LOCATIONS
LAND
02 Oct 13. Rolls-Royce will open a new engine depot services facility at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma to support the US Air Force Global Hawk fleet. The company has been awarded a $49m contract to establish the new facility, which is expected to begin operations in 2015. The facility will be the first for Rolls-Royce at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex (OC-ALC), one of the largest units within the Air Force Materiel Command, and the Air Force’s Center of Excellence for jet propulsion. The contract was recently awarded by the Global Hawk Systems Program Office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. This will be the company’s first Public-Private Partnership to provide engine services for the US Air Force. OC-ALC will be designated an Authorized Military Overhaul Facility for Rolls-Royce AE 3007H engines.
MARITIME
26 Sep 13. Australia: Naval Centenary. The Royal Navy announced (26 Sep 13) that HMS DARING is on her way, to join the Royal Australian Navy’s
100th anniversary (RAN 100) celebrations in Sydney on 4 Oct 13. HMS DARING is the first Type 45 destroyer to visit Australia.
Comment: Over 40 warships and 16 tall ships, plus 8,000 naval personnel from 19 nations are expected to attend RAN 100 between 3 and 11 Oct 13. The Royal Australian International Fleet Review celebrates the first entry of the Australian Fleet into Sydney in 1913. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 13/38, 30 Sep 13)
26 Sep 13. HMS DUNCAN: Commissioned. HMS DUNCAN, the sixth and last Type 45 destroyer, was formally commissioned into the Fleet at Portsmouth Naval Base on 26 Sep 13. Principal guests at the ceremony were Lady Marie Ibbotson, the ship’s sponsor who launched the vessel in October 2010, and the First Sea Lord.
Comment: Originally to have been a Class of 12, the Type 45s were reduced to six on cost grounds. In service dates are as indicated: HMS DARING – July 2010; HMS DAUNTLESS – November 2010; HMS DIAMOND – August 2011; HMS DRAGON – April 2012; HMS DEFENDER – March 2013 & HMS DUNCAN – March 2014 (anticipated). DRAGON, DEFENDER & DUNCAN are Batch 2 vessels, with upgraded systems (of a „classified. nature for obvious reasons). (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 13/38, 30 Sep 13)
AIR
30 Sep 13. Voyager and Typhoon complete more than 350 contacts. RAF Voyager and Typhoon have completed more than 350 contacts, part of a rapid build-up of capability in the Voyager programme in support of air defence and air transport roles. Voyager was given the green light from the Ministry of Defence to begin air-to-air refuelling (AAR) operations with Typhoon in late May, with a formal Release to Service (RTS) on August 15. Having carried out its first Typhoon towline on June 11, Voyager and Typhoon have now completed more than 350 contacts, offloading 840 tonnes of fuel to the end of this month [Sept]. Phill Blundell, CEO of AirTanker, which is contracted to deliver an air-to-air refuelling capability to the RAF by May 2014, said that the Voyager programme was now making “very real progress”. He said: “RTS on Typhoon in the summer represented an important step forward for Voyager, clearing the fast jet programme. Voyager received the go-ahead to refuel the Tornado GR4 at the beginning of summer. Combined with those figures for Typhoon, Voyager has completed more than 70 air-to-air refuelling sorties, giving away in excess of 2,300 tonnes of fuel.
27 Sep 13. Russia delivers last Su-30MK2 fighters to Indonesian Air Force. The Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) has taken delivery of the final two Sukhoi Su-30MK2 multirole fighter aircraft under contract from Russia at the Sultan Hasanuddin Air Force Base in Makassar, Indonesia. Delivered by Komsomolsk-na Amure Aircraft Production Association (KNAPO) in unassembled condition, the aircraft turns TNI AU’s Sukhoi air superiority fighter jet fleet into one full squadron, comprising 16 Su-27 SKM and Su-30 Mk2 planes, Xinhua reports. Indonesian defence