21 Oct 14. Finland begins study on new fighter aircraft. Finland’s replacement for its Boeing F/A-18 Hornet fleet is expected to cost the country about EUR6bn (USD7.6bn), local media revealed on 18 October. Finland’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) launched an exploratory working group in early October to examine maintenance and performance capabilities of potential candidates. Options for modernising the current fleet, acquired in 1995, to enable operations beyond 2030 are also to be examined. If the country opts to procure a new platform, decommissioning the current Hornet fleet is expected to begin in 2025, with the last aircraft leaving active duty in 2030. The working group’s report is to be completed by mid-2015. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
22 Oct 14. The US Navy is looking to develop Shallow Water Surveillance System (SWSS) passive acoustic linear arrays. “The SWSS arrays are surveillance sensors used as the primary sensing capability for SWSS units which are physically attached to the arrays,” the Navy said. “Each SWSS unit is a stand-alone, battery powered system which will collect process, analyze the data from the array and transmit undersea contact locating information to operational commanders.” The Navy plans to issue a five-year contract. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
20 Oct 14. U.S. Army is preparing to design a long-range, hand-launched UAV. The request for information is for a Long Range Reconnaissance and Surveillance (LRRS) UAV. The Army wants endurance of at least two hours and a range of at least 10 kilometers, with eight hours and 30 kilometers the ultimate goal. The UAV should have a ceiling of no less than 10,500 feet, and up to 16,000. It also must be launched by hand, catapult, bungee or other simple means, according to the RFI. The UAV also must be near-silent, inaudible to listeners on the ground at an altitude for 400 to 500 feet. (Source: Open Source Information Report/ C4ISR & Networks)
19 Oct 14. AWD programme now AUD800m over budget. The projected cost of Australia’s troubled Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) programme has risen to about AUD800m (USD688m) more than its AUD8.5bn budget, informed sources have told IHS Jane’s. This figure is nearly AUD500m more than an overrun forecast by an Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report in March, although the ANAO warned that the situation was likely to deteriorate significantly. The first of the three 7,000-tonne Hobart-class AWDs is not scheduled to be delivered to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) until March 2016, with the second delivery scheduled for September 2017 and the third for March 2019. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
20 Oct 14. India re-releases LPD tender to private-sector shipyards. India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) reissued a request for proposal (RfP) in mid-September to three local private sector shipyards to build four amphibious assault ships for an estimated INR250bn (USD4.16bn. The RfP to ABG, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering – all located on India’s west coast – seeks a builder for 40,000-tonne landing platform docks (LPDs) for the Indian Navy (IN). Completion is requested by 2027. IN officials said all three contenders would be permitted to enter into joint ventures (JVs) with foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to design and build the LPDs. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
22 Oct 14. Argentina to negotiate with Brazil for Gripen E multirole fighters. Argentina is to begin negotiations towards potentially buying 24 Saab Gripen E multirole fighters from the Brazilian production line, the Brazilian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 21 October. The MoD said that Argentine Minister of Defence Agustin Rossi conditioned the Gripen procurement on the participation of Argentina’s aerospace industry on the project. Argentina has invested USD35m on its state-owned Fábrica Argentina de Aviones (FAdeA) aircraft factory to produce components for Brazil’s KC-390 transport-tanker, which was rolled out on 20 Octo