Ukraine Allegedly Strikes Deep Inside Russia: First Airstrike on Belgorod Amid NATO Weapon Support

 For the first time, a Ukrainian warplane has reportedly struck deep into Russian territory, following authorization from several NATO countries for Ukraine to use provided weapons to attack Russian targets. On June 9, a Ukrainian military source informed Sky News about the airstrike on a "Russian command node" in Belgorod, a region in western Russia.

The source, speaking anonymously, stated, "A Ukrainian Air Force mission has struck a Russian command node in Belgorod. Damage assessment is ongoing, but it is confirmed as a direct hit. This is the first UAF air-delivered munition against a target within Russia."

While Belgorod is close to the Ukrainian border,  neither side has officially commented on the alleged attack.

This reported attack coincides with other claims of Ukrainian forces executing a "coordinated strike" on a Russian landing ship that had moved from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. Additionally, Ukrainian media reports suggest that a Su-57 Felon stealth jet was destroyed in a significant combat victory.

The Sky News report did not specify the type of ammunition used in the Belgorod strike or if it was of Western origin. These claims follow statements from NATO countries, including France and the US, that Ukraine could use the provided weapons to hit Russian territory to halt the Russian advance. The US, however, specified that this should be limited to defending Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

The exact missile used in the Belgorod attack is unclear, though Ukraine has utilized the long-range Storm Shadow provided by the UK and its French counterpart, the SCALP-EG. French President Emmanuel Macron has allowed the use of French weapons to neutralize points from which Ukraine is attacked, while the UK foreign secretary has left the decision to Ukraine.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported shooting down several Ukrainian drones and a Neptune missile in the Belgorod region but did not confirm an air-launched missile attack by Ukrainian warplanes.

While Ukraine has previously attacked Russian territory using modified drones, an attack by a warplane could be seen as a significant escalation by Russia, especially given warnings from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin recently reiterated a warning about arming rivals of Western nations supplying weapons to Ukraine, suggesting that Russia could provide high-precision, long-range missiles to those willing to strike Western targets. He stated, "If they supply weapons to the combat zone and call for using these weapons against our territory, why don’t we have the right to do the same?"

In response to NATO allowing Ukraine to attack Russian territory, Putin threatened to arm other nations with long-range weapons to target Western entities. Moscow has also reaffirmed its readiness to deploy nuclear weapons to protect its sovereignty.

Russian state media host Olga Skabeyeva and Dmitry Medvedev, the former president and current deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, echoed these threats, indicating that Russia could supply advanced weaponry to those opposed to the US and its allies.

Poland spent Around half a Billion on Afghan Missions

WARSAW — Poland spent 2.02 billion zloty ($606 million) on arms for its military mission in Afghanistan from 2007 to 2011, Jacek Sonta, the spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, said in a statement.

Poland spent the most in 2010 at 925.6 million zloty for new gear, and the least in 2008, at 125.5 million zloty, the spokesman said.

Since April 2007, when the country increased its military presence in Afghanistan from 150 to 1,200 troops, the Polish Ministry of Defense has launched a series of arms procurement programs, dubbed “the Afghan package.”

The purchases include 8,400 assault rifles, radio communication systems, 10 Israeli-made UAVs, C4ISR systems, five Russian-built Mi-17 transport helicopters and a wide range of munitions.

A significant portion of Poland’s 380 Rosomak armored modular vehicles was also deployed to Afghanistan. The eight-wheel-drive Rosomak is made by Polish state-owned manufacturer Wojskowe Zaklady Mechaniczne Siemianowice under a license from Finland’s Patria.

In 2009, Poland’s military took over responsibility for the troubled Afghan province of Ghazni. A year later, the Polish force in Afghanistan was increased to 2,600 soldiers, making it the fifth-largest among NATO states present in the country.

Poland plans to withdraw all combat troops from Afghan soil by the end of 2014 along with the remaining NATO forces. Over the past five years, 37 Polish soldiers were killed while on duty in Afghanistan.

Asian Navies Shift to Bigger Vessels, Downplay Littoral Ops

TAIPEI - As Western navies build fewer aircraft carriers, destroyers and submarines, Asian navies are moving in the opposite direction, ignoring the littorals with construction and procurement of larger warships and submarines.

The U.S. and Europe have stepped back from larger platforms designed for the Cold War and invested in smaller platforms such as the U.S. Navy's Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). But this is not the case in East Asia and the Pacific, where there have been increases in spending on destroyers and submarines in Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, said Bob Nugent, vice president of naval advisory services at AMI International, based in Seattle.

One of the most notable cases involves Taiwan's procurement of four Kidd-class guided missile destroyers and plans to procure eight submarines. Japan and South Korea have also invested heavily in guided missile destroyers equipped with advanced phased array radars.

Even in budget-challenged Southeast Asian countries, the trend has been a shift from smaller to larger platforms, such as frigates and large corvettes. Examples include Singapore's Formidable-class frigates, Indonesia's SIGMA-class corvettes, Malaysia's recent decision on the SGPV/LCS frigates, and Vietnam's plan to buy SIGMAs and the pending delivery of Russian-built Kilo-class submarines.

The main reason regional navies are ignoring littoral capabilities has to do with geography. In the region, "the home team enjoys an enormous advantage of range and proximity and the attacker would have to be prepared to conduct pre-emptive strikes against the coast state's bases before conducting operations in the littoral," said Sam Bateman a regional naval specialist at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, in Singapore.

The U.S. Navy should "think twice" about deploying classic sea control/power projection capabilities, such as carrier battle groups, within range of subs and land-based strike aircraft, Bateman said. The U.S. Navy's new LCS will be "hugely vulnerable without close-air support and that cannot be guaranteed."

The U.S. and Singapore have recently agreed to allow the U.S. Navy to station the LCS in Singapore.

Air support is the "elephant in the room" with littoral warfare, Bateman said. Littoral warfare is dependent on fire support directed against targets on land, either from aircraft close-air support or naval gunfire. Despite all the advances with missiles, "the big caliber naval gun remains an attractive and effective way of putting down fire in coastal areas."

Another problem in the Asia-Pacific has been increased tension over exclusive economic zone (EEZ) claims, particularly in the South China Sea. Many countries, including China, claim restrictions over naval operations in their EEZs.

Some within the region have invested in stealthy vessels to avoid detection in the littoral environment. Singapore's Formidable-class frigates are based on the stealthy French-built La Fayette-class frigates and Singapore's ST Engineering is conducting research to develop the 27-meter Stealth Interceptor and 57-meter Stealth Patrol Vessel.

Taiwan wants to build a stealthy 900-ton catamaran corvette and is manufacturing a stealthy 180-ton fast-attack missile patrol boat, armed with Hsiung Feng-2 anti-ship missiles. The stealthy SIGMA-class corvettes procured by Indonesia and now being considered by Vietnam are other examples.

For Asian countries dealing with the littoral issue, the challenge is finding the right investment balance among intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and defensive and offensive technologies, Nugent said.

"Unmanned systems are critical to ISR and defense in the littoral now and will become more so for offensive littoral warfare as unmanned maritime systems are more widely armed for all domains in the future," he said. Investments in better sensors and C4ISR are the other areas where the "gaps that create vulnerabilities in ship's self-defense against missiles and torpedoes in the littoral are getting a lot of attention."

Another area of growing interest is the use of unmanned surface vehicles (USV) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV). ST Engineering is developing the 9-meter Venus USV ostensibly for harbor patrol, but the vessel has potential for littoral warfare.

USVs and UUVs will be "particularly useful for littoral warfare as they can be launched outside the EEZ or convenient surveillance range of the coastal state, which is unlikely to have the capabilities of detecting them," Bateman said. "They can be used for surveillance/intelligence collection and as an offensive weapon - to lay mines or fire torpedoes," he said.

There is also potential for anti-submarine warfare, but that capability is as yet "unrealized."

Lockheed To Demo Command System in Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Lockheed Martin was due this week to give a demonstration of its command-and-control product pitched in the United Arab Emirates' two-horse tender for an integrated air and missile defense system, a company executive said.
Lockheed Martin was very confident it could "meet or exceed the requirements for the system," Dennis Cavin, vice president of international air and missile defense, said Nov. 13 at the Dubai Airshow.

The U.S –based company and ThalesRaytheonSystems (TRS) are competing for an estimated $1 billion contract under the United Arab Emirates' extended air defense ground environment-transformation program.
Lockheed expects the Emirati authorities to carefully analyze and evaluate the competing offers and select the supplier, Cavin said. A selection decision is understood to be close, he said.
Lockheed also soon expects the country's reduced order for its Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile, Cavin said.
The decisions for the air and missile defense system and the THAAD procurement were not related, but Cavin said that the two Lockheed weapon systems, THAAD and PAC-3, being bought by the United Arab Emirates should be plugged into a command-and-control system offered by the same company.
The initial THAAD buy was valued at $6.95 billion when announced in 2008, but the United Arab Emirates has cut the number of units - and, therefore, the sale's value - by about one third.
TRS, a joint venture between Thales and Raytheon, has made several demonstrations of its product in recent weeks to Emirati officials as part of the tender process, a company executive said.
All technical information has been presented to the United Arab Emirates, and a selection could be made any time, the executive said.
TRS has a presentation display of its SkyView air C4I product on its stand at the exhibition. The display shows a map of France and a host of information tracks and symbols of the air environment with potential for tracking aircraft and missiles in the airspace.
The system features include mission planning and execution, as well as fusing of information from a variety of sources.
The down selection to Lockheed and TRS eliminated Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Saab, industry sources said.
"We respect the customer's decision making process," Dennis Muilenburg, president and chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said.

Air-Sea Battle Office a Nexus of Networking

The complexities of modern warfare offer a bewildering array of threats, countered by an increasing and sometimes disparate list of countermeasures. Military commanders seeking to thwart an enemy's moves may not be aware of the full range of options, leaving gaps in their defenses even when an effective counter may be available elsewhere.

The Pentagon officially announced the creation of the Air-Sea Battle Office in a Nov. 9 press release. (File photo / U.S. Air Force)

Helping commanders fill those gaps with assets they may not otherwise know they had is one of the prime missions of a new, very small, yet potentially very influential office in the Pentagon, the Air-Sea Battle Office (ASBO).

Although created on Aug. 12, the Pentagon officially announced the office's creation with a Nov. 9 press release. The small group, with a core of about 12 to 15 officers, is drawn from the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.
Its charter is to examine the full range of threats to the United States, from more traditional air, sea and land-based threats to space and the cyber environment. ASBO is also, according to defense officials, about assuring the ability to move into contested areas and clear them of a threat - also known as anti-access, area denial capabilities.
"It's about access and freedom of action and making sure you have enough of what you need to get after your goals and protect and preserve your vital assets," one defense official said Wednesday at a press background briefing.
The Pentagon stressed that the office is "not about a specific actor, not about a specific regime." Officials resisted efforts by reporters to link the effort to China's rising capabilities.
"We're talking about taking our current state to a higher level," said one defense official.
"Air-Sea Battle represents change," the official said. "Three dimensions of change - institutional, conceptional and material."
Broadly, a Pentagon official agreed, the concept is a highly classified clearinghouse, set up to consider a wide range of current and potential threats. ASBO is charged with gaining familiarity with a vast number of capabilities and potential responses already available in the military, and matching them with threats.
"This is not about telling the combatant commanders to do their job," a defense official stressed. "It's about maintaining a military advantage to operate in the global commons."
A key priority for the office, a defense official said, is "to develop air and naval forces that are integrated."
The Army, for the time being, is not a significant player in the ASBO construct, although one officer is assigned to the group. Officials stressed that the office will evolve and mature, and will not be tied to a specific doctrine or set of responses.
"There is a nearly limitless number of things we can look at to challenge integration," one defense official said.
A report on the group's efforts will be issued, defense officials said, but "the report is not the end state."
Pentagon officials stressed the group has top-level support and will establish "an enduring relationship."
"They're actually very serious about this," an official said.

U.S. Army Moves Forward on JLTV

The U.S. Army insists it plans to go forward with its open competition for Joint Light Tactical Vehicle following completion of its two-year technology development phase even as many defense analysts have the program pegged for cancellation.
Tim Goddette, director of Sustainment Systems, said in a July 28 statement that the program has taken steps forward, refining the requirements during the technology development phase in order to "meet the designated capability gaps."

A program that could be worth up to $20 billion already has a host of defense companies, including BAE Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems, Lockheed Martin, AM General and General Tactical Vehicles, all vying to build the next-generation light vehicle.
Army officials hope to build a spree of capabilities into JLTV to include "fortified improvised explosive device, or IED, protections designed to withstand blast attacks, off-road mobility, variable ride height suspension, exportable power and essential command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or C4ISR, capabilities," Goddette said.
However, budgets are shrinking and the Army also plans to field the Ground Combat Vehicle in the next seven years and complete a recapitalization of the Humvee fleet. Army leaders know JLTV costs can't spiral out of control in the current budget environment.
Originally intended to replace the Humvee, the House Appropriations defense subcommittee wrote in the 2012 defense spending bill that "the operational niche to be filled by the JLTV appears to be shrinking," and cut $50 million off the Army and Marine Corps research and development budget request.
"We gained valuable insight into the cost of each capability and effect that one capability might have on another," Goddette said in the statement. "We've learned that some trade-offs are necessary to pursue an overall strategy that best synchronizes requirements, resources, mature technologies and a cost-reducing acquisition strategy."
One such trade-off could be to not include add-on armor known as B-kits to each vehicle. Goddette said the Army does not expect every JLTV will need that level of armor and protection. He also expects more lightweight protective material to be developed in the coming years.
Goddette also tried to dispel the belief that the Army no longer needs JLTV if it recapitalizes the Humvee fleet, integrates MRAPs and delivers the GCV. He said JLTV and the Humvee recap "complement one another as part of an integrated Light Tactical Vehicle strategy."
"These two competitive efforts are also synchronized with one another to invest a limited amount of resources up front enabling a 'try before we buy' approach and capitalize on the vast experience our industry partners have gained over that past five years," Goddette said

Brunei Kicks Off 3rd BRIDEX Defense Show

TAIPEI - The third Brunei Darussalam International Defence Exhibition (BRIDEX) is quickly taking its rightful place among regional exhibitions as one of the top defense and security events in Southeast Asia.
Organized by the Royal Brunei Technical Services, BRIDEX 2011 will showcase the latest regional and international defense technologies and equipment in land, sea, air and security systems from July 6-9.

U.S. companies vying for market space include BBA Aviation, General Dynamics, Harris Corporation, Northrop Grumman, Piper Aircraft and Raytheon. European defense exhibitors include BAE Systems, Defense Conseil International, QinetiQ, Renault, Rosoboronexport and Saab. A number of competitive helicopter manufacturers will also be exhibiting, including AugustaWestland, Bell Helicopters, Eurocopter and Sikorsky.
Asia-Pacific exhibitors include Australia's Prism Defence, China's Hubei Hudiequan Plastic Products Co., Pakistan Ordnance, Singapore Technologies Engineering and Taiwan's Smart Team Technology.
BRIDEX officials said there would be land-based and waterborne demonstrations of defense and security equipment and systems. The new BRIDEX Exhibition and Convention Centre in Jerudong is located next to the waterfront.
"BRIDEX also provides an excellent platform for building vital alliances, forging partnerships and capturing new business opportunities in a fast growing South East Asian region, as well as for networking, sharing ideas and knowledge, discussing technology advancements and industry developments," said a BRIDEX press release.
BRIDEX 2011 coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces. This year about 300 exhibitors and 500 VIP delegates are expected to participate. In 2007, 108 exhibitors representing 16 countries participated, including more than 60 delegates from 17 countries. In 2009, the number of exhibitors jumped to 200 from 26 countries, along with 300 delegates from 40 countries.
Singapore's Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen will also attend. Ng is also visiting Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) officer cadets undergoing jungle confidence and survival training in Brunei. The SAF will be displaying a F-16 fighter aircraft, a CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter, a Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicle and a Formidable-class frigate, the RSS Stalwart, at BRIDEX. Ng will be accompanied by Singapore's Permanent Secretary for Defence Chiang Chie Foo, Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant-General Neo Kian Hong and Chief of Air Force Major-General Ng Chee Meng.
BRIDEX will also host a conference, "Mapping Future Security and Technological Challenges," on July 5. Presenters include Kim Taeyoung, former South Korean defense minister, now a senior adviser for the Korea Institute of Defense Analyses; Ambassador Barry Desker, dean of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore; and Lt. Gen. Prakash Menon, military adviser for India's National Security Council Secretariat.
In a statement issued by Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Haji Mustappa, Deputy Minister of Defense of Brunei Darussalem, the military has gone through organizational changes since BRIDEX 2009, "most notably the merging of the Directorate of Operations with the Joint Force Headquarters to enhance Joint Operations."
The military also formed a new department in 2010, the Centre of Science and Technology Research and Development, "that will form a synergy with the Directorate of Capability Development to focus on acquiring capability solutions required by the Royal Brunei Armed Forces."
The military is awaiting the soon-to-be released 2011 Defense White Paper, which will identify key areas for future development, such as the integration of the Joint Force with the military's C4ISR system, he said.

Air Giants

U.S. forces in Afghanistan get nervous when they have to reel down one of their tethered, video-camera-equipped aerostats for maintenance.
"They want it up as long as they can have it - that persistent surveillance stare," said Army Lt. Col. Robert Helms, who oversees work on the aerostats, called the Persistent Threat Detection System (PTDS).
Last year, the Army accepted 28 PTDS aerostats, adding to the nine it already owned. Now commanders want airships that stay up even longer, scan more terrain with radars and cameras, and serve as communications relays.
That means they'll have to be bigger.
The Army, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and their contractors are moving forward with imminent plans to inflate and fly giant airships that would set new aviation standards for size, endurance and presence. The airships would provide detailed pictures of battlefield conditions for combat troops who need the information immediately.
One, the Army's Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV), could be in Afghanistan by the end of 2011. Others are being prepared for key tests.

Cracking the Stratosphere

In June or July, Lockheed Martin plans to test-fly its High Altitude Long Endurance Demonstrator (HALE-D) airship at the company's Mission Systems and Sensors division airship facility in Akron, Ohio. At 70 feet in diameter, the test airship will carry a 50-pound payload - a camera and a communications repeater - at an altitude of between 60,000 and 70,000 feet for 10 to 14 days. HALE-D is big, but it is a scaled-down version of the airship originally envisioned under the dormant High Altitude Airship program.
"This is very Wright Brothers-ish," said Eric Hofstatter, the program manager for another Lockheed airship effort, the Integrated Sensor is Structure (ISIS) airship project. Like HALE-D, ISIS is designed to fly extremely high, providing a wide-area view. "There are no stratospheric airships flying today, at all," Hofstatter said.
Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, the company's Advanced Development Programs Division, is developing ISIS for DARPA.
Developers and researchers want to use HALE-D to compare real performance to simulations conducted with models on the ground prior to launch and gather data on wind and air pressure. Though Hofstatter said HALE-D and ISIS are not directly linked, the results garnered from this summer's test flight could help develop ISIS in time for its projected 90-day flight test from Akron to Key West, Fla., beginning in April 2013.
"Once we validate all the technology required for the stratospheric airship, whether from HALE-D or ISIS, it [will provide] a laundry list of capabilities everybody can use - from communications nodes to electro-optical IR sensors," Hofstatter said.
During its test flight, the 500-foot-long ISIS demonstrator craft will stay on station at the same altitude range as HALE-D, carrying a smaller and more modest radar and communications package than developers plan to place on the final product. It will have a top cruise speed of just less than 100 feet per second - roughly twice as fast as the Goodyear blimp.
Plans call for the construction of a second ISIS airship, incorporating changes as determined by the test demonstrator, for use by the Air Force and U.S. Northern Command. Ultimately, ISIS will carry very large, dual-band active electronically scanned array radars, capable of detecting air-, water- or land-borne moving targets at ranges from 15.5 to 373 miles, detect and track ballistic missiles at ranges greater than 932 miles, and penetrate foliage at ranges up to 105.5 miles.
The second ISIS, with the complete ISR package and more powerful regenerative fuel-cell and electric propulsion, is projected for a 2018 deployment and should stay in operation for 10 years.
At the extremely cold temperatures in which it will operate, ISIS will employ state-of-the-art thermal control units built by ATK of Beltsville, Md., comparable to those the company has long built for satellites and spacecraft, but adapted for the airship platform. The units will be able to transport heat through the craft with passive systems, eschewing heavy and complex mechanical pumps and valves.
The inflated skin, or hull, of ISIS - made of an extremely strong composite of woven materials with the thickness of two sheets of paper - will serve as the radome for the radar, powerful enough and with sufficient aperture to provide detailed information to front-line troops.
"The only way to take advantage of high-resolution tracking and targeting is to increase apertures by orders of magnitude," Hofstatter said. "That provides insight as to why DARPA came up with ISIS." Beyond that, he said, details on the system are classified.

Afghanistan Bound

While ISIS would patrol the stratosphere for one long deployment, another large airship set for debut will provide comparable capabilities at lower altitudes and shorter durations, but with greater payload flexibility. Northrop Grumman's football-field-length LEMV will face its first inflation test in June. The goal is to deploy the airship to Afghanistan by December for an operational demonstration.
Once on station, it will fly at 20,000 feet and provide a continuous ISR presence for three weeks at a time. The LEMV will be a hybrid airship, combining the lift of helium with aerodynamic lift and control.
While larger airships carry a bigger wow factor, proponents of lighter-than-air surveillance insist that smaller craft like PTDS and its ilk are doing more than merely filling the breach until ISIS and LEMV enter service.
In fact, while Lockheed's Mission Systems and Sensors division is preparing HALE-D for inflation, the same group is working on an upgrade to PTDS, including installation of new L-3 Wescam MX-20 video cameras and Northrop Grumman STARLite radars. Ground control stations and gondolas will be upgraded, as well. The Defense Department awarded Lockheed the $85.3 million contract Feb. 25, with an anticipated completion date of Nov. 23.
Another company, Mav6 of Alexandria, Va., is working under a Defense Department contract to develop and deploy its Blue Devil 2 multisensor aerostats to Afghanistan by early next year.
Once on station, the aerostats will provide war fighters in Afghanistan with two tools they do not currently have, according to Dave Bither, the project's program manager. "One is the persistent stare and collection of data for long periods of time," Bither said. "The other is tailorable sensors, which the [Defense] department does not have now."
Once inflated, the aerostats are roughly 330 feet long and 62 feet high and will carry a payload of up to 2,500 pounds. Because the aerostats are not filled to high pressure, they can resist small-arms fire. And because they rely on what Bither refers to as tried-and-true aviation-grade engines and possess vertical-takeoff capability, they require neither extensive retraining for maintenance personnel nor long and smooth runways.
Still, experts wonder how practical they would be in a conflict against a foe with better capability to shoot them down.
This originally ran in C4ISR Journal.

New LCS Executive Office To Be Created

The offices that manage the U.S. Navy's littoral combat ship (LCS) program are to be combined under one executive, according to a Navy official, bringing together the ship and mission module development efforts for one of the service's largest ship construction programs.
Since its inception in 2003, the LCS effort has been split in two - one office to develop the ship, or sea frame, and another office to oversee development of the complex mission modules that are unique to the LCS concept.

Now, with two ships in service, two more under construction and more under contract, increased focus is being placed on how the ships are used and supported in the fleet. Those aspects will also be included under a new program executive officer LCS (PEO LCS).
Sean Stackley, the Navy's top acquisition official, discussed the changes Wednesday morning during an all-hands call at the Pentagon, the Navy official, speaking on background, confirmed. Stackley reportedly stressed that the changes do not reflect any program performance issues, but rather are a result of increased momentum coming from recent LCS construction contract awards and integration of the ships into the fleet.
There are no plans to eliminate any jobs as a result of the reorganization, Stackley reportedly said.
The program offices are all established under the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). While a detailed announcement is expected soon, the reorganization would reportedly include the following offices: Remote Minehunting System (PMS 403); LCS Mission Modules (PMS 420); and Mine Warfare (PMS 495) - all now organized under the PEO for Littoral and Mine Warfare.
From the PEO Ships side, the offices of Unmanned Maritime Systems (PMS 406) and Littoral Combat Ship program (PMS 501) would be included.

Brazil's Global Player

LONDON - Take a regional flight from an airport in the U.S., Europe or Asia and there's a good chance you will be flying on a jet developed and built by Embraer.
In little more than a decade, the Brazilian company has grown from a state-owned aerospace also-ran into a privatized global player in the regional and business jet markets.
Now Embraer is turning its attention to defense and security. It has high hopes for growth in the business unit it created last year to pursue its ambitions in the sector, Luiz Carlos Aguiar, the first president of the new Embraer Defense and Security operation, said at the recent Latin American Aerospace and Defense (LAAD) show in Rio de Janeiro.
"By the end of the decade, we want to grow business in the sector to represent 20 percent of total Embraer revenues, taking into account our other businesses are going to also grow," Aguiar said.
In 2010, defense accounted for revenues of $670 million, 12.5 percent of the company's $5.5 billion in annual sales.
On top of sales, Embraer reckons its aviation support services business last year earned military revenues of $150 million. Much of that came in Embraer's traditional military markets involving the Super Tucano trainer and light attack aircraft and various adaptations of civil jet airliners into specialist platforms for airborne early warning and other tasks.
The company also is heavily involved in modernizing Brazilian military aircraft, including A-4 fighter jets for the Navy and AMX and F-5 fighters for the Air Force.
Still, company officials said, the traditional airframe business will continue to provide the core of Embraer's defense and security business for the foreseeable future.
The company is developing the KC-390, a jet-powered rival to Lockheed Martin's C-130 Hercules airlifter, and will also assemble a new fighter jet if the Brazilian government ever gets around to picking a winner.
The KC-390 is being built for the Brazilian and other air forces; first flight is scheduled for 2014.
The company also is expecting a decision from the U.S. Air Force (USAF), which is choosing between the Super Tucano and Hawker Beechcraft's AT-6 for a light attack requirement.
That could mark Embraer's long-sought foothold in the U.S. defense market. Company officials thought they had one when the U.S. ordered the ERJ-145 in 2006 as a surveillance aircraft, but that deal was canceled through no fault of the Brazilian company.
Now its U.S. priority is the light attack requirement.
"It's very important to win this campaign," Aguiar said. "We did a great job in the U.S. when we demonstrated our capability, and it's very well rated by the USAF. Better relations following [U.S. President] Barack Obama's visit here will help the process a lot."
If it wins, Embraer has a deal with contractor Sierra Nevada, an aerospace company based in Sparks, Nev., to build the aircraft.
Embraer also is transforming more generally under the government's 2008 national defense strategy to bolster local industries.
The first four months of operation at Embraer Defense and Security has seen the business already signal the intended direction of travel with moves to acquire radar, unmanned air systems and C4I and systems integration capabilities.
Much of that change became evident at the LAAD show, where in the space of two days, Aguiar announced the he had struck a deal with Elbit Systems' local subsidiary AEL Sistemas to jointly develop tactical UAVs, and then acquired 50 percent of local systems integration and C4I provider Atech Negocious em Tecnologias.
Part of the deal with Elbit, an Israeli company, involves Embraer becoming a minority stakeholder in AEL itself.
A few weeks earlier, Aguiar, who had previously been Embraer's chief financial officer, made the new business unit's first acquisition when it took a 64.7 percent stake in the radar division of Orbisat.
The UAVs, radar and particularly Atech's capabilities all reinforce a key Embraer objective to secure the lead position on a pair of massive Brazilian land border and maritime surveillance programs.
Together worth around $10 billion, the first of those programs could kick off next year and run for the next decade.
Uncertainties There are some uncertainties about the timing of these and other defense programs with the new government of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff reviewing major requirements here, including the long-running scrap between Boeing, Dassault Aviation and Saab for the fighter deal.
This year's defense budget has taken a big hit, and although the cut is said not to be directed at programs, executives at LAAD were nervous about the collateral damage the cutback could cause.
Rebecca Barrett, Forecast International's Latin American military markets analyst, said that Brazil needs to protect its strategic interests.
"This should be reflected in the defense budget and government's spending pattern during the Rousseff administration," Barrett said. "In that regard, programs that will be used for surveillance and the protection of Brazil's borders and off-shore oil assets will be top priority."
The analyst said the Brazilian defense budget for next year is set at 60.2 billion real ($38.4 billion). Forecast International says that figure will rise moderately to 64 billion real by 2015.
Aguiar told reporters at LAAD that, for the short term at least, Embraer's main focus would be on building the business at home rather than buying foreign assets.
"Acquisition has not traditionally been how Embraer has grown," Aguiar said. "Acquisition in country is a good way of learning as it is easier to do something close to us. We have a small team looking [at M&A opportunities], and not only in Brazil, but there is nothing in the short term."

Embraer

Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Employees: 17,000
2010 revenue: $5.5 billion total; $670 million in defense revenue, including $150 million from military aviation support services.