman’s unmanned ground vehicle business has been established in Coventry, U.K., for more than 20 years. Today, the company designs, develops and manufactures in the U.K. some of the most capable and reliable unmanned ground vehicles available, from the Wheelbarrow bomb disposal robot to the latest vehicle, CUTLASS.

Northrop Grumman has more than 2,000 unmanned ground vehicle systems in operation around the world.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems, cybersecurity, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide.

Pentagon chief heads to Israel after US arms deal unveiled

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel headed to Israel on Sunday in a weeklong trip to the Middle East that will be dominated by worries over Iran’s nuclear program and Syria’s raging civil war.

In his first trip to the region since taking over as Pentagon chief nearly two months ago, Hagel planned to discuss with his counterparts the final details of an elaborate $10 billion arms deal that will provide US military aircraft and missiles to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In a two-day visit to Israel, Hagel will seek to counter criticism from some US lawmakers and pro-Israel groups that he is too soft on Iran and too hostile to the Jewish state — a charge he has vehemently rejected.

Hagel will likely tout the arms deal as a demonstration of Washington’s commitment to Israel’s security and as a way of countering Iran’s military power and nuclear ambitions.

The United States and Israel have disagreed over the urgency of the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program, with Washington maintaining there is still time to see if tough sanctions and diplomacy persuade Tehran to change course.

Hagel is due to tour the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and meet Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, officials said.

His trip to Israel comes a month after President Barack Obama visited Jerusalem and reaffirmed US backing of Israel while promoting fresh attempts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

After Israel, Hagel will travel on to Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Under the unusual US arms package announced Friday, which was negotiated simultaneously with Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the United States plans to sell advanced missiles to the Saudis and more than two dozen F-16 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates.

With the Gulf states anxious over Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, the Pentagon has agreed to billions of dollars of arms sales designed to bolster the Arab nations’ air power and missile defenses.

Hagel’s visit coincides with growing suspicions that Syria may have used chemical weapons in its fight against opposition forces. Both Britain and France have submitted evidence to the United Nations alleging the regime fired chemical agents.

US intelligence agencies are taking the reports seriously but have to verify if the Syrian government employed some its deadly chemical arsenal, officials say.

The US administration, reluctant to provide arms to the Syrian rebels, has made clear its skeptical view of military intervention. Obama however has warned the Damascus regime that resorting to chemical weapons would constitute a “red line.”

Hagel announced last week that he had ordered more US troops to Jordan to help prepare for a range of scenarios in Syria, including securing chemical weapons or handling a spillover of violence from the conflict.

The deployment of a US Army headquarters element brought the American military’s presence in Jordan to more than 200.

Exclusive: Proof of Chinese intrusion in Indian territory

The proof as claimed by Times of India you can see the video by clicking on the following link:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/news/Exclusive-Proof-of-Chinese-intrusion-in-Indian-territory/videoshow/10067448.cms

Ladakh: China troops intrude into Indian territory

In a deep incursion,Chinese troops have entered the Indian territory in Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector in eastern Ladakh and erected a tented post, setting the stage for a face-off with Indian troops.

A Platoon-strength contingent of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) came 10 km inside the Indian territory in Burthe in DBO sector, which is at an altitude of about 17,000 feet, on the night of April 15 and established a tented post there, according to highly placed sources, which said that a Chinese Army Platoon usually consists of around 50 men. 

Troops from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) have also established a camp approximately 300 metres opposite the location, the sources said.

ITBP has asked for a Flag meeting with the Chinese side but there has been no response as of now, sources said.

When contacted, the spokesman of Udhampur-based Northern Command Col Rajesh Kalia said," due to differences in perception of the Line of Actual Control(LAC) a few face-offs take place in the eastern Ladakh side. These are resolved amicably through existing mechanism." He refused to elaborate.

The Ladakh Scouts, an Infantry regiment of the Indian Army and specializing in mountain warfare, has also moved towards the area where the situation was described as tense.

The place has not been known to have any permanent civilian population.
    
DBO, located in northernmost Ladakh, is an historic camp site and located on an ancient trade route connecting Ladakh to Yarkand in Xinjiang, China.

It lies at the easternmost point of the Karakoram Range in a cold desert region in the far north of India, just 8 km south of the Chinese border and 9 km northwest of the Aksai Chin LAC between China and India. Temperature plummets as low as minus 30 degree Celsius in the winters.

Other than Siachen Glacier military base, it is India's northernmost built-up area. The nearest inhabited town is Murgo to the south, which has a small population of Baltis who primarily depend on apricot farming and yak rearing.

Syria: Rebels capture military airport of Daba in the city of Homs

Syrian opposition captured a military airport in the city of Homs, Al Jazeera TV channel reported on Thursday.

According to the TV channel, after fighting between the Syrian army and the opposition military airport Daba is completely under the control of the opposition.

It is reported that at least 150 people were killed during the fighting.

Syria: Heavy clashes between soldiers and rebels around the town of Qusair near Lebanon border

Syrian troops backed by pro-government gunmen fought fierce battles with rebels on Saturday in a strategic area in Homs province near the Lebanese border, activists and state media in Damascus reported.

The latest fighting came as U.S. officials said the Obama administration was poised to send millions more in non-lethal military aid to rebels trying to oust President Bashar Assad.

The clashes around the contested town of Qusair, close to the Syria-Lebanon boundary, had intensified over the past two weeks amid a fresh offensive by the Syrian army and a pro-government militia known as Popular Committees, backed by the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group.

F-35A operating costs to exceed F-16, official says

Operating costs for the conventional take-off and landing version of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are expected to be roughly 10% greater than those of the Lockheed F-16.

According to the Pentagon's F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO), Lt Gen Christopher Bogdan, who leads the tri-service effort, provided some preliminary numbers to the Dutch parliament comparing costs per flying hour between the two aircraft on 18 April.

"In his statement, Bogdan indicated that the cost per flying hour of an F-35A is estimated to be $24,000 per hour; roughly 10% higher than F-16 cost per flying hour," the JPO says. "This data was derived in co-operation with the US Air Force and the Department of Defense Cost Assessment & Program Evaluation Office. Comparable baseline assumptions were used to evaluate relative operational costs between F-35 and legacy aircraft."

Lockheed Martin

The final cost figures are due to be released in the Pentagon's 2012 selected acquisitions report for the F-35, which is set to be published during May.

Earlier this year, USAF chief of staff Gen Mark Welsh told reporters that the JPO was attempting to reconcile two different sets of cost estimates: one from the USAF and another from Lockheed. The cost numbers diverged because of differing underlying assumptions from which each side based its estimates.

USA to approve V-22 sale to Israel

The USA is about to approve the sale of Bell Boeing V-22 tiltrotor transport aircraft and Boeing KC-135 tankers to Israel, according to industry sources, who indicate that the proposed deals are part of a larger package of agreements which also concern the planned sale of advanced weapon systems to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The wide-ranging deals are designed "not just to boost Israel's capabilities, but also to boost the capabilities of our Persian Gulf partners so they, too, would be able to address the Iranian threat," says one US source. New equipment will "also provide a greater network of coordinated assets around the region to handle a range of contingencies," the official adds.

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will visit Israel and Middle East region next week, when sources suggest the deals are due to be finalised.

Israeli air force magazine

The Israeli air force has evaluated the V-22 through numerous test flights performed in the USA, with the service having recommended purchasing an undisclosed number of the type for use during special operations.
Also expected to be contained within a deal are KC-135 tankers, which sources expect to replace the converted Boeing 707s currently used by the Israeli air force for inflight refuelling.

French army receives first enhanced Tiger HAD

France's DGA defence procurement agency has received its first Eurocopter Tiger in the enhanced HAD configuration for operation by the country's army aviation units.

The delivery on 19 April follows acceptance of the type by the DGA earlier in April and certification in January 2013. Enhancements over the previous HAP air-support variant include uprated MTR390 engines, the addition of Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles and increased ballistic protection.
France has 40 Tiger HADs on order, with a further 24 examples ordered by Spain, including the retrofitting of six previously delivered aircraft.

Lutz Bertling, the outgoing Eurocopter chief executive, says the airframer is in discussions for at least one further Tiger order, although he plays down suggestions that any deal is close.

Eurocopter

Meanwhile, France continues to mull the status of an order for 34 NH Industries NH90 troop transport helicopters, as it works to define its future defence spending priorities.

"The requirement is clearly there, but the French government is in the process of deciding which requirements will be prioritised depending on the available budget," said Bertling at a media event in Marignane on 17 April.

Nonetheless, Bertling says he remains confident the order will come through, albeit in a modestly reduced form. "I don't expect much deviation from 34," he notes.

He refused to be drawn on the authenticity of a note, leaked to the French media, which purported to be from Eurocopter to the French government warning of the consequences for the NH90 programme should the commitment not be forthcoming.

However, Bertling pointed out the logic of the claims. "Any business, for whatever product, needs to make sense for a production line. Below a certain quantity it does not make such sense. Without this [French] contract we are facing a risk. We would anticipate export orders to have largely finished [by that point]. We would be facing a critical situation on that programme," he says.

Eurocopter continues to eye further export opportunities for its military helicopters, with Bertling again highlighting the potential of the US Army's as-yet-unlaunched Armed Aerial Scout programme. This comes despite last week's US defence budget request for 2014, which saw the total number of UH-72 Lakotas trimmed by 30 units.

United Kingdom to Buy Hellfire Missiles

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress April 16 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the United Kingdom for 500 AGM-114-N4/P4 HELLFIRE missiles. The estimated cost is $95 million.

This program will directly contribute to the U.S. foreign and national security policies by enhancing the close air support capability of the United Kingdom in support of NATO, ISAF, and other coalition operations. 

Common close air support capabilities greatly increases interoperability between our two countries’ military and peacekeeping forces and allow for greater burden sharing.

 

The proposed sale will support the UK’s ability to meet current and future threats by providing close air support to counter enemy attacks on coalition ground forces in Afghanistan. The UK, which already has HELLFIRE missiles in its inventory, will have no difficulty absorbing these additional missiles.

The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

The prime contractor will be Lockheed Martin Corporation of Orlando, Florida. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.

Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to the United Kingdom.

There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.

This notice of a potential sale is required by law and does not mean the sale has been concluded.

Iran able to destroy Israel ‘alone’: commander

Iran’s army “alone” is able to destroy Israel, army commander General Ataollah Salehi said on Thursday, responding to boasts by the Jewish state that its military that could attack its archfoe on its own.

“Our message to this illegitimate regime (Israel) is the same, we do not need to utilise all of Iran’s military forces,” Salehi said on the sidelines of the Islamic republic’s annual Army Day. “The army … alone is able to destroy Israel.”

His comments come after Israeli chief of staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz on Tuesday said the Jewish state’s military was capable of attacking Iran on its own without foreign support.

Asked in an interview on public radio if the military could wage attacks on Iran “alone” — without the support of countries such as the United States — Gantz replied: “Yes, absolutely.”

Israel believes the Islamic republic, which has issued many bellicose statements about the Jewish state, is working to achieve a military nuclear capability and has not ruled out a military strike to prevent this happening.

Iran denies it is developing an atomic bomb and says it needs its nuclear programme of uranium enrichment for peaceful medical and energy purposes.

Israel is widely believed to be the Middle East’s sole nuclear-armed state, albeit undeclared.

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution Iran has had two military forces — the regular army and the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, which controls the ballistic missile programme is believed by Western military experts to be the more powerful and the better equipped of the two.

During Thursday’s military parade, Tehran displayed what it said were three newly-developed unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones.

“The Sarir (throne) drone is a stealth, with a long range flight capability and is equipped with a cameras and air-to-air missiles,” air defence commander Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili said as the aircraft went on display along with two other new drones, the Hazem-3 (firm) and Mohajer-B (immigrant).

Iran says it is developing drones to be used for surveillance as well as for attacks.

The Islamic republic regularly boasts of advances in the military and scientific fields, but western military experts often cast doubt on its claims.

Hagel: Review to Assess Investment, Force Structure Assumptions

 As Defense Department leaders defend before Congress the president’s $526.6 billion base defense budget request for fiscal year 2014, DOD officials are preparing a review that reassesses assumptions driving the Pentagon’s investment and force structure decisions, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said today.

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hagel said the review, conducted by Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is expected to be complete by May 31.

Rather than accommodate the Budget Control Act’s abrupt and severe budget cuts known as sequestration, the 2014 Defense Authorization Request contains an alternative that proposes $150 billion in added defense savings over the next decade as part of a balanced deficit-reduction package, Hagel said.

The cuts would occur in the years beyond fiscal year 2018, he added, giving the department “time to implement such reductions wisely, carefully [and] responsibly.”

But the secretary said DOD must plan for more reductions to the defense budget that could result from an agreement by Congress and the administration on a deficit-reduction plan, or for sequester-level cuts that persist for another year or over the long term.

“Consequently,” Hagel told the Senate panel, “I directed a strategic choices and management review in order to assess the potential impact of further reductions, up to the level of full sequester.”

The review, which includes the service secretaries, service chiefs, Office of the Secretary of Defense principals and combatant commanders as essential participants, will identify strategic choices and further institutional reforms that may be required, including reforms that should be pursued regardless of fiscal pressures, he said.

Such a review will help to sort out the challenges, articulate the risks and look for opportunities for reform and efficiencies presented by resource constraints, the secretary said, adding that the results of the review will inform DOD’s fiscal 2015 budget request and serve as the foundation for the Quadrennial Defense Review due to Congress in February.

Hagel said the review will put everything on the table, including roles and missions, planning, business practices, force structure, personnel, compensation, acquisition and modernization investments, along with how the department operates and maintains readiness.

“It is already clear to me, Mr. Chairman,” Hagel told Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, “that achieving significant additional budget savings without unacceptable risk to national security will require not just tweaking or chipping away at existing structures and practices, but, if necessary, fashioning entirely new ones that better reflect 21st-century realities. And that will require the partnership of Congress.”

The fiscal 2013 DOD appropriations bill that Congress enacted last month allocated DOD funding more in line with the president’s budget request, giving DOD authorities to start new programs and proceed with important military construction projects, the secretary said.

“Nonetheless, the bill still left in place the deep and abrupt cuts associated with sequester, as much as $41 billion in spending reductions over the next six months,” he noted, adding that military pay and benefits are exempt from sequester.

If the sequester provision remains intact, Hagel said, DOD funding will be cut by $52 billion in fiscal 2014 and by about $500 billion over the next nine years.

In his description of the budget request, Hagel said the president’s $526.6 billion DOD base budget request for fiscal 2014 continues to implement President Barack Obama’s defense strategic guidance issued in January 2012 and enhances DOD efforts at institutional reform.

“Most critically,” the secretary added, “it sustains the quality of the all-volunteer force and the care we provide our service members and their families, which underpins everything we do as an organization.”

The budget request also contains a placeholder request for overseas contingency operations at the fiscal 2013 level of $88.5 billion, he said.

The submission does not include a formal overseas contingency operations request because Afghanistan force level and deployment decisions for this year were delayed to give commanders time to fully assess responsibilities and requirements, the secretary explained.

The base budget targets growing costs in areas of support, acquisition and pay and benefits before cutting military capabilities and force structure, and identifies new savings of about $34 billion in fiscal 2014 through 2018, the secretary said, including $5.5 billion in fiscal 2014 from these areas.

To eliminate excess infrastructure, the budget request calls for one round of base realignment and closure, called BRAC, in 2015, Hagel told the senators.

“BRAC is a comprehensive and fair tool that allows communities to have a role in reuse decisions for their property and provides development assistance,” he said. “BRAC, as we all know, is imperfect, and there are up-front costs. The future-year defense program adds $2.4 billion to pay for those costs. But in the long term, there are significant savings. The previous five rounds of BRAC are saving $12 billion annually, and those savings will continue.”

The department continues to streamline its acquisition programs and processes, and over the past four years it has realized significant cost savings as a result of reforms implemented by the Weapons System and Acquisition Reform Act of 2009, he said.

In the current budget request, Hagel added, DOD has achieved $8.2 billion in savings from weapons program terminations and restructuring, and will substitute a new package of military compensation proposals that save about $1.4 billion in fiscal 2014 and $12.8 billion in fiscal 2014 through 2018.

“This package includes a modest slowing of the growth of military pay by implementing a 1 percent pay raise for service members in 2014,” he added.

The department seeks more changes to the TRICARE program in fiscal 2014 to bring beneficiary costs closer to levels envisioned when the health care plan was implemented, particularly for working-age retirees, the secretary said, adding that “survivors of military members who died on active duty or medically retired members would be excluded from all TRICARE increases.”

Even after the proposed fee changes, Hagel said, TRICARE will remain a substantial benefit.

“These adjustments to pay and benefits were among the most carefully considered and most difficult choices in the budget,” he added, “[and] they were made with strong support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the senior enlisted leadership.”

Cuts and changes to capabilities, force structure and modernization programs all will be required, based on priorities and parameters set in the strategic guidance, he said.

 

Last year, the department proposed reductions of about 100,000 in military end-strength between fiscal 2012 and 2017, the secretary said.

“By the end of 2014,” he said, “we will have completed almost two-thirds of the drawdown of our ground forces, and the drawdown should be fully complete by fiscal 2017.”

This budget request continues to put a premium on rapidly deployable, self-sustaining forces and seeks to leverage new concepts of operations enabled by advances in space, cyberspace, special operations, global mobility, precision strike, missile defense and other capabilities, the secretary said.

It also includes $137.1 billion for military personnel and $49.4 billion for military medical care, Hagel said, and the department continues to support service members and their families, spending $8.5 billion on initiatives that include transition assistance and veterans’ employment assurance, behavioral health, family readiness, suicide prevention, sexual assault prevention and response.

Prince Harry to race to South Pole

 Prince Harry announced Friday he will join a team of wounded British servicemen and women in a race to the South Pole.

Also competing in the 208-mile (335km) Walking With The Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge in November and December are teams from Australia, America and Canada, AP reported.

The 28-year-old army captain told a press conference in London the event would raise money for retraining wounded soldiers.

He said it also aimed to demonstrate how to "meet a challenge head-on and overcome it and inspire others to do the same."

Among the participants in the British team are Sgt Duncan Slater, 34, from Scotland, who lost both his legs in a blast in Afghanistan in 2009 and Major Kate Philp, 34, who lost her left leg in 2008, the BBC reported. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, these men and women have given their all in the cause of freedom, in our cause," he told the media in London, Sky News reported.

"That they should once again step into the breach - this time facing down the extreme physical and mental challenges of trekking to the South Pole - just underlines their remarkable qualities."

Prince Harry joked that his team would be first to reach the South Pole and would have a cup of tea brewing for the other three teams.

Boston Marathon bomber manhunt: One suspect dead, second on the run, police say

BOSTON—A late-night police chase and shootout has ended with one Boston Marathon bombing suspect dead and another on the run, police said early Friday morning. One police officer was killed and another was seriously wounded during the violent spree.

At sunrise, Gov. Deval Patrick ordered a shutdown of all public transit and residents on the edges of Boston to stay indoors as a massive manhunt for the second suspect was underway.

“This is situation is grave and we are trying to protect the public safety,” said Massachusetts State Police Col. Timothy Alben.

Federal agents swarmed neighboring Watertown after local police were involved in a car chase and shootout with the men identified Thursday by the FBI as Suspect 1 and Suspect 2. During the pursuit, officers could be heard on police radio traffic describing the men as having handguns, grenades and other explosives.

The mayhem began at approximately 10:30 p.m. Thursday when police said the bombing suspects robbed a 7-Eleven store in Cambridge. Minutes later, police said, the men shot and killed an MIT campus officer responding to the robbery call. The terror suspects then fled in a stolen Mercedes-Benz, but were quickly spotted in Watertown where they exchanged dozens of rounds of gunfire with patrol officers.

Suspect 1 was shot by police and brought to Beth Israel Medical Center. He arrived at the hospital under cardiac arrest with multiple gunshot wounds and blast-like injuries to his chest. The second suspect fled on foot, leading to a tense manhunt that is still underway at this hour.

"We believe this to be a terrorist," said Boston police Commissioner Ed Davis. "We believe this to be a man who has come here to kill people. We need to get him into custody."

A transit officer was seriously wounded during the exchange of gunfire, officials said.

The FBI has yet to publicly confirm a connection between the events in Watertown and the twin explosions that killed 3 people and injured 170 others at the Boston Marathon on Monday. But according to Boston police, the suspect who remained at large was the "one in the white hat" seen in the photos released by the bureau on Thursday.

[Related: FBI releases photos of suspects in Boston Marathon bombings]

In a radio alert sent issued to fellow officers, the suspect was described as a "white male with dark complexion ... with thick curly hair wearing a charcoal gray hooded sweatshirt ... possibly with an assault rifle and explosives." Police in Watertown, Newton, Brighton and Cambridge were put on high alert.

Worried residents in Watertown, a suburb about 10 miles from downtown Boston, were ordered to stay indoors and turn off their cell phones out of fear that they could trigger improvised explosive devices.

"Suspect 2" seen in 7-Eleven surveillance footage; police in Watertown (BPD/Getty)

Dozens of police officers, many of them off-duty, searched backyards in search of the second suspect, and a police perimeter of several blocks was established. K9 units and SWAT teams searched homes on Spruce Street as officers with a police robot searched an SUV that the suspects had abandoned. Multiple devices were left in the road and two handguns were recovered, according to police scanners.

The Watertown shootout occurred after a gunfight erupted near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where the MIT police officer was shot and later died. The campus was placed on lockdown for several hours, and students were told to remain indoors.

Shortly before 2 a.m. Friday, MIT issued a statement on its website saying that the suspect "in this evening's shooting is no longer on campus. It is now safe to resume normal activities. Please remain vigilant in the coming hours."

President Barack Obama, who attended an interfaith service for the bombing victims in Boston on Thursday, was briefed on the overnight developments, the White House said early Friday.

At approximately 3:30 a.m., Massachusetts State Police issued a plea on Twitter for residents of Watertown to lock their doors and not open them for anyone as they searched backyards and exteriors of houses there.

"Residents in and around Watertown should stay in their residences," the alert read. "Do NOT answer door unless it is an identified police officer."

Source: Yahoo News

Russia to Get New ICBM Later this Year

  

 

MOSCOW, April 18 (RIA Novosti) - The first modernized intercontinental ballistic missile, Yars-M, will enter service with Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) later this year, RVSN Commander Col. Gen. Sergei Karavayev said on Thursday.

A defense industry source previously told RIA Novosti the Armed Forces will take delivery of a fifth-generation Yars-M missile before the end of the current year.

Karavayev declined to provide any details, including the missile’s specifications.

The existing RS-24 Yars (NATO reporting name, SS-29) is a MIRV’ed ICBM that is heavier than the Topol-M (SS-27 Stalin) and can carry up to 10 independently targetable warheads.

The RVSN previously said that the Topol-M and RS-24 ballistic missiles will be the mainstay of the ground-based component of Russia's nuclear triad and would account for no less than 80 percent of the RVSN’s arsenal by 2016.

Karavayev also said the Tatishchevo RVSN Division, near the city of Saratov in southwestern Russia, at present has 60 Topol-M missile systems.

The Topol-M missile, with a range of about 7,000 miles (11,000 km), is said to be immune to any current and planned US antiballistic missile defense. It is capable of making evasive maneuvers, and carries targeting countermeasures and decoys.

By 2020, the RVSN are expected to be equipped with over 170 Topol-Ms (mobile and silo-based), as well as 30 SS-19 and 108 RS-24 missile defense systems in nine divisions.

BAE Delivers CV90 for Danish Evaluation

We have delivered a new variant of our CV90 Armadillo, finished in traditional Danish Army camouflage, to the Danish Army Oksbol base for competitive evaluation to meet Denmark’s armored personnel carrier requirement

Class-leading protection and optimum mission flexibility

Trials – involving five different vehicles – begin mid-April and will continue until September with contract scheduled for February next year. First deliveries will be in 2015.

Armadillo offers class-leading protection and optimum mission flexibility. A “hot” production line (CV90 is in build for Norway) and six existing operators mean a proven low-risk solution, both for initial purchase and long-term sustainment and upgrade.

Denmark is looking to replace its existing M113s in a deal which will also include a 15-year innovative support contract.

Armadillo is a turretless version of CV90 with ballistic and mine protection which exceed Stanag 4a/b. Removal of the turret gives six tonnes of “spare” payload for further protection or other purposes on top of its “fighting configuration” while its state-of-the-art electronic architecture allows “plug and play” of new systems.

DCNS Begins Sea Trials with FREMM Frigate for Moroccan Navy

The FREMM frigate built for the Royal Moroccan Navy put to sea for the first time on 17 April. This key milestone marks the launch of sea trials, which will be conducted over the next few weeks off the Brittany coast. The ship will be delivered to the Royal Moroccan Navy at the end of this year, in accordance with the contract schedule.

During this first period at sea, the crew made up of French Navy personnel, customer representatives and DCNS employees will focus primarily on the performance of the ship’s propulsion system and navigation system. The exceptional seakeeping qualities of the FREMM frigates have already been demonstrated by the first-of-class Aquitaine, delivered to the French Navy in November 2012.

“This milestone is the culmination of a remarkable team effort by DCNS, our partners and suppliers, the trials crew and customer representatives,” said Anne Bianchi, director of FREMM frigate programmes at DCNS. “The FREMM frigates are designed and built by DCNS to meet the needs of many navies around the world, as demonstrated by this first export sale to Morocco. They are among the most technologically advanced and competitively priced vessels on the world market, and are inherently versatile to provide a response to all types of threats. They offer a range of innovative features and unparalleled levels of interoperability and operational readiness.”

The teams on board will work day and night to conduct a series of tests at a sustained pace. The first three days of the campaign, known as the ‘familiarisation’ phase, will be used to test the vessel’s safety systems and equipment, including fire-fighting, flood control and emergency response systems and evacuation procedures as well as manoeuvrability and mooring performance.

The second phase will focus on the propulsion system. The FREMM’s high-performance hybrid CODLOG (COmbined Diesel eLectric Or Gas) power package combines electric motors for low-speed silent-mode propulsion and a gas turbine for high-speed mechanical propulsion, with a maximum speed in excess of 27 knots.

In addition, the DCNS teams will also test the ship’s navigation systems (log, position, heading) and its inertial platforms for precise positioning anywhere in the world.

 

In the next few weeks, over 150 people, including 60 French Navy personnel, will spend time on this second FREMM frigate. To save the ship returning to port, people will be ferried out and back on a daily basis.

On completing these preliminary trials, the frigate will return to DCNS’s Lorient shipyard for several days of quayside work. A few weeks later, it will put to sea for a second campaign of trials focusing on the combat system.

Royal Moroccan Navy crew training underway

While these first sea trials are taking place, some of the Royal Moroccan Navy personnel who will crew the new vessel are beginning simulator-based training at DCNS’s Lorient facility to familiarise themselves with the vessel and its systems. This training programme will be ramped up over the next few months as further members of the future crew arrive.

FREMM, a major programme for DCNS and its partners

The FREMM programme includes 12 ships, 11 for the French Navy and one for the Royal Moroccan Navy.

In November 2012, DCNS successfully delivered the FREMM frigate Aquitaine, the first-in-class of the new FREMM multimission frigates.

The second vessel of the programme will be delivered to the Royal Moroccan Navy before the end of 2013, in line with contractual agreements, and will be named Mohammed VI.

Four other FREMM multimission frigates are at various stages of completion at DCNS’s Lorient shipyard:

• Normandie, the third in the series, will begin sea trials at the end of the year and will be delivered to the French Navy in 2014.
• Provence is now fully built and will be floated out of the building dock in the fourth quarter of 2013.
• The fifth and sixth of the series are under construction.

FREMM technical data

The FREMM frigates are heavily armed warships built under DCNS prime contractorship to carry state-of-the-art weapons and systems including the Herakles multifunction radar, MdCN cruise missiles, Aster anti-air missiles, Exocet MM40 anti-ship missiles and MU90 torpedoes.

• Length overall: 142 metres
• Beam: 20 metres
• Displacement (approx.): 6,000 tonnes
• Max. speed: 27 knots
• Complement: 108 (including helicopter crew)
• Accommodation: 145 men and women
• Range: 6,000 nm (at 15 knots)

DCNS is a world leader in naval defence and an innovative player in energy. Its leadership is built on a proven ability to meet customer needs by combining exceptional know-how with unique industrial resources. DCNS designs, builds and supports submarines and surface combatants. It also proposes services for naval shipyards and bases. The DCNS Group employs 13,200 people and generates annual revenues of €2.9 billion.

Army researchers improve vehicle design with blast tests

With the growing threat of improvised explosive devices over the past decade, Army researchers have been hard at work testing and evaluating ways to keep Soldiers safe from bomb blasts.

The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command analyzes under-body blasts, known as UBB.

Researchers at the Army Research Laboratory Survivability and Lethality Analysis Directorate, or SLAD, have led to many improvements in vehicle design.

“Through live-fire tests, we have been able to provide a comprehensive characterization of the blast environment and occupant injuries during a UBB,” said Sarah Coard, Army researcher. “Only by understanding the mechanism of injury can we apply engineering changes [to vehicles] to decrease the likelihood of those injuries. The blast environment is unique.”

The Army’s concern is always the same: how can a vehicle be modified to reduce the likelihood and severity of injuries to Soldiers?

“The test and evaluation community is working to a standard that 10 years ago would have been unimaginable,” said Scott Welling, a member of SLAD’s Engineering Analysis Branch. “The number of data channels that are used today in a test event is greater than five times the amount used prior to these conflicts.”

Army experts are leveraging an ever-growing wealth of test data.

The Army’s approach to live-fire testing, leverages mechanical engineering experts in the Engineering Analysis Branch and the crew-injury-physiology experts in the Warfighter Survivability Branch. Welling and Coard are partners as RDECOM’s representatives on the integrated product team for live-fire testing. This ensures a comprehensive analysis of the survivability of both the crew and their vehicle.

 

“Another use for the data may be surprising,” Coard said. “Improving the test instrumentation itself and refining and enhancing the test scenarios. One such instrument is the anthropomorphic test device, a crash-test dummy originally developed by the automotive industry. For UBB testing, it has become obvious that the ATD must be modified if it is to provide the most accurate data. So ARL is now leading an experimentation program to enhance the ATD for use in future tests.”

Not only is instrumentation improving, but test designs have also become more sophisticated. In the past, a vehicle would often be tested with one crash-test dummy in it. Now, it is required that there be a crash-test dummy in every occupant location in a vehicle.

Officials said another significant change is the adoption of new and current injury criteria in order to make assessments more accurate and to achieve greater resolution in inferring what injuries would result and how. A further way that test design has evolved is by the introduction of new methodologies to analyze the motion of seats and floors.

The current war-time environment has caused testing specifications to grow and timelines to shrink. The Army has been responding to urgent materiel releases.

The Army is looking at the structural response of the vehicle and the survivability of its occupants.

For every vehicle or piece of equipment tested, researchers analyze the blast’s effect on communications, mobility, firepower and mission success.

Because analysis demands so much more than merely capturing data, a holistic vantage point is vital, officials said. The testing enables researchers to provide this context to evaluators, program managers and vehicle designers.

Northrop’s SABR Gives F-16 Pilots the Big Picture

To a pilot, a radar is only as useful as the information it provides, and Northrop Grumman’s Big SAR (synthetic aperture radar) mapping for the Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) delivers the largest, sharpest radar images ever available in an F-16.

The company’s SABR has successfully demonstrated several advanced radar capabilities for the F-16, including Big SAR maps with automatic target cueing. The SABR Big SAR offers an unprecedented level of situational awareness and target identification for F-16 pilots.

“SABR’s Big SAR is high-definition radar imagery that covers a large area on the ground in a single image,” said Joseph Ensor, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman’s Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting Systems Division.

“This advance will give F-16 pilots the largest maps with the most detail that they have ever seen in the cockpit. Combined with SABR’s automatic target cueing capability, the F-16 will have targeting capabilities unmatched by any other fourth-generation fighter.”

SABR is an affordable, multifunction active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar designed specifically for F-16 retrofit. SABR provides longer detection and tracking ranges, high-resolution SAR maps for all-environment precision targeting, interleaved mode operations for greater situational awareness and greater reliability.

Northrop Grumman has nearly four decades of F-16 radar development and integration experience, and has delivered more than 6,000 fire control radars to U.S. and international air forces. The company also supplies the AESA fire control radars for the F-16 Block 60, F-22 and F-35 aircraft.

India’s Russian-Built Frigate Completes Sea Trials

 

 

MOSCOW, April 17 (RIA Novosti) - The last in a series of three frigates that Russia is building for India at the Yantar shipyard in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad has completed sea trials, a shipyard spokesman said on Wednesday.

The Trikand frigate carried out workup trials on March 14 and was cleared for final state trials on April 4, which started on April 8, spokesman Sergei Mikhailov said.

Earlier on Wednesday the frigate effectively engaged a target flying at 50 meters above the sea level with its surface-to-air missile system, he added.

The frigate’s Indian crew are to complete their onboard training practice within the next several days and after that it will return to the shipyard for a final inspection.

The frigate is due to be handed over to the Indian Navy this June, Mikhailov said.

Russia and India signed a $1.6 billion contract on the construction of three modified Krivak III class (also known as Talwar class) guided missile frigates for India in 2006.

The first frigate, INS Teg, joined the Indian Navy on April 27, 2012, and the second, The Tarkash, arrived at the port of Mumbai in India on December 30, 2012.

The frigates are each armed with eight BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles.

They are also equipped with a 100-mm gun, a Shtil surface-to-air missile system, two Kashtan air-defense gun/missile systems, two twin 533-mm torpedo launchers and an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) helicopter.
 

Indigenously-built warship commissioned by Pakistan

Karachi

A ceremony for the commissioning of fourth F-22P ship PNS ASLAT, indigenously built at the Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works, was held Wednesday.

Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila was the chief guest of the ceremony, which was attended by high ranking officials and dignitaries from China and Pakistan, including Ambassador of People’s Republic of China Liu Jian and the vice president China State Shipbuilding Corporation.

The commissioning of the PNS ASLAT and its handing over to Pakistan Navy fleet culminated the 2005 contract signed for the construction of three F-22P ships in China and the transfer of technology for indigenous construction of the fourth ship at the Karachi Shipyard.

The timely and successful delivery of all ships, including the indigenously built fourth ship, speaks volumes of cooperation and commitment between the CSTC/HZ Shipyard, the Karachi Shipyard and the Naval Headquarters.

The PNS ASLAT is fitted with state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, which makes it a highly potent warship capable of operating under multi-threat environments.

Inclusion of this unit in Pakistan Navy’s Destroyer Squadron will further strengthen and augment its capabilities to defend sea frontiers.

The chief guest congratulated all those who participated in the project, especially the workers and the management of the KSEW as well as the Chinese engineers and technicians for their support, cooperation and untiring efforts.

Construction of the PNS ASLAT has certainly enhanced the capabilities of the Karachi Shipyard in the indigenous construction of warships.

Construction of warship and other platforms like Fast Attack Craft (Missile),

Small Tanker cum Utility Ships, Tugs, etc at the Karachi Shipyard reflects the indigenisation policy of the government, especially in attaining self-reliance in defence capabilities.

South Korea to buy 36 AH-64E Apaches

Boeing has won a contract to supply South Korea with AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, defeating the Bell AH-1Z Zulu and Turkish Aerospace T-129B for the 36 helicopter AHX requirement.

"Boeing is pleased with the announcement that the Republic of Korea has selected the AH-64E Apache as its new heavy-attack helicopter," the US airframer said in an email to Flightglobal. "We look forward to working with the US Army and the Republic of Korea Army as they finalise the Foreign Military Sales contract for 36 AH-64E Apaches."

According to US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notifications in September 2012, the Apache deal is worth $3.6 billion, considerably higher than the proposed AH-1Z contract, which was valued at $2.6 billion.

"The heavily-armed attack helicopters will replace aging helicopters deployed by the army to counter threats by the North Korean military's armoured units and deter provocations," Seoul's Defense Acquisition Program Administration spokesman Baek Yoon-Hyeong was reported as saying.

Industry sources close to the competition had expected a decision in late 2012, but this was delayed by South Korea's presidential election in December 2012.

This is Seoul's second major acquisition in a month. On 10 April it selected the Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar (RACR) to upgrade its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16C/D fighters.

Once the US government gives the go-ahead, Raytheon will deliver 134 of the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar systems to South Korea. Deliveries are expected to start in late 2016, after the company completes development work.

Industry sources say that Seoul is likely to make a decision on the F-X III competition for 60 fighters in June. The three contenders for the deal, possibly the world's biggest fighter buy this year, are the Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagle, Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter and Eurofighter Typhoon. The type will replace Seoul's obsolescent fleet of McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantoms.

Heightened tensions with North Korea this year have prompted Seoul to push forward key defence purchases, industry sources say.

Colombia to expand S-70i fleet with new order

Colombia's army is to expand its fleet of five Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk utility helicopters, with a further two of the Polish-built aircraft to be delivered late this year.

A first batch of five S-70is arrived at Tolemaida air base in Colombia on 30 January, at the end of delivery flights performed from Sikorsky's Hartford site in Connecticut. The aircraft had been equipped with customer-specific equipment at the US location, after being built in Mielec, Poland.

Sikorsky

"The [new] aircraft are expected to be delivered by October 2013," Sikorsky says.

India: 10 maoist rebels killed by security forces in a gun battle in Chhattisgarh

At least 10 Maoists were killed in a gun battle between security forces and the rebels in Kanchal forests close to the inter-state border of Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in tribal Bastar region on Tuesday morning, police said.

Preliminary reports said a joint team of Greyhounds-the elite commando force of Andhra Pradesh-and Chhattisgarh police had a fierce encounter for three hours between 0400 and 0700 hours under Pamed police station area in Bijapur district.

Security forces claimed that they have gunned down 10 rebels during the encounter in which a large number of rebels were injured.

Northrop’s SABR ‘well positioned’ to clinch USAF F-16 radar upgrade effort

Northrop Grumman says that its Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) is "well positioned" to secure contracts to upgrade US Air Force and Taiwanese Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons with a new active electronically scanned array (AESA) system despite a recent loss to rival Raytheon in South Korea.

"The US Air Force and Taiwan are working hand-in-hand together," says Joseph Ensor, Northrop's vice president for its targeting systems division. "They're a separate programme from what Korea did with their competition."

Lockheed Martin

South Korea conducted a commercial source selection for their new radar, ultimately selecting the Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar which will be integrated onto the F-16 by BAE Systems.

The USAF, meanwhile, has selected Lockheed to be its prime integrator for the combat avionics programmed extension suite (CAPES) upgrade. The service has left it up to the company to choose a new radar for the USAF's 300 healthiest F-16s.

"I think we're well positioned based on the technology and our offering," Ensor says. "Nothing's a given, we have to compete and win that programme, but I still believe we're well positioned.

Ensor says that the USAF's CAPES programme will be the starting point for future F-16 upgrade foreign military sales (FMS) contracts, including the Taiwan upgrade effort. "Taiwan will be one of the launch customers for this F-16 AESA upgrade," he says.

Northrop expects that Lockheed will pick a radar for the CAPES programme in August, Ensor says.

Picking the SABR would offer many benefits for the USAF and Lockheed, Ensor says. The SABR is highly common in terms of hardware and software with radars Northrop is already building for the USAF's fifth-generation fighter fleet comprised of Lockheed-built F-22 Raptors and F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

For future upgrades, that means software developed for the Raptor's APG-77 radar and F-35's APG-81 system can be ported over to the SABR with only minor tweaks, Ensor says. Moreover, pilots transferring from one airframe to another would be familiar with many of the displays, company officials say.

Russian air force commander eyes MiG-31 replacement

Russia's air force expects to begin fielding a replacement for its Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptors by 2020 and to retire the type by 2028, says its commander, Lt Gen Viktor Bondarev.

"We have started development of a new aircraft of this type and I think we can develop this plane before the end of the state armament programme in 2020," Bondarev said at a meeting with Russian parliamentary deputies. "The new plane should replace the existing fleet by 2028."

Bondarev did not specify if the new aircraft might be a derivative of an existing design or an emerging one such as the Sukhoi T-50/PAK-FA or Su-35.

Some analysts think the air force will be hard-pressed to get an entirely new aircraft in use by the date quoted by Bondarev.

"In terms of both design and financial resources this looks very challenging, unless an existing platform was the basis for any project," says Douglas Barrie, air warfare analyst at the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies.

Bondarev says the air force has 122 MiG-31s in service, with about half undergoing conversion to the MiG-31BM standard. This adds a new multimode radar, multifunction cockpit displays and the ability to use Vympel's RVV-BD long-range air-to-air missile.