Finland Orders PC-12NG Utility Aircraft

PC-12NG

Switzerland’s Pilatus Aircraft Ltd recently announced a EUR 22.5 million contract win against international competition. The firm will deliver 6 PC-12 NG light aircraft to the Finnish Air Force. The planes will be used in will be used as Multi Purpose Liaison Aircraft to transport Finnish air force personnel and cargo, replacing the Ilmavoimat’s existing Piper PA-31-350 Chieftains.

The selection follows more than 12 months of assessment and an extensive flight evaluation phase in Stans, Switzerland and the harsh Arctic Circle conditions of Iqaluit, Canada.

The PC-12 is a popular light aircraft, with the ability to take off and land using short dirt or grass runways. Over 850 are in service around the world, mostly as civilian aircraft. Para-public and military users beyond Switzerland include Canada’s RCMP, US Customs and Immigration, and US Special Operations Command (as the U-28A). The PC-12NG was unveiled in 2007 with an uprated turboprop engine (PW’s PT6-67P) that gives it better climb performance and cruise speed, a Honeywell APEX “glass” (digital) cockpit, and improvements to the cockpit pressurization and navigation systems.

A Laser Phalanx?

UK Phalanx at night

The Mk15 Phalanx system was originally developed as a ship’s final hope against incoming missiles: a radar-guided 20mm gatling gun would would fire up to 6,000 rounds per minute, throwing up a last-ditch wall of lead. Phalanx has become a popular naval weapon that’s also effective against helicopters, UAVs, and even small boats. It has even migrated onto land, where its “Centurion” version can protect a 1.2 km square area against incoming mortars and rockets.

In September 2007, Jane’s reported from the British DSEi exhibition that Raytheon is working on a Phalanx variant that can fire lasers. Kevin Peppe, Raytheon’s Phalanx program director, said that:

“The Centurion system has provided a near-term C-RAM (Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortars) solution for our deployed forces. But we know that our customers would like a larger defended footprint beyond the kinematics of a gunbased system. A missile is too expensive, so we are looking instead at a solution based on the adaptation of a robust but relatively lowpower, low beam-quality commercial laser… By using clever optics to focus the laser beam at range, we demonstrated that we could achieve sufficient energy on target to deflagrate a 60mm mortar round.”

The concept has promise – but it also has substantial obstacles to overcome before it can become militarily useful…

POGO Updates Contractor Misconduct Database

(click to visit)

In 2008, the US government set up a database for its own use, to track various forms of contractor misconduct. That database hasn’t been made public, but the American Project on Government Oversight (POGO) has collated information from various sources, and stepped into the gap at ContractorMisconduct.org. Their latest update adds 2007 contract data from USASpending.gov, and misconduct data from a range of other sources.

Defense firms are strongly represented among the top-earning federal contractors, which isn’t entirely surprising given industry consolidation over the past couple of decades. All of the top 10, and 15 of the top 20 individual contractors, have strong links to the defense industry. With respect to misconduct instances since 1995, #1 earner Lockheed Martin is also #1 (50), while #2 earner Boeing is 4th (31). Other defense-related firms in the negative 10 include G.E. (3rd, though their reach is far wider than defense), Honeywell (5th), Northrop Grumman (6th) and KBR (10th). Exxon Mobil, BP, Valero, and the University of California round out the negative 10.

“Misconduct” is a wide-ranging term that covers instances of environmental violations, prohibited trade and negotiating practices, labor issues, lawsuits launched by private citizens, securities fraud settlements, and more. There’s even one case involving employee embezzlement from the company PAC(Political Action Committee, a vehicle for campaign contributions).

We’d be remiss if we failed to mention several firms with significant defense-related accounts, who received more than $1 billion in FY 2007 federal contracts, but have no instances of misconduct since 1995. In descending order of FY 2007 contract totals, they include Oshkosh Truck, The Bell-Boeing Joint Program (V-22 Osprey), PWC Logistics, Rockwell Collins, and EDO Corp. (now ITT).

Reports of Cyberthefts From F-35 Program

F-35 semi-commonality

The F-35 stealth fighter family is the largest defense program in the world, with estimated total costs of about $300 billion for development and for all planned aircraft. That program size, the number of countries participating, and the level of length of their commitment to a single aircraft type also makes it one of the world’s most important future weapons. The F-35 designs’ future success or failure on the battlefield are consequential enough that failure could alter regional, and even global, balances of power.

In May 2008, POGO obtained a Department of Defense (DoD) Inspector General (IG) report suggesting that “advanced aviation and weapons technology for the JSF program may have been compromised by unauthorized access at facilities and in computers at BAE Systems…”, and documenting lack of cooperation with the Defense Security Service from BAE. Now a Wall Street Journal report, filed in the wake of its revelations that crackers have infiltrated the USA’s power grid and left behind malicious software, reveals thefts from the F-35 program as well.

$11.3M to Improve Djibouti Base

Djibouti & region

Djibouti is an important base for western navies, the French Foreign Legion, and the US Marines. It sits in a very strategic location, at the entrance to the Red Sea and astride the passage from the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal. Growing pirate troubles to the southeast, around the area that used to be Somalia, have magnified Djibouti’s importance.

The URS-IAP, LLC joint venture in Austin, TX recently received $11.3 million for a cost reimbursement task order under a billion-dollar multiple-award construction contract (N62470-06-D-6009, #0012) issued in August 2006 by the US Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic in Norfolk, VA. The joint venture between IAP Worldwide Services and San Francisco based engineering design firm URS Corp. will design and build a 2,150 square meter aircraft maintenance hangar and a 340 square meter telecommunications facility at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, by November 2010. All 3 awardees under this multiple-award contract bid for this task order.

Oshkosh to Supply MTVR Armor Kits

MTVR from C-130

Oshkosh Corp. in Oshkosh, WI supplies the US Marine Corps’ and /Navy Seebee construction battalions with MTVR medium trucks. The vehicles come in several types, but all are distinguished by having very good off-road capabilities for trucks, with 7.1 ton payload capacity off-road and an on-road payload capacity of up to 15 tons. In order to fit into cargo aircraft like the C-130, the trucks can fold down part of the cab, reducing the vehicle’s height.

The picture above shows an MTVR in that stowed configuration.

Up-armored MTVR

April 10/09: Oshkosh received a $10.6 million fixed-price delivery order under an existing indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract (M67854-04-D-5016, #0071) for 442 reducible-height armor kits on MTVR cargo, dump and tractor-trailer variants, and armor kits on MTVR wrecker variants at Jacksonville, FL. Israeli firm Plasan Sasa has been Oshkosh’s partner in this area since 2005.

Work will be performed in Jacksonville, FL, and is expected to be complete by May 31/10. The Marine Corps System Command in Quantico, VA manages this contract. See also Oshkosh release.

India Launches $200M TECSAR Spy Satellite

TECSAR

The April 20/09 launch of the RISAT-2 satellite gives India the ability to monitor cross-border movements of suspected terrorists, as well as troop movements in Pakistan and other neighboring countries, at night and under all weather conditions. The satellite was reportedly a modified TECSAR satellite, purchased from Israel Aerospace Industries for $200 million. Indian sources state that the satellite launch was accelerated after the recent terrorist attack in Mumbai.

The 300 kg/ 660 pound TECSAR’s military X-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) provides up to 1 meter radar resolution was carried into low earth orbit aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C-12) from the Satish Dhawan Space Center located on the barrier island of Sriharikota in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The PSLV-C-12 also carried the 40 kg/ 88 pound experimental communication ANUSAT satellite built by Chennai-based Anna University.

The satellite purchase marks a growing military relationship between India and Israel…

2009: New 5-Year Contract Keeps Kiowa Warriors’ Eyes Sharp

OH-58D over Tal Afar

With the ARH-70A helicopter program on the rocks after a program cancellation and re-compete, the US Army’s over-stressed and aging fleet of armed OH-58D scout helicopters must soldier on in the face of losses and breakdowns. One of their most critical pieces of equipment is their mast-mounted sight, which was originally developed to let the Kiowa Warriors watch Soviet tank formations while hovering behind trees. The sights’ advanced cameras, infrared, and laser ranging/targeting features make them excellent tools in the current war as well, and these helicopters’ size, speed and numbers have given them a very important role in urban combat scenarios. See esp. DRS’ explanations of the battlefield benefits of mast-mounted helicopter sights vs. roof-mounted alternatives.

All equipment must be maintained, which is why DRS Optronics, Inc, Optronics Division in Palm Bay, FL received a new firm-fixed-price and cost plus fixed fee 5-year indefinite quantity/ indefinite delivery contract that will cover spares, repairs and services for the OH-58D’s mast mounted sight from 2009 through 2013. This includes “obsolescence removal” – redesigning the system to use new parts when manufacturers no longer produce the old parts.

GE Wins Multi-Year Extension for T700 Engine Family

T700 engine

GE’s T700 family powers a number of helicopters, from Army UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache helicopters to the USAF’s HH-60 Pave Hawks, naval SH/MH-60 Seahawks, and even the US Marines’ H-1 Hueys and AH-1 Cobras.

In 2004, the US military placed a multi-year production contract to cover engines and spares for its H-60 family helicopters, covering up to 1,200 engines. That contract has now been extended to cover up to 4,900 T700-401C (Coast Guard HH-60J, Navy SH-60/MH-60 Seahawks), T700-701D (UH-60A/L/ early-build M), and T700-701E (new UH-60M) engines for the US Army and Navy through 2014. Each helicopter requires 2 engines…

UK’s Tornado F3 Air Defense Squadrons Retired Early

Tornado F3 ADV

Recent reports had indicated that the RAF was set to disband the 2 Tornado F3 Air Defence Variant squadrons in Leuchars, Scotland a year early. That is now confirmed. The original plan had been to stand down 43 Sqn (The Fighting Cocks) and 111 Sqn (Treble Ones) in late 2010, but they will now disband in September 2009 as a budgetary measure.

The Tornado was originally developed as a variable-sweep wing strike fighter optimized for low-level penetration. With 40% of NATO aircraft slated to base in the UK during wartime, and a need to cover NATO’s northern flank in the war’s early days, RAF Strike Command decided that long-legged interceptors were the missing piece…