LOCATIONS
LAND
23 Aug 12. Woodward, Inc. intends to establish a second campus in the greater-Rockford, Illinois area for its Aircraft Turbine Systems business. The new campus will be located in Loves Park, Illinois on a 60-acre site bordered by Perryville, Harlem, and Forest Hills Roads and will be referred to as the Woodward Rock Cut Campus. Initial site development will include production and office facilities of approximately 300,000 square-feet. The decision was made after a year-long investigation of alternatives to address the growth expected over the next decade and beyond. The growth has been stimulated by recent wins on the CFM International LEAP-X, Pratt & Whitney PurePower®, and General Electric Passport aircraft engine platforms. These awards mean that upon entry into service of the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX, Woodward will be on board every narrowbody aircraft produced. (Source: Yahoo!/Marketwire)
MARITIME
20 Aug 12. The Indian navy is likely to call an end to its tryst with ski-jump aircraft carriers, deciding that its next big vessel will be a flat-top with a catapult-launch system. While India’s first home-built carrier, known as the Vikrant, is to be a 44,000-ton short-takeoff-but-arrested-recovery (Stobar) carrier, the second ship—tentatively titled Vishal (“Immense”)—is seen as a 65,000-ton flat-top with a steam-catapult system. The Naval Design Bureau, which oversees design and implementation of all indigenous warship building efforts, is expected to freeze its requirements by year-end. A commodore with the Naval Design Bureau says, “A decision has been taken to move away from conventional Stobar and short-takeoff-or-vertical-landing (Stovl) operations.” The navy’s Sea Harrier fleet is closing out its service. The Indian carrier Vikramaditya—the former Russian carrier Admiral Gorshkov—and first indigenous carrier (Vikrant) will be transition vessels to Stobar operations. The next logical step is catapult-assisted takeoff-and-barrier-arrested recovery (Catobar), “which brings with it immense advantages in the mix of assets we can deploy on deck,” says the commodore. The navy has been known to want to deploy heavier fighters from a carrier. Still, the freeze on a flat-top catapult-launch design also dramatically changes the navy’s future fighter requirement. (Source: Aviation Week)
10 Aug 12. China launches largest amphibious augmentation platform yet. The Chinese military launched a 36,000-tonne ‘Bohai Sea Green Pearl’ ferry vessel on 8 August at Yantai Port in Shandong Province. The vessel has a dual design that allows it to serve as a civilian transport ship and as an ‘amphibious augmentation platform’ allowing troop and heavy equipment transport. According to Chinese media, the platform is Asia’s largest, most advanced and most luxurious commercial cruise ship and was developed as part of a civilian-military integration strategic development project intended to enhance passenger transport in Bohai Bay while reinforcing strategic maritime delivery capabilities for continental Chinese military forces. (Source: Jane’s, JDW)
09 Aug 12. Date set for the delivery of Morocco’s last SIGMA frigate. Dutch shipbuilder Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) is scheduled to transfer the frigate Allal Ben Abdellah to the Royal Moroccan Navy (Marine Royale Marocaine) on 8 September, IHS Jane’s has learned. DSNS has already delivered two Ship Integrated Geometrical Modularity Approach (SIMGA) vessels to Morocco. (Source: Jane’s, JDW)
23 Aug 12. The U.S. Coast Guard yesterday formally accepted the General Dynamics C4 Systems-built Rescue 21 search and rescue communications system now serving Sector Buffalo, in New York. The Sector responds to more than 1,000 search and rescue cases annually. Using advanced direction-finding technologies and digital communications, the life-saving Rescue 21 system enables Coast Guard personnel to respond rapidly and efficiently to calls from distressed mari