DEFENSE NEWS

PARIS — The V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor is set to see 100 export orders over the next nine years, the program manager predicted at the Paris Air Show on Monday.

US Col. Greg Masiello said that more than three potential customers are “at paperwork stage.”

“I could see a scenario of 100 export sales over nine years,” he added.

Among the three potential customers for the Bell-Boeing Osprey are Israel and probably the United Arab Emirates. “In one year we will have multiple countries named,” as possible customers,” he said.

In a presentation, Masiello listed a series of countries he said were discussing sales, had been briefed on the program or who were discussing “cooperative agreements” with the US, the latter including the landing of Ospreys on vessels.

The UK, France, Canada, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Italy, Colombia, Brazil, Israel, India, Japan and Singapore were on the list.

Last week, Ospreys in the Pacific made demonstration landings on the Japanese naval vessels Shimokita and Hyuga, with an Osprey folding its wings and descending on the elevator of the latter vessel.

France had discussed clearance for the V-22 to land on its Mistral vessels and Italy had held talks about the aircraft landing on its Cavour carrier, Masiello said.

The V-22, whose unit price averages US $70 million and costs around $10,000 an hour to fly, secured a $6.5 billion, 99 aircraft order on June 12 from the US. The second, multi-year order for the aircraft includes 92 MV-22s for the Marine Corps and seven CV-22s for the US Air Force. There are 214 V-22s in service and 40 are due to be delivered in 2013.

The Pentagon aims to order 48 for the Navy, and test landings have been made on the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman, Masiello said.

The third of 12 aircraft was delivered this month to the Marine Corps’ White House support group, albeit not to fly the president himself. Masiello said the US fleet has seen a 28 percent increase in readiness and a 19 percent decrease in maintenance costs since 2010.

This year, he added, an Osprey flew from New Mexico to stage a demonstration rescue mission from a submarine in the Pacific.

Since the OPV (Offshore Patrol Vessel) L´Adroit was officially made available to the French Navy in October 2011, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS) was able to prove its highly efficient maritime capability repeatedly.

The Gowind Class L’Adroit, build by DCNS, has been designed to operate, amongst other capabilities, a UAS, and by installing the appropriate cabling and supporting equipment during build, has been fitted out to operate the maritime proven CAMCOPTER® S-100 from day one. The French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA) purchased a S-100 and qualified its integration aboard L’Adroit in the frame of an experimentation ordered by the French Navy.

At the moment the French Navy is the only European Navy capable of operating a UAS VTOL from a surface ship. Embarked on board the OPV L’Adroit, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 has been operating in the Indian Ocean and Asia. Thanks to S-100, the French Navy has been able to evaluate the contribution of UAS during missions assigned to L’Adroit (preventing illegal practices at sea like terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal fishing and illegal immigration, ensuring maritime safety). Over 120 flight hours and 190 take-offs were conducted since the beginning of 2012, with much more to come in the next two years.

The tight integration achieved by DCNS between the ship and the S-100 provides highquality information, alerts and decision aids at any time. This project is unique in Europe and helps the French Navy to understand the movements and actions by potential threats at sea, expanding the area of influence and providing high-definition observation and surveillance in real-time.

Schiebel has taken the experience and knowledge gained from this exciting opportunity of operating the CAMCOPTER®S-100 from OPV L’Adroit, and is now working with world class sensor manufacturers to integrate maritime radar, Electronic Support Measures (ESM) and EO/IR sensors into the S-100 system. This will for the first time, provide maritime commanders with an organic, persistent, ISR capability unparalleled for a UAS in this class.

The construction of the second Mistral helicopter ship for the Russian Navy, the Sevastopol, started at the French Saint-Nazaire shipyards on Tuesday, a military diplomat told Interfax-AVN.

"The keel laying ceremony has taken place at the French Saint- Nazaire shipyards. The second Mistral helicopter carrier will be built for the Russian Defense Ministry," he said.

It was planned initially that four Mistral helicopter carriers would be built for the Russian Navy - two of them in France and two in Russia. Contracts on the construction of the first two hulls were signed and the construction works started at DCNS shipyards. No decisions have been made on the third and fourth hulls so far.

 A Russian Defense Ministry representative told Interfax-AVN earlier that the second Mistral helicopter carrier built in France would join the Russian Black Sea Fleet in four years.

Thales and Dassault Aviation expect to begin work in the coming weeks on a long-planned upgrade to France’s Atlantique 2 (ATL 2) maritime patrol aircraft. The versatile patroller is supporting combat missions in Mali, providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and close-air support with Paveway II laser-guided bombs.

France modified a number of ATL 2 aircraft earlier this year to deliver GBU-12 bombs using target designators onboard French Harfang UAVs, on fighter aircraft and on the ground. In April, the French Defense Ministry listed ATL 2 modernization as a top priority in the nation’s new defense and security strategy, ahead of a forthcoming multiyear spending plan expected to be issued this summer.

“As we see in Mali, it is a useful to have some multipurpose assets,” Laurent Collet-Billon, head of French procurement agency DGA, says of the ATL 2. “It is like a Swiss [army] knife.”

The French navy maintains 22 ATL 2s, 18 of which are slated to get a complete overhaul, with new radar, antisubmarine systems, sonars, sonobuoys and optical systems. Plans to upgrade the ATL 2 fleet have been in the works for more than four years but have been stalled due in part to a shortage of funding. The goal of the upgrade, which Thales expects to be centered on its Amascos maritime mission system, is to extend service life past 2030.

Thales says Amascos is fully operational, having matured since the company agreed in 2004 to supply Turkey with new maritime surveillance and patrol aircraft under the Meltem II program. The program has suffered a series of delays, though under the agreement Thales has delivered three modified CASA CN-235 transport aircraft to the Turkish Coast Guard for maritime surveillance. Another six aircraft modified for maritime patrol missions are in final qualification for the Turkish navy, with deliveries to begin in the second half of this year through early 2014.

“We had delivered an initial version nearly one year ago, so we are now upgrading the final version,” says Pierre-Eric Pommellet, senior vice president of defense mission systems at Thales. “The aircraft will have complete capacity, including the combat systems and weapons systems, torpedoes, and a very good radar.”

Under a separate program called Meltem III, Thales is fitting Amascos for 10 ATR-72 aircraft to be delivered by prime contractor Alenia.

Pommellet says the Amascos suite offers a range of flexibility between simple, one-console systems and more complex ones.

The U.S. Navy’s P-8A Poseidon needs more “critical testing” before the service decides to buy production models of the submarine-hunting plane, according to the Pentagon’s inspector general’s office.

The Defense Department next month plans to hold a meeting to decide whether to begin full production of the Boeing Co.-made aircraft — before testing is completed to determine whether it meets life-expectancy requirements, according to the summary of an audit released this week on the website of the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General.

“Additional critical testing should be completed before the full-rate production (FRP) decision,” according to the summary dated June 10.

The author of the report wasn’t listed. The Pentagon’s inspector general position has been vacant for months. The office is headed by Principal Deputy Inspector General Lynne Halbrooks.

A decision by the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer, Frank Kendall, to purchase the first 13 production models of the aircraft at an estimated cost of $2.6 billion “based on incomplete test results could result in costly retrofits to meet lifespan and mission and system performance requirements,” it states.

The overall cost to develop and build 122 of the aircraft is estimated at $34.9 billion, according to figures the Pentagon released in May.

The P-8 Poseidon made by Chicago-based Boeing is based on the company’s commercial 737–800 twin-engine narrow-body airliner. The naval version is designed to replace the P-3C Orion made by Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp, in conducting long-range missions to hunt submarines, among other ships, and collect intelligence, according to the Navy.

The IG office recommended for Kendall to buy the aircraft under a contract for low-rate production and delay the full-rate production decision until Capt. Scott Dillon, the Navy’s program manager for maritime surveillance aircraft, demonstrates that the plane will be able to survive its 25-year lifespan without structural fatigue, overcome mission-limited deficiencies, and hunt submarines and perform other primary missions.

(Infodefensa.com) L. Vasquez, Santiago, Chile - The Chilean Navy has asked his government authorization and funding to purchase the ship amphibious assault transport 12,000 tons Sirocco , according to confirmed sources of the sector solvents Infodefensa Chile .According to sources, the Commander in Chief of the Chilean Navy, Admiral Edmundo Gonzalez , and confirmed the government's interest in incorporating strength ship offered by the French authorities. However, managing to complete the sale shall rest González successor, Admiral Enrique Larrañaga , who takes office next June 18.

The Sirocco will be removed from service by the National Marine France later this year as part of the implementation of military cuts announced in the Defence White Paper , published by the French Government in April.

As part of plans to increase its force projection capability from the sea, at the end of 2011 Chile acquired the former Lightning, Sirocco Twin. The ship was renamed Sergeant Village and joined the fleet of the South American country in early 2012.

The Chilean Navy plans considered to have two amphibious assault ships, so that one of the ships is always in working condition, while the other is in regular maintenance periods or unexpected repairs.

The same plans establish a preference for both assault ships are the same model or design, to reduce operating costs and logistics.

According to sources in Santiago, the former transfer contract signed in late Foudre 2011 included a provision that gives Chile the first option to buy the Sirocco.

In 2012, the Chilean Navy activated a Amphibious Expeditionary Brigade (BAE) 1,400 troops strong. The force, described as rapid deployment consists of two reinforced battalions of infantry amphibians and other support units Marines, plus a mobile anti-aircraft battery of the Air Force.

MOSCOW, June 13 (RIA Novosti) – The Admiral Nakhimov, a nuclear-powered missile cruiser currently being overhauled and modernized, will rejoin the Russian Navy in 2018 with the most advanced weapons systems for its vessel type, the Sevmash shipyard said Thursday.

The Kirov-class cruiser, known as the Kalinin until 1992, was commissioned in 1989 and mothballed in 1999. It has since been docked for upgrades at the Sevmash shipyard in the northern Russian city of Severodvinsk, on the White Sea.

Sevmash deputy head Sergei Marichev said in a statement that the Admiral Nakhimov would become the most advanced heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser in the Russian Navy.

WASHINGTON — There’s a new Fire Scout in the pipeline — bigger, faster, longer legs, more muscle. It’s still being assembled and won’t fly until later this year, but it’s headed for the fleet as soon as late 2014. And it could fundamentally change some of the parameters expected of the US Navy’s seagoing unmanned helicopter program.

The MQ-8 Fire Scout program has been under development for about a decade. A key factor for the aircraft was its small size, making it exceptionally handy to store and operate aboard ship.

The Navy often presents the diminutive Northrop Grumman aircraft as taking up about half the space of the H-60 Seahawk helos routinely deployed on surface combatants. And frigates are deploying with four MQ-8B Fire Scouts. Littoral combat ships are intended to routinely deploy with one or two Fire Scouts in addition to an H-60.

But something more was needed, and in 2011, US Africa Command and Special Operations Command (SOCOM) submitted an urgent needs request for an aircraft with more range and payload for their maritime-based ISR.

Northrop Grumman, before selecting the Schweizer 333 helicopter as the basis for its original Fire Scout bid, had evaluated the larger Bell 407 Jet Ranger, an aircraft familiar to Navy rotary flight school trainees as the TH-57 Sea Ranger.

To meet the new need for the larger UAV, the company proposed switching to the larger bird, but keeping the systems, electronics and ground control stations developed for the smaller helo. A demonstrator, dubbed Fire-X, was developed at company expense to show off the concept.

The Pentagon was impressed, and in the spring of 2012, Northrop received a contract for the first batch of up to 30 MQ-8C Fire Scouts using the basic Jet Ranger air frame...

...

The new Fire Scout C is bigger — 10 feet longer than the B’s 31.7 feet, a foot higher, and with an operational ceiling 3,000 feet lower than the smaller helo’s 20,000 feet. But the C can fly at 140 knots over the B’s 110; has an internal payload of 1,000 pounds over the B’s 600 pounds; has a gross takeoff weight of 6,000 pounds compared with the B’s 3,150 pounds; and can stay aloft 11 to 14 hours versus the smaller vehicle’s endurance of four to five hours.

“The C will have approximately twice the capability of the B — time on station, payloads — and provides for additional growth, including radar,” said Capt. Patrick Smith, Fire Scout program manager at the Naval Air Systems Command. “And because of more endurance, it should have less impact on the crew, who can launch, then recover, the aircraft eight hours later.”

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KOCHI: The Indian Navy is mooting deployment of unmanned surface and sub-surface vehicles to strengthen its anti-piracy operations. The Navy has submitted its qualitative requirements for a ship-track-and-trail vehicle to the Vizag-based Naval Science and Technological Laboratory ( NSTL) for "tackling non-state threats and players".

The move is to develop an unmanned vehicle that can be deployed from a naval ship to recce waters in an operational area for suspicious movement and presence of hostile elements. "Navy's idea is to develop an unmanned seaplane type of vehicle. They want it to do aerial as well as sea-surface surveillance," a senior defence source told TOI.

The naval staff qualitative requirement (NSQR), a mandatory expression of interest that precedes any defence development or procurement programme, wants the vehicle to have an endurance of eight hours. "Two types are being designed. One will be a smaller version weighing 1.5 tonne and the second one weighing five tonne. The latter obviously will be able to carry more payload for reconnaissance,'' sources said.

The Indian Navy's initiative is based on the success of unmanned operations of US and Israeli navies. "These vehicles can direct the ship to the exact area where pirates wait for an assault. This would add power to the first strike capability," sources said.

ATLAS ELEKTRONIK UK (AEUK) is pleased to confirm that its Cerberus Mod2 diver detection sonar has now successfully completed factory acceptance testing at its UK premises against a particularly comprehensive and demanding set of requirements set by the German Government.

Of particular significance was the accreditation of a completely new design and build of a bespoke power supply and processing unit (PSPU) to the Mil-Std EMC and environmental qualification standards set by the customer, as well as the stringent German Information Security (BSI) testing, which further complements the integrity of the AEUK design.

AEUK now looks forward to a period of formal training with the German Navy as the system heads towards its in-service date for the F125 frigate, the first NATO vessel to be fitted with a diver detection sonar.

The threat from submerged terrorist divers is very real. One widely-publicised incident in 2008 saw divers from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam insurgent group operating in Sri Lanka sinking a Sri Lankan naval vessel, rather ironically called the MV “Invincible” in her previous life as a freighter, during an attack when the ship was berthing in the northeastern port of Trincomalee.
For detecting such threats, ATLAS Elektronik UK developed the lightweight CERBERUS Mod 2 diver detection system. This Portable Diver Detection Sonar (PDDS) is designed to be much smaller and lighter than the basis CERBERUS system. It is able to cope with the demands of both portable and ship-borne applications, detecting divers, swimmers, AUV, and SDV over distances of up to 1,800m, and alerting operators about their presence. Five systems are on delivery for the German Navy’s Type F125 frigate project. CERBERUS can be operated from the ship’s bridge as well as from a processing and display unit below deck, showing the surrounding area on a sea chart.
The CERBERUS Mod 2 diver detection system detects underwater threats over distances of up to 1,800m, enabling reliable alerting of multiple underwater targets with very few false alarms. Thanks to its low weight (23kg) and compact construction, CERBERUS can be deployed without the need for a crane or davit.

Una ´dieta´ muy cara es la que hay que aplicar para solucionar los problemas de exceso de peso que han surgido en la construcción de los nuevos submarinos S-80 en el astillero de Navantia en Cartagena. Y es que la Armada baraja que necesitará hasta 800 millones de euros para el ´adelgazamiento´ imprevisto del sumergible, fruto de los fallos de diseño de la nave. Así lo ha publicado el diario El País y ni la Armada ni Navantia lo desmienten. Así, el coste del submarino será un 35% más de lo previsto inicialmente. Tanto los militares como la compañía pública sostienen que se está elaborando un estudio al respecto cuyos resultados se prevén para mediados del próximo mes de julio.

Y, precisamente, ese estudio supone otro gran pellizco para los presupuestos de Defensa. La Marina española ha confiado la solución a la empresa norteamericana Electric Boat, vinculada de forma directa a la US Navy. Y los honorarios por esta colaboración ascienden a 14 millones de euros, casi la mitad de lo que se necesita para que Defensa apruebe acometer la gran carena del submarino ´Tramontana´.

Lo peor de todo no son las cerca de cien toneladas que le sobran al nuevo submarino ni los dos años que se prevén de retraso para la puesta a flote de la primera de las cuatro unidades que se están construyendo, sino la imagen que se está dando en el exterior a la Armadas extranjeras que son las que tienen que comprar el S-80 y otros buques para garantizar el futuro de Navantia como potencia mundial de la construcción naval.

L’U36, sixième et dernier sous-marin du type 212A commandé par la marine allemande, a été baptisé le 15 mai au chantier HDW (TKMS) de Kiel. Le bâtiment a, ensuite, été mis à flot, en vue de son achèvement puis de ses essais, sa livraison étant prévue cette année.

Son aîné, l’U35, a rejoint la flotte allemande en 2012 et, en avril dernier, a signé à l’occasion d’un exercice aux Etats-Unis un nouveau record d’immersion pour un sous-marin à propulsion non-nucléaire. L’U35 est, ainsi, resté 18 jours sans faire surface ni utiliser son schnorchel pour faire tourner ses moteurs diesels...

...Par rapport à leurs quatre aînés (U31, U32, U33 et U34), mis en service entre 2005 et 2007, les U35 et U36 sont un peu plus grands (1 mètre de long et 50 tonnes supplémentaires) et bénéficient de différentes évolutions. Ils intègrent, notamment, de nouveaux équipements (systèmes de communication, sonars, système de commande et de contrôle, mât optronique remplaçant le périscope), ont été adaptés pour embarquer des forces spéciales et sont « tropicalisés », afin d'être déployés en eaux chaudes.

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The Department of the Navy has kicked off its second multi-year buy for 99 V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft with option for 22 more, a NAVAIR official told USNI News on Thursday.

The Pentagon issued a $4.89 billion contract for the Ospreys on Wednesday with Textron’s Bell Helicopter division and Boeing.

Of the 99 aircraft The U.S. Marine Corps will operate 92 of the Bell-Boeing aircraft as MV-22s and seven will be operated by the U.S. Air Force as CV-22s.

The multi-year sheds an estimated $1 billion in costs over buying the aircraft individually, according to Jim O’Donnell from Naval Air Systems Command.

The Pentagon’s goal is for a planned total of 458 Ospreys, split between 360 for the Marines, 50 for the Air Force and an eventual 48 for the Navy.

This will be the second multi-year deal for the V-22, following a $10.4 billion deal with Bell Boeing for 167 of the aircraft in 2008.

The Osprey has been in operational use since 2007 in both Afghanistan and Iraq with a total of 214 in service with the Marines and the Air Force.

The news of the multi-year follows an announcement from Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel Israel planned to buy the aircraft for the countries special operations forces. Estimates indicate Israel would by five of the aircraft for $70 million a copy.