US F-35 fighter jet poised for combat debut

On the same subject

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  February 6, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  India’s new defense budget falls way short for modernization plans

  By: Vivek Raghuvanshi NEW DELHI – India's defense budget for 2019 included a marginal 6.87 percent bump to $49.68 billion, which is unlikely to meet modernization demands or ‘Make in India' manufacturing increases. Out of the total allocation, $16.91 billion has been set aside to buy new weapons and other military hardware, compared to $14.68 billion in the previous financial year. But not accounted for are the liabilities, say some defense analysts, which could chip away at available funds. “As of now, one doesn't know about the extent of committed liabilities to be able to say how much money will be available for new purchases,” said Amit Cowshish, former financial advisor for the Ministry of Defence acquisition. "But it can be said with reasonable certainty that the allocation must be much less than the requirement projected by the ministry. That being the case, the ministry will have to make do with whatever money they have got, just the way they have been managing in the past.” India's defence budget is more than five times that of Pakistan, pegged at $9.6 billion — barely enough to maintain its basic operational capability. Presenting the interim budget for 2019-20 in parliament, Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Piyush Goyal said additional funds, if necessary, would be provided to secure India's borders and maintain its defense preparedness. Under capital outlay, the Army was granted $4.60 billion and the Navy granted $3.61 billion — both nearly flat compared to the year before. The Indian Air Force was allocated $6.14 billion, combared to $5.58 billion in the previous year. One MoD official said the majority of funds will go towards past committed liabilities for Rafale fighters, S-400 missile systems, warships and helicopters. Still, the fact that the budget saw an increase is noteworthy to some. “The allocation for defense, which for the first time has crossed the $49 billion threshold is encouraging," said Baba Kalyani, chairman of leading private sector defense enterprise Bharat Forge Ltd. In terms of manufacturing, "we hope that ‘Make in India' will result in a greater role for the private industry in this critical sector of the country's economy.” Cowshish is less encouraged, seeing very few noteworthy programs on the horizon. “It doesn't seem likely that many big contracts for fighters, helicopters, submarines, etc. will get concluded in the coming year," he said. "This is not because of paucity of funds but on account of the fact that none of these procurement proposals are likely to reach anywhere near the contract conclusion stage any time soon. “ https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2019/02/05/indias-new-defense-budget-falls-way-short-for-modernization-plans/

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  January 16, 2020 | International, Naval

  US Marine Corps could soon take out enemy ships with Navy missiles

  By: David B. Larter and Jeff Martin WASHINGTON — The U.S. Marine Corps could soon get the Navy's new Naval Strike Missile for use as a shore battery, according to the Navy's acquisitions chief. “Just yesterday [Jan. 14] we had the team in that has the Naval Strike Missile on LCS working hand-in-hand with the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps does ground launchers, we do command and control," Assistant Secretary of the Navy James “Hondo” Geurts told reporters after his Jan. 15 speech at the annual Surface Navy symposium. “We'll make that immediately available to the Marine Corps.” Geurts said the effort on Naval Strike Missile, a Kongsberg/Raytheon product, was emblematic of a more coherent approach where instead of a dedicated Marine Corps effort to examine, test and field a system, the services were leveraging each other to get capabilities out faster. The missile was recently deployed to the Pacific on the littoral combat ship Gabrielle Giffords, and the weapon is capable of flying more than 100 miles. It can passively detect enemy ships with imagery in its brain and is so precise that it can target individual parts of a ship, like the engine room or bridge. In May, Raytheon announced it had been awarded $48 million through an other transaction authority contract to integrate the Naval Strike Missile into the Marine Corps' force structure, but very few details were available at the time. This won't be the first time the missile is based on land, as Poland's coastal defense forces already have several batteries in service. And in 2018 at the Rim of the Pacific exercise, the U.S. Army fired a Naval Strike Missile at a decommissioned ship as part of a live-fire demonstration. It's unknown what the Marine Corps will use as a launcher, as it is unclear whether or not the service's M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System can be used to fire the Naval Strike Missile. However, it is likely that the Corps' manned launchers will fire the missiles while on the deck of Navy amphibious ships, as the Corps has been testing the capability with HIMARS launchers. “We're serious about it,” Geurts said. “You've heard the commandant and the assistant commandant talk about more lethal anti-ship activity. ... It's certainly something we are looking at closely.” https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/surface-navy-association/2020/01/15/the-marine-corps-could-soon-take-out-enemy-ships-with-navy-missiles

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  July 7, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Saab starts Gripen production in Brazil

  Saab Aeronautica Montagens (SAM), Saab's first aerostructures plant outside of Sweden for the new Gripen E/F fighter, reached another important milestone recently with the start of production. This site builds sections of Gripen, which will then be delivered to the final assembly facilities at the Embraer plant in Gaviao Peixoto, Sao Paulo, Brazil and to Linkoping, Sweden. In 2014, Saab signed a contract with the Brazilian government for the development and production of 36 Gripen E/F aircraft. In September last year, the first Brazilian Gripen E aircraft was delivered to start the flight test program. Now, another milestone is reached, as Gripen production starts at the SAM plant, which is located in Sao Bernardo do Campo, a city in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo in Brazil. The tail cone and front fuselage of the single-seat version of the Gripen fighter are the first aerostructures to enter into production at SAM. Subsequently, the aerodynamic brakes, rear fuselage, wing box and front fuselage for the two-seater version will also be manufactured at SAM. “This is another outcome of the transfer of technology (ToT) of the Gripen program. Based on theoretical and practical on-the-job training of Brazilian engineers and assemblers at Saab in Linkoping, we were able to establish a highly qualified production line at SAM, following the same standards that we have in our factory in Sweden,” said Jonas Hjelm, head of Saab's business area. Currently, SAM has more than 70 highly qualified employees, half of whom are participating or have already participated in the ToT Program in Sweden. Part of these employees have already completed the training and returned to initiate the production in Brazil. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/saab-starts-gripen-production-in-brazil