LOCATIONS
LAND
11 Jul 19. Headquarters for Defence CRC opens in Brisbane. The Brisbane headquarters for the $50m Defence Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Trusted Autonomous Systems has officially opened. Funded by the Next Generation Technologies Fund (NGTF), Queensland’s Innovation Minister Kate Jones said the Defence CRC would bring together the best minds to work with the defence industry to develop new drone and robotics technologies.
“For more than 10 years, Queensland has been building a critical mass of expertise in the development of autonomous systems,” Minister Jones said. “We expect to see real innovative ideas come to realisation – that will make a real difference to our Australian Defence Forces and other industries. The defence forces have a large presence in Queensland and our strong defence capability makes us a prime location for this centre that will bolster our growing defence ecosystem.”
The Defence CRC was officially launched in May last year, and brings together researchers from industry, universities and government-funded research agencies with small to medium enterprises, in order to produce technology that fits the future needs of the Australian Defence Force.
The NGTF has been allocated $730 million from 2016-17 to 2025-26 to invest in strategic technologies. The Defence CRC program will foster collaboration between Defence, industry (including SMEs) and research organisations to develop new technologies. Inaugural founding members of the Defence CRC include BAE Systems Australia, DefendTex, RMIT University and Defence Science and Technology. The incoming CEO for the Defence CRC is Professor Jason Scholz. (Source: Defence Connect)
MARITIME
10 Jul 19. France to Float Lead Boat of New SSN Class in Late July. France will unveil Suffren, its latest nuclear attack submarine and the lead boat of the new Barracuda-class, during an official ceremony on July 12 at Cherbourg, in Normandy, in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron, government ministers and senior military officials. However, she will only be floated at an unspecified date in late July, according to officials of Naval Group, her builder, and the Directorate-General of Armaments procurement agency speaking during a July 9 press conference here. The six Suffren-class boats, as the former Barracuda-class is now known, will replace the earlier Rubis-class, the first of which, FS Saphir, was retired last week at the end of her final cruise. They were built in the 1980s and 1990s.
Displacing 5,300 tonnes submerged, Suffren is exactly twice as big as its Rubis-class predecessors, carries a comparably-sized crew (65 versus 68), and can also accommodate about a dozen commandos which can either swim in and out using the boat’s access hatch or operate a PSM-3G mini-submarine which uses the same hatch to latch onto the boat.
In addition to F21 heavy torpedoes and SM-39 Exocet anti-ship missiles, the Suffren-class boats are also the first French submarines capable of launching the Missile de Croisière Naval (MdCN) cruise missile developed by MBDA for long-distance strikes against land targets. The new boats are also designed for greater operational availability, and will require changing their nuclear core once every ten years as well as a ten-week maintenance period every year, whereas the Rubis-class boats required two. Suffren is contractually required to be available for 270 days at sea each year.
A special effort was made during design and development to keep the boat’s acoustic signature as low as possible; this was notably achieved by reducing the number of moving parts, notably in the nuclear reactor, and by its pump-jet propulsion combined with improved insulation. Naval Group officials say it will be one of the most silent submarines in the world, and this, combined with its state-of-the-art sonar and passive sensors, will give the Suffren-class boats a “reinforced acoustic superiority.”
Late, but on budget
At its launch, Suffren will be about three years late compared to the initial schedule established in 2006, when the full-scale development contract was awarded to Naval Group. Vincent Martinot-Lagarde, the company’s Suffren program manager, says the delay was caused by the complexity of the design, and to the fact that development was being completed even as construction began. He adds that, with over 800,000 parts, construction and assembly proved longer than originally anticipated.
However, this delay has not resulted in a cost overrun, as often happens when military programs fall behind schedule. “The program’s budget remains €9.1bn, and includes development, construction of the six boats, initial spares as well as a small number of major components whose long lead times require that they be procured in advance,” said DGA’s Suffren program manager, Ms. Emmanuelle M-T, who declined to provide her last name “by personal choice” – in this writer’s experience, an unprecedented instance of reticence at an on-the-record press conference. That budget is still valid, she said, but it does not include the cost of infrastructures being built for the new submarines at their two future bases, at Brest and Toulon.
This means that each boat will cost about €1.3bn, with a similar amount for development costs, making the Suffren-class boats the smallest and least expensive by far of Western nuclear attack submarines. According to the National Audit Office, the Royal Navy is paying about £1.65bn (€1.83bn at today’s exchange rate) for its seventh and final Astute-class boat, which at 7,500 tonnes however displaces half as much again as Suffren.
The US Navy estimates the combined procurement cost of the three Virginia-class boats requested for procurement in FY2020 at $9.274.4bn, according to the Congressional Research Service, or about $3.1bn (€2.77bn) each – about twice the cost of the Suffrens. Like the Astutes, the Virginia-class boats are 1.5 times bigger than Suffren.
Commissioning set for 2021
Once floated at the end of the month, Suffren will be fitted with her nuclear core in September, leading to the start-up of her reactor in December, according to Pascal Lucas, director of nuclear propulsion at the French Atomic Energy Commission, CEA. She will then undergo shore tests, builder’s sea trials during the spring, followed by weapon system tests and weapon launching trials before being handed over to the French Navy in mid-2020. She will then sail on user’s sea trials followed by a shakedown cruise, leading to her commissioning in early to mid-2021 if everything proceeds nominally. France has already ordered the first five Suffren-class boats, and the sixth and final one is due to be ordered this year, but DGA’s Ms. Emmanuelle could not say when the contract will be formally signed. Current plans call for one boat to be delivered every two years, she said, with the first four due for delivery by 2025, which implies the fifth will follow in 2027 and the sixth and final one in 2029. The following five boats will be named Duguay-Trouin, Tourville, De Grasse, Casabianca and Rubis.
These boats are designed for an operational life-cycle of about 30 to 40 years; present plans call for the sixth and final boat to be decommissioned during the 2060s.
Characteristics
The six Suffren-class boats will carry about 20 heavy weapons (F21 heavy wire-guided torpedoes, SM-39 Exocet and MdCN missiles), compared to 14 in the Rubis-class. They are also capable of laying mines and of operating underwater unmanned vehicles.
— Length: 99 meters
— Diameter: 8/8 meters
— Pressurized water reactor; rear X-shaped control surfaces and folding forward ailerons
— Diving depth: >300 meters (Some sources say >350 meters)
— Speed: 27 knots submerged
— Endurance: 70 days
— Crew: 65 + a dozen commandos
— Capable of carrying PSM-3G mini-submarine fitted to rear deck as well as drones. (Source: Defense-Aerospace.com)
09 Jul 19. Nicaragua commissions new Damen patrol vessels. Nicaragua’s naval force commissioned two Damen Stan Patrol 4207 patrol boats into service on 21 June. Soberanía I (409) and Soberanía II (411) will be used to carry out maritime security and humanitarian and disaster relief operations in Nicaragua’s territorial waters. Plans to acquire two Damen Stan Patrol 4207 craft from Damen were confirmed in December 2017. The ships are understood to have previously been operated by Jamaica until 2016 and were overhauled in the Netherlands. According to the Nicaraguan military, the naval force seized 735 kg of cocaine and 134kg of marijuana, among other narcotics, in various naval operations during 2018. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
04 Jul 19. MHI commences construction of new submarine class for JMSDF. Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has commenced construction of the first of a new class of at least three diesel-electric attack submarines (SSKs) to supplement the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s (JMSDF’s) fleet of Soryu-class SSKs, a company spokesperson told Jane’s on 4 July. Both MHI and the JMSDF declined to provide details about the new 3,000-tonne SSK class, the name of which has yet to be agreed upon. However, documents released by the Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD) over the past few years show that the first boat, which is expected to enter service in March 2022, is being referred to as ’29SS’. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
08 Jul 19. JFD completes sea acceptance trials of submarine rescue system for Indian Navy. Key Points:
- JFD has completed sea acceptance trials, and training of crew members for the second fly-away submarine rescue system delivered to the Indian Navy
- Milestone moves the Indian Navy closer to having two operational units of the new system, which will each be based with the service’s eastern and western naval commands
UK-based subsea engineering and services provider JFD has completed sea acceptance trials and training activities on the second of two fly-away submarine rescue systems built for the Indian Navy.
The activities were conducted on the east coast of India at Visakhapatnam, where the system will eventually be based. In 2018, the company carried out a similar set of sea trials and training activities with the first submarine rescue system, which has since been delivered to the Indian Navy’s west coast Submarine Rescue Unit at Mumbai.
Each system delivered comprises a DSAR-650L free-swimming deep submergence rescue vehicle (DSRV), launch and recovery system (LARS) equipment, a Transfer Under Pressure (TUP) unit, an SMD Atom intervention remotely operated vehicle, and an EdgeTech 4200 series towed sidescan sonar.
As part of the trials, JFD and the Indian Navy conducted multiple dives of the system’s deep search and rescue vehicle (DSRV) to both fixed and angled targets. The vehicle also underwent mating with Indian Navy submarines, during which transfer of personnel exercises were carried out. Other activities that were conducted as part of the systems’ trials and acceptance process include multiple dives of the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) side scan sonar exercises, and a transfer under pressure operation, the last of which was followed by a safe decompression process.
“The trials programme proved the ability of the DSRV to operate effectively with multiple Indian Navy submarines, maximising the chances of a successful rescue operation”, said JFD in a statement on 8 July. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
09 Jul 19. Indian Navy schedules delivery of aircraft carrier Vikrant. The Indian Navy is due to receive its first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) Vikrant in 2021, enabling the country to join a select group of nations with domestically built naval carriers. Built by Cochin Shipyard, the 40,000t carrier is at an advanced stage of construction, said Indian Navy warship production and acquisition controller vice-admiral AK Saxena. Saxena made the statement at a promotional event for an upcoming seminar entitled ‘nation building through shipbuilding’. The seminar is being organised by the nation’s navy and industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) later this month.
He was quoted by media sources as saying: “Starting of gas turbines will take place in the third quarter of this year. Basic trials will be conducted in February-March next and contractor sea trials after that. It will be delivered to the navy in 2021.”
Following delivery, the aircraft carrier will undergo flight trials.
Media sources also quoted another Indian Navy officer as saying that IAS Vikrant would be put through aviation trials over a two-year period before being commissioned into the service in early 2023.
Only four countries in the world have the capability to design and construct aircraft carriers weighing 40,000t and more.
IAC Vikrant is capable of accommodating 20 MiG 29K fighter jets and ten helicopters, according to The Week. Russian MiG 29K aircraft also fly from the Indian Navy’s existing carrier INS Vikramaditya. Following the retirement of INS Viraat in 2017, the number of aircraft carriers in the Indian fleet has reduced from two to one. INS Viraat originally operated under the name HMS Hermes and was used by the British Royal Navy, before being sold to India in 1986. Meanwhile, India’s proposed Indigenous Aircraft Carrier-II has not yet started due to discussions still taking place regarding its development.
Saxena added: “Its requirement is by and large accepted. At the moment it is about the availability of finance versus the requirements. It is still under deliberation.”
Separately, Russian company Rosoboronexport stated that INS Vikramaditya will undergo scheduled maintenance and upgrades next year. (Source: naval-technology.com)
04 Jul 19. Indonesian National Police deploys largest-ever vessel for South China Sea patrols. Key Points:
- Indonesia has deployed its largest-ever police patrol vessel to the South China Sea
- The vessel will primarily conduct fishery resources protection duties in the Riau archipelago
The Indonesian National Police’s water directorate has deployed its largest-ever patrol vessel, KP Yudistira (8003), to the service’s Riau archipelago district command.
The vessel has been operating out of Batam island since mid-June 2019 where it conducts operations in and around the Riau archipelago in the South China Sea including the Natuna Islands cluster, reads a statement issued by the Indonesian National Police’s public affairs office. According to information from its shipbuilder, PT Daya Radar Utama (PT DRU), Yudistira has an overall length of 73m, an overall beam of 11m, a draft of 3m, and a standard displacement of 1,100 tonnes. It was launched by PT DRU at its Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta shipyard on 4 May 2018. Powered by two Caterpillar C175-16 diesel engines, and three Caterpillar 150 KW generators driving two fixed-pitch propellers, the vessel can reach a top speed of 18 kt. It also carries a spare 65 kW generator for emergencies. Yudistira has a crew complement of 56, including segregated accommodation for up to 12 female crew members, and can accommodate up to 14 more mission-specific personnel. Its cargo carrying capacity include 200 tonnes of marine diesel, 8 tonnes of aviation gasoline, 8 tonnes of automotive diesel, and 95 tonnes of fresh water. Yudistira can also accommodate a helicopter weighing up to 10 tonnes on its flight deck, and two crane-deployed rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) in the aft section. The vessel has been equipped with two water cannons for firefighting missions, but is currently unarmed, according to a PT DRU official who spoke to Jane’s on 2 July. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
AIR
10 Jul 19. USAF deploys F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft to Europe. The US Air Force’s F-15E Strike Eagle tactical fighter aircraft from the 336th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Wing, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, have arrived in Europe. A squadron of F-15E Strike Eagles, airmen, and related equipment have been deployed to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. The rotational deployment will include theatre familiarisation and training with allies, partners, and other US Air Force aircraft in Europe.
In a statement, US Air Forces in Europe and US Air Forces Africa said: “US Air Forces in Europe’s forward-based posture demonstrates to allies and partners our continued commitment to defending mutual interests.
“We regularly incorporate rotational forces that complement Nato rotations and European-based US forces in order to deter threats from Russia or other malign actors, and to improve interoperability with our allies and partners.”
The Boeing-built F-15E Strike Eagle multi-role fighter is an advanced long-range interdiction fighter and tactical aircraft.
The aircraft is armed with missiles to conduct air-to-air or air-to-ground strikes. It provides advanced combat capability and lethality to the US Air Force.
F-15E Strike Eagle can be equipped with AIM-9LM infrared-guided Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, AIM-7F/M radar-guided Sparrow air-to-air missiles, or AMRAAM radar-guided, medium-range air-to-air missiles.
Last month, the airforce deployed the fighter jets assigned to 494th Fighter Squadron to Turkey to participate in multinational exercise Anatolian Eagle 19. The US and other partner nations participated in the exercise aimed at enhancing readiness and interoperability among the countries. Anatolian Eagle will prepare partners and allies to respond to regional crises, the US Air Force stated. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
09 Jul 19. UK extends Chinook mission to Mali. The United Kingdom is to extend operations of three Royal Air Force (RAF) Boeing Chinook heavy-lift helicopters that have been deployed to Mali since July 2018, the government announced on 9 July. The Chinook HC.5 (fat tank) helicopters and almost 100 personnel that have provided intra-theatre air mobility support to French forces engaged in the Operation ‘Barkhane’ regional counter-terrorism mission will remain on-station for at least six more months.
“The UK’s helicopters bring a unique logistical capability to the operation, allowing French ground forces to operate more effectively across the Sahel including in Niger and Burkina Faso. French forces, with UK support, are leading the fight against violent extremism in a region where militants linked to Al-Qaida and Islamic State pose a constant threat,” the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
In an area of operations that covers the G5 Sahel countries (and former French colonies) of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, which is about 3,200 km across and wider than Europe, the approximately 4,500 French troops deployed on Operation ‘Serval’ and Operation ‘Barkhane’ have been largely dependent on the helicopters provided by French Army Light Aviation (Aviation Légère de L’Armée de Terre: ALAT) and French Air Force (Armée de l’Air: AdlA) Airbus Helicopters Tiger, Aerospatiale Gazelle, NHIndustries NH90, Aerospatiale Puma, and Airbus Helicopters Caracal helicopters, as well as by the three RAF Chinooks. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
04 Jul 19. KAI’s Light Armed Helicopter conducts first flight. KAI has carried out the first flight of its LAH prototype at its facility in Sacheon, the company announced on 4 July. Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has carried out the first flight of its Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) prototype. The South Korean company announced in a 4 July statement that two pilots conducted a 20-minute-long test flight with the rotorcraft, which is being developed for the Republic of Korea Army (RoKA), at the company’s facility in Sacheon. The test follows a flight readiness review held in June and ground-based engine trials that began in April. The helicopter is powered by two Arriel 2L2 turboshaft engines co-developed and built by Safran Helicopter Engines and Hanwha Techwin, the latter of which is expected to licence-build units in its Changwon plant in South Korea. Hanwha Techwin will also be responsible for the maintenance, repair, and overhaul of the engines. The 2L2 is the most powerful Arriel variant thus far with a take-off power rating of 1,024 shp, according to Safran.
As Jane’s previously reported, the LAH has been developed around the Airbus Helicopters H155 (formerly the EC155 B1) twin-engined platform. A main feature of the LAH is the turreted 20mm Gatling-type gun under its nose. The rotorcraft also features stub wings provisioned to carry rocket pods, as well as a nose-mounted electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor, fuselage- and tail-mounted missile warning receivers, and upwards-directed exhausts for a reduced IR signature. The RoKA has a requirement for more than 200 LAH helicopters, with entry into service scheduled for 2022-23. Speaking at the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX) in 2015, Airbus Helicopters officials said the company expects to sell 300-400 LAH platforms to international customers. The company had previously told Jane’s it would move its H155 assembly line from Marignane in France to South Korea in 2020, with production set to run through to 2050. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
04 Jul 19. French Navy brings forward Lynx retirement. The French Navy is to retire its remaining Westland Lynx Mk 4(FN) helicopters in 2020, two years earlier than previously scheduled. A total of eight Lynx Mk 4(FN) helicopters remain on the strength of Flotille 34F at Lanvéoc-Poulmic. Of these, all but one have undergone a limited upgrade programme to introduce improved connectivity and allow unrestricted operation in all airspace.
The Lynx Mk 4(FN) had been planned to retire in 2022, but with support costs rising the decision has now been made to bring forward the type’s out of service date by two years as a savings measure. No firm date has been announced as yet, but Jane’s has been told that the type will be withdrawn in mid-2020 at which time Flottille 34F will be temporarily disbanded. Early retirement of the Lynx will leave a capability gap as the type, equipped with the DUAV-4 active dipping sonar, constitutes the primary anti-submarine rotorcraft on board the French Navy’s last two F70-class frigates, La Motte-Picquet (D645) and Latouche-Tréville (D646). These ships, both based in Brest, are unable to accommodate the larger and heavier NH Industries NH90 Caïman.
Under current plans, La Motte-Picquet is due to decommission in 2020 with Latouche-Tréville scheduled to follow two years later. The decision to bring forward the Lynx out-of-service date means that Latouche-Tréville will have to operate with another helicopter type from mid-2020 – most probably the AS565 Panther – but this stopgap will not be equipped with a dipping sonar. It is currently anticipated that Flottille 34F will be recommissioned in short order to parent a fleet of civilian-owned but military-registered Dauphin N3/N3+ helicopters that will be leased to replace the Alouette III. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
PLANT CLOSURES, JOB LOSSES AND STRIKES
10 Jul 19. AC-130U ‘Spooky’ Gunship Completes its Final Combat Deployment. The AC-130U gunship has completed its final combat deployment. The U.S. Air Force said its AC-130U, known as the “Spooky,” has returned stateside from its last scheduled deployment. The last U-model arrived home to the 1st Special Operations Wing under Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Florida, on July 8, according to a service news release. The 1st SOW said the Spooky will remain on alert in case troops need it for strike or overwatch downrange. But its return comes as the command gets ready to deploy the Spooky’s follow-on model, the AC-130J Ghostrider.
The 4th Special Operations Squadron, part of the 1st SOW at the base, received its first upgraded J-model in March. While the command has had and operated the J-model since 2017, officials touted AFSOC’s first plane with the Block 30 software upgrade. The improved Ghostrider arrived this spring.
The Block 30 model marks “a major improvement in software and avionics technology” over the AC-130J, which has the original Block 20 software, officials said in a news release in March.
“The Ghostrider is the newest and most modernized gunship in existence, fulfilling the same mission sets as the Spooky but with upgraded avionics, navigation systems and a precision strike package that includes trainable 30mm and 105mm weapons,” the release states.
The fourth-generation AC-130J is slated to replace the AC-130H/U/W models, with delivery of the final J- model sometime in 2021, according to the Air Force. Crews expect the J to be deployed in late 2019 or early 2020. The service plans to buy 37 of the aircraft.
Along with the 105mm cannon the U-models sport, the AC-130J is equipped with a 30mm cannon “almost like a sniper rifle. … It’s that precise, it can pretty much hit first shot, first kill,” Col. Tom Palenske, then-commander of 1st Special Operations Wing, told Military.com last May at Hurlburt.
The J-model also has improved turboprop engines, which reduce operational costs with better flight sustainability, the service has said. It has the ability to launch 250-pound, GPS- or laser-guided small-diameter bombs (SDB). The aircraft is expected to carry AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, interchangeable with the SDBs on its wing pylons, AFSOC has said.
The upgrades come as the service is looking to keep more aircraft “survivable” in multiple conditions.
For example, last year, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command publicly said electronic jamming over Syria had affected the AC-130U model, and became reason enough for getting more military data protections amid an ever-changing multi-domain battlespace.
“They’re testing us every day — knocking our communications down, disabling our AC-130s, et cetera,” Army Gen. Raymond A. Thomas III said April 25 before an audience at the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation’s GEOINT 2018 Symposium. Thomas, who commanded SOCOM since March 2016, retired this year.
As a result, crews began checking and cross-checking their data, including target information, before they locked on with their cannons, Palenske told Military.com.
“You make sure you’re as precise as possible, only targeting the guys we’ve validated as bad guys,” he said, referring to operations in the Middle East where the gunships routinely flew countless missions, often with danger-close strikes.
“When there’s some glitch being put out there by trons that threatens the accuracy of that, then the [AC-130 crews] have got to make sure they do no harm,” Palenske added. (Source: Military.com)
MILITARY AND GOVERNMENT
PERSONNEL
U.S. APPOINTMENTS
11 Jul 19. Navy to nominate three-star for CNO. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer will nominate the three-star former head of Navy’s Cyber Command to become the 32nd chief of naval operations, a deep selection for the sea service’s top officer unseen since 1970. Three sources told Defense News that Vice Adm. Michael Gilday, the Director of the Joint Staff since March 1, will be promoted over his four-star colleagues, who will stay at their current commands. He’ll succeed Adm. John Richardson, whose tenure was marked by a steadfast push to modernize and toughen the Navy in an era of great power competition as well as twin guided-missile destroyer collisions that killed 17 sailors in 2017 and the ongoing “Fat Leonard” public corruption scandal that gutted a generation of high-ranking officers serving in the Japan-based 7th Fleet. Gilday, 56, and other Navy leaders met with President Donald J. Trump late Wednesday and received his blessing, according to the Wall Street Journal. Defense News reported Tuesday that Gilday was under consideration for the job. (Source: Defense News)
09 Jul 19. More leadership changes at the National Reconnaissance Office. Air Force Major General Michael Guetlein will serve as the next deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office. The NRO is the agency in charge of acquiring and maintaining satellites on behalf of the Intelligence Community. As deputy director, Guetlein will assist incoming Director Christopher Scolese and Principal Deputy Director Frank Calvelli in day-to-day operations at the NRO. Guetlein is coming to the NRO from the Missile Defense Agency, where he served as the program executive for programs and integration. In that position, Guetlein oversaw military construction, ballistic missile defense deployments and logistics and transportation in support of the MDA’s mission. Before joining the MDA, Guetlein served as the director of the Remote Sensing Systems Directorate at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, where he was in charge of the nation’s space-based missile warning and environmental monitoring systems. He has also previously served as the commander of the Rapid Reaction Squadron at Peterson Air Force Base and before that he was the military assistant to the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition. Guetlein’s placement comes as part of a major leadership change at the NRO. Christopher Scolese was confirmed by the Senate June 27 as the new director of the NRO. Scolese has worked at NASA for more than three decades and most recently served as director of the Goddard Space Flight Center. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
09 Jul 19. USAF Chief Master Sgt. Roger A. Towberman, currently assigned as the command chief, Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, has been selected to serve as the command senior enlisted leader for the U.S. Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.
REST OF THE WORLD APPOINTMENTS
10 Jul 19. The Thai Prime Minister, General Prayut Chan-O-Cha and his Cabinet were officially endorsed by His Majesty the King and the Prime Minister will also serve as the country’s Defence Minister while General Prawit Wongsuwon chairs as Deputy Prime Minister in the government. Gen Anupong Paojinda is staying on as Interior Minister. Other key positions in the Cabinet are as follows:
- General Prawit Wongsuwon, Deputy Defence Minister;
- General Chaichan Changmongkol, Deputy Defence Minister;
- General Anupong Paochinda, Interior Minister;
- Mr. Niphon Boonyamanee, Deputy Interior Minister;
- Mr. Songsak Thongsri, Deputy Interior Minister
- Mr. Somsak Thepsuthin, Justice Minister;
- Mr. Saksayam Chidchob, Transport Minister;
- Mr. Suriya Juangroongruangkit, Industry Minister
09 Jul 19. Command of ADF operations in the Middle East handed over. Commander Joint Task Force 633 Air Vice-Marshal Joe Iervasi has officially handed over command of Australian Defence Force operations in the Middle East region to Rear Admiral Mark Hill. The transfer of authority ceremony took place just over a week ago at Australia’s main operating base in the Middle East, and AVM Iervasi said he had observed an evolution in Australian operations across the Middle East. AVM Iervasi said the rest of the world had witnessed what Australia brought to the region. (Source: Defence Connect)
INDUSTRY
PERSONNEL
EUROPE APPOINTMENTS
12 Jul 19. Airbus Helicopters is implementing a new Executive Committee on 1 September 2019 with the goal of simplifying and strengthening cross-function collaboration within the company. The changes to be made to the Airbus Helicopters Executive Committee are:
Alain Flourens, currently Executive Vice-President Industry, will be nominated Executive Vice-President Operations, covering Industry and Procurement.
Wolfgang Schoder, currently Executive Vice-President Light Helicopters and Governmental Programs, will be nominated Executive Vice-President Strategy and remain General Manager of Airbus Helicopters Germany and the representative for German authorities.
Matthieu Louvot, currently Executive Vice-President Customer Support & Services, will be nominated Executive Vice-President Airbus Helicopters Programs, taking over the Light Helicopters and Governmental Programs from Wolfgang Schoder as of 1 September 2019. He will then lead the new unified Airbus Helicopters Programs organization as of 1 January 2020.
Christoph Zammert, currently Head of Program Support, will become Executive Vice-President Customer Support & Services and become a member of the Airbus Helicopters Executive Committee.
Mathilde Royer, currently Head of Global Set-up Optimization Project, will be nominated as Digital Transformation Officer & Head of Company Transformation and become a member of the Airbus Helicopters Executive Committee.
Bernhard Weigl, currently Head of Aviation Safety and Quality, will become a member of the Airbus Helicopters Executive Committee.
U.S. APPOINTMENTS
03 Jul 19. Chris Emerson Appointed President of Airbus Defense and Space, Inc. Assumes responsibility for all Airbus Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security-related business opportunities. Airbus has appointed Chris Emerson President of Airbus Defense and Space Inc., a subsidiary of Airbus Americas, effective 1 July 2019. Emerson previously served as President of Airbus Helicopters Inc. and head of the North America region. Emerson’s new role moves him from the Airbus Helicopters Inc. headquarters in Grand Prairie, Texas to the Airbus Defense and Space Inc. headquarters in Herndon, VA. With this leadership change, Airbus Helicopters Inc.’s government and military programs including the UH-72A Lakota and business functional roles supporting them will move to Airbus Defense and Space Inc., reporting to Emerson. The programs and employees transitioning to Airbus Defense and Space Inc. will continue operations in Grand Prairie, Texas. (Source: ASD Network)
09 Jul 19. The board of directors of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has elected Kathy J. Warden as its chairman, effective August 1, 2019. Warden will serve as chairman, chief executive officer and president. Warden succeeds Wes Bush, who has served as chairman since July 2011. As previously announced, Bush will retire from the company and resign from the board on July 31, 2019. Donald E. Felsinger will continue to serve as the company’s lead independent director.