An AirSea Battle on the Potomac

It is clear from last month's commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor that this disaster continues to impact the U.S. psyche and national strategy. "The next Pearl Harbor" has been a common theme in reports regarding 9/11.

One can assume the recently developed and classified AirSea Battle Concept has a similar vista. Addressing the "anti-access/area denial" environment, it purportedly discusses the growing influence of China and the importance of Asia to America's national interests. As the name states, air and sea power will be critical to the attainment of U.S. national interests.

While analogies to Pearl Harbor are understandable, they may be misleading on the challenges of tomorrow. A more appropriate lesson might be found in the Battle of Midway.

As the sun rose on June 4, 1942, the Imperial Navy of Japan was the most powerful navy ever to sail. By sunset, its eventual defeat was inevitable. Japan in 1942 possessed six world-class aircraft carriers and the finest naval aviators. Four carriers were lost on that day.

Lacking a robust industrial base, Japan would produce only seven additional fleet carriers by the end of the war (the U.S. more than 20). Rational or not, Japan started a war with a limited force structure and little ability to replenish loses.

Fast-forward to 2012. In a world of iPads, it is incredible, but the forces that will carry out the AirSea Battle construct reflect decisions made decades ago. Tomorrow's U.S. Air Force will possess a nominal force of bombers and a handful of sophisticated F-22s and F-35s. While highly capable, these fifth-generation fighters lack the range and payload necessary for conflicts in Asia. Friendly bases are few.

The airfields close enough for effective sortie generation rates with fifth-gen fighters will likewise be within range of Chinese ballistic and cruise missiles. This environment requires hardened facilities and a robust missile-defense system. The former do not exist and the latter only in limited numbers.

While U.S. naval forces will benefit from their mobility, they too will face a Chinese anti-access threat projected to acquire and target surface combatants. With a deck of F/A-18s and F-35s, our carriers will be as range-challenged as our land-based fighters. Getting the carrier to the fight will require expensive escorts to defend against missile attacks. Combat operations would quickly become problematic once the defensive armaments are depleted.

Complicating this bleak outlook is the acquisition death spiral of increased cost/reduced numbers. As weapon systems progress through the acquisition cycle, they invariably fall behind schedule from unforeseen production issues. This drives up the cost, reducing the number of systems that can be purchased. The spiral continues with the war fighter receiving fewer platforms, later than needed, and costing significantly more than planned.

These two flaws could leave the U.S. in the same position that Japan found itself in 1943, weakened and unable to reconstitute a viable force. A small fighter force will generate few effective sorties (this assumes sufficient aerial tankers. Fighters in Asia are static displays without tankers). The loss of a Nimitz-class carrier would rival Pearl Harbor in loss of life and drive our surface naval forces out of harm's way. Like Imperial Japan, a Midway debacle would cripple U.S. power projection. And like Japan of 1943, America of 2012 cannot quickly reconstitute our current weapon systems.

With senior leaders stating there are no alternatives to weapon systems currently in development, it's apparent their predecessors organized a Pickett's Charge decades ago and left the charge to them. Resolving this mismatch between force structure and strategy will require a proper focus on the challenges of combat operations in the Pacific.

Specifically, in the short term:

■ Expand procurement of standoff missiles, such as the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range.

■ Regain our superiority in electronic warfare that was lost in our infatuation with stealth.

■ Purchase low-end attack aircraft and remotely piloted vehicles for noncontested environments.

■ Limit the F-35 buy to 200 to 400 aircraft.

For the long term:

■ Develop manned/unmanned long-range penetrating precision strike platforms (both land- and carrier-based).

■ Research and develop 21st century battleships capable of firing ballistic and cruise missiles from long range.

On June 3, 1942, the Imperial Navy of Japan was the uncontested master of the Pacific. On the following day, American ingenuity, guts and a degree of luck made Japan's eventual defeat inevitable. The future naval and air forces of the U.S. could face a similar tragedy, one in which the finest air and naval forces are rendered incapable of effective combat operations due to a 20-year process where we purchased what we wanted instead of what we needed.

Perhaps the most important contribution from an honest assessment of the AirSea Battle construct will be to own up to this unfortunate fact.

Chris Choate is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel now performing operational test and evaluation work with the service as a civilian employee. These views reflect those of the author and not the Air Force, Defense Department or U.S. government.

Keep Investing in Stealthy ISR

A big danger with having sophisticated military systems is that you run the risk of losing them if you use them.

That appears to be the case with the U.S. Air Force RQ-170 Sentinel, the remotely operated reconnaissance aircraft that was recently lost over Iran. The stealthy aircraft, built by Lockheed Martin, entered service about a decade ago and has seen duty over hot spots worldwide since.

The United States has been using manned and unmanned aircraft for this mission for decades; the RQ-170 is only the latest that allows the United States to see into denied airspace.

The loss of any advanced aircraft poses special risks because it exposes its materials and technologies to enemy scientists and engineers. Now that the Iranians have the Sentinel - especially since it appears to have come into their possession largely intact - it's only a matter of time before China, North Korea and others learn about the UAV's stealth coatings, airframe structures and materials, sensors and electronic components, flight controls and more.

The Air Force is trying to learn as much as possible from the loss, such as why the plane lost signal and how it came to be recovered in one piece.

But more important, it must learn how to guard against such a dangerous loss of technology in the future. Such aircraft must be fitted with physical and electronic self-destruct mechanisms that will obliterate anything of interest as soon as it falls into enemy hands.

Last, the inherent value of having the kind of technology that makes an RQ-170 possible is a critical U.S. advantage in warfare. As defense budgets decline, continuing robust investment in advanced stealth, sensor and reconnaissance technologies is crucial to maintaining America's strategic and tactical advantages.

Elbit Wins Customer in Americas for Hermes 900

TEL AVIV - Israel's Elbit Systems announced Jan. 3 that it has secured a contract to supply the Hermes 900 unmanned aerial system (UAS) to an unidentified American country. According to the firm, the approximately $50 million deal includes Hermes 900 airframes, universal ground control stations, the firm's advanced DCoMPASS electro-optical payloads and satellite communications links. Deliveries of the complete system will conclude in about a year.

SOURCES IN ISRAEL would only say that the end user was not an Air Force, but rather a government organization in a Central American country. (Elbit Systems)

The publicly traded firm declined to identify its latest customer for the Hermes 900, and defense and industry sources here were only willing to note that the end user was not an Air Force, but a government organization in a Central American country.

Less than six months after first flight of the prototype Hermes 900 in December 2009, Elbit began serial production of its self-funded system - first for the Israel Air Force and then for the Chilean Air Force.

The Hermes 900 medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAV is a higher-flying, heavier-hauling version of the firm's Hermes 450, operational in Israel, the United Kingdom and more than a half-dozen other countries. Like the Hermes 450, the Hermes 900 is designed for autonomous flight, automatic takeoff and landing, and full payload management by Elbit's universal ground control station. In addition to the redundant wideband line-of-sight datalinks built into the 450 model, the Hermes 900 features an advanced satellite communication channel for long-range missions at altitudes of more than 30,000 feet.

"We are proud that yet another customer has selected the Hermes 900, following orders by the Israel Defense Forces and Chile," Elad Aharonson, general manager of Elbit's UAS Division, said in the firm's Jan. 3 announcement.

Taiwan Receives Two U.S. Early Warning Aircraft

TAIPEI - Taiwan received two upgraded early warning aircraft from the United States on Dec. 18, the island's air force said, as part of an arms deal that upset China-U.S. relations.

The arrival of the E-2K aircraft in southern Kaohsiung city brings to four the number of such planes in Taiwan's air force, it said, after they were sent to the United States last year for upgrades.

Taiwan acquired four E-2Ts in 1995 and added two E-2K, an improved version of the Grumman Hawkeye series, in 2006.

A pair of E-2Ts were transported to the United States for upgrading last month, as part of a $6.5 billion arms sale agreed with Taiwan in 2008, which also included advanced interceptor Patriot missiles, Apache attack helicopters and submarine-launched missiles.

Analysts say the E-2K - an all-weather early warning and control system platform with an upgraded radar, software, avionics and propellers - will further reduce warning time if China launched an air attack on the island.

Ties between Taipei and Beijing have improved markedly since Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang party came to power in 2008 promising to boost trade links and allow more Chinese tourists to visit the island.

But Beijing still sees Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, even though the island has governed itself since 1949 at the end of a civil war.

China has repeatedly threatened to invade Taiwan should the island declare formal independence, prompting Taipei to seek more advanced weapons, largely from the United States.

Italy Gives Bombing Stats for Libya Campaign

ROME - In their first official breakdown of facts and figures about Italy's air campaign over Libya this year, officials said military aircraft deployed 710 guided bombs and missiles during sorties. Italian Air Force Tornados and AMX fighter bombers deployed 550 bombs and missiles, while Navy AV8s deployed 160 guided bombs, the officials said during an event at Trapani Air Base in Sicily to honor military personnel involved in the conflict.

The Air Force total included Storm Shadow missiles, which sources put at between 20 and 30, which were fired from Tornado IDS aircraft - the first time the Air Force has deployed the missile during operations. The success rate of the Storm Shadow was 97 percent, one official said.

Otherwise, the Air Force deployed Paveway and JDAM guided munitions. AMX bombers for the first time used Litening III targeting pods, while Tornado IDS aircraft used JDAM munitions operationally for the first time.

Although the Air Force used guided bombs in its Kosovo campaign, Libya marked its first "extensive" use of guided munitions, said Air Force chief Gen. Giuseppe Bernardis.

With up to 12 different aircraft flying missions on given days during the seven-month operation, the Air Force racked up 1,900 sorties and 7,300 flying hours using Tornado IDS and AMX aircraft for strike missions, Tornado ECR for air defense suppression, F-16s and Eurofighters for no-fly zone patrol, C-130J and 767 tanker aircraft for refueling, and the unarmed Reaper UAV for reconnaissance.

Patrol and air defense flights accounted for 38 percent of flying hours, surveillance and reconnaissance flights took up 23 percent, ground-attack missions made up 14 percent, air defense suppression flights took up 8 percent, refueling flights took up 8 percent, flights detecting electromagnetic emissions and undertaking electronic warfare were 4 percent, while "armed reconnaissance and attacks on targets of opportunity" took up 5 percent.

More than 340,000 high-resolution pictures were taken by Reccelite pods on Tornado and AMX aircraft while 250 hours of video was transmitted in real time by Reaper UAVs.

Eight Italian Navy AV8 Harrier jets, which enforced the no-fly zone over Libya and operated bombing missions, flew 1,221 hours from the carrier Garibaldi, while 30 ship-based helicopters, including the EH-101, SH-3D and AB-212 types, flew 1,921 hours as part of the operation.

The Air Force also rushed into service its new Boeing 767 tanker aircraft. A third aircraft was delivered in November and the final aircraft is expected in the first quarter of 2012.

Italian Navy statistics released about the campaign revealed that two submarines, the Todaro and the Gazzana, were involved in the NATO Unified Protector operation.

U.S. To Transfer Upgraded F-16s to Indonesia

The White House issued a statement Nov. 18 saying that it will transfer more than two dozen surplus F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighters to Indonesia.
"The Government of Indonesia has chosen to improve its internal air defense capability through the upgrade and regeneration of Excess Defense Articles (EDA) USAF F-16 Block 25 aircraft provided to the Government of Indonesia via a grant approved in August 2011," the statement reads.

The deal represents the largest transfer of defense articles between the U.S. and Indonesia, according to the statement.
The White House statement called the move "a signal of the growing commitment to regional security under the bilateral Comprehensive Partnership."
Indonesia currently operates an aging fleet of 10 Block 15 F-16 A and B model jets. Indonesia wants a total of 30 fighters; 24 of those would be F-16 Block 25 aircraft that would be refurbished and modernized.
"At the conclusion of the regeneration, Indonesia will possess a fleet of 24 F-16 aircraft updated with the most advanced Modular Mission Computer (MMC) produced by Raytheon," the statement reads. "The aircraft will also have vastly improved radar, avionics, and the capability to carry and field more advanced weaponry and sensors."
An additional four Block 25 jets and two Block 15 aircraft would be transferred to use as spare parts. The grant also includes 28 Pratt & Whitney F100 afterburning turbofan engines.
Indonesia will pay to refurbish the 24 F-16s destined for operational use and will also pay for the overhaul of the 28 engines.
The U.S. Defense Department is working with the Indonesian Defense Ministry to draft the final documents and is waiting for the final congressional notification to be completed. The notification and the final Letter of Offer and Acceptance should be completed by early 2012. If all goes as planned, the first modernized aircraft will be delivered by 2014, the statement reads.

Indian-U.S. Joint Venture To Produce Radar, Surveillance Systems

NEW DELHI - India's automobile maker Mahindra & Mahindra has forged a joint venture with U.S. aviation communications equipment major Telephonics to produce radars, surveillance systems and communications solutions for the Indian military and civilian use.

Mahindra & Mahindra already has a joint venture with the U.K.'s BAE Systems to build a variety of military vehicles in India.
In the Telephonics joint venture, Mahindra & Mahindra will hold 74 percent equity and the U.S. company 26 percent, said Khutub Hai, chief executive of Mahindra Defence Systems, the defense arm of Mahindra & Mahindra.
Under law, an overseas defense company can have no more than 26 percent equity in a joint venture in defense, and a request for approval of the venture will be made to the government this month, Khutub said.
Apart from the radars, surveillance systems and friend-or-foe identification systems, the joint venture will manufacture air traffic management services, and equipment for homeland security and other emerging surveillance requirements.

French Air Chief: UAVs Taxing Available Satellite Bandwidth

DUBAI - A move to a new standard communications band is needed because of a saturation of current bandwidth, French Air Chief of Staff Gen. Jean-Paul Palomeros said Nov. 12.
Increasingly relied-upon unmanned aerial vehicles such as Predators, Reapers and the French Harfang generate huge amounts of data, including full motion video, and complex sensors such as high definition video, laser designators, imaging radar, ground moving target indicators and multispectral imagers demand high bandwidth for transmission, Palomeros told an Air Chiefs conference ahead of the Dubai Airshow's Nov. 13 opening.

Planners estimate a large bandwidth is needed because of a "multitasking of UAVs," with many remote piloted vehicles being operated simultaneously, Palomeros said.
Some 20 gigabits per second is needed to cope with the growing number of UAVs, which are swamping the current Ku bandwidth available on satellite communications links.
"Ka band appears to me as an interesting option," even if the signals are much more sensitive to weather conditions, Palomeros said.
Some technology has been developed, dubbed adaptive codage modulation, that limits the weather's impact on the signal, but a good solution would be to get industry to furnish a dual-band Ku-Ka antenna, Palomeros said.
"This option allows us to benefit from the maturity of the Ku, while anticipating the potential benefits of the Ka-band," he said.
Among "pragmatic options" for boosting UAV efficiencies, Palomeros suggested:
■ Chat rooms between coalition UAV operators, to allow coordination of surveillance missions and to boost interoperability.
■ Greater training in simulation to improve joint operations of UAVs and to overcome "ignorance of UAV performance" among ground commanders.
■ Fuse and share imagery, communication and signal intelligence as a single intelligence chain of command; to think of intelligence as a "whole operational concept" and not as "different pillars."
■ Operate UAVs as elements of a distributed air operation in which the air vehicles work alongside manned aircraft such as the Rafale, so they contribute to the entire mission set of an air operation.
■ Co-locate experts in the same unit, so intelligence professionals can provide the best situational awareness in near real-time in their specific domain, and intelligence experts should deploy regularly to keep information up to date.
■ Develop software to allow automatic detection of "suspicious activity," although most of the time human intelligence and operational expertise will be more effective than sophisticated software.
■ Work on autonomous flight rather than target detection, with manual override for pilots on the ground to reroute.
As an example of the concept of operations to be expected in UAV use, Palomeros showed a video in which a Rafale pilot used data from a Predator UAV to cross cue the designation pod on the French warplane, allowing the pilot to locate and identify a target.

U.S. Navy Ship Set for Alt Fuel Demo

Having powered jet fighters, helicopters and small craft with alternative fuels, the U.S. Navy will conduct its largest-yet demonstration next week when a former destroyer takes to sea with a mixture of algal oil and diesel fuel.

The former destroyer Paul F. Foster will be the largest ship yet to operate with so-called alternative fuels. (U.S. Navy)

The Paul F. Foster, a Spruance-class destroyer now used for experimental purposes, will sail from Point Loma in San Diego to her base at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Port Hueneme, Calif., powered by a 50-50 blend of hydro-processed algal oil and F-76 petroleum, the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) said Nov. 10.

The alt fuel will power one of the ship's LM2500 gas turbines used for propulsion, and the ship's service gas turbine.
The short, overnight transit is part of a commitment by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to demonstrate a Green Strike Group in 2012 and deploy a strike group composed completely of alternatively powered ships, "the Great Green Fleet," by 2016, NAVSEA said in a press release.
In October, the Navy demonstrated the algal oil-F-76 fuel aboard a landing craft utility at Little Creek, Va., where a riverine combat craft also operated with the fuel mix. Yard Patrol training vessels at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., have also used the alt fuel.
Several different aircraft types have flown with alternative fuels, including F/A-18 Super Hornet and F-15 Eagle jet fighters, a T-45C Goshawk training jet, an EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, an MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor, an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter and an MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter.
Another alt fuel test of a Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) vehicle is to take place in December at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, Fla.

U.S. Senate Panel Targets Counterfeit Electronic Parts

The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee is planning to crack down on counterfeit electronic parts, which more often than not originate in China and eventually make their way to U.S. military weapon systems.

Raytheon notified the U.S. Navy on Sept. 8 that counterfeit transistors had been found on a night vision or FLIR system used on the Navy's SH-60B helicopters. If the FLIR system were to fail, the Navy said the helicopter would be unable to conduct su (GETTY IMAGES)

The committee, led by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., released the results of a months-long investigation on Nov. 7. As part of the investigation, committee staff traced the DoD supply chain back to its start for more than 100 counterfeit parts and found that 70 percent of them originated in China.

"Nearly 20 percent of the remaining cases were tracked to the U.K. and Canada - known resale points for counterfeit electronic parts from China," a background memo from the committee said.
According to a January report from the Commerce Department, counterfeit electronics in the defense industry are on the rise. In 2005, there were 3,868 incidents detected, compared with 9,356 in 2008, according to the report.
Levin and McCain want the Pentagon to better enforce laws that protect the DoD supply chain, but they also admit those laws don't go far enough.
The Senate panel is considering adding language to the defense authorization act for 2012 that would hold contractors responsible for the costs of replacing a part that is discovered to be counterfeit, Levin said at a Nov. 7 press briefing.
Levin said that under cost-plus contracts it is difficult to make the contractor pay for a replacement part unless the government can prove the contractor bought the part knowing that it was counterfeit. Today, the multimillion-dollar price tag of replacing these parts more often falls to the government and the taxpayer, he said.
He would like to see the Pentagon use fewer cost-plus contracts and more fixed-price ones, where bargaining above the negotiated price is limited. Levin said this could help motivate companies to take stronger steps to avoid buying counterfeit parts.
The life of a counterfeit electronic part is long, with many stops along the way. It often begins as electronic waste, shipped from the United States and the rest of the world to Hong Kong. From there, the raw material makes its way to China, where it is broken down, "burned off of old circuit boards, washed in the river, and dried on city sidewalks," according to the Senate report. Part of this process includes removing any indentifying marks, including date codes and part numbers.
Once the old part is made to look brand new, it is shipped to the Chinese city of Shenzhen, which Levin described as the "epicenter" of counterfeit electronics. There, the part can be sold openly in the markets or on the Internet.
From China, the counterfeit part makes its way through the DoD supply chain, often passing through four or five subcontractors before a prime contractor has integrated it onto a weapon system.
The committee found that the Defense Department is particularly vulnerable to counterfeit electronics, because the life of a weapon system long outdates the production of a specific commercial electronic part.
"An electronic part may be manufactured for two years, while a defense system it is used on may be in service for more than two decades," according to the Senate report.
Quoting the director of DoD's Microelectronics Activity Unit, the Senate report says, "The defense community is critically reliant on a technology that obsoletes itself every 18 months, is made in unsecure locations and over which we have absolutely no market share or influence."
During the Nov. 7 press briefing, committee staff highlighted three examples of counterfeit parts making their way into and through the DoD supply chain.
In the first instance, Raytheon notified the U.S. Navy on Sept. 8 that counterfeit transistors had been found on a night vision or FLIR system used on the Navy's SH-60B helicopters. If the FLIR system were to fail, the Navy said the helicopter would be unable to conduct surface warfare missions using Hellfire missiles.
The committee traced the transistors back to Huajie Electronics in Shenzen. From there, the part passed through five different companies before it got to Raytheon.
The second example involved the Air Force's C-27J aircraft, for which L-3 Communications is the prime contractor.
On Sept. 19, L-3 told the Air Force that 38 video memory chips installed on the plane's display units were suspected to be counterfeit. Again, the part originated in Shenzhen with a company called Hong Dark. From there, it was sold to Global IC Trading Group, which sold them to L-3 Displays, a business unit of L-3 Communications.
According to the Senate investigation, L-3 first learned that Hong Dark was the source of counterfeit parts in October 2009.
"In total, the committee identified nearly 30 shipments, totaling more than 28,000 parts from Hong Dark to Global IC Trading Group that were subsequently sold to L-3," the report says.
The final example the committee gave to reporters was on the Navy's P-8A Poseidon, a Boeing 737 airplane that has been modified to include anti-submarine capabilities.
On Aug. 17, Boeing alerted the Navy program office that an ice detection module contained a "reworked part that should not have been put on the airplane originally and should be replaced immediately."
After a failure of that subsystem on the flight line, BAE Systems, which makes the ice detection modules, discovered many of the system's parts were not new.
This time, the committee traced the part to A Access Electronics in Japan, a company affiliated with A Access Electronics in Shenzhen. The company in Japan sold it to Abacus Electronics in Florida, which wired payment to a bank in Shenzhen. Abacus sold the part to Tandex Test Labs, which BAE had hired to "source the parts and screen them for signs of counterfeiting," according to the Senate report.
The Senate committee staff found that Tandex screened the first 50 and sent the remaining 250 to BAE without inspecting them.
In the case of the C-27J and the P-8A, the committee found the companies in question did not notify the government early enough about the suspected parts.
The Senate committee is schedule to hold a hearing on the subject Nov. 8, when three different panels of witnesses will testify, including the head of the Missile Defense Agency and several industry officials.

Pakistan gets hi-tech for F-16

Islamabad – Pakistan has bought the American ALQ-211 AIDEWS (Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suite) pod for their F-16 fighters.
The ALQ-211 allows the aircraft to detect radar, jamming and laser signals hitting the aircraft, as well as the presence of chemical weapons. ALQ-211 also provides some jamming of its own, and assistance on where the signal is coming from, so the pilot can move the aircraft away from the threat, said a report published in U.S. magazine.
ALQ-211 is also installed in helicopters, but not as a pod. Rather, the individual components are installed in the helicopter where space is available.
Components of ALQ-211 are programmable, so that the system can quickly be updated for newly discovered enemy equipment. Pakistan will receive ALQ-211(V) 9 (version 9), which costs about $3.5 million per pod.

U.S. Air Force To Upgrade 300 F-16s

The U.S. Air Force will upgrade between 300 and 350 F-16C Block 40 and 50 fighters with new avionics and increased airframe life, a three-star general said before Congress.
Testifying Nov. 2, Lt. Gen. Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, Air Force deputy chief for operations, plans and requirements, also said the service doesn't have enough trained UAV pilots, and that the U-2 isn't quite ready for retirement.
"You hear an announcement fairly quickly from the United States Air Force, we're going to [service life extension program (SLEP)] and avionics modernize probably in the vicinity 300 to 350 F-16s,".
That number could climb to 600 aircraft, Carlisle said, but it is not likely the Air Force will have to upgrade so many jets.
The modernized jets will be crucial to maintaining the Air National Guard (ANG) and Air Force Reserve fighter force. It will also help maintain the Air Force's dwindling arsenal of tactical fighters before the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) becomes operational.
Although the service doesn't yet know when the F-35 will become operational, the aircraft will likely miss the current projected date of 2016. The aircraft will likely become fully operational in 2018, Carlisle said, but the service is not naming an official date until the new master schedule is complete.
There is money in fiscal 2012 budget to develop a modernization program for the F-16, Carlisle said. The Air Force will start developing the avionics modernization plan soon, he said.
Maj. Gen. Jay Lindell, Air Force director of global power programs, said the airframe life of the F-16 would be increased from 8,000 to "at least" 10,000 hours. That would afford the Air Force eight more years of operations using the old aircraft, he said.
"We're looking at capability through the next decade, which would be through 2030," Lindell said.
Each plane would cost $9.4 million, he said, so the Air Force wants to get its money's worth.
The scope of the modernization plan for the F-16 fleet and the fielding of the stealthy new F-35 depends on the forthcoming integrated master schedule for the new jet, Carlisle said. The F-35 will be fielded to ANG units, starting with the Vermont ANG, he said.
With the upgrades, the F-16 could be serving for decades to come.
The Navy and Marine Corps are also working on extending the life of 150 of their F/A-18 Hornets, said Marine Lt. Gen. Terry Robling, the U.S. Marine Corps' deputy commandant for aviation. The upgraded F/A-18s are slated to hold the sea services over until the F-35 becomes operational.

Pilots for UAVs

In his testimony, Carlisle said the Air Force doesn't have enough pilots for its growing fleet of drones. He said the service was on its sixth surge for providing Predator and Reaper combat air patrols (CAPs). But to attain the required 60 CAPs, the Air Force has had to press instructor pilots into active service and shut down its elite Weapons School course for the unmanned planes, he said.
"Our issue today is our ability to train our sensor operators and pilots," Carlisle said.
The Air Force will likely have to ratchet down the number of CAPs to reconstitute its ability to train and field new unmanned aircraft pilots, he said. The community has grown quickly; it is now the single largest group of aviators in the service.
Reconstituting the training force and rebuilding the expertise at the Weapons School will take about a year, Carlisle said. Once the Air Force can rebuild its schoolhouses, the Air Force can get back on track to fielding 65 CAPs as required by the forces deployed in combat.

No Retirement for U-2

Of the Air Force's U-2 spy planes, Carlisle said the Air Force won't be retiring them until a technical shortcoming with the RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude unmanned aircraft is resolved.
Although the Air Force plans to replace the venerable U-2 with the new unmanned aircraft, the Global Hawk's sensors are still not capable of measuring up to the standards set by the five-decade old Dragon Lady.
"The Global Hawk, the RQ-4, will be the replacement," Carlisle said. "It is not there yet. The sensors suite is not there. It cannot match what the U-2 does."
There is a high-altitude transition team, but the U-2 will be maintained until the Global Hawk can match the older plane. With the sensors on the Block 40 Global Hawk, the unmanned plane will "start to get close to that," Carlisle said.
The U-2 will be around through 2014 and 2015, but the Global Hawk should be able to start matching its capabilities by then, he said.

Russia Delivers Radar Jammers to Iran

MOSCOW - Russia has sent a set of mobile radar jammers to Iran and is negotiating future deliveries that Moscow believes do not contravene current United Nations sanctions on the Islamic state's regime, an official said Tuesday.
The Avtobaza truck-mounted jammers are part of a broader line of arms Russia hopes to sell Iran despite concerns over Tehran's nuclear program, the deputy head of the military and technical cooperation agency said.

"This is a defensive system," the agency's deputy director Konstantin Biryulin was quoted as saying by the state RIA Novosti news agency.
"We are not talking about jets, submarines or even S-300 (missile) systems. We are talking about providing security for the Iranian state.
"We are in constant talks with Iran over that country's purchases of military technology that does not fall under UN sanctions," he was quoted as saying.
The arms delivery was disclosed the same day as a Western diplomat said Russia and China were urging the UN atomic agency to soften, or even hold back, a report detailing Iran's suspected efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
Russia had strongly defended its close trading partner until agreeing in September 2010 to cancel a planned sale of S-300 missile systems and supporting stronger sanctions against Tehran.
But limited arms shipments have continued and Iran last month finally put a Russian-made nuclear power plant on stream in Bushehr after years of delays.
Biryulin did not disclose when the radar systems were delivered or how many units were sold.

First Karakoram Eagle to make a touchdown in Pakistan in November 2011

Delivery of first ZDK-03 Karakoram Eagle AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control Systems) produced for Pakistan Air Force is expected in November this year, according to latest report.

The aircraft is in final stages of preparations/system testings/installation for delivery to Pakistan.

Pakistan Air Force signed an agreement for the joint development of four ZDK-03 AEW&C aircraft Karakoram Eagle which were to be configured to meet Pakistan's specifications with China Electronics Technology Group Corporation.

PAF has plans to induct a total of four Shaanxi ZDK-03 AWACS aircraft in a $278m deal. ZDK-03 also features a solid nose with MAWS sensors on both sides, as well as two small vertial tail stablizers.

U.S. To Deny Taiwan New F-16 Fighters

Offers AESA Radar in Upgrade for Older Jets
TAIPEI - Bowing to Chinese pressure, the U.S. will deny Taiwan's request for 66 new F-16C/D fighter aircraft, a Taiwan Ministry of National Defense (MND) official said.

An armed U.S.-built F-16 fighter takes off during a drill in April. A Taiwan Ministry of National Defense official says Taipei will not be able to purchase new F-16s and is “so disappointed” in the U.S. decision. (Sam Yeh / Agence France-Presse)

"We are so disappointed in the United States," he said.

A U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) delegation arrived here last week to deliver the news and offer instead a retrofit package for older F-16A/Bs that includes an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
The visit coincided with the biennial Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition (TADTE), held here Aug. 11-14.
"The U.S. Pentagon is here explaining what is in the upgrade package," a U.S. defense industry source said at TADTE. "They are going to split the baby: no C/Ds, but the A/B upgrade is going forward."
Sources said an official announcement of the decision is expected by month's end.
But an official at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto U.S. Embassy, said "no decisions have been made," while DoD officials declined to comment on their delegation's mission.
The proposed upgrade package would make the 146 Taiwanese F-16A/Bs among the most capable variants of the aircraft, perhaps second only to the APG-80 AESA-equipped F-16E/Fs flown by the United Arab Emirates.
Originally requested by Taipei in 2009, the package would cost $4.2 billion, sources at TADTE said.
The new gear would include an AESA radar, likely either Northrop Grumman's Scalable Agile Beam Radar or the Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar, to replace the planes' current APG-66(V)3 radar.
Either one would be an improvement on the Northrop APG-68(V)9 mechanical radar once contemplated for Taiwan's upgrade package. The switch is meant to soften the blow of denying new planes to Taipei, a Lockheed Martin source said.
A decision between the two AESA candidates could foreshadow the U.S. Air Force's own choice as it prepares to upgrade its fleet of F-16s. The upgrade package will also improve the planes' Raytheon ALQ-184(V)7 electronic countermeasures pod by adding the capacity to intercept and save hostile radar transmissions, then use the same frequency to jam them.
However, ITT is offering the ALQ-211 Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suite pod as an alternative.
ITT is also offering the BRU-57/A Smart Twin Store Carrier, which doubles the number of bombs an F-16 can carry, an ITT source said.
The package would also replace the AIM-9P/M Sidewinder air-to-air missile with the new AIM-9X; fit the planes to carry enhanced GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs; and add a digital radar warning receiver, helmet-mounted cueing system and center pedestal display.
The package will not include new engines to better handle the additional weight and electrical draw, though there could be an upgrade to bring the existing Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 to the PW-220E standard. The upgrade would swap out obsolete parts for newer ones, but wouldn't offer any additional performance.
Lockheed Martin will be working with Taiwan's state-run Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC) to integrate the new gear on the jets.
"Changing a fighter's major sensor should not be taken lightly. It is more than electrical capacity. It is the integration of sensors, weapons, displays, etc., that make a fighter aircraft effective," Lockheed spokeswoman Laura Siebert said.

Consequences

Siebert said the failure to release F-16C/Ds will weaken Lockheed Martin's plans to extend the production line for the fighter.
"While Congress has been notified of Oman and Iraq's desire for F-16s, the Taiwan order for 66 aircraft is very important to the long-term viability of the F-16 production to include the U.S. Air Force, Lockheed Martin and the thousands of suppliers throughout the U.S.," she said.
More than a few TADTE attendees said the Obama administration might reverse the decision as the 2012 presidential election approaches and political pressure for new jobs builds.
A June report by the Perryman Group, a Texas-based economic and financial analysis firm, estimated that Taiwan's F-16C/D program would create more than 16,000 jobs and almost $768 million in U.S. federal tax revenue. Much of that tax revenue and new jobs would go to election battleground states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Texas and Utah.
But China holds about 8 percent of U.S. debt, the largest block in foreign hands.
As one TADTE attendee said, "Beijing's Kung Fu is better than Washington's."
The denial of the new jets will likely lead AIDC officials to ask the government to expand upgrade plans for Taiwan's 126 Indigenous Defense Fighters, of which 71 are currently slated for upgrades.
The company has also been pushing Taiwan's Air Force to allocate funds for full-rate production of the IDF C/D Goshawk, which features improved range and weapons payload.

Background

In July, the U.S. State Department indicated a final decision on the F-16 issue would be made by Oct. 1. Since 2006, the U.S. has repeatedly denied Taiwan's request for 66 F-16C/D Block 50/52s, a prospective sale estimated at more than $8 billion.
The planes would replace 60 F-5 Tigers and 60 Mirage 2000-5s due for retirement within five to 10 years.
China has called the sale a "red line." A recent editorial in the state-controlled People's Daily called for the use of a "financial weapon" against the U.S. if new F-16s were released.
The U.S. decision comes as a blow to the self-ruled island's effort to counter China's growing military, whose first aircraft carrier began sea trials last week, and therefore to its independence.
There are fears that losing Taiwan could spell the end of U.S. power projection in the region. Losing Taiwan would "change everything from the operational arch perspective to the posture of Japan and the U.S." in the region, said Raytheon's Asia president, Walter Doran, a retired admiral who once commanded the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Staff writer Dave Majumdar in Washington contributed to this report.

Global Hawk to Replace U-2 in 2015

The Global Hawk will finally replace the long-serving U-2 spy plane in 2015, a U.S. Air Force official told reporters Aug. 10.
"No U-2s in the Air Force in fiscal year '15," said Lt. Col. Rick Thomas, the Air Force's Global Hawk functional manager, at the National Press Club.

Thomas said he is confident that the RQ-4, as the Global Hawk is designated, will be able to match the capabilities currently provided by the U-2 as required by legislation.
"That's my job - is to look at that legislation and say if we can do it or not," he said.
One of the capabilities which the Global Hawk will have to integrate before it can replace the U-2 is to carry that aircraft's Optical Bar Camera, which is an extremely high resolution wet film camera. The Air Force is studying ways to mount the massive camera onto the Global Hawk airframe, but substantial modifications will be required to the sensor and the airframe, Thomas said.
"We're looking at a cooperative effort with industry to look at a universal mount," he said.
Thomas said he didn't know if the camera's wet film would be retained - a digital model might be a possibility.
Legislation before Congress might add another monkey wrench into the Air Force's plan to replace the U-2, however.
The proposed legislation would require the Defense Department to certify sustainment costs for the Global Hawk are less than the U-2's before the Air Force is allowed to retire the 1950s-era spy plane. According to the Air Force's Total Ownership Cost database, the U-2 cost $31,000 per flight hour while the RQ-4 sits at $35, 000.
Though the aircraft has had some teething problems where it failed its operational test due to poor reliability and mediocre sensor performance, the Global Hawk has come a long way, Thomas said.
"The [initial operational test and evaluation] was a spot in time," he said.
One problem that has been fixed is a problem with an onboard 25-volt electrical generator which would fail after only 170 hours of operations. Now that same component can function for over 6,000 hours, Thomas said.
"That's been solved," he said.
However, Thomas said that the aircraft is coming down in its operations and maintenance costs. He estimated costs had already dropped by about 5- to 10 percent.
There is still work to be done before the aircraft will fully rectify the problems identified by the operational test report, Thomas acknowledged.
But one source said that the aircraft was still not as reliable as it was once hoped.
The source said that with time and money, the aircraft will get better, but it will never live up to what was originally promised. The source praised the aircraft's long endurance, but said the sensors are currently sub-par and "will continue to be well below par."
The sensors provide less range, less resolution and less collection capability than existing intelligence gathering aircraft, he said.

USMC to Test Communications-jamming Device

A U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier jump jet squadron is set to conduct trials on the services' new Intrepid Tiger II communications intelligence and jamming pod next month.

The device is an open-architecture, commercially derived unit built by the service to quickly and effectively field state-of-the-art electronic attack capabilities on a limited budget. This will be the second iteration of the pod.

Each pod - which is integrated by the service itself, not a contractor - costs less than $600,000 and can be upgraded by simply replacing off-the-shelf internal components without exhaustive integration work or testing, said U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Jason Schuette, who serves in the U.S. Navy's N88 office as the EA-6B and Marine Air Ground Taskforce (MAGTF) electronic warfare requirements officer. Schuette was speaking at the Lexington Institute's Electronic Attack Capitol Hill Conference on July 28.

"In fact, in two years, when I get ready to upgrade whatever is inside this pod, I will just pullout the part and put in the new one," Schuette said of upgrading the device to it's future Intrepid Tiger II configuration. "I will [not] rely on industry to continue to make a part that is old and obsolete; I'll put in the new one."

Eventually the pod will not only collect communications intelligence and jam those transmissions, but also it will be upgraded to provide electronic support.

Schuette said the service was able to build the cheap and flexible pod by leveraging commercial development of the electronic hardware. New civilian hardware can produce very clean signals, he said.

The challenge, said Schuette, is the bureaucracy - the Marines have to convince the test community that the new part will not have to undergo an exhaustive test process from scratch.

"The challenge will be convincing the testing powers-that-be that we shouldn't have to go back and do all sorts integration testing to field this pod that we continue upgrade," Schuette said.

Timely fielding of new technology is critical in the fast moving electronic attack field because technology and threats change rapidly, he said. Fielding upgrades quickly is vital.

The pod will be tested next month with a Harrier squadron and will deploy in the fall if everything goes according to plan, Schuette said. But eventually the pod will also be carried on the F/A-18 Hornet fighter and AH-1 attack helicopters.

In keeping with Marine doctrine, the pod will be used to support Marine ground forces, whose radio battalions will control the pod from the surface. The pilot will be able to control the pod, but the idea is that Marines on the ground control the pod, eventually with a handheld device.