India lifts blacklisting of South African defense firm Denel

On the same subject

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  August 16, 2019 | International, Naval

  Marine Corps to Increase JLTV Buy to 15,000 to Replace its Humvee Fleet

  The Marine Corps is nearly doubling the number of Joint Light Tactical Vehiclesit plans to buy to replace its fleet of aging Humvees, officials said this week. The planned increase -- up to about 15,000 from the 9,000 the service initially planned to buy -- comes as the Marine Corps recently declared the JLTV has reached initial operating capability and is ready to deploy with Marines into combat. The JLTV is the result of a joint effort by the Army and the Marine Corps to field a more capable tactical vehicle after seeing how the Cold War-era Humvee could not protect troops from the powerful, homemade bombs enemy forces used on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. The Corps had originally planned on buying just 5,500 JLTVs but later increased that number to 9,000. Even with that increase, the Marines maintained earlier this year that the JLTV would replace only about 60 percent of the service's Humvees over the next decade. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/08/15/marine-corps-increase-jltv-buy-15000-replace-its-humvee-fleet.html

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  August 17, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  UK fighter concept emphasizes stealth, next generation sensors

  BY TOM RISEN Britain wants to build a twin-engine stealth fighter jet that the Defense Ministry says would enable the United Kingdom to stay competitive in air-to-air combat technology and maintain its domestic fighter industry. U.K. Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson unveiled a full-scale model of the Tempest at the Farnborough Airshow in July as a commitment that Britain would remain “a world leader in the combat air sector.” The U.K. contractors chosen to design the plane must first present a business case for the fighter to the ministry by the end of the year to begin the approval process for funding. The ministry has promised to draw 2 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) for the Tempest over several years from the ongoing Future Combat Air System Technology Initiative enacted in 2015 that ends in 2025 to develop a successor to the twin-engine Eurofighter Typhoon. Team Tempest, the name for the government agencies and companies working on the project, shared limited details about the design in progress beyond the concept they showcased. With their near diamond shape, the Tempest wings resemble those of the YF-23 stealth fighter demonstrator built in 1990 for the U.S. Air Force by Northrop and McDonnell Douglas, notes Adam Routh, an aerospace researcher at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, D.C. The YF-23 was flown in 1990 but lost the competition for the Air Force contract to what became the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, which ended mass production in 2011. The F-22 engines include thrust vectoring to maneuver the plane around enemy aircraft at close range, which the YF-23 lacked. Thrust vectoring engines were not presented as part of the Tempest concept, possibly because “next generation stealth and guided missiles may undermine the benefits of maneuverability by allowing planes to attack from a significant distance,” Routh says. Pilots of future air-to-air combat won't often find themselves in dogfights won with maneuverability, Routh says, because guided missiles and stealth “will allow aircraft to engage opposing aircraft from a significant distance.” Full article: https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/uk-fighter-concept-emphasizes-stealth-next-generation-sensors

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  July 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  The Air Force cancels its Open Skies recapitalization program after US pulls out from treaty

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force on July 14 officially rescinded its solicitation to overhaul the OC-135 Open Skies aircraft, cancelling the program two months after President Donald Trump announced the United States' withdrawal from the Open Skies treaty. “On 22 May 2020, the United States provided formal notice of its intent to withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies. As a result, this announcement is hereby cancelled,” the Air Force wrote in a statement on beta.sam.gov. The Open Skies Treaty permits its 34 signatory nations to conduct unarmed reconnaissance flights over the territory of other member-states for the purposes of monitoring military activity and controlling nuclear arms. The U.S. has relied upon two Boeing OC-135B aircraft flown by the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron out of Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., to carry out Open Skies missions since 1993. As the aging OC-135s become increasingly difficult to maintain, the Air Force had planned to modify two modern business jets with a digital sensor, processing and control suite that would replace the wet-film cameras currently in use. But although the service received $125 million from Congress in fiscal year 2019 for the first replacement aircraft and continued to survey industry about recapitalization options, it never moved past the request for information stage, with the final solicitation posed in December 2019. In March, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told the Senate Armed Services Committee that recapitalization efforts were stalled as the Pentagon waited for instructions from the White House on how to proceed. “At this point and time, until we make a final decision on the path forward, I'm not prepared to recapitalize aircraft,” Esper said. “We're holding until we get better direction.” Although the OC-135B replacement program may be canceled for now, the United States' withdrawal from the Open Skies treaty is by no means a done deal. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on May 21, that the US would “reconsider our withdrawal should Russia return to full compliance with the Treaty.” The United States also has a six-month window before a formal exit occurs in November — after the presidential election. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has voiced support for remaining in the treaty, and if elected, could reverse plans to pull out. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/07/16/the-air-force-cancels-its-open-skies-recapitalization-program-after-us-pulls-out-from-treaty/