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New York Senator Investigates Fatal UH-60 Crashes Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is asking the Pentagon to launch a formal investigation into four fatal Sikorsky UH-60 crashes to determine whether there is a systemic problem with the helicopter... https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/week-defense-feb-11-18-2021

Tony Osborne Thirty years ago, news cameras shot shaky imagery of long tubular missiles flying across the Baghdad skyline. They were a mix of Raytheon Tomahawks launched from U.S. Navy warships in the Arabian Sea and Boeing AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missiles, released from Boeing B-52s in the final moments of their flights, closing in on targets in the city center with a precision never seen in previous conflicts. The missile firings were the opening shots of one of the most successful air campaigns in history. Within 39 days the air assault had rendered Iraq's armed forces ineffective, ruined the country's economy and helped prevent the conflict from drawing in neighboring states. Advanced seekers drive greater autonomy in engagement endgame More than 20 countries have air-launched cruise missiles Weapons use low-observability tech to increase survivability Operation Desert Storm almost certainly secured the role of the cruise missile for future air campaigns, with the weapons providing the opening salvos for attacks in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Libya and more recently Syria. Today, nearly 20 countries have an air-launched cruise missile capability and others are aspiring toward it as the technology proliferates. Nations such as Brazil, India and Pakistan are developing their own. Increasingly, the missiles no longer are seen as just an offensive capability in the hands of the superpowers, but also as a defensive one—a long arm that can hold adversaries at bay. Neutral Finland has equipped its Boeing F/A-18 Hornets with the Lockheed Martin Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), Sweden is considering the integration of a long-range missile for its Saab Gripens later in the 2020s, and Taiwan has developed an air-launched cruise missile for use from its AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-Kuo indigenous combat aircraft. “The significantly increased effective range of air-defense and anti-ship missiles since the end of the Cold War has allowed these nominally defensive systems to be used for offensive political purposes in various parts of the world, by threatening air and maritime assets far outside the territory on which they are based,” says Justin Bronk, a fellow for airpower and technology at the London-based Royal United Services Institute. “Cruise missiles are a necessity for any nation or coalition which needs the capability to threaten or destroy targets protected by modern ground-based air-defense networks.” At the same time, the definition of a cruise missile is being blurred. Loitering munitions and attritable UAVs—including those being developed as additive capabilities for future combat aircraft—use similar technologies, as do air-launched decoys such as Raytheon's Miniature Air-Launched Decoy and proposed systems from MBDA and Saab. The term “cruise missile” also has been hijacked and associated with shorter-range standoff weapons and even anti-ship missiles, although some have a limited land-attack capability. Even the UK's new MBDA Spear 3 weapon recently was described by the company as a mini cruise missile. The cruise missile's precursors date back more than a century. Curtiss-Sperry's Aerial Torpedo took a converted biplane, fitted it with remote controls and filled it with explosive, although it was never used in anger. Then just 25 years later, during World War II, Hitler's Germany launched thousands of V-1 pulsejet-powered flying bombs against the Allies, including more than 1,000 launched from modified Heinkel He.111 bombers. Fast-forward to today: Modern cruise missiles are capable of flying thousands of kilometers across land and sea, their positions guaranteed by satellites. Then, in the final moments of an attack, onboard sensors seek out the objectives before the missiles' penetrating warheads defeat even hardened targets. Development of a cruise missile will be bound up in the requirements stipulated by the sponsoring nation, but among the most prominent will center on the weapon's launch platform. This will generate its own constraints including the physical size and weight of the weapon, particularly if it needs to be fitted inside an aircraft's internal bay-—like that of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Platform legacy is another factor, as the weapon might end up being in service longer than the carrier aircraft. For example, carriage of the UK's MBDA Storm Shadow had to be transferred from the Panavia Tornado to the Eurofighter Typhoon when the Tornado exited service in 2019. That means consideration also is needed for future platforms. This is a particular issue in cases where missile companies have not had input into aircraft development programs and is being addressed in Europe through initiatives such as the UK-led Tempest and German/French/Spanish Future Combat Air System. As with all weapons, range has a major influence on design, not only for the amount of fuel carried onboard, but also how close to the target the carrying platform needs to be before launch. A longer-range weapon permits planners to undertake more circuitous routes, reducing exposure to detection. It also can allow for attacks to be conducted from several different directions to overwhelm air defenses, or alternatively, several targets can be struck simultaneously in different parts of a country by multiple weapons to achieve a particular effect. In addition to fuel, designers also must consider the type of warhead as commanders would like to ensure the weapon can deal with any target it strikes once it gets there. Both the Storm Shadow/Scalp Taurus KEPD 350 and Lockheed JASSM, arguably the most commonly exported air-launched cruise missiles, are kitted with penetrating warheads to deal with hardened targets such as command-and-control bunkers and hardened aircraft shelters. Other factors in cruise missile design include responsiveness. Missile experts suggest planners need to be able to take advantage of windows of opportunity, such as the movement of air defenses to different sites, opening a gap through which the missile can fly. The missile itself also must be survivable; many of the new-generation, modern air-defense systems have been developed to track and shoot down cruise missiles. One of the primary roles of Russia's Mikoyan MiG-31 Foxhound is to intercept and down air-launched cruise missiles and, if possible, their carrying aircraft. “Survivability [of the cruise missile] is not a military capability requirement,” an industry expert on air-launched cruise missiles tells Aviation Week. “But clearly without it, you can't go somewhere, meet the range or achieve the effect that the military planners want.” The push for survivability has driven manufacturers to incorporate more low-observability design aspects and materials to reduce the radar cross-section of the weapon, as can be seen with the Storm Shadow/Scalp and JASSM. The basic cruise missile configuration is dominated by the warhead, fuel and engine. Each has its own trade-offs, so missile engineers are faced with balancing the requirements of range over warhead size—particularly as cruise missiles' strategic targets are often large, sometimes even hardened fixed structures. More efficient, small turbofan engines, rather than turbojets, have helped to boost range while the remaining missile fuel can enhance the explosive power when combined with the warhead. Perhaps one of the biggest challenges of cruise missile use is the mission planning process. Most cruise missiles will have undergone an extensive planning process prior to launch, with the path of flight often defined by a set of waypoints in the sky—and with more advanced weapons, the construction of 3D digital models of the target so onboard seekers can recognize it. The process can be quite granular, down to the height at which the weapon will cruise during most of its flight, attack angles and when to switch on seekers. Imperfect geographic data means some latitude has to be built in to ensure the weapon comfortably avoids crashing into high ground when using onboard terrain databases. Nearly all cruise missiles will have a basic capability to fly to a GPS coordinate. More advanced weapons can operate in GPS-denied environments, recognizing their targets using imaging onboard seekers so the weapon can pick out the target structure in cluttered terrain. “The seeker on the front of the missile provides more flexibility,” a missile industry expert states. “In some cases a target can be difficult to differentiate, so we may need to use a target basket to locate a target in a certain area of engagement.” Such seekers include electro-optical and infrared types, but future developments could include the use of laser-based Lidar and even radio-frequency seekers that could allow the weapon to pick out and identify its target earlier. During the Cold War, such accuracy was less important. The missiles could hit within tens of meters of the desired hit points and, when equipped with nuclear warheads, their kilotons of destructive power could comfortably knock out most targets. “High accuracy today means that commanders have confidence you can do the damage you need to with conventional warheads,” says Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. But the slow process of mission planning means cruise missiles are less effective against potentially fleeting targets of opportunity, a concern that is prompting development of speedier planning and faster missiles. “High speed is a way forward for cruise missiles,” says the missile expert. “It lends itself to responsiveness, it is a simpler activity to plan and it increases the element of surprise.” But high speed comes with its own challenges. Such a weapon can be difficult to design and will need to be finely tuned, with little room to make changes, say experts. Most supersonic cruise missiles are either anti-ship types with a limited land-attack capability such as the Indian/Russian BrahMos, or more specialized weapons such as France's nuclear-roled ASMP-A—which Paris plans to replace with an even faster, possibly scramjet-powered weapon called the ASN4G, in the 2030s. Experts believe there is a role for both high-speed and subsonic weapons. The subsonic missile, on the other hand, is more of a “bomb truck,” says the missile industry expert. With their big boxy airframes, such weapons “are quite resilient to changing things inside, so it supports a flexible future. “For high speed, we [industry] are still grappling with developing technologies for propulsion and . . . for controlling the airframe. . . . There's still a lot of technology growth to take place.” Governments increasingly desire such capabilities, particularly in the new era of great-power competition. But while sales are lucrative, cruise missiles are not easy to export. Transfers continue to be governed by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) whose 35 signatories aim to prevent the proliferation of technology that could lead to long-range nuclear-weapon delivery systems. Many of the countries' weapons with ranges of over 300 km (190 mi.) are considered in Category 1 and face the greatest restraint in terms of transfers, while controls on weapons with a range of less than 300 km are less strict, with decisions often based on national discretion. However, the MTCR rules seem likely to evolve, particularly as the U.S. looks to export more unmanned air systems, which were previously covered by the regime. But even if the weapons are not being exported, more nations than ever are achieving the technical prowess to develop indigenous cruise missiles, and not all are MTCR signatories. So as the threat to airpower from ground-based defenses grows, the desire for such weapons is turning to necessity, as it seems likely such weapons will play an even bigger role in future conflicts beyond the opening salvos. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/missile-defense-weapons/airpower-demands-drive-air-launched-cruise-missile-evolution

The U.S. Air Force has announced plans to buy 461 engines to power their fleet of F-15EX jets. In a February 5 Federal Opportunities notice, U.S.A.F. Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) said it wants to acquire up to 461 engines in order to meet propulsion and aircraft production delivery schedules using full and open competition. The engine delivery period is October 2023 through June 2031. Maiden flight of the F-15EX took place in earlier this month. The service awarded Boeing a contract to build the first lot of eight jets in July 2020. Future plans call for as many as 144 aircraft. The aircraft is an improvement over the F-15 C/D model in that it is a fly-by-wire, digital aircraft; has a powerful new processor; additional wing hardpoints; a new electronic warfare system; and an updated glass cockpit. It is based on the F-15QA, which Boeing is building for Qatar. Boeing said the EX can launch hypersonic weapons up to 22 feet long and weighing up to 7,000 pounds, which gives it an edge over the F-35. https://www.defenseworld.net/news/28934#.YCWomGhKiUk

NAVY Raytheon Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney, Pratt and Whitney Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded a $49,195,531 fixed-price-incentive-firm-target modification (P00025) to a previously awarded contract (N0001918C1021). This contract provides for one conventional take-off and landing and two short take-off/vertical landing F135 engines to support F-35 Lightning II Block Four developmental testing program for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and non-U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) participants. Work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (33%); Kent, Washington (15%); El Cajon, California (15%); Whitehall, Michigan (8%); West Palm Beach, Florida (6%); Dover, New Jersey (5%); East Lake, Ohio (3%); Rockford, Illinois (3%); Houston, Texas (3%); Portland, Oregon (3%); North Berwick, Maine (3%); and Milford, New Hampshire (3%), and is expected to be completed in January 2023. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force) funds in the amount of $3,690,000; fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,500,000; and non-U.S. DOD participant funds in the amount of $1,083,021 will be obligated at the time of award, $6,190,000 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Feb. 5, 2021) Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is awarded a $17,852,939 modification (P00012) to a firm-fixed-priced order (N0001919F0305) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0001917G0002). This modification exercises an option to procure 60 MV-22 and 10 CV-22 proprotor hub spring and drive link retrofit kits; and six CV-22 modification spares kits, in support of the Marine Corps MV-22 aircraft and Air Force CV-22 aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in February 2023. Fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $14,675,618; and fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $3,177,321, will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Feb. 5, 2021) BAE Systems Platforms & Services, Minneapolis, Minnesota, is awarded a $17,576,524 fixed-price incentive (firm target) contract for Virginia-class submarine propulsors (delivery order N00024-21-F-2100 under basic ordering agreement N00024-20-G-4107). Work will be performed in Louisville, Kentucky (90%); and Minneapolis, Minnesota (10%), and is expected to be completed by October 2024. Fiscal 2020 advanced procurement shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $17,576,524 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) (only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements). The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Awarded Feb. 5, 2021) American Petroleum Tankers LLC, Blue Bay, Pennsylvania (N3220517C3502), is awarded a $16,479,750 option (P00021) for the fixed-price portion of a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract with reimbursable elements to exercise a one-year option in support of the Department of Defense Logistics Agency Energy aboard the M/V Evergreen State. This contract includes a one-year-firm period of the performance, three one-year options periods, and one 11-month option period, which if exercised would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $81,048,250. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed, if all options are exercised, by Jan. 8, 2023. Working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $10,565,100 are obligated for fiscal 2021, and will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. Funds in the amount of $5,914,650 for the remainder of Option Three are to be provided for fiscal 2022 and are subject to availability of funds in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.232-18, availability of funds. This procurement was released under full and open competition, with an unlimited number of companies solicited via the Beta.SAM.Gov website with three offers received. The Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Feb. 5, 2021) Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is awarded a $12,273,267 cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price order (N0001921F0090) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0001917G0002). This order provides non-recurring engineering services for the conversion area harness aircraft modification. Additionally, this order procures 72 conversion area harness base retrofit kits, 63 conversion area harness supplemental retrofit kits, and interim spares in support of the Marine Corps MV-22 aircraft, the Air Force CV-22 aircraft, the Navy CMV-22 aircraft, and the government of Japan V-22 aircraft. Work will be performed in Simpsonville, South Carolina (80%); Fort Worth, Texas (10%); Long Beach, California (7%); Austin, Texas (1%); Dallas, Texas (1%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (1%), and is expected to be completed in January 2026. Fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,626,985; fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $1,787,911; fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount $480,888; and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $1,377,483 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Feb. 5, 2021) CORRECTION: The contracts announced on Feb. 5, 2021, to Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. (N00019-14-C-0050 P00102); and Opal Soft Inc. (N00253-21-C-0004), were actually awarded today, Feb. 8, 2021. ARMY Birdi Systems Inc.,* Pasadena, California (W912DY-21-D-0037); 3 Territory Solutions LLC,* Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (W912DY-21-D-0053 ); Comprehensive Professional & Proposal Services,* Fredericksburg, Virginia (W912DY-21-D-0050); Futron Inc.,* Woodbridge, Virginia (W912DY-21-D-0051); Evergreen Fire Alarms LLC, Tacoma, Washington (W912DY-21-D-0052); EXP Federal Inc., Chicago, Illinois (W912DY-21-D-0053); M.C. Dean Inc., Tysons, Virginia (W912DY-21-D-0054); Spectrum Solutions Inc.,* Madison, Alabama (W912DY-21-D-0055); Shearer & Associates Inc.,* Huntsville, Alabama (W912DY-21-D-0056); and Chinook Systems Inc.,* Cocoa Beach, Florida (W912DY-21-D-0057), will compete for each order of the $49,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide technical and programmatic support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 13 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 7, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Pride Industries, Roseville, California, was awarded a $17,621,657 firm-fixed-price contract for base operations support. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed at Fort Rucker, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $3,085,875 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Field Directorate Office, Fort Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W9124G-18-C-0005). The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded a $10,579,798 modification (P00004) to contract W58RGZ19F0045 to integrate, test, upgrade and field functional hardware and software technology improvements and cybersecurity controls, to the Longbow Crew Trainer Generation Four and Generation Five fleets. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, with an estimated completion date of April 2, 2022. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $10,579,798 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Iron Mountain Solutions Inc.*, Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded an $8,233,165 hybrid (firm-fixed-price, time-and-materials) contract for technical support for the Utility Helicopters Project Office. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 7, 2026. Fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $8,233,165 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-21-F-B001). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia (SPE8EG-21-D-0128); FFI Aerospace and Defense, Westminster, Maryland (SPE8EG-21-D-0129); and Araiza Co. LLC, Tullahoma, Tennessee (SPE8EG-21-D-0130), are sharing a maximum $12,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract under solicitation SPE8EG-20-R-0017 for ram assemblies used on military vessels. This was a competitive acquisition with three responses received. These are two-year base contracts with three one-year option periods. Locations of performance are Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Tennessee, with a Feb. 7, 2023, ordering period end date. Using customer is Defense Department. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. OFD Foods LLC,* Albany, Oregon, has been awarded a maximum $10,545,930 firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for dehydrated meat and gravy items. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Oregon, with a Feb. 7, 2026, ordering period end date. Using military service is Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2026 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE3S1-21-D-Z232). U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND Technology Service Corp., Arlington, Virginia, received a ceiling increase modification in the amount of $12,000,000 on a Small Business Innovative Research, Phase III contract (H92408-19-D-0001) for the Long Endurance Aircraft (LEA) program. The LEA program provides aircraft, turrets and spare parts required to support an increased multi-intelligence capability for U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). This modification raises the contract ceiling to $75,000,000 to accommodate a longer performance period. The contract is funded at the task order level with operation and maintenance funding and procurement funding. USSOCOM, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2497472/source/GovDelivery/

The investment is a sign of the Air Force's commitment to fighting war effectively across all domains, including cyber and its electronic warfare cousin. By KELSEY ATHERTONon February 08, 2021 at 5:08 PM ALBUQUERQUE: The 16th Air Force, designed to constantly contest the electromagnetic spectrum, has awarded a $95 million contract to support both command and control and service cryptologic element roles. The contract — Full Spectrum Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Operational Non-Appropriated Funds Support, or FUSIONS — was awarded to Scientific Research Corp of Atlanta. It will run through February 2026. In a sign that Scientific may have developed a promising approach, this is not the first award to the company for this sort of work. The Navy awarded the company a contract similar in scale and scope in 2018. The 16th Air Force first started soliciting this contract in November 2019, one month after the command was created. The original solicitation emphasized the importance of “delivering timely and relevant intelligence data/products to the war fighter.” The 16th was created by merging an Air Force cyber mission with an Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance component. Combining intelligence collection in the same component as one that can launch attacks on computers is a way for the Air Force to show how closely connected cyber attacks are to online espionage. Cyber, like surveillance and activity in the electromagnetic spectrum, can happen below the threshold of a shooting war but can also be used for targeting and to inflict physical damage. The scale of the investment is a sign of the Air Force's commitment to fighting war effectively across all its domains, including cyber. At a Dec. 11 symposium, Air Combat Command chief Gen. Mark D. Kelly said he'd told 16AF commander Lt. Gen. Timothy D. Haugh to “Take all of us, whether we go willingly, or kicking and screaming, into the non-kinetic competition.” Much of the work of delivering data products to the Air Force will involve harnessing information it already has in its databases, and making them useful on a command level. Some of that work, as outlined in the solicitation, involves targeting products. “The contractor shall provide targeting SME support regarding the Joint and Air Force Targeting Enterprise (JTE/AFTE), and kinetic, Electronic Warfare (EW), Information Operations (IO), Space and Cyber targeting,” reads the solicitation. The contract is designed to support the 16th in its role as a “service cryptologic element,” or the formal mechanism by which signals intelligence components of the service work directly with the NSA. Another component of the FUSIONS contract is identifying and recommending “new or unexploited information systems,” as well as “unique friendly, enemy, or neutral information sources,” with the goal of turning that information into relevant and useful intelligence. This means, broadly, looking at new Internet-connected devices, tools, and networks, and making that information something troops at the tactical level can use. Vital to that intelligence collection and sharing is ensuring the data itself can be transmitted over existing DoD networks. https://breakingdefense.com/2021/02/air-force-awards-95-million-for-cyber-intelligence/

By Ed Adamczyk Feb. 8 (UPI) -- The U.S. State Department has approved the sale of SM-2 rail-launched missiles to Chile, and has delivered its recommendation to the U.S. Congress. The $85 million sale includes 16 SM-2 Block IIIA rail-launched missiles, two MK 89 Mod 0 guidance section adapter, a target detection device kit, MK 45 Mod 14 naval gun systems and associated training and supplies, according to a Defense Security Cooperation Agency announcement. The determination, the first foreign sale approved by President Joe Biden's administration, by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency typically precedes approval by the U.S. Senate. In the announcement on Friday, DSCA noted that Chile acquired two missile-carrying Adelaide-class frigates, capable of firing the missiles, from the Royal Australian Navy in 2019. It added that the sale would support Chile's anti-warfare capabilities and not alter the region's military balance. Chile's rocket-launching capabilities only include the Rayo truck-mounted artillery missile, a joint project involving Chile and Britain, begun in 1989 and cancelled in 2002. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/02/08/State-Department-approves-85M-missile-sale-to-Chile/2641612809229/

by Gareth Jennings The US Air Force (USAF) plans to strengthen its Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) fleet, with a further six aircraft to be procured over the coming five years. With the fleet currently comprising three Bombardier Global 6000 regional jet-based E-11A (one of the original four was lost on operations in Afghanistan in 2020) and four Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft, the service disclosed on 5 February that it plans to acquire a further six E-11As through to 2026. “In an effort to boost the fleet, the BACN Program Office is working to procure six E-11A aircraft over the next five years. The team has secured additional funding for the first aircraft, and contract negotiations on a purchase agreement are currently in progress,” the USAF said, adding that it expects to have a contract in place by the end of March. While the announcement said that all six aircraft would be delivered by the end of June, it appears from the previously stated timeline that ‘2026' was inadvertently omitted. News of the proposed boost to numbers came days after the USAF awarded Northrop Grumman USD3.6 billion for continued BACN operations, sustainment, and support. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/usaf-to-buy-more-bacn

Feb. 8, 2021 | By Rachel S. Cohen Development of a new breed of unmanned aircraft is now underway, as three major defense companies earned contracts to start designing a future system known as “LongShot.” The LongShot program wants to create an unmanned weapons porter that can be shot from another plane before firing multiple air-to-air missiles itself, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which runs the effort. DARPA announced Feb. 8 it has funded General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman to start design work in the project's first phase, but did not disclose how much money is part of those contracts. “The objective is to develop a novel [unmanned air vehicle] that can significantly extend engagement ranges, increase mission effectiveness, and reduce the risk to manned aircraft,” DARPA said in a release. “It is envisioned that LongShot will increase the survivability of manned platforms by allowing them to be at standoff ranges far away from enemy threats, while an air-launched LongShot UAV efficiently closes the gap to take more effective missile shots.” The project first appeared in DARPA's fiscal 2021 budget request as a prospective addition to the Air Force and Navy's inventories. The budget called for a plane that uses “multi-mode propulsion” to tackle multiple airborne threats at once, Air Force Magazine previously reported. The program called for $22 million in its first year. “LongShot will explore new engagement concepts for multi-modal, multi-kill systems that can engage more than one target,” DARPA wrote. “LongShot can be deployed either externally from existing fighters or internally from existing bombers.” Last year, the research agency suggested the aircraft could fly slowly toward its target at first to save fuel, then speed up once it gets close. “This approach provides several key benefits,” DARPA said. “First, the weapon system will have a much-increased range over their legacy counterparts for transit to an engagement zone. Second, launching air-to-air missiles closer to the adversary increases energy in terminal flight, reduces reaction time, and increases probability of kill.” The Pentagon hasn't said what weapons LongShot would carry, or how autonomous its software might be. On paper, LongShot appears similar to other efforts like the Air Force's previous Gray Wolf missile program, which looked to create a munition that could carry other weapons inside. That was discontinued in favor of the service's Golden Horde swarming bomb project. Later in the LongShot program, DARPA said, the companies will fly a full-scale prototype that is “capable of controlled flight before, during, and after” it is fired. The agency did not immediately answer how long the initial design phase will last. The fiscal 2021 budget also called for a new program entitled “Gunslinger,” a new air-launched missile armed with a gun that would be designed for Air Force and Navy missions. But that appears to have a murkier future than the LongShot. “The Gunslinger program has yet to formally launch and, at this time, we have no information on when that may happen,” DARPA spokesman Jared Adams said in December. https://www.airforcemag.com/design-gets-underway-on-darpas-longshot-drone/

Posted on February 8, 2021 by Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Sikorsky a third production contract to build five VH-92A helicopters for the U.S. Marine Corps. The Naval Air Systems Command awarded Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. — a Lockheed Martin company — a $478.6 million firm-fixe-price contract modification to build five Low-Rate Initial Production Lot III VH-92As, according to a Feb. 5 Defense Department announcement. The award also includes orders for “interim contractor support, two cabin interior reconfiguration kits, support equipment, initial spares and system parts replenishment,” the release said. Work on the contract is expected to be completed by December 2023. The VH-92A was selected in 2014 to provide transport for the president of the United States, the vice president and other high-level government officials. The helicopter will replace the 19 VH-3D Sea King and VH-60N “White Hawk” helicopters operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One. The Corps plans to acquire a total of 23 VH-92As, 21 for operations and two for testing. The May 2014 engineering and manufacturing development contract procured two test aircraft and four production aircraft. Six VH-92As were ordered in June 2019, followed by six more in February 2020. The presidential helicopter fleet is operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One, based at Marine Corps Air Station Quantico, Virginia, with a detachment at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington. “Government testing to validate system performance and prepare for Initial Operational Test and Evaluation is progressing on schedule and will support an Initial Operational Capability (IOC) planned for July 2021,” a Navy spokeswoman said. “The VH-92A will enter service post IOC at the determination of the White House Military Office.” https://seapowermagazine.org/navair-orders-five-vh-92-presidential-helicopters-from-sikorsky/