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UNITED KINGDOM AND NATO
19 Dec 23. UK Defence & Security Exports – Free training and advice.
If you are a small or medium-sized UK business in the defence and security space who is already exporting, or looking to start exporting, the UK Defence and Security Exports (UKDSE) ‘Export Faculty’ is your first port of call.
The faculty is a free online learning and advice platform designed to help UK SMEs access the support and information they need to export successfully. Targeted specifically at companies operating in the defence, physical and cyber security sectors, it’s part of the Department for Business and Trade’s ‘Export Academy’.
Sign-up is easy – simply register on the faculty webpage. By registering to become a member of the UKDSE Export Faculty, you will get access to:
- A monthly newsletter outlining export news and opportunities.
- Sectoral export opportunities & news.
- Information on exclusive live webinars and physical events.
- Access to a library of previous content, such as webinars with industry and regional experts.
- Contact information and referral to relevant UK governmental stakeholders.
- Engagement in specialist activity, such as Trade Missions, Meet the Prime sessions, Industry Days etc.
- The opportunity to network with a community of like-minded SMEs in your sector.
If you want to learn more about support for SMEs in the defence and security sector, contact
It’s free to join UKDSE’s Export Faculty – register below: https://eu.eventscloud.com/website/5999/home/
22 Dec 23. RAF Typhoon T1 fighters to be cannibalized for parts.
Some time ago now, the decision to retire the Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1 fighter jets from the inventory of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) was confirmed, despite criticisms and speculations about the fate of these aircraft. Now, the UK Minister for Defense Procurement, James Cartlidge, has revealed the fate in store for the Typhoon T1s.
The Tranche 1 variant of the Typhoon, the oldest of the four that were developed, is restricted to the use of air-to-air missiles and has very limited air-ground capabilities without the use of an external pod. However, according to their manufacturer BAE Systems, upgrading the Typhoon T1 to a newer standard remained “technically feasible.”
Nevertheless, in early September 2021 the retirement of the 30 Typhoon Tranche 1 fighter jets in the RAF sustainment fleet, due to occur in 2025, was announced. This raised some controversy, as the fighter jets were set to be retired at just 42% of their useful life (2544.8 flying hours).
Stripped for parts
Contrary to expectations, the Typhoon T1 will not be sold on the second-hand market, despite attracting interest from Greece and Ukraine.
Instead, they will be ‘cannibalized,’ with their usable components being used to supplement the spare parts inventory of the existing Typhoon fleet. This decision was announced by the British minister, indicating that the components of the Typhoon T1 will be used to support the RAF’s remaining 107 Typhoons.
“Since February 2022 no Tranche 1 Typhoon aircraft have been retired from RAF service or donated to Ukraine,” Cartlidge said, answering a question to the government. “The Tranche 1 fleet will undergo a Reduce to Produce programme to strip them of useable parts to contribute to the Typhoon fleets spares inventory.”
The Typhoon fleet is undergoing a modernization program, funded to the tune of €2.75 bn, which aims to upgrade the remaining 107 Typhoons with the AESA ECRS Mk2 radar (European Common Radar System Mark 2).
“Spiral upgrades, including the integration of the UK-development Spear Cap 3, will be enhanced by a significant investment in Radar 2, providing a leap in operation capability that will ensure the Typhoon Force can survive and operate in the most challenging threat scenarios,” RAF spokesman Martin Tinworth explained to AeroTime at the time.
The retirement of the Tranche 1 Typhoon aircraft was announced in a Defence Command Paper published on March 19, 2021. In recent years, the RAF has also retired 14 C-130J Hercules, to make way for the A400M and a fleet of six E-3D Airborne Early Warning & Control Sentry aircraft.
This ‘radical overhaul’ of the RAF was criticized in a report from the UK House of Commons Defence Committee published in September 2023.
“The RAF’s combat aircraft fleet now provides a boutique high capability: it lacks numerical depth and has an inadequate attrition reserve,” the report summarized. “Exquisite capability has its place, but in a peer-on-peer conflict such as a shooting war with Russia, every airframe will count. […] The MoD and RAF must consider as a matter of urgency how they can increase combat air mass in the short term.” (Source: News Now/https://www.aerotime.aero/)
USA
27 Dec 23. Surface navy emphasizes frigates in its latest modernization plans. The U.S. Navy’s recent force structure study puts even greater importance on small combatants, the director of surface warfare said, a shift in priorities that could require the surface navy to rebalance its ongoing modernization plans.
“We want to build a lot of frigates and [have] somewhat smaller, very capable ships being proliferated out through the fleet,” Rear Adm. Fred Pyle told Defense News on Dec. 7.
The 2023 Battle Force Ship Assessment and Requirement study, which concluded in June but remains classified, did not bring “significant changes” to Pyle’s portfolio at OPNAV N96. However, it did shift the balance among large, small and unmanned combatants.
Asked whether the study called for more frigates generally, or more frigates at the expense of larger Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, Pyle said only that the Navy has “that constant challenge of trying to balance” the portfolio to fit the budget. His main takeaway from the new force structure assessment, Pyle added, is “the value of having numbers for small surface combatants.”
Navy spokesman David Clark told Defense News the study called for a 381-ship fleet — up from the previous call for 373 vessels — and “reinforces the need for a larger, more capable, more distributed naval force.”
Pyle said the Constellation-class frigate, for which construction began in August 2022, can help distribute the force by offering a capability similar to the Arleigh Burke destroyers but in a smaller, less expensive package.
For now, Pyle’s directorate is focused on keeping the frigate program fully funded so the Navy and Fincantieri’s Marinette Marine shipyard can finish the design and construction.
“Eventually we’d like to get to four frigates a year, and that will take a second yard,” Pyle said, without providing a timeline for ramping up production.
Although Navy leaders have long talked about wanting to build four a year to support a larger small combatant fleet — as the recent study emphasized — the Navy’s most recent long-range shipbuilding plan never reaches that rate. Leaders have said they want to see Fincantieri mature the design and production line before a second shipbuilder joins the program.
Pyle said the Navy and Pentagon are still finalizing what the force structure study means for the budget and ongoing modernization plans, and that more details would be released with the fiscal 2025 budget request around February.
Fielding new ships
Pyle said he views the surface force modernization plan in three Future Years Defense Programs — or five-year budgetary planning windows for the Pentagon.
The first Future Years Defense Program, which spans the current FY24 to FY28, focuses on building the Constellation-class frigate and the Flight III Arleigh Burke destroyers, the first of which was commissioned in October.
It will also include the start of the Large Unmanned Surface Vessel program.
Pyle said three unmanned surface vessels currently deployed in the Pacific are medium prototypes. While their mission and payloads are different than the planned large USV, which will use the Aegis Combat System to remotely launch missiles on behalf of crewed ships, these medium USVs are still generating applicable lessons on hull and navigational autonomy.
But “there is still a ton of learning ahead of us on LUSV,” Pyle said, “because once you start integrating an adjunct weapons platform into the Aegis system, that is non-trivial work.”
He said integration remains his primary concern for the Large Unmanned Surface Vessel program, for which a contract is expected to be awarded in FY25.
“We have the structure; we have the expertise in place to be able to do that,” Pyle noted. “Bottom line is, we will keep those vessels within line of sight [of manned combatants], where we can maintain positive control of them, until we have a very high confidence level that we can send them over the horizon and maintain [command and control] of those platforms and do what we need to do.”
Upgrading the fleet
The second Future Years Defense Program, which runs from FY29 to FY33, aims to add capability to the surface ships already in the fleet through the DDG Mod 2.0 program and the development of the Lockheed Martin-made Integrated Combat System.
Pyle called DDG Mod 2.0 — which adds Aegis Combat System Baseline 10, the AN/SPY-6 radar and the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 3 package to Flight IIA destroyers — the “centerpiece” of surface fleet modernization plans.
The destroyer Pinckney recently wrapped up its SEWIP installation at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, California. The vessel caught attention online for its new look, with what the shipyard dubbed “bug eyes” and Pyle called “Princess Leia buns” on the sides of the ship. (They’re formally known as sponsons, with precisely angled steel planes to enable the electronic warfare tools housed inside.)
Pinckney will go through SEWIP testing, then deploy, then return to the yard for its radar and combat system upgrades. Around FY28, after a couple more ships go through this split installation, the DDG Mod 2.0 program will begin in earnest, Pyle said, and ships will receive all three upgrades in the same yard period.
This second Future Years Defense Program, he said, kicks off a flurry of work: $17 bn over 17 years to upgrade the 25 Flight IIA ships. “We’re constantly looking at not only SEWIP installs, but SPY-6 installs, of how we can reduce that time frame and be more efficient on the install process,” including ideas such as prefabricating the sponsons before a destroyer arrives at the yard.
Pyle said this would not only reduce cost, but get the new capability to the fleet faster.
“The warfighting capability that those systems bring, we really value in the high-end fight. So that’s the sense of urgency. That’s the imperative of why we need to fully fund these installs, and then we need to smartly execute them to get the capability back out there in the fleet,” he said.
The Integrated Combat System is also scheduled for fielding in greater numbers around this time. The Navy awarded Lockheed a contract worth up to $1.1bn over 10 years to merge the codes for the Aegis Combat System and the Ship Self-Defense System into the same combat technology. Aegis runs on large, small and unmanned surface combatants, while the Ship Self-Defense System runs on amphibious ships and aircraft carriers.
“There’s a strong business case that we’ve laid out on why this makes sense: One system is much better than multiple from a training standpoint, from a funding standpoint,” Pyle said. “The warfighting aspect is what’s most exciting from [the N96 directorate’s] perspective because it gives us the ability to pair any decision-maker, any sensor and any desired effect at machine speed.”
Pyle said Lockheed has started installing code on individual ships for testing. By the FY28 or FY29 time frame, he added, entire carrier strike groups or amphibious ready groups will deploy with the Integrated Combat System as part of the development and deployment effort. The contract’s options could extend the work through FY30.
A next-gen combatant
The third Future Years Defense Program, from FY34 to FY38, includes the DDG(X) next-generation destroyer program.
Pyle said the Navy will build as many as 30 of the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which would put the program at more than 100 ships total.
But, he noted, “those ships are maxed out on space, weight, power [and] cooling. If something comes along in the form of directed energy or a larger sensor that we need to fill a warfighting capability, it’s not going on the Arleigh Burke class — period. So we need to transition to a new hull form, and that is DDG(X).”
Though the Navy had repeatedly delayed the DDG(X) in the past — from FY23 to FY25 to FY28 — Pyle said the current planned FY32 start is holding steady.
Pyle’s N96 directorate is working with the service’s Program Executive Office Ships on the DDG(X) combat system and propulsion plant designs.
The Navy’s imperative in moving to the DDG(X) design is to accommodate directed-energy weapons and a larger launcher for longer-range missiles, Pyle said. But also of importance, he added, will be the ability to remain on station longer and require less help from fleet tankers and other logistics ships. (Source: Defense News)
20 Dec 23. US defense minnows will storm the barricades. U.S. defense giants are due to cede territory on the battleground. After decades of Pentagon-backed consolidation, political pressure and the challenge of arming Ukraine are forcing a hard look at reduced competition. That means less latitude for big firms to gobble up rivals, and more government money directed to newcomers.
Rising global conflict and global rearmament are swelling defense budgets. Total American military spending reached $877 bn in 2022, up 40% from the prior decade’s lows. Defense agencies obligated some $415 bn to contractors that year. Since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded in early 2022, the U.S. has provided ms of artillery rounds and thousands of missiles to Ukraine, according to the State Department.
This might seem an opportunity for the biggest U.S. defense contractors to cash in. Instead, current and former government officials have criticized a consolidated, margin-conscious industry for making supply chains more fragile and being slow to boost production to replenish stockpiles.
It’s a change of strategy from the U.S. government’s post-Cold War stance. In a 1993 meeting – since dubbed the “last supper” – Pentagon officials warned defense industry leaders that, after the Soviet Union’s collapse, they could only support a dwindling number of suppliers. The message: consolidate.
Since then a wave of mergers, from the 1994 tie-up of Lockheed and Martin Marietta to 2019’s combination of Raytheon and United Technologies, has reduced competition. The number of prime defense contractors capable of handling the most complicated projects has fallen from 51 to five. Data from the Baroni Center for Government Contracting show that the share of dollars awarded through a competitive process has been on the decline. According to the Government Accountability Office, the competition rate for defense contracts in 2022 was 58%, versus 84% for work awarded by civilian agencies.
That complaisance won’t last. Politicians like Senator Elizabeth Warren are pressuring defense agencies. The GAO in October issued recommendations for overhauling defense deal oversight by identifying which acquirers should come in for scrutiny and monitoring the effects of concluded tie-ups. And the DOD, spurred by an executive order from President Joe Biden, in 2022 penned a report warning that consolidation and decreased competition in areas like rockets can drive up costs and hamper procurement.
This official onslaught seems to have made the industry’s prime contractors more cautious. The five companies – Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), RTX (RTX.N), General Dynamics (GD.N), Boeing (BA.N) and Northrop Grumman (NOC.N) – spent only $89 m on acquisitions in 2023, according to Dealogic, the lowest outlay in a decade aside from pandemic-scarred 2020.
More importantly, there are tentative signs the government is willing to shift money to upstarts like autonomous weapon-maker Anduril or 3D-printed rocket developer Ursa Major Technologies. The largest defense companies’ share of awards edged down in 2022, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, while small contractors won over $80 bn. Spending buckets that largely pay out to non-traditional vendors have grown. And after tech firm Palantir Technologies (PLTR.N) and Elon Musk’s SpaceX sued over the government’s contracting practices, the field seems to be opening to upstarts.
Investor money is flowing accordingly, with venture capital firms sinking roughly $27 bn into the defense industry in the year to November 2023, up from $1.9 bn a decade ago, according to PitchBook. Despite a defense spending boom, the industry’s giants will remain pinned down.
(Source: Defense News Early Bird/Reuters)
18 Dec 23. Deadline extended for GBAD MADIS C-UAS Engagement System (CES) industry responses. The US Department of the Navy has issued a new tender deadline date relating to the M GBAD MADIS Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (C-UAS) Engagement System (CES) (https://www.unmannedairspace.info/latest-news-and-information/us-navy-issues-tender-in-relation-to-us-marine-corps-madis-programme/), originally published on 7 November 2023 (https://sam.gov/opp/d1bc8b33d11a429889e5dd90ae2ee721/view).
Deadline for responses from industry has been moved from January 8 to January 22.
According to description of the programme:
“The FWS Inc 1 MADIS is comprised of two vehicles, one AN/MSY-2(v)1, Mk1 vehicle, and one AN/MSY-2(v)2, Mk2 vehicle. This system will provide a new and improved capability to mitigate the risk of attacks from Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Fixed Wing (FW)/Rotary Wing (RW) aircraft while maintaining pace with maneuver forces. Specifically, FWS Inc 1 MADIS provides Marine Air-Ground Task Force commanders short range ability to detect, track, identify, and defeat aerial threats. FWS Inc 1 MADIS focuses on the integration of command and control (C2) software with emerging and existing components integrated onto the Marine Corps JLTV HGC variant The AN/MSY-2(v)1 and AN/MSY-2(v)2 are complimentary in capability. The Mk1 includes a counter aircraft and non-kinetic C-UAS capability, and the Mk2, which includes a detection, kinetic and non-kinetic C-UAS capability. The CES is an advanced, highly autonomous effector that can negate Group 1-3 UAS threats at significant ranges from the launch location.”
For more information: Login at https://piee.eb.mil and search for ‘M6785424R0056’ to obtain more details.
https://sam.gov/opp/75081f3fa62a4703acbbd8634d847671/view
(Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
18 Dec 23. US Department of Homeland Security seeks information on sensors for US/UK C-UAS CORE programme. The National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL) of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a request for information on 13 December 2023 for data on commercially available integrated systems with a C-UAS radar sensor and a pan-tilt-zoom camera.
The request, made in support of the C-UAS Capability Optimization Research Environment (CORE) – an international cooperative effort between the United States and United Kingdom to conduct C-UAS technology tests and demonstrations in multiple operational environments – will culminate in a capability demonstration in Texas, to be hosted by DHS in spring 2024. Pertinent characteristics include:
- Technology must be fieldable for demonstration event; minimum TRL 7
- Radar detection of UAS detection with operator alerting
- IP 67: ingress protection against maritime environment
- Automated EO/IR sensor slew-to-cue on UAS target integrated with radar detection
- Establish and maintain target track with radar and EO/IR sensor
- Re-acquire lost track
- Hi-resolution EO/IR imaging to facilitate UAS identification and threat classification
- Hi-resolution EO/IR imaging to facilitate payload identification and attributes
- Automated or operator controlled EO/IR variable zoom for UAS identification and classification
- EO/IR image stabilization for image quality, and to reduce or eliminate image jitter
- Real-time sensor image display to support operator command and control
- Closed loop tracking using Cursor on Target (CoT) sensor data output; prefer TAK compatibility
- Operates in clutter-rich environments: Urban, rugged terrain, maritime, etc.
Responses are required by 16 January 2024. For more information: https://sam.gov/opp/078c0851b1dd4eb9bdb638e0ed52b8a2/view (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
REST OF THE WORLD
27 Dec 23. Littoral overhaul: Brazilian Marine Corps to buy MBTs and swimming ACVs. The Brazilian Marine Corps (Corpo de Fuzileiros Navais: CFN) is implementing an ambitious effort to replace several of its older platforms, acquire new capabilities, update infrastructure and organisations, and simultaneously bolster the local Defence Technological and Industrial Base (DTIB). Marine Materiel Command (Comando do Material de Fuzileiros Navais: CMatFN) under General Command of the Marine Corps (CGCFN) is in charge of acquiring equipment as part of the Marine Corps Combat Power Strategic Program (PROADSUMUS). Equipment acquisition under PROADSUMUS is meant to bolster command-and-control (C2), mobility, survivability, and firepower capabilities for the marine air-ground task forces (Grupamento Operativo de Fuzileiros Navais) in the Fleet Marine Force (Força de Fuzileiros da Esquadra: FFE) by 2032, Commander of the CMatFN Vice Admiral Rogério Ramos Lage said in a recent interview. The marine corps comprises the CGCFN, the FFE, four marine regional units, and three riverine operations battalions. The task forces are composed of command, air combat, ground combat, and logistics elements, Vice Adm Lage told Janes in October. (Source: Janes)
21 Dec 23. Australia’s anti-submarine frigate program sails rough seas. The shipbuilder for a $30bn Australian program is pushing back against criticism over the design and capabilities of the anti-submarine warfare frigate.
Analysts have lambasted the program, citing the frigate design’s weight growth, scheduling delays and what they view as an inadequate number of vertical launching system cells. Furthermore, in May, Australia’s auditor general slammed the acquisition process in an Australian National Audit Office report, citing serious flaws.
The first phase of the Sea 5000 program involves the production of the ships for the Royal Australian Navy. The government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese received an independent study of the planned surface fleet on Sept. 29, but its findings will not be made public until the end of the first quarter of 2024.
Former U.S. Navy Vice Adm. William Hilarides conducted the study following recommendations in Australia’s most recent Defence Strategic Review, which called for an enhanced, long-range strike capability, among other things.
But in the meantime, BAE Systems Australia’s managing director for maritime business has pushed back against critics, telling reporters at the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition in November that the future frigate recently completed its preliminary design review.
“It still meets all of [Australia’s] key 23 performance criteria [for] speed, range, endurance, seakeeping [and] underwater radiated noise, so I would challenge you to determine why it is still referred to as too heavy and too slow,” Craig Lockhart said. “In fact, it’s still [capable of] 27 knots-plus. And when we get the first ship in the water and get upwards of 31 or 32 knots in the real testing trials, then it will become our model benchmark.”
Design changes
Under the current plan, Australia is seeking to build nine frigates based on the British Type 26 Global Combat Ship design, but featuring an indigenous phased array radar from CEA Technologies and a Saab Australia-made 9LV combat system.
The Australian government chose this modified design, known as the Hunter class, in 2018. BAE Systems Australia is the prime contractor for the Hunter-class frigate program, having beat out Italian firm Fincantieri’s FREMM pitch and Spanish shipbuilder Navantia’s offering of a modified F100 variant.
BAE is currently completing a series of prototyping activities at a purposely designed shipyard in Osborne, South Australia.
The changes to the baseline Type 26 design have resulted in a reduced design margin in terms of weight; the vessel will now displace almost 10,000 tons — an increase over the originally planned 8,800 tons. This is what drove analysts to claim the Hunter-class frigates will not meet the original specifications, as it will end up too big, too heavy and too slow.
In anticipation of future security threats to Australia, as forecast in the Defence Strategic Review, Lockhart revealed at November’s expo that the firm has been working on a modified Hunter design, with some high-end anti-submarine warfare equipment removed and the number of vertical launching system cells increased from 32 to 96. VLS cells are used to launch missiles from ships.
Lockhart said that because production for the frigates will take place in three batches, each including three ships, the latest design — dubbed Hunter Guided Missile Frigate — could be the first vessel in the second batch, which would come with additional options in terms of technological features.
BAE replaced a flexible mission bay in the back half of the ship with a new strike module that houses 64 VLS cells and four quad-pack launchers for the Kongsberg-made Naval Strike Missile. Lockhart said the new strike module is designed for the American-made MK 41 VLS but can accommodate the MK 57 VLS used on the U.S. Navy’s Zumwalt-class destroyers.
“You would need to go to a 13,000-ton ship like the [U.S. Navy’s] Arleigh Burke-[class destroyer] to get the same capability, which is too big and too slow” he said. “Whereas the Hunter Guided Missile Frigate gives us that capability and it retains enough [anti-submarine warfare] capability to do a very good job.”
But Marcus Hellyer, the chief researcher at the consultancy Strategic Analysis Australia, said the removal of the mission bay impacts the ship’s anti-submarine warfare role “by eliminating its ability to operate a second helicopter and potentially its towed array sonar.”
“VLS cells have become a convenient proxy to assess the combat power of warships. By this standard, the Hunter-class frigate’s 32 VLS cells fall short of other warships of a similar size,” Hellyer told Defense News. “The critics’ case is that the Hunter is very poor value for money for such a small number of cells and resultant combat capability.”
“But it’s a more complex issue than simply numbers,” he added. “VLS cells are used primarily for air defense missiles and then land-strike missiles. The primarily role of the Hunter is ASW [anti-submarine warfare], so does it need more than 32 cells? But if the primary role of the Hunter is ASW, why did [the Department of] Defence require significant design changes that are primarily about enhancing its air defense capabilities?”
Getting your money’s worth
For its part, the Australian National Audit Office report, released in May, described the Defence Department’s management of the frigate acquisition process as only “partly effective.”
“Defence’s procurement process and related advisory processes lacked a value for money focus,” the report noted, “and key records, including the rationale for the procurement approach, were not retained.”
“Contract expenditure to date has not been effective in delivering on project milestones, and the project is experiencing an 18-month delay and additional costs due in large part to design immaturity,” it added. “Defence did not conduct an effective limited tender process for the ship design. The value for money of the three competing designs was not assessed by officials.”
Defence Secretary Greg Moriarty responded to the report in November, acknowledging failures in the department’s tender process.
“Planning for procurement fell into a process of disjointed advice to government that did not include deliberate steps to maintain clear coherent goals and a procurement method commensurate with the scale, scope and risk of the procurement,” Moriarty said.
Then on Dec. 5, a secret document made available to lawmakers revealed the program’s selection process focused on high-end capabilities at the expense of value for money, which went against Australia’s Commonwealth Procurement Rules.
“The Department [of Defence] did not fulfil the requirements of the CPRs in relation to achieving value for money,” the document read. “The review team considers that it was highly improbable all members were sufficiently familiar with the procurement process to make an informed opinion as to which tender best supported the achievement of project objectives on value for money.”
And this, said Hellyer, is another area in which program observers find fault.
“To the critics, [the Department of] Defence has asked for a ship that does everything, resulting in something that doesn’t do anything particularly well in light of its very high cost,” he said. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)
21 Dec 23. Australia destroys Taipan helicopters. Technicians are currently – and in secret – disassembling all 45 Army Taipan Multi Role Helicopters and will bury the components on a Defence site. Worth around $20m each on the second-hand market, the decision has been taken to instead destroy them on the quiet in the hope that no one notices. Ironically the 10-tonne, twin-engine Taipans are being pulled apart rather than cut up because their carbon fibre construction is so robust.
The decision was taken at the same time as an announcement was made on September 29 that Taipans would not return to service following a crash during Exercise Talisman Sabre that claimed the lives of four service personnel. Defence has informally ruled out the helicopter itself as being the cause of the accident.
The Taipans are in excellent condition – and if the Army had been capable of maintaining them, they would be doing valuable work in Far North Queensland right now. As it happens, all that can be deployed are two CH-47 Chinooks that are unsuited to rescue work because of the huge down draft from their twin rotors and some AW139s that lack important features such as a weather radar and a hoist.
With the withdrawal from service – and now destruction – a huge capability gap exists for both the Army and Special Forces. Only three replacement UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters have arrived in Australia and none of them are currently operational. Rather than an expedited delivery – as claimed by the government – they were four weeks late.
Army is paying almost $3bn for 40 Blackhawks.
More than 500 helicopters in the Taipan family have been sold to 14 countries. They outperform Blackhawk in all key metrics – speed, range, payload and cabin volume. Taipan is an extremely modern, fully digital fly-by-wire machine with features such a four-axis flight control system, advanced avionics and world-leading night vision equipment. By comparison, an Army insider described Blackhawk as the aviation equivalent of a “farm tractor.”
Another vital feature for amphibious operations from a safety viewpoint is that Taipan is fitted with flotation devices while Blackhawk is not. This was on display in March when due to pilot error a Taipan ditched in Jervis Bay with everyone exiting the aircraft safely.
It is understood that the accident was due to a senior, but inexperienced, officer at the controls – and because of his rank no one attempted to correct the mistaken emergency procedure being implemented after an engine overheated. If proper protocol had been followed there is enough reserve power on a single engine to get out of trouble. In similar circumstances a Blackhawk helicopter would have sunk, possibly within seconds.
The cause of the Talisman Sabre crash is still being investigated – and the results will probably remain secret because it is already clear that the cause was operator error. That is not necessarily to blame the pilot – who might also have been involved in the Nowra incident – because the weather was bad and the training mission was conducted at low level.
Why senior levels of Defence – and Ministers Richard Marles and Pat Conroy – have gone along with this multi-bn-dollar travesty is unknown. It has been an open secret that the enthusiasm for Blackhawk comes from a small cadre of officers who formed an overly sentimental attachment to them during deployments in Afghanistan.
Rather than sell the Taipans to a competent user, such as Indonesia, Defence instead has offered New Zealand some pieces of hardware – for free. These are likely to include some expensive items such as main, intermediate and rear-rotor gearboxes. Defence has been contacted for a comment. (Source: Google/APDR)
19 Dec 23. RoK planning LAH replacement of legacy helicopters. South Korea has planned to replace its legacy rotary-wing combat aircraft with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) Light Armed Helicopters (LAHs) within seven years. A spokesperson of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) told Janes that the LAHs will “replace South Korea’s [MD Helicopters] 500 and [Bell] AH-1s … by 2031”.
The LAH programme is a five-ton-class twin-engine helicopter that is based on the Airbus H155. It is slated to be equipped with advanced systems and capabilities to support future warfighting requirements.
South Korea signed an initial KRW302 bn (USD232 m) contract for 10 LAHs in December 2022. On 4 December the Defense Acquisition Program Promotion Committee approved a draft plan for the production of a second and larger batch of LAHs. DAPA said that this second “mass production” plan has a value of KRW5.75trn (USD 4.41bn). (Source: Janes)
19 Dec 23. PLA Air Force Pursues Fast Equipment Development with Future Air Combat in Mind. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force is pursuing fast equipment development with the aim of adapting to future air combat, which could involve vastly expanded battlefield boundaries, highly dynamic games, greatly enhanced unmanned combat and main battle elements characterized by high altitude and fast speed, said an official recently.
Colonel Tang Shaojun at the PLA Air Force’s equipment department made the remarks in an interview with the Xinhua News Agency’s Outlook Weekly, which was reposted by the PLA Air Force’s official WeChat account on Monday.
When asked about his thoughts on future air combat, the roles of air combat elements and the challenges in developing equipment, Tang said that to design weapons and equipment is to design future warfare, and the development of weapons and equipment is a key factor in the changing form of war, so it must be fundamentally oriented by the demands of combat.
Battlefield boundaries in future air combat will greatly expand to higher altitudes and farther distances, become full of highly dynamic games, stealth and anti-stealth, jamming and anti-jamming, spawning combat forms such as distributed kill, all-range attack and systematic combat, Tang said, noting that a hard kill will no longer be the only way to defeat an enemy.
Much more intelligent applications and unmanned combat will be seen, as they can rapidly complete the kill loop by focusing advantages in real time, Tang said.
Air combat elements with high altitudes and fast speeds can take advantage of wider area coverage, remote reach and flexible mobility and become the main combat forces in future air combat, as they can provide powerful support to future joint operations, Tang said.
“To better adapt to the forms of future warfare and air combat, the Air Force’s equipment development will focus more on the balancing and optimization of the research and development system, and pursue more on fast iterations and rapid upgrades to equipment,” Tang said.
Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military aviation expert, told the Global Times on Monday that since the world’s aviation industries have recently saw longer development cycles and higher costs for warplanes, new aircraft are expected to use open structures with huge room for upgrades, so they can quickly enter service and gradually receive improvements as technology develops, so the air force can always maintain high combat capabilities.
With the development of aircraft platforms with faster speed and longer range carrying air-to-air missiles with very long ranges, future air combat could start hundreds of kilometers away and hit targets that are unreachable today, Fu said.
Detecting the enemy first and launching attacks first will likely become key in future combat, Fu said.
With the development of unmanned technology, drones are being developed to accompany manned aircraft in combat, which can lower the casualties of pilots and extend the scope of air combat by taking on the roles of force multipliers like early warning aircraft, tanker aircraft and electronic warfare aircraft, Fu said.
Giving his vision of equipment development in 2027, which marks the centennial of the PLA, Tang said that the PLA Air Force will design its equipment development from a top-down level based on the strategic requirements of integrating air and space capabilities as well as coordinating offensive and defensive operations, speed up the development of equipment with high and new technology, and lay out and preset disruptive, cutting-edge technologies.
The PLA Air Force will strive to develop itself into a strong and modernized air force, as it will enhance its capabilities in perspectives including strategic early warning, air combat, air defense and anti-missile, information countermeasures, airborne combat, strategic delivery and comprehensive support, Tang said.
In the interview, Senior Colonel Wang Qingzhong from the PLA Air Force’s staff department and Senior Colonel Yu Jun from the PLA Air Force’s political work department also introduced the service’s efforts in enhancing combat capabilities through personnel recruitment, talent cultivation and training. (Source: https://www.defense-aerospace.com/ Global Times)
19 Dec 23. GCAP alliance aids Japan’s fighter jet ambitions amid economic crisis. The international collaboration on combat aircraft development promises cost-efficiency for Japan.
The recently formalised International Government Organisation, born from the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), is set to provide Japan with a lifeline for modernising its fighter jet fleet amidst economic challenges.
The collaborative effort with the UK and Italy aims to minimise development costs while bolstering Japan’s aerospace capabilities, according to insights from GlobalData.
The UK, Italy, and Japan have collectively agreed to develop a new fighter jet through the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP). This international alliance is a strategic partnership but also offers a financial reprieve for Japan, which is grappling with economic turmoil exacerbated by currency fluctuations.
GCAP aims to produce aircraft ready for export and deployment by 2035. The UK and Italy’s motivation to partner with Japan in the GCAP is to fill gaps in development funding. The number of aircraft that will be produced and their technological development has improved through Japanese participation in the GCAP, according to GlobalData’s “Japan Defense Market 2023-2028” report.
GlobalData’s latest report, “Military Fixed Wing Aircraft Market Size and Trend Analysis by Segment, Programs, Competitive Landscape, and Forecast to 2033,” sheds light on the advantageous dynamics of this collaboration, emphasising that shared expertise and technologies will contribute to a reduction in development costs.
For Japan, a nation projected to spend around $104bn (Y737bn) on aircraft procurement over the next decade, this alliance is poised to play a role, especially considering that 74% of the budget is earmarked for combat aircraft.
Aerospace & Defense Analyst at GlobalData, Harsh Deshmukh, underscores the significance of this development for Japan, “Japan, which already has a robust aerospace industry with the presence of manufacturing giants such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, will be able to smoothly transition into the rapid production of these next-gen fighters to replace its ageing fleet of F-2 fighter aircraft.
This is particularly essential for the country as it is trying to modernise the equipment of Japan Self-Defense Forces in recent years, amid the growing dominance of China in the Indo-Pacific region.”
Japan’s endeavour to diversify its sources of military technology is underscored by its ambition to expand its aerial assets beyond the F-35, which is already in operation. As China advances its fifth-generation fighter capabilities with the J-20 and J-35, Japan seeks to counterbalance this regional rivalry by participating in collaborative initiatives like GCAP. The goal is to maintain technological parity to address potential geopolitical challenges.
Deshmukh emphasises that Japan’s participation in GCAP aligns with its strategy to navigate economic challenges. “Therefore, it is imperative for Japan to ensure it maintains its relevance and technological parity with its primary regional rival to counter any unforeseen aggression.
This can be achieved by participating in collaborative development efforts such as the GCAP, which will not put excessive pressure on the exchequer amid the ongoing currency devaluation crisis.” (Source: airforce-technology.com)
18 Dec 23. AUKUS Defence Investor Network launches. US company BMNT Inc has launched the AUKUS Defence Investor Network (DIN) dedicated to accelerating the growth of new capabilities and building new industries.
The AUKUS DIN, a collaboration with the Defense Innovation Units in the US and UK, is a network of leading private capital investors from 300+ institutional venture capital firms, corporate venture capital (CVC) groups and family offices from the US, UK and Australia representing more than US$265 bn. BMNT Australia is located in Canberra.
The AUKUS DIN aims to further the AUKUS goal, highlighted by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, to develop interoperable advanced military capabilities in cyber, AI, quantum, undersea capabilities, hypersonics, counter-hypersonics, EW and information sharing – areas where private sector investment can accelerate government investment in developing solutions to critical security challenges.
“Access to private capital is vital to help scale the innovative dual-use companies who are important suppliers to Defence and the wider national security community,” said John Ridge, chair of the AUKUS Innovation Working Group. “As the innovation lead for AUKUS Pillar 2, I am excited to see the creation of an AUKUS Defence Investors Network, which I hope will increase awareness and understanding of our shared security challenges across the venture capital community, and help our cutting-edge companies bring their creativity to bear against some of our toughest national security challenges.”
“The AUKUS DIN builds on the efforts of the existing Defense Investor Networks in the U.S., UK and Australia, helping to advance the development of dual-use technologies with clean, trusted capital,” said BMNT Entrepreneur in Residence Heather Jo Richman, founder and chair of the U.S. DIN. “Starting in 2024, we will convene online and in-person working sessions which will be announced via the AUKUS DIN LinkedIn page and during regularly scheduled DIN meetings.”
Co-chairing the AUKUS DIN with Richman are Adrian Jones, head of ventures of BMNT Ltd. and Chair of the UK DIN; and Jamie Watson, CEO of BMNT Australia and Chair of the Australia DIN. (Source: https://www.ex2.com.au/news/)
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