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EUROPE
13 June 19. Italy buys 13 jet trainers, inks naval industry deal. Italy’s ambitions to host a cutting edge flight training school for pilots from around the world were boosted Thursday, thanks to an order of 13 new M-345 jet trainers for local defense giant Leonardo.
The new planes, which come with a price tag of $338m, will join five others already ordered and contribute to efforts to replace 137 MB-339 trainer aircraft that have been in service since 1982.
The new aircraft, which will be delivered starting next year and are part of a requirement for 45 aircraft, will join the Italian Air Force’s 18 M-346 advanced trainers at Galatina base near Lecce in southern Italy. Powered by a turbofan Williams FJ44-4M-34 engine, the aircraft will compete with equivalent turbo prop basic trainers on operational costs, Leonardo has said. As activity at Galatina expands, the Italian Air Force is expected to move its M-346 trainers to a new home at Decimomannu on the Italian island of Sardinia, thus doubling the training sites in Italy, while keeping its MB-339s — and subsequently the new M-345s — at Galatina.
Separately on Thursday, an Italian defense source told Defense News that a long planned joint venture between Italian shipyard Fincantieri and France’s Naval Group will be formally signed on board an Italian frigate on Friday. Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono and Naval Group CEO Hervé Guillou will meet to formalize the deal announced in October to create a 50-50 joint venture to build and market naval vessels, as well share supply chains, research and testing.
The deal falls short of a share swap between the firms envisioned by officials, but has already ushered in the French use of an Italian design for its new logistics vessel, with some work to be undertaken in Italy. The two firms will also collaborate on upgrades for the Horizon class frigates Italy and France built together and both operate. The joint venture, which will be headquartered in Genoa, Italy, will also work on plans for a new 3,000 ton ‘European patrol corvette,’ the source said. (Source: Defense News)
13 June 19. Saab pulls Gripen E from Swiss flight evaluations. Saab will not present its Gripen E to Switzerland for flight trials, although it will still offer the combat aircraft for the country’s Air2030 requirement. The Swedish company announced on 13 June that the stipulation by Switzerland’s Armasuisse defence procurement agency that all aircraft offered for flight evaluation be operationally ready means that the Gripen E will not be able to take part in that particular aspect of the procurement process.
“The Swiss defence procurement agency, armasuisse, has formally recommended to Saab [that it not] participate with Gripen E in the upcoming flight tests in Switzerland. The reason is that the flight tests have been designed to only evaluate aircraft that are operationally ready in 2019. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
USA
07 June 19. USN eyes technologies for future multi-mission fire control radar. The US Navy has outlined plans for a new multi-mission fire-control radar (MMFCR) that would combine horizon search functions with fire control for missile and gun engagements. In a request for information (RFI) issued on 30 May, the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), on behalf of the Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems Above Water Sensors directorate (PEO IWS 2.0), said it was “conducting market research seeking industry inputs and interest for approaches for the development of a [MMFCR] to support a potential future acquisition programme”. Responses are required to be delivered to NAVSEA by 8 July 2019. According to a synopsis released with the RFI, it is envisioned that the MMFCR will be a tactical sensor or suite of sensors that serves as the primary horizon search sensor on MMFCR-equipped platforms, and provides fire-control quality tracking/illumination for engagements with the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile, the Standard Missile family, gun-launched guided projectiles, and the Multi-Azimuth Defense Fast Intercept Round Engagement System (MAD-FIRES). (Source: IHS Jane’s)
REST OF THE WORLD
13 June 19. New Zealand progresses P-8A procurement. The New Zealand government has said it has made progress in its programme to procure Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) from the US government. New Zealand agreed to procure four P-8A aircraft in July 2018. It said at that time that the acquisition – including training systems, infrastructure, and introduction into service costs – would total NZD2.346bn (USD1.54bn). In a statement on 12 June, the government indicated that the terms of the acquisition had been finalised. It said it expects the first P-8A to be delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) in April 2023, and the fleet of aircraft to reach final operating capability by 2025. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
11 June 19. Chilean Navy to replace ageing JetRanger helos. The Chilean Navy issued a call for tenders on 9 June to replace its ageing Bell 206 (SH-57 in national service) JetRanger utility helicopters. The service is looking for five new single-engined light-helicopters under the guise of Proyecto Gaviota (Project Seagull), with responses due by August. With the SH-57s having been in service since 1970, the new helicopters will need to take on a range of roles, including coastal surveillance, search-and-rescue, and shipborne operations. The SH-57 was also provisioned to carry a single Mk 44 torpedo. To date, Airbus Helicopters, Bell, and Leonardo have expressed interest with the H125, 407GXP, and AW119Ke, respectively. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
10 June 19. UAE, Naval Group quietly cut $850m deal for Gowind ships. The United Arab Emirates has discreetly ended 17 months of negotiations by signing a contract estimated to be worth about €750m (U.S. $850m) for two Gowind corvettes, with two more as an option, from France’s Naval Group. The contract was signed March 25 and revealed by “Intelligence Online.” It was not announced by Naval Group, but its existence has been independently verified by Defense News. During a visit to the UAE in November 2017 by French President Emmanuel Macron, the two nations had officially announced that Abu Dhabi had selected to procure the Gowind corvette. In a joint statement issued at the time, it was specified that “the ships will be built by the French high-tech company, Naval Group, in partnership with Abu Dhabi Ship Building Company (ADSB).” The contract is significant for Naval Group, given it has never sold anything to the UAE.
The Gowind corvettes are powered by engines made by Germany’s MTU, meaning Berlin could make the contract difficult to honor. The government is not delivering licenses to export military materiel to either Saudi Arabia or the UAE over their involvement in the war in Yemen and the resulting humanitarian crisis there. The UAE’s 2,700-ton corvettes will be equipped with Naval Group’s SETIS combat management system, MBDA’s Exocet missile and Raytheon’s Evolved Seasparrow Missile. It was initially announced that Abu Dhabi would procure the Thales Tacticos combat management system. The Emirates News Agency, WAM, interviewed Naval Group CEO Hervé Guillou in February during the IDEX 2019 defense conference in Abu Dhabi, and it quoted him as saying that “since the announcement of the deal in 2017, we have been discussing with the UAE authorities to take into account their specific requirements and to provide them with the best answer to their operational need.”
According to WAM, the executive also said that “in the frame of the program, Naval Group envisions to transfer technologies and know-how to UAE institutions and to the naval ecosystem, thus developing national sovereign capabilities.” He further explained that partnerships would be developed with UAE industries “in order to increase its autonomy in the naval and defense fields and to develop together profitable and sustainable businesses.” (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)
10 June 19. Participating in Hunter Class gets easier with updated ICN Gateway. The Industry Capability Network (ICN) Gateway has been updated to include a taxonomy for the defence industry. The update comes in time for businesses to express interest in the $35bn SEA 5000 Hunter Class frigate work packages leading up to production in Osborne, South Australia. ASC Shipbuilding, the prime contractor for the $35bn Future Frigates program, will need an extensive Australian defence industry supply chain, creating unprecedented local and global opportunities for Australian businesses. The ICN Gateway is used to link suppliers to the buyer by issuing work packages. If your business is defence-ready and can supply to the Future Frigates project, you can register your capability or update your existing company profile on the ICN Gateway.
The new taxonomy introduces a breakdown of defence industry capabilities, making it easier for businesses to articulate their capabilities and receive more relevant work packages. The taxonomy is designed to enhance industry participation by enabling the buyer to have a larger and better selection pool of Australian suppliers to award contracts.
ICN Limited executive director Derek Lark said, “This is a great opportunity for Australian companies wanting to expand into the defence sector.”
The update to the taxonomy was designed by a panel of experts from the Department of Defence, Department of Industry Innovation and Science, Centre for Defence Industry Capability, Defence South Australia, Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC), BAE Systems, Naval Group and ICN South Australia.
The nine Hunter Class frigates will be based on the BAE Systems Type 26 Global Combat Ship currently under construction for the Royal Navy and will replace the eight Anzac Class frigates when they enter service beginning in the late 2020s.
The Hunter Class is billed as an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) centric vessel delivering an advanced ASW capability to the Royal Australian Navy at a time when 50 per cent of the world’s submarines will be operating in the Indo-Pacific region.
BAE Systems Australia announced that it had selected Lockheed Martin Australia and Saab Australia as combat systems integration industry partners, responsible for delivering the Australian designed CEAFAR 2 Active Phased Array Radar, Lockheed Martin designed Aegis combat management system and Saab Australia 9LV tactical interface.
The $35bn program sees ASC Shipbuilding become a subsidiary of BAE Systems throughout the build process beginning in 2020 at the Osborne Shipyard in South Australia, creating more than 4,000 jobs. BAE Systems expects the Australian industry content (AIC) for the Hunter Class build will be 65-70 per cent, which will create and secure thousands of jobs for decades.
At the end of the program, the Commonwealth will resume complete ownership of ASC Shipbuilding, thereby ensuring the retention in Australia of intellectual property, a highly skilled workforce and the associated equipment.
SEA 5000 is expected to support over 500 Australian businesses who have been pre-qualified to be part of the Hunter class supply chain, with the Australian steel industry in particular, benefitting from the 48,000 tonnes of steel required to build the ships.
To register for major defence projects on the ICN Gateway your business needs to meet certain requirements, such as having a history of strong supply performance and an appropriate quality assurance program. If you haven’t supplied to defence projects before, find out about preparing to work in the defence industry. If your business is already registered on the ICN Gateway, you should review and update your company profile by selecting capabilities in the updated defence taxonomy. (Source: Defence Connect)
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American Panel Corporation
American Panel Corporation (APC) since 1998, specializes in display products installed in defence land systems, as well as military and commercial aerospace platforms, having delivered well over 100,000 displays worldwide. Military aviators worldwide operate their aircraft and perform their missions using APC displays, including F-22, F-18, F-16, F-15, Euro-fighter Typhoon, Mirage 2000, C-130, C-17, P-3, S-3, U-2, AH-64 Apache Helicopter, V-22 tilt-rotor, as well as numerous other military and commercial aviation aircraft including Boeing 717 – 787 aircraft and several Airbus aircraft. APC panels are found in nearly every tactical aircraft in the US and around the world.
APC manufactures the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Large Area Display (LAD) display (20 inch by 8 inch) with dual pixel fields, power and video interfaces to provide complete display redundancy. At DSEI 2017 we are exhibiting the LAD with a more advanced design, dual display on single substrate with redundant characteristics and a bespoke purpose 8 inch by 6 inch armoured vehicle display.
In order to fully meet the demanding environmental and optical requirements without sacrificing critical tradeoffs in performance, APC designs, develops and manufactures these highly specialized displays in multiple sizes and configurations, controlling all AMLCD optical panel, mechanical and electrical design aspects. APC provides both ITAR and non-ITAR displays across the globe to OEM Prime and tiered vetronics and avionics integrators.
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