DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: India-Built Sub-Assembly On US Navy's Combat Planes

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: India-Built Sub-Assembly On US Navy's Combat Planes

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 1, 2012:  An India-built electronic sub-assembly will be part of the US Navy's combat planes, a statement said Wednesday as Indian companies step up efforts to be part of the global defence supply chain.

The sub-assembly provides the cockpit flood lighting compatible with the aircraft's night vision imaging system (NVIS).

American aerospace major Boeing has delivered the first EA-18G Growler aircraft fitted with a cockpit sub-assembly produced by Indian public sector defence electronics major Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to the US Navy on May 3, a statement from the firm said.

Boeing has also extended a contract signed with BEL for another year for supplying the sub-assembly for Boeing military planes.

Boeing had awarded BEL an initial contract in March 2011 for work on F/A-18 Super Hornet combat plane cockpit sub-assemblies.

That contract included options to renew annually for up to four years. "As a result of BEL's demonstrated performance, Boeing recently exercised an option to renew the contract for another year," it said.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/06/dtn-news-defense-news-india-built-sub.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter Program Remains The Centerpiece Of Future Tactical Aviation

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter Program Remains The Centerpiece Of Future Tactical Aviation

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 10, 2012: Senior leaders from the Air Force and Navy affirmed yesterday that the F-35 joint strike fighter remains the centerpiece of the tactical aircraft program and will play a large part in the services’ ongoing modernization plans.

Navy Vice Adm. David J. Venlet, F-35 Lightning II program executive officer, told the Senate Armed Services Committee’s airland subcommittee that the F-35’s basic engine designs were deemed sound and deliverable after a battery of tests and observations over the past year.

“While there is still risk in the program, it is risk-balanced,” Venlet said. “I have confidence in the resilience of the plan to absorb further learning discovery and stay on track.”

Still, Venlet said, the program will “not execute itself,” and will require resources, tools and processes to enable disciplined decisions on development and incremental capability delivery. (Read complete strory on Defense-Technology News - Click on link undermentioned)

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dtn-news-defense-news-f-35-lightning-ii.html

DTN News - PENTAGON NEWS: Panetta Hosts Chinese Minister Of National Defense At Pentagon

DTN News - PENTAGON NEWS: Panetta Hosts Chinese Minister Of National Defense At Pentagon

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 9, 2012: U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta hosts an honor cordon to welcome Chinese Minister of National Defense Gen. Liang Guanglie to the Pentagon, May 7, 2012. 

Liang has been visiting U.S. military bases and meeting with U.S. military leaders to discuss U.S.-Chinese cooperation in areas of mutual interest.

 

DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley. 

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Iran Warns Deployment Of F-22s In UAE Is Harmful And Destabilizing Regional Security

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Iran Warns Deployment Of F-22s In UAE Is Harmful And Destabilizing Regional Security


(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 1, 2012: Iran's Defence Minister, Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, has warned that the basing of the US F-22 Raptor strike aircraft in the United Arab Emirates is "detrimental to regional security."


According to the FARS news agency Vahidi said today that "The deployment of F-22 fighters in a base in the UAE is a harmful move and undermines the security of the region.      


"We consider such (military) presence in the region as to be useless and harmful and more aimed at creating a psychological ploy and an insecure atmosphere in the region. We don't see it useful" Vahidi told Al Alam TV network, according to FARS.


Vahidi said that guaranteeing security in region is possible only through cooperation among all the regional states. 


The comments by the Iranian minister came after media reports revealed that the US has recently deployed its F-22 Raptors at the UAE Al Dafra Air Base.
In a comment, FARS said that Iranian officials have always cautioned about the devastating consequences of tension in the region, and called on certain regional states to be "watchful of the plots of some aliens who seek to stir tension in this sensitive region."


It said: "Tehran believes that deployment of trans-regional powers in the region impairs security and is a source of tension in the region, reiterating that regional peace and security will be established if all the regional countries grow united and stage all-out cooperation."


http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dtn-news-defense-news-iran-warns.html

DTN News - MALABAR 2012: Delhi Scales Down US War Games - Air force Request To Join Exercise With American Navy Turned Down

DTN News - MALABAR 2012: Delhi Scales Down US War Games - Air force Request To Join Exercise With American Navy Turned Down

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 29, 2012: The Centre recently turned down an air force request to participate in the war games with the US navy in the Bay of Bengal that concluded last week.

The seven-day Malabar 2012 exercise involved the American and Indian navies.

The Centre’s move followed a quiet policy decision in the defence ministry to scale down — but not stop — the friendly military engagements with the US armed forces, which have gathered pace and increased in complexity over the past decade.

The defence ministry is wary of the “hype” that the US builds around joint military exercises with India.

Among the most important of the war games that the Indian and US forces conduct is the Malabar series involving the two navies. An air force component is integral to the exercises because the US deploys a carrier battle group.

The Malabar exercise in 2007 in the Bay of Bengal involved the armed forces of five countries and was easily the largest international war games that India has hosted. The exercise involved three aircraft carriers and the Indian Air Force (IAF).

That drill irritated the Chinese so much that Beijing asked New Delhi if it was forging a military alliance against it.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dtn-news-malabar-2012-delhi-scales-down.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Northrop Grumman Upgrade Fire Scout Unmanned Helicopter For U.S. Navy

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Northrop Grumman Upgrade Fire Scout Unmanned Helicopter For U.S. Navy

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 25, 2012: The U.S. Navy has selected Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) to produce the next-generation Fire Scout unmanned helicopter using the Bell 407 airframe. The new variant provides greater range, endurance and payload capacity to ship commander's intelligence-gathering efforts.

According to a U.S. Department of Defense news release on contract awards released April 23, the company will produce a total of eight Fire Scouts within an amount not to exceed $262 million. The Navy plans to purchase a total of 28 aircraft under a rapid development effort.

The Fire Scout endurance upgrade has been designated as the MQ-8C.

"Through our company-funded Fire-X demonstration effort we proved that using the mature unmanned systems architecture developed for the MQ-8B Fire Scout paired with the Bell 407 helicopter would provide greater capability efficiently and affordably," said Duke Dufresne, vice president and general manager for unmanned systems. "By using systems that have many years of development already invested in them we can meet the Navy's needs quickly."

Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the MQ-8C program. Major suppliers for new variant include Bell Helicopter and Rolls Royce.

Final assembly of the new Fire Scout variant will be completed at Northrop Grumman's Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, Miss.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dtn-news-defense-news-northrop-grumman.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. DoD Awarded Contract To Boeing $30,144,000 To Procure Additional Long Lead Materials In Support Of U.S. Navy P-8A

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS:  U.S. DoD Awarded Contract To Boeing $30,144,000 To Procure Additional Long Lead Materials In Support Of U.S. Navy P-8A

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 26, 2012: The Boeing Co., Seattle, Wash., is being awarded a $30,144,000 firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract (N00019-09-C-0022) to procure additional long lead materials in support of P-8A Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) III.  

Work will be performed in Seattle, Wash. (63.8 percent); Greenlawn, N.Y. (11.7 percent); Baltimore, Md. (11.0 percent); North Amityville, N.Y. (8.2 percent); and McKinney, Texas (5.3 percent); and is expected to be completed in May 2015.  

Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  

The Naval Air System Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.   

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/03/dtn-news-defense-news-us-dod-awarded_26.html 

DTN News - ISRAELI DEFENSE NEWS: The Israeli Red Flag

DTN News - ISRAELI DEFENSE NEWS: The Israeli Red Flag

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 24, 2012: For the third time in the last six months the Israeli Air Force has hosted foreign fighter pilots for tactical training. Israeli fighter pilots are considered the best trained in the world, and Israel maintains a special training program, complete with pilots trained and equipped to operate as likely foes would, to train their own pilots. The latest nation to send fighters and pilots for training is Poland, flying F-16s in for that purpose. Previously, Italy had sent Typhoons and Tornados and Greece F-16s.

The Israeli training center is based on the one pioneered by the U.S. Air Force Red Flag program and the U.S. Navy's Top Gun training. Using American aircraft for "aggressor (or dissimilar) training" began in the 1960s. The original "Top Gun" fighter pilot school was established in 1969, by the U.S. Navy, in response to the poor performance of its pilots against North Vietnamese pilots flying Russian fighters. What made the Top Gun operation different was that the training emphasized how the enemy aircraft and pilots operated. This was called "dissimilar training". In the past, American pilots practiced against American pilots, with everyone flying American aircraft and using American tactics. It worked in World War II because the enemy pilots were not getting a lot of practice and were using similar aircraft and tactics anyway. Most importantly, there was a lot of aerial combat going on, providing ample opportunity for on-the-job training. Not so in Vietnam, where the quite different Russian-trained North Vietnamese were giving U.S. aviators an awful time. The four week Top Gun program solved the problem. The air force followed shortly with its Red Flag school.

Over the last 40 years the two training programs have developed differently, and the entire concept of "dissimilar training" has changed. The navy kept Top Gun as a program to hone a fighter pilot's combat skills. The air force made their Red Flag program more elaborate, bringing in the many different types of aircraft involved in combat missions (especially electronic warfare). But after the Cold War ended it became increasingly obvious that none of America's potential enemies was providing their fighter pilots with much training at all.

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Strategy Page

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/03/dtn-news-israeli-defense-news-israeli.html