S. Korea to Deploy Apache Choppers near N. Korea: Report

SEOUL - South Korea plans to deploy Apache choppers to a border island to guard against attacks by North Korea after Pyongyang's deadly shelling of another frontline island in November, a report said June 12.
The South's military is building helicopter hangars capable of accommodating several attack helicopters in Baengnyeong island near the tense maritime border on the Yellow Sea, Yonhap news agency said, citing a military source.

By October 2012, South Korea's military will have 36 Apache attack choppers armed with guided missiles and rockets, some of which will be deployed to the closest island to the disputed border with the North, Yonhap said.
Local media have reported the North has recently built a new naval base in Goampo, about 31 miles north of Baengnyeong, that could send some 60 hovercraft with military commandos aboard to the South.
"We now need large attack choppers since the (North's) naval base has turned out to be far bigger than we had thought, posing a bigger threat of infiltration," said a source quoted by Yonhap.
A defense ministry spokesman said it has been trying to strengthen the military presence near the border, but declined to elaborate further.
The Yellow Sea maritime border has been the scene of deadly naval clashes between two Koreas in 1999, 2002 and November 2009.
One of five frontier islands there - Yeonpyeong - was shelled last November by the North in artillery attacks that killed four South Koreans including two civilians.
Seoul since then has deployed more troops and weapons to the frontline islands that had long been guarded by thousands of marines and naval forces.

A First for Russia's Booming Industry

MOSCOW - Russian Helicopters will become the first Russian government-controlled industrial holding producing military hardware to go public, aiming to raise $500 million in an initial public offering on London and Moscow exchanges.
"The offering is expected to consist of the sale of the existing shares primarily by the company's major shareholder, Oboronprom, as well as up to $250 million of primary shares in the form of Global Depositary Receipts," the company said in a statement April 12.

One GDR represents one ordinary share.
"The company currently plans to use net proceeds ... to pay off existing debts and to fund certain mandatory tender offers for shares in its subsidiaries," the company said.
Russian Helicopters, which claims to be the No. 1 global producer of attack helicopters and the world's leader in producing medium and heavy-lift rotorcraft, was created by the government in 2007 to bring the country's helicopter-makers into a single vertically integrated holding.
It is 100 percent controlled by Oboronprom, another government-controlled holding, that controls the country's engine-makers.
The company holds majority stakes in every Russian major helicopter-maker, including Mil (72.38 percent), Kamov (99.79 percent), Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant (75.09 percent), Kazan Helicopter Plant (65.9 percent) and several others.
The consolidation of the helicopter-makers was completed in December, when Russian Helicopters announced that it had boosted its share in the Rostvertol, Rostov-on-Don-based plant, from 22.76 percent to 75.06 percent.
Russian Helicopters plans to announce the placement price on May 11, and the main trading session will start May 16.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas and VTB Capital, an investment arm of the Russian government-controlled VTB bank, have been appointed as joint global coordinator and book runners.
VTB Capital has valued Russian Helicopters at $2.5 billion to $3 billion ahead of the initial public offering in Moscow and London, Russian official news agency RIA Novosti reported April 14. BoA Merrill Lynch has reported the company value is $2.2 billion to $3.2 billion.
Officials at Oboronprom and Russian Helicopters declined to comment on the initial public offering on the record, citing its sensitivity.
"We are already the undisputed leader in some of the most attractive and fastest growing markets in the global helicopter industry. Our IPO comes at a time when we enter into a new cycle of long-term growth, with strong demand and firm orders from our existing customers, and increasing opportunities to win new customers in new markets around the world," Dmitry Petrov, CEO of the Russian Helicopters, said in an April statement.

Market Potential

Helicopter-making is the booming industry in Russia, with strong export prospects and promising domestic orders, both state and commercial ones.
"Last year, we even created a special department to trade in helicopters," said Vyacheslav Davidenko, spokesman for Rosoboronexport, the official arms exports agency. "The global demand for the Russian helicopters is growing."
Latin America, India and Southeast Asia remain the biggest buyers of Russian helicopters, Davidenko said.
In 2009, 30 percent of the 183 helicopters rolled out by the company were sold to foreign militaries, half of the total was domestic and foreign commercial civilian orders, and the remaining 20 percent was procured by government agencies, including the Defense Ministry.
The company was 69 in the Defense News Top 100 ranking in 2009, with the total revenue of $1.82 billion, revenue from defense of $813.8 million, and profit of $173 million.
In 2010, the holding produced 214 helicopters, Russian Helicopters said.
The company has not yet disclosed its 2010 financial results, but its website said that the company accounted for about 85 percent of helicopter sales in Russia and the former Soviet Union, and 13.5 percent of worldwide helicopter sales in U.S. dollar terms.
Yuri Slusar, head of the aviation industry department at the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry, said April 27 that output of the Russian helicopter-making industry grew by 2.5 times between 2003 and 2007, while revenues grew 2.1 times between 2006 and 2010.
"This is the leading sector, they are profitable, having total revenue of some $2.5 billion, they have a profit margin of 10-12 percent," he told journalists in Moscow.
He added that in the past decade, Russia was the world's third biggest producer of the military helicopters, while it ranked seventh in the 1990s.
Under the 2011-20 state arms procurement program, the Defense Ministry and the security agencies plan to buy 1,000 helicopters of different models and types.
Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin told journalists that $29 billion will be spent on helicopters under the program through 2020. More than 100 choppers are to be delivered to the Russian military in 2011, he added.
In an April 15 statement, company officials said that it had signed a dealership treaty with the Brazilian Qualy Group Brasil for delivery of 150 light Mi-34S1 helos.
According to an industry source, Russian Helicopters is now loaded with orders for 2011, 2012 and most of 2013
"Russia's recovering economy props the demand for helicopters by the big Russian companies, like Gazprom, that operate in remote and hardly accessible areas," said Roman Kirillov, the spokesman for the Russian Helicopters, said.
According to a company statement, its order portfolio by the end of 2010 counted 351 choppers, 20 percent of them being commercial and the rest being military; 204 helicopters have been ordered to be delivered in 2011.
Konstantin Makiyenko, a researcher with the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, a think tank here, said the outstanding design of the flagship among the Russian Helicopters, Mi-17 and its modifications, are the key driver behind the development of the Russian helicopter industry.

RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS

Founded: 2007.
DN Top 100 rank: 69.
2009 revenue: $1.8 billion total; $813.8 million from defense.
General director: Dmitry Petrov.
Employees: 38,177 as of 2009.
Average salary: $700 per month.

Team Players Sensors, Data Links Will Tie Latest Apache into Net, Data Links Will Tie Latest Apache into Net

The U.S. Army is set to field the fastest, most maneuverable AH-64D Apache Longbows in its history, but it might be the sensors inside the attack helicopter's black boxes that end up defining it.
Pilots will have a window into each perspective on the battlefield - from the soldiers on the ground, the unmanned aerial systems (UAS) flying nearby, or a Kiowa scout helicopter already on station. It is part of the larger Manned Unmanned Teaming Level 2 project the Army is pursuing to integrate the influx of sensors populating Army aircraft underbellies.
Block III Apaches feature performance upgrades to help the aircraft fly and hover in mountainous terrains found in Afghanistan, and improve maneuverability bled off the aircraft by adding weight to the D-model Longbows.
Engineers added a 701D engine, composite rotor blades and an Improved Drive System of the 21st Century Face Gear Transmission, which provides the aircraft more power. These upgrades will give pilots 6K/95 hover performance: the helicopter can hover at 6,000 feet even when the temperature hits 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
What some in the aviation community find more exciting are the upgraded antennas and computing power added to the Block III. Feeds from UAS and nearby helicopters will be fed into the Apache's digital cockpit. Apache pilots can also record feeds and send them to other Apache, Kiowa and UAS pilots as well as troops with the One System Remote Video Terminal.
The first Block III Apache will roll off Boeing's production line in October, said Col. Shane Openshaw, the Apache program's project manager. Five combat aviation brigades - the 1st, 10th, 101st, 3rd and 229th - will fly Block IIIs by 2013.
The first Block III Apaches will be sent to the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade. The addition of the Block III will allow the service to retire the A model by 2013.
The 101st will become the first full-spectrum combat aviation brigade in the Army, adding a Grey Eagle UAS company and two Shadow platoons. Incorporating the Block III Apaches will help fast-track that process, Openshaw said.
"The 101st will effectively be writing all the tactics, techniques and procedures to be utilized through the system. We've learned a lot through VUIT-2, but this has even more capability," said Lt. Col. John Vannoy, product manager for Apache Sensor Systems.
VUIT stands for video from unmanned aircraft systems for interoperability teaming.
Aviation leaders want soldiers on the ground to walk Apache pilots onto targets, as both look at the same video that is broadcast from an RQ-7B Shadow UAV. And if the Apache is called to a different target, the pilots can send that same video to another Apache or Kiowa, replacing them in the fight.
Security of that data has been an additional concern the past couple years. Block III Apaches will have Tx/Rx encryption that will allow them to protect the signals being sent via the Ku-band digital antennas. Encrypting the data has added to the challenge of making sure everyone is on the same page, said Col. Gregory Gonzalez, head of the Army's UAS Project Office.
"Encryption of all these data links just changes things to an enormous degree, because then you have to make sure all the data links work but make sure you have the right crypto for it," Gonzalez said.
The Apache's new Ku-band antennas have a longer range - 15 versus 12 kilometers - than the VUIT that preceded the newer Apaches. The system also takes half the time to boot up. It took up to five minutes; now pilots can start it in less than three.
Block III Apache's additional computing also comes with a bonus: Its total system weight is 49 pounds lighter than VUIT.
The Army will test the Block III Apaches and how effectively the service has advanced in integrating UAS with manned aircraft this September at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. Shadows, Grey Eagles, Kiowas and Apaches will fly in the Manned/Unmanned Systems Integration Capability exercise running through different battlefield scenarios with troops on the ground.
"This gives us a chance to show the maturation of the TTPs [tactics, training and procedures] we've developed over the past few years and test out a few new ones to make this work even better," said Tim Owings, Army UAS deputy program manager.
Getting helicopter pilots on board for the manned-unmanned teaming concept and an exercise like this has allowed the Army to turn the corner towards integrating each aviation asset more seamlessly on the battlefield, Gonzalez said.
"The manned aviation community started off not caring about unmanned systems, then they were pretty agnostic about it, now they are not only hopeful but they want what we can provide them," Gonzalez said.

Ship, Sub Building Efforts Back on Track: U. S. Navy Undersecretary

The U.S. Navy's major shipbuilding and aviation programs are largely setting into stability, but questions are rising about the strategic outlook for the Navy and Marine Corps and the forces they will need in the future, all in the context of a declining defense budget.

Undesecretary of the U.S. Navy Robert Work recently sat down with Defense News for a wide-ranging interview. (U.S. Navy)

Navy Undersecretary Robert Work is in the center of the effort to define the Navy Department's direction and map out its future roles.

Q. How are you going to cut the budget for 2013?

A. First of all, we have not received fiscal guidance yet for POM 13 [Program Objective Memorandum]. We expect it momentarily. The way that this will work is the Navy and the Marines have been working on an expected top line which was based on last year's submission, the POM 12 submission, and that is due into the Department of the Navy on the 2nd of May. Then we will have three months to prepare the budget and turn it over to the Department of Defense, and then we'll go through the budget review throughout the rest of the year like we normally do. So we're expecting to get top level guidance here within the next week.
The Navy and the Marine Corps will refine their plans based on the guidance and will continually refine them until the 30th of July or so when it is due to the secretary of defense. So I'm expecting the numbers will change slightly, over time depending on how the budget negotiations go on the Hill, and we'll just adjust accordingly.

Q. Arguably, you haven't taken a major swipe at cutting your budget yet.

A. No, we're still operating under the fiscal guidance that's in right now. Of course if we get a year-long continuing resolution or if we get a bill for 2011, then we'll have to see what the impacts will be on '12 and make adjustments there. It's extremely fluid and flexible. I can't recall a time where we've been so deep in the fiscal year without a budget. And Congress hasn't even turned its attention to the 2012 budget, which under normal rules would be passed around the October time frame. We're in such an uncertain environment right now that talking about the budget really is not fruitful.

Q. Japan is still dealing with fallout from the earthquake and tsunami, and concerns about radiation from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear reactors recently caused the U.S. to send the Yokosuka-based aircraft carrier George Washington to sea, right in the middle of an overhaul. Has a decision been made about where the ship's going to go? Will the disasters affect the future of the Navy's Forward-Deployed Naval Forces in Japan?

A. We believe the FDNF will remain and that we will have a strong presence in Japan after this terrible disaster. We are getting more and more of our experts into Japan to help on the remediation. As far as I know, there has been no indication at all, and no discussion at all on the future of FDNF. It's to be assumed it will remain. [The question of where the George Washington will go hasn't] been resolved yet. A lot is going to depend on the mediation of the nuclear plants. Everyone's taking a look at this problem and trying to determine the best way to resolve it.

Q. The Marines are thinking ahead to where they're going to be post-Afghanistan. How do you see the shape of the Corps ten years from now?

A. The Corps structure review group that was set up by Commandant Gen. James Amos has finished. It was a bottom-up review to look at all the different things they were told to in the most recent quadrennial defense review and defense planning guidance. They come up with the 186,800 person Marine Corps. Now, they're a force of readiness. That's their key role. And the Secretary of Defense endorsed that role.
The plan is, depending on resources of course, to be manned very close to 100 percent as possible. They would have an entirely modernized and upgraded ground mobility portfolio based on two new systems - the Marine Corps personnel carrier and the new amphibious vehicle. Our hope is that we can get have eight battalions of the new amphibious vehicle and four battalions of the Marine personnel carrier.
The Marines have already dropped the total number of vehicles in their Marine Air-Ground Task Force, forcewide, from 42,000 to about 32,500, and they did that by essentially matching butts to seats. And they said how do we keep mobility in the ground force? They are looking at their joint light tactical fleet, what's the best way forward, should it be the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle or should there be some other option? They've looked at their medium truck fleet. I think they're in real good shape.
Aviation looks very bright. The secretary, the commandant and I are very confident that the engineering problems on the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter are going to be resolved. The Marines have made a decision to put five F-35C [carrier variant] squadrons aboard carriers, so they have lined up about 21 active squadrons, five of them C's, the remainder of them B's.
[Development of] the CH-53K [heavy-lift helicopter] is moving right along, and we're extremely happy with the AH-1Z [attack helicopters] and the UH-1Y [utility helicopter].
So when we take a look at a force in readiness, able to come from the sea, the plan is in place for a thoroughly modernized Marine Corps and thoroughly ready Marine Corps, going back to its naval roots and its amphibious heritage.

Q. Is naval fire support something in need of a solution or is the current capability acceptable?

A. In '13, we hope to take a look again at the 5-inch guided round, but the 6-inch guided round, the 155mm is going well. It's already met its threshold in range. The plans are to have three DDG 1000 destroyers carrying six of those systems.
We have an awful lot of 5-inch cannons in the fleet and if we can solve the 5-inch round problem, then the combination of the 6-inch rounds, 5-inch rounds and air-delivered ordnance is going to be plenty for any foreseeable contingencies.

Q. Production of LPD 17 San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships is continuing, with half the class is already in service and the sixth ship to be delivered this summer. Every previous ship has had problems to varying degrees. Shipbuilder Huntington-Ingalls Industries (HII) would really like to deliver a good ship, but they haven't done so yet. Do you see anything on this next ship that gives you hope?

A. We've had an awful lot of problems with the class, but the most recent ships are coming in in much better shape. We're still working with HII, we still want to see quality improve. As quality improves we expect scheduling and costs to improve.
But we're very satisfied with the basic design of the ship. Workmanship is getting better. We just awarded LPD 26 to HII, LPD 27 is a 2012 ship, and we'll start to worry about that once the budget is settled.
Sailors and Marines can't say enough about [the ships]. [U.S. Fleet Forces commander] Adm. John Harvey spends an awful lot of time trying to get that ship and the wellness of that class right and I think we've made great strides in doing so.

Q. Huntington Ingalls now has been set up as an independent entity, separated from Northrop Grumman. Are you happy with what you've seen so far with HII? What are you looking for from them in the future?

A. We're very happy that we have two yards that build surface combatant ships and two builders that build submarines. We think that's very healthy for the nation and for the Navy. We want to move for competition whenever possible.
We're extremely happy on the spin out. We spent a lot of time trying to determine if HII was going to be viable and I think, as it's been explained, we have the base case and the stress case. We put HII under an awful lot of stress. We assumed that almost all of the ships from '11, all five of the ships under construction, would have marginal performance at the same time, and that we would take the carrier to maximum speed. We stressed everything. We're working hard with HII on quality control issues, and they are extremely motivated to make this thing work.
We're very happy that we have done due diligence, and we think that HII is in as good a place as possible. [Shipyard chief] Mike Petters is exactly right, they have to focus on performance, specifically quality. If the quality goes up, then the costs go down, and the schedule gets back on. I think Mike is focused on exactly the right thing and we're going to do everything we can to work with HII to make sure they're successful.

Q. The biggest ship they're building right now on the Gulf coast is the assault ship America (lha 6). Will there be another lha without a well deck and an aviation version of that ship or is that going to be a one-off ship?

A. Nope, there will be two ships. LHA 7 will not have a well deck on it, and we'll have two aviation-capable ships.
Our intent is for LHA 8, which right now is a 2016 ship, to have a well deck in it. We're doing an analysis to determine the best and most inexpensive way for us to achieve that. Is it a repeat of the LHA 8 Makin class or is it an LHA with a well deck inserted into it? It's not going to be a completely newly-designed ship. It'll be a mod repeat of some type with a well deck in it.

Q. If it has a well deck, why isn't it called LHD 9?

A. That's a good question. I don't know whether that's been decided yet.

Q. Back to shipyards. As you know, both shipyards that built the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) are U.S. subsidiaries of foreign owners. Do you see any issue with foreign ownership of U.S. shipyards?

A. So far, we're very comfortable with the smaller, mid-tier yards being foreign-owned. Marinette with Fincantieri and Austal USA with Austal. We're encouraged by the quality and we're encouraged by the management improvements that both of the companies are making.
We haven't really had to deal with foreign ownership of a larger yard - a NASSCO, or HII or Electric Boat. Certainly a nuclear yard [would be] a red line. We haven't really addressed a larger tier one yard. We would be concerned with a foreign owner of those yards.

Q. Of course, bae now owns most of the private repair yards in the U.S. doing U.S. Navy repair work.

A. That's true, from what we can see, there is no issue, Congress hasn't seemed to be at all worried about this. We certainly see a lot of advantages in this because of some of the management improvements that they're making as well as capital improvements they're making.

Q. The guided-missile submarine Florida was in action recently in the Mediterranean against the Libyan government. Has the ssgn proven itself?

A. I think the SSGN is a big success story. I think there's a lot more potential on the platform.
The two things that are at least definitely proven are that it is a tremendous covert strike platform, a volume strike platform. On the first day [of the missile strikes on Libya], the majority of U.S. Navy Tomahawks fired on Libya came off that single ship. So, covert volume strike has proven itself in combat. The majority of missiles fired on the first night from U.S. Navy platforms came from submarines and the majority of missiles that came from submarines came from Florida.
And it's a tremendous special operations forces (SOF) support platform. It can carry two dry deck shelters, two swimmer delivery vehicles. Essentially you have to think of this ship as having 24 tractor trailer-sized multi-function payload tubes. If you want to put [cruise missiles] in, you can. You can store SOF ammunition, you can store SOF gear. You could put unmanned underwater vehicles. I think there's a lot more potential for the submarine as a UUV mother ship. It has tremendous payload capacity and a very high availability rates because of the dual crew.

Q. Let's talk about airplanes. The 5th-generation Joint Strike Fighter will be in service in a few years, and some are already thinking about 6th-generation aircraft. How would you characterize that work?

A. Extremely at the beginning of the beginning.
The F/A-18 E and F [Super Hornet] is an extremely capable platform as you know fromWe're going to be operating Es and Fs well into the 2020s.
The JSF, we're hoping we'll have no more slips. The first six F-35C squadrons would be stood up by the end of this decade and they'll start deploying in the early 2020s.
So essentially, we're in very good shape as far as total number of strike fighters. Assuming the B and C do well, we'll be operating a mix of F/A-18 Es and Fs and F-35 Bs and Cs essentially through the 2020s.
The N-UCLASS - an unmanned system, carrier-capable, air-refuelable - we're going for a limited operational capability in 2018. That is going to inform what the next generation, or sixth generation fighter, might be.
So the debate within the department is, could that be a mix? Could it be a mix of manned and unmanned? Could it be an optionally manned platform? Do we believe that in 2030, when we need to start replacing the earliest Es and Fs ,will we be ready to go to an unmanned system at that point?
So we are just at the beginning of this. We've laid in the money in our 30-year aviation plan to be looking at that 6th-generation fighter starting around the 2020 time frame. That's when the majority of the RDT&E [research, development, testing and evaluation] money would start to fill in.
We have the 2013 and the 2017 QDRs, and many, many budget cycles between now and then. I think you could get people on both sides of the equation to tell the Navy what it needs but I don't think we're anywhere near knowing what the right answer is yet.

Q. Is the Navy considering additional assets to handle increased duties in the Arctic as global warming decreases the ice cap?

A. So far it's a Coast Guard area. There hasn't been any discussion between the Coast Guard and the Navy on whether the Navy would buy any icebreakers themselves. Our position is this is a Coast Guard mission best served by the Coast Guard.
The Arctic is central to future planning. We're very anxious to participate in climate change and in projections about how the future of the Arctic might unfold.
Submarines are up there, operating under the ice now. Potentially in the future we would have more surface ships. But as of right now there are no programs for any Navy icebreakers or any special ice-strengthened ships. Once we get a good feeling of what our long-term top line might be, I think further discussions between the Coast Guard and the Navy will occur on how we will be able to help each other in missions of mutual interest.

Q. Requirements are set by the combatant commanders, yet at times there seems to be little debate about the real need of the cocom requirements. Is this a good process or is it in need of some review?

A. They don't really set requirements, they have RRFs, Request for Forces. They submit their requests for forces and say, I need a ballistic missile defense ship, or a submarine for intelligence, surveillance or reconnaissance work, or a Marine task force, or an Army brigade combat team to do combat operations. The request comes into the Joint Staff. And there is a process by which you say, you just cannot get this.
The example with the Navy that I know of for sure is, if you add up all the requirements for submarines, where the combatant commander said I would like to have all sorts of submarines, the number would be above 15. But we say no, this is how many we can supply based on the total number of ships we have. So therefore the RRFs are adjudicated and combatant commanders are given submarines for missions that are deemed higher priority.
So the system does work. But I would say that over time, the system is designed to defer to the COCOM if at all possible. We look for ways to say yes, rather than try to determine whether we should truly say no for the good of the force. And I think this is a big, big debate that we have to have, and I think it's happening here within the department now.
The RRF process is in place. It does work, especially on high demand, low-density items - nobody can get everything they want, so you have to prioritize. And I think now what we'll be looking at is, if you want a ballistic missile defense ship, how would we be able to source that? How many amphibious ready groups might be demanded, or how many carrier battle groups?
As resources go down and operations and maintenance money goes down, the RRF process will be tightened up. Instead of looking always to say yes, we'll take a more holistic view across the force and whether we should be saying yes to this request or should we maintain the force? It's a big debate that happens every day in the Pentagon.

Q. Is the Navy right now paying a price for meeting the cocom request for two carrier strike groups to be on station in Fifth Fleet to support operations in Afghanistan?

A. Since 2006 Navy surface combatants, aircraft carriers and submarines have essentially been operating at major combat operations levels of demand. And the price the Navy pays for that is in missed maintenance, longer deployments, and this is another big issue.
People say, hey, why do you have to get to 313 ships when you're meeting all this demand with 287? What's the issue?
Well, the issue is we want to continue to meet that demand. But with the greater number of ships we don't want to increase presence, we want to have a sustainable operational model where we meet most of these demands but we can maintain our fleet so that each of our platforms can reach the end of their service lives.
When you hear the Navy arguing for more ships, it's not necessarily to say we want more ships out there all the time. We want to be able to meet the demand in a sustainable way where we can do our maintenance, take care of our sailors and Marines, and make sure that over time we're going to have the force ready when needed.

South Africa Launches Combat Helicopter Program

JOHANNESBURG - South African defense firm Denel handed its new Rooivalk armed helicopter over to the military April 1, a project 27 years in the making touted as a boost to national pride.
The Rooivalk program, which cost an estimated 613 billion rand ($91 billion, 64 billion euros) from its launch in 1984 under the apartheid regime, had often been derided as a waste of money in a country whose military mission had changed radically during that time.

But air force leaders and defense contractors said April 1 the handover of five combat-ready helicopters was a proud day for South Africa and a sign of the country's robust industry.
"It proves that South Africa has the capacity for design, engineering and manufacturing to compete effectively in the global environment," said Antonie Visser, chief of defense materiel for the South African defense department.
"It is giving a certain image to South Africa, that we are capable of producing such equipment. That's exactly the reason why there are many aviation companies that make use of South Africa to help them manufacture certain components," he told AFP.
The Rooivalk, which can be armed with anti-tank missiles and is equipped for night combat, was conceived during the apartheid era when South Africa was under a United Nations arms embargo and needed air support for troops fighting a war against the post-independence government in Angola.
But the country's history and military mission changed dramatically with the fall of white-minority rule, throwing the helicopter into an uncertain future.
Plans to export the helicopter foundered as the project dragged on. To date the only customer is the South African government, which plans to buy a modest total of 11 Rooivalks - the remaining six to be delivered by year's end.

U.S. Army Awards Deal for Afghan Training Helos

PHOENIX - MD Helicopters Inc. of Mesa has been awarded a $186 million contract by the U.S. Army to build rotorcraft for training exercises in Afghanistan.
The deal is good news both for the helicopter manufacturer, which has been on the rebound since it nearly collapsed financially six years ago, and for financially strapped Mesa, which is aggressively pursuing industrial recruitment and expansion.

The contract calls for six MD 530F helicopters to be built initially as the Army's primary training aircraft in Shindand, Afghanistan, according to the Army. As many as 54 aircraft would be manufactured at the company's Falcon Field Airport plant in Mesa over the life of the four-year contract.
Advisers from the U.S., United Kingdom and New Zealand have conducted joint training with Afghan Air Force student pilots and Afghan national army non-commissioned-officer trainees at Shindand air base, according to a NATO-Afghanistan news release.
"This is so huge for us, not just in terms of the dollar amount," said Lynn Tilton, MD's CEO and chairwoman. "It's a vote of confidence from the government and the U.S. Army, and I believe it's the first such contract since MD was owned by Boeing years ago."
She said the contract will create jobs, but she would not say how many.
"We will need to hire people," Tilton said. "But we need to be very intelligent about that, coming off the industry's downturn."
The contract also provides some stability for the company's current well-paid workforce.
The contract is a significant development that could lead to additional work for the company from the Defense Department, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said.
Although MD is known for its extensive line of commercial helicopters, it also manufactures military aircraft and is in discussions with The Boeing Co. on a contract to collaborate on production of the Boeing AH-6i light-attack/reconnaissance helicopter for the global market.
Boeing builds its Apache helicopters at sprawling facilities just northwest of Falcon Field.
Company officials said the MD 530F is a perfect fit for the Army training mission.
The helicopter is equipped with the 650 shaft horsepower Rolls-Royce 250-C30 engine and longer main-rotor blades. It is described as the company's finest high-altitude performer in extremely hot weather.
Company officials said the helicopter also has greater takeoff power at significantly higher hover-ceiling levels than its competitors, and is known for its speed, agility, low direct operating costs and the ability to operate with ease in confined spaces.

Pakistan To Get Paveway Training Rounds

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan will be getting new Paveway II enhanced laser-guided training bombs from Lockheed Martin under the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency's Foreign Military Sales program.
According to a Feb. 22 DSCA announcement, Pakistan will receive 300 Paveway IIs, along with 74 wooden containers and 23 replacement-in-kind wooden containers, for $866,850.

Also, Malaysia will receive 60 Paveway II bombs, along with 15 wooden containers, for $173,370, the announcement said.
The bombs will be produced at Lockheed's plant in Archbald, Pa., and the order is expected to be completed in June 2013. The U.S. Navy's Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., will oversee the contract.
Pakistan has been buying large amounts of U.S. bombs and kits in response to the Taliban insurgency in the tribal areas of the country's northwest. In 2010, the U.S. delivered to Pakistan 1,000 MK-82 500-pound bombs, and 700 GBU-12 and 300 GBU-10 Paveway laser-guided bomb kits produced by Lockheed and Raytheon.
However, a Pakistan military spokesman, Brigadier S. Azmat Ali, said the DSCA announcement does not mean the deal had been finalized.
"It will take some time," he said. "This is a cycle that keeps on going. We've been requesting them for some time. Sometimes they provide them, sometimes they do not."
Other munitions that Pakistan has acquired via the Pentagon's FMS program include TOW anti-tank guided missiles for its fleet of AH-1F Cobra attack helicopters. The TOW missiles been heavily used in counterinsurgency operations.
Ali said operations are "limited at present," as there has been a quiet period on Pakistan's frontier with Afghanistan, but that avenues for the munitions' replacement are ongoing.
When asked if there is a timeframe for this, he said there is "no immediate scope; definitely not in the near future."

IDEX: UAE To Modify Black Hawks Into Gunships

ABU DHABI - The United Arab Emirates is set to turn a number of its Sikorsky Black Hawks into gunships in a deal with the U.S. helicopter maker worth nearly 1 billion Arab Emirate dirhams ($272 million).

The announcement of a plan to buy weaponization kits for 23 of its Black Hawk UH-60M helicopters was the pick of a 4 billion Arab Emirate dirham order bonanza unveiled by the UAE armed forces at the IDEX show Feb. 21 in Abu Dhabi.
Included in the list of 21 orders was a second deal with Sikorsky, this time a program to train Black Hawk pilots and technicians in a contract valued at 65 million Arab Emirate dirhams. The scheme to turn the UH-60M into an air assault machine gives the U.S. helicopter maker a launch customer for the Battle Hawk weaponization package it has been working on for some time now.
A Sikorsky spokesman here was unable to give additional information on the deals.
Information previously released by the company shows the weaponization package will give the UAE military a helicopter able to fire rockets, heavy-caliber machine guns and missiles from four weapon stations.
The bulk of the work will be undertaken by AMMROC, the maintenance, overhaul and repair center set up here last year in a joint venture between Sikorsky and a local company, Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies.
With further development work still needed on the weaponization package, sources said it was likely the first modified helicopters would be handed over to the UAE around 2014. The deal could be expanded later to cover further weaponization kits, the sources said.
UAE has long been tipped as a launch customer for the Battle Hawk package, but Sikorsky wasn't the only helicopter manufacturer to benefit from new orders here.
AgustaWestland secured a 336 million Arab Emirate dirham order for the delivery of four AW139 rotorcraft for VIP duties.
The helicopter deals kicked off what is likely to become a daily routine of contract announcements here if the last IDEX show provides an example. Almost every day at IDEX 2009, the IDEX spokesman arrived in the press center to reel off a long list of orders running into billions of dirhams.
The centerpiece announcement in 2009 was the purchase of Alenia Aermacchi M-346 trainers and light attack aircraft. That deal remains on ice with the two sides at loggerheads over a number of issues, and there is little indication the deal will be signed any time soon.
Asked whether there had been any progress toward signing the deal, IDEX spokesman Maj. Gen. Obaid Al Ketbi said there was "nothing much happening in that area."
Then, as now, many of the announcements for small-value deals caught contractors by surprise.
Included in the list of contracts this time around is South Korean company Hanwha, which is supplying arms and ammunition; engines for unmanned air systems from Denel of South Africa; fire control systems for naval guns from Selex of Italy; munitions from Diehl BGT Defence of Germany; and bulletproof vests from local company Al Naboodah Protection.
The IDEX spokesman there would be more deals to come over the next few days.

IDEX: ATK To Modify Planes for Jordanian Military

ABU DHABI - The Jordanian military is turning two CASA-235 aircraft into heavily armed gunships and has contracted ATK to modify the transport aircraft, the U.S. firm announced Feb. 20 at IDEX 2011.

A graphic of the gunship that ATK will produce for the Royal Jordanian Air Force. (ATK)

ATK is partnering with Jordanian state-owned King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau to modifying the EADS-built aircraft in time for a late spring 2013 delivery to the Royal Jordanian Air Force.

ATK will install and integrate electro-optical targeting systems, a laser designator, aircraft self-protection equipment, and an armaments capability that includes Hellfire laser-guided missiles, 2.75-inch rockets, and a M230 link-fed 30mm chain gun similar to the one ATK supplies for the Apache attack helicopter.
Work will be performed in Jordan and at three ATK sites in the U.S.
ATK's special mission aircraft business in 2008 modified a Cessna Grand Caravan to an armed configuration for the Iraqi military. The aircraft has a similar weapons fit to the Jordanian aircraft. Its capabilities include air-to-air and air-to-ground data links.
In a separate announcement involving Jordan, the Austrian rotary unmanned air systems supplier Schiebel said it had delivered two Camcopter S-100 machines to KADDB. The vehicles will be used by the Royal Jordanian Air Force for surveillance and reconnaissance duties.