LOCATIONS
AIR
28 Dec 23. Luftwaffe C-130Js to have special operations capabilities. Germany is to equip its Lockheed Martin C-130J transport aircraft for the special operations forces (SOF) role, it was revealed in late November. The Head of the Air Transport/Jet/Unmanned Aircraft System Branch at the German Air Force Command, Colonel Stefan Kleinheyer, made the disclosure during the SAE Media Group Military Airlift and Air-to-Air Refuelling conference in Lisbon, Portugal. The SOF capabilities consist of equipping the aircraft for high altitude low opening/high altitude high opening (HALO/HAHO) parachuting, forward arming and refuelling point (FARP), and special operations surgical team (SOST) missions, Col Kleinheyer said, without detailing further. Germany has to date taken all three C-130J-30 airlifters, with the same number of KC-130J-30 tankers to follow by 2024. The Luftwaffe aircraft are part of the Franco-German Binational Air Transport Squadron (BATS) ‘Rhein/Rhin’ stationed at the French Air and Space Force’s (AAE’s) Air Base 105 in Évreux-Fauville. (Source: Janes)
28 Dec 23. RoK to develop new fighter aircraft engine. South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has announced that it has launched a research programme to develop a 15,000 lbf-class turbofan engine for fighter aircraft. In a statement on 26 December, DAPA said it plans to complete the development of the engine by the mid-to-late 2030s. The engine will be used to power domestically developed fighter aircraft, DAPA added. The announcement is in line with a statement from Hanwha Aerospace earlier in 2023. The company, which is expected to be involved in the programme, told Janes that “DAPA plans to design the specifications and basic configuration of the engine [from 2023]”. “From 2024 to 2029, DAPA plans to develop a prototype core engine and expand it to develop a full-fledged turbofan engine,” the company added. (Source: Janes)
MILITARY AND GOVERNMENT
PERSONNEL
EUROPE APPOINTMENTS
03 Jan 24. HMS Prince of Wales welcomes new commanding officer. Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has given a “very warm welcome” to Captain Will Blackett who has today assumed command of the £3bn carrier. (Source: forces.net)
U.S. APPOINTMENTS
02 Jan 24. Gen. Jim Slife stepped into the role of Air Force vice chief of staff at a Dec. 29 ceremony at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, ending the service’s three-month stretch without Senate-confirmed officers in its top two leadership posts. Slife’s assignment to the Air Force’s second-highest position is part of a wide-ranging shuffle of the branch’s top brass that began in the fall. His promotion to four-star had sat in limbo since September as part of Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s lengthy blockade of over 400 military nominees that ended Dec. 19. (Source: Airforce Times)
REST OF THE WORLD APPOINTMENTS
27 Dec 23. China’s President Xi Jinping appointed a new Chief for the People’s Liberation Army, Navy in a Monday ceremony in Beijing while the post of China’s top defense minister remains vacant. Meanwhile Taiwan continues to report Chinese balloons crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait though Taiwanese officials have played down the sightings. On Monday morning, President Xi Jinping held a promotion ceremony in the Bayi Building where two officers were promoted to four-star rank – Adm. Hu Zhongming and Gen. Wang Wenquan. ThePLA Daily reported on the ceremony say Hu as commander of the Navy and Wang as political commissar of the Southern Theatre Command. Hu was previously the PLAN Chief of Staff and is a submarine officer though details of his career are sparse, a Chinese media report in 2015 stated that Hu had a served in the PLA 92730 unit, which operates China’s nuclear submarine. Hu, then a submarine commanding officer in 2008, was ranked first on the Chinese military’s list of top performers, according to Chinese state media. Among Hu’s other appointments included December 2019 to December 2021 as commander of Northern Theater Command Navy and deputy commander of the Northern Theater Command. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/USNI)
INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY TEAMINGS
04 Jan 24. AAR signs new multi-year military distribution agreement with Ontic. AAR CORP. (NYSE: AIR), a leading provider of aviation services to commercial and government operators, MROs, and OEMs, has announced a new multi-year agreement with Ontic, providing AAR distribution rights to supply a strategic selection of military products to the U.S. government, with exclusivity on specified parts. AAR currently provides military distribution support to Ontic’s Cheltenham, United Kingdom, facility and commercial distribution support to Ontic’s Creedmoor, North Carolina, facility. Under this additional contract, AAR will support Ontic’s Chatsworth, California, facility.
“Ontic is pleased to deepen our partnership with AAR through this new agreement. AAR’s support adds efficiencies to our processes that allow us to best support our wide range of customers,” said Terry Streb, General Manager of Ontic’s Chatsworth facility. “AAR enables us to reduce turnaround times and improve product availability for our shared U.S. government customers.”
“AAR is enthusiastic about bolstering our strategic military portfolio by expanding our Ontic relationship to include the Chatsworth facility,” said Ross Wuestenfeld, Vice President of AAR’s Distribution – Defense. “Ontic is a trusted provider of parts and services to the aviation aftermarket, and we look forward to enhancing these services to support the U.S. warfighter.”
For more information on AAR’s Distribution division, which is part of the Company’s Parts Supply segment, visit https://www.aarcorp.com/en/products/distribution/.
PERSONNEL
U.S. APPOINTMENTS
03 Jan 24. AE Industrial Partners, LP (“AEI”), a private equity firm specializing in aerospace, national security, and industrial services, today announced the appointment of United States Army Captain (Ret.) Florent “Flo” Groberg as Vice President within the firm’s Portfolio Strategy and Optimization Group. Captain Groberg’s storied career with the U.S. Army included two deployments to Afghanistan. In August 2012, while protecting a high-level US-Afghan delegation, he was severely injured attempting to stop a suicide bomber. His actions disrupted the attack of a second bomber and saved countless lives. His heroism on that day was recognized in 2015 when he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military award for valor in the United States. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
04 Jan 24. RTX (RTX.N) said on Thursday industry veteran Phil Jasper will become president of its Raytheon unit after Wesley Kremer retires at the end of the first quarter. Jasper, 55, will take charge as Raytheon, RTX’s defense division, benefits from higher demand for its equipment due to the war in Ukraine. RTX, which makes AMRAAM rockets used in Ukraine, has received $3bn of orders since Russia’s February 2022 invasion that are related to replenishing Ukraine and U.S. war stocks, and the company expects more, executives have said. (Source: Reuters)