U.S. Navy: Tests Show Fire Scout Improvements

More than a thousand hours of flight time carried out this year by deployed Fire Scout unmanned helicopters is evidence that the system is working through its developmental problems and showing itself able to deliver a reliable reconnaissance and surveillance capability, the program's U.S. Navy managers said.

Three Fire Scout unmanned helicopters sit ready for shipment from Maryland to Afghanistan on April 13. Fire Scouts have performed better on deployment than in tests, program managers claim. (Kelly Schindler / U.S. Navy)

"Since May 21, we've got over 718 hours of flight time in Afghanistan," said Capt. Patrick Smith, the Navy's Fire Scout program manager at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. "We have a monthly goal of 300 hours, and in June we hit 307. In July, we're tracking toward 375 hours. Our reports back from our U.S. and allied customers have been very, very favorable. And this is why I would call all the work done in early 2011 a success. The proof is in the pudding with what we're doing in Afghanistan."

Two Fire Scout systems, including six aircraft and their control units, were sent to Afghanistan in April and May at the request of combatant commanders. Another system with two aircraft has been deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and Horn of Africa region aboard the frigate Halyburton.
"We've put over 435 hours of flight time from USS Halyburton," Smith said, despite the June 21 loss of one of the aircraft over Libya. A replacement aircraft was soon sent out to the frigate, he added.
The reliability of the MQ-8B Fire Scout was recently called into question by an "early fielding report" prepared by the Pentagon's Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E). The report, which relied on data and observations completed this spring, claimed the control data link between airborne drones and their ground-based controllers was "fragile," and that the Navy's test program was not realistic or complete.
The Navy plans to buy up to 168 Fire Scouts from Northrop Grumman to operate from ships at sea. The program is still in its test phases, and is not expected to be declared operationally effective until 2013.
The DOT&E report chided the program for an inability to provide a "time-sensitive" asset, and claimed that half the missions flying from the Halyburton were unsuccessful.
"The deployment had two purposes," Smith said. "Integration with the ship to support anti-piracy and maritime operations, and as a proof of concept with our special operations forces in supporting sea-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
"We've had some fantastic collection of data," Smith said. "We've had very good reports from the customers."
Smith did not dispute the DOT&E report's findings that the early spring tests at Webster Field in southern Maryland were difficult.
"We were surging to meet the Afghan deployment," he said. "We were able to prove out all the hot weather changes that were incorporated. All the payload issues. And train the crews.
"We were not able to execute a major scenario that would truly simulate what they would see in Afghanistan. We were able to do it in parts, but not altogether."
Among the problems, he said, were range limitations, scheduling issues, and the availability of aircraft and people.
"We were also packing up the systems to ship them to Afghanistan," said Cmdr. Manny Picon, the program's military lead.
"We have a bit more hindsight now than was available then they wrote the report," Smith said. "The big thing we're tying to get out is we understand the issues. We've had issues with the data link as reported in the early fielding reports. We look at the flight hours as more of an indicator as to how we've been able to produce."
A well-publicized event last year when a Fire Scout headed for Washington after its data link was lost was due to a software problem that's been fixed, Smith said. Reliability has not been a significant factor on the deployed systems.
"With Halyburton and in Afghanistan, we've not seen similar behavior, losing the links, that we saw at Webster," Smith said, nor have there been major problems in restoring lost links. "Yes, they've had dropped links, but it has not impacted missions. It's been restored and missions have continued. I would classify them as minor interruptions, as you'd have with any radio system. Our datalink reliability is in the high 90 percentages."

U.S. Envoy Doubts North Korea Ready for Talks

WASHINGTON - The nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to South Korea voiced doubt July 21 that North Korea was prepared to return to serious negotiations despite its appeals for talks.
"We're not convinced that they really are ready to return to serious diplomacy and negotiations," Sung Kin, who is now the special envoy to moribund six-nation talks, told a Senate hearing on his nomination to Seoul.

"This is why I think Seoul and Washington have both been very cautious in just rushing back to the negotiating table.
"In light of what has happened in the past two years, I think the North Koreans need to prove that they will in fact be a serious partner when the negotiations resume," he added.
North Korea pulled out of the six-nation talks in 2009, accusing the United States of hostility. It then tested a nuclear bomb and last year fired on a civilian island in the South and allegedly sank a vessel, incidents that killed 50 people.
North Korea and China, its main ally, have both since called for a resumption of the talks. But the United States has urged Pyongyang to first show its clear commitment to previous denuclearization agreements and to lower tensions with South Korea.
President Barack Obama's administration has described its policy as "strategic patience" - waiting for North Korea to come around without the United States conceding ground.
Sung Kim, who is expected to win Senate confirmation, would be the first Korean American envoy to Seoul. His nomination came after Obama named Gary Locke, now commerce secretary, to be the first Chinese American ambassador to Beijing.
Some Asian American advocates have described the nominations as historic as the community has long voiced concern that it is perceived as perpetually foreign.
"When my parents brought me to the United States over 35 years ago, they could not have imagined that I would have the opportunity to serve as the first Korean American ambassador to the Republic of Korea," Kim said.
Kim said he would use his unique position to encourage people exchanges including in the arts, academia and sports.
"I hope that if confirmed, I will have an opportunity to really bring that to a new level," he said.

Turkey Defense Minister May Raise Prominence of Naval Programs

ANKARA - Turkey's naval programs are expected to gain prominence after the appointment of a maritime expert as the country's new defense minister, procurement officials said.
There may also be a reshuffle of personnel at the procurement office, excluding the top official, Murad Bayar, as well as a flurry of new procurement rules. But they said the government's doctrinal approach in favor of national/indigenous programs would progress on the same line regardless of a change at the Cabinet level.

The mildly Islamist government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month appointed Ismet Yilmaz as new defense minister after his party's third consecutive election victory June 12. Yilmaz replaced Vecdi Gonul, defense minister since 2002.
"The new minister may introduce some new procurement rules and order a personnel reshuffle, but the top bureaucracy will remain intact, and so will the government policy to go local as much as possible in procurement programs," a senior government official familiar with defense procurement said.
Yilmaz, born in 1961, graduated from the Maritime Academy in 1982 and from Istanbul University's Law Faculty in 1987. He holds master'sdegrees in maritime and law from Swedish and Turkish universities, and a doctorate in private law from Marmara University in Istanbul.
Yilmaz worked for public and private sectors for 20 years as engineer and lawyer. In 2002, he became the undersecretary for the government's Maritime Undersectariat. In government service, he also worked as deputy board director for the national telecom company, and as caretaker transport minister before the 2007 parliamentary elections. In November 2007, Yilmaz was appointed as undersecretary for the culture ministry.

U.S. Lawmakers in New Bid for Taiwan Jets

WASHINGTON - A congressional panel on July 21 urged the United States to sell F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, the latest appeal for the weaponry the island says it needs to counter a rising China.

A Taiwan Air Force F-16 fighter jet takes off from a highway in Taianan, Taiwan, on April 12 during a defense drill. A House panel voted July 21 to urge President Barack Obama to sell more jets to the island nation. (Sam Yeh / Agence France-Presse)

With no dissents, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted for a measure saying President Barack Obama "should take immediate steps to sell Taiwan all the F-16 fighter jets that are needed by Taiwan," as well as submarines.

The text quotes a report last year from the U.S. Defense Department stating that China was gaining in its military edge over Taiwan and developing the capability to "settle the dispute on Beijing's terms."
The bill has little immediate effect as it was included as an amendment to a spending bill, one step in a long process in both houses of Congress to approve funding for the fiscal year that begins in October.
But the vote was the latest sign of restlessness in Congress over the weapons. In May, nearly half of the U.S. Senate across party lines sent a joint letter urging the administration to approve the jet sales to Taiwan.
The United States last year approved $6.4 billion in weapons for Taiwan, including Patriot missiles and Black Hawk helicopters. But the administration did not include the F-16s and has said little since on the issue.
Even without the jets, China lodged a strong protest and temporarily cut off military exchanges with the United States.
In 1979, the United States switched its recognition to Beijing from Taiwan, where China's nationalists had fled 30 years earlier after being defeated in the mainland's civil war. But Congress, a stronghold of support for Taiwan, mandated that the United States provide the island with means for self-defense.
Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou has repeatedly said that the island needs F-16s to upgrade its aging fleet, despite his drive to improve ties with the mainland since taking office in 2008.

USAF Expands Oxygen-Systems Investigation

The U.S. Air Force has released a few additional details about its safety investigation into aircraft oxygen systems.
In May, the service's Air Combat Command had said that a safety investigation board, led by Maj. Gen. Steven Hoog, had been looking into the oxygen systems on a number of Air Force aircraft since January.

Now a July 21 press release says Air Force Secretary Michael Donley has ordered the service's Scientific Advisory Board to conduct a "quick-look study, gather and evaluate information, and recommend any needed corrective actions on aircraft using on-board oxygen generation systems."
The release said the Scientific Advisory Board started its study in May, but not whether it supersedes, replaces or merely accompanies the Hoog investigation.
The release indicates that the service is now looking at more types of aircraft. Previously, Air Force officials had said the investigation concerned the On-Board Oxygen Generation Systems (OBOGS) on the F-16, F-15E, A-10, F-35 and T-6 aircraft.
The release adds the B-1 Lancer, B-2 Spirit, CV-22 Osprey and "other aircraft as appropriate."
The Scientific Advisory Board study is being led by retired Air Force Gen. Gregory Martin, who commanded Air Force Materiel Command and U.S. Air Forces in Europe.
"The team will expand on previous safety and accident investigations and may include other agencies or industry partners," the Air Force release said.
According to the release, the investigation will conduct a "series of carefully controlled in-flight tests, the team will examine the subsystems identified in reported incidents. These include the pressurization system, mask and cockpit oxygen levels."
The Air Force, which grounded its F-22s in May, has not grounded any other types in connection with the investigation into oxygen systems.
Earlier July 21, the Air Force had said it had no additional information when asked whether carbon monoxide leaking into the cockpit was the most likely culprit behind the F-22 grounding.

Euro Hawk Arrives in Germany After Flight From U.S.

LONDON - The first Euro Hawk unmanned air system for the German armed forces has flown into the EADS air base at Manching after a 22-hour flight from California. The signals intelligence (SIGINT) platform should eventually replace a capability lost last year when the last of a fleet of Atlantic aircraft were retired.
Northrop Grumman's high-altitude, long-endurance platform will be fitted out with sigint sensors developed by EADS subsidiary Cassidian ahead of the Euro Hawk demonstrator being handed over to the Air Force for flight testing in mid-2012.

The Germans could order another four systems for delivery between 2015 and 2017. The U.S. contractor said July 21 the program and the timings are "tentative."
Nicolas Chamussy, the head of UAVs at Cassidian Air Systems, said the Euro Hawk work "reinforces Cassidian's role as a leader for complex UAS solutions in Europe."
Euro Hawk, a joint venture between Northrop Grumman and Cassidian, is a HALE system based on the RQ-4 Global Hawk. Additional Northrop Grumman machines are expected to be added to European capabilities in the next few years.
NATO is expected to contract for six Block 40 Global Hawks later this year to meet the Alliance Ground Surveillance requirement.

Indian Consortium May Vie for MTA

NEW DELHI - India could soon have a domestic competitor to state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), if several private-sector defense companies form a consortium to bid for the Air Force's Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) program.
The Air Force supports such a move because it would give the service more than one local military aircraft supplier and bring healthy competition to the market, one Air Force official said.

The service is slated to invite bids this year on the expected $2.2 billion MTA program, Defence Ministry sources said.
Among the companies discussing a potential group bid are Godrej and Larsen & Toubro, both of Mumbai; and Mahindra Defence Systems and Tata Power SED, based here.
There is broad agreement that the consortium should include three to five major Indian companies, which would lead a group of foreign and domestic subcontractors, said one executive with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI), an industry lobby group.
Despite broad agreement, the firms seem to be stuck on the question of a lead contractor, the FICCI executive said, with Tata Power SED and Larsen & Toubro appearing to be the favorites.
The executive said a group of three to five major Indian companies can handle the job.
The consortium could be created on the lines of the Chinese ARJ-21 project, which has about 58 overseas and domestic private-sector vendors supplying various parts, said an executive of another industry lobby group, The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India.
One Air Force official said private companies already supply equipment and material to HAL-led efforts to build and upgrade aircraft and helicopters.
Aero structures, simulation material, avionics, metals and composites, and system engineering support have been supplied by domestic private-sector defense companies, including Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Service, Godrej, HCL Technologies and Tata Power SED, the Air Force official said.

MTA Program

The initial MTA contract calls for the manufacture of 56 aircraft to replace Indian Air Force Avros.
The service's Russian-origin Antonov An-32 transport aircraft are already being upgraded.
HAL, which has annual sales of $3 billion, has its hands full. Outstanding orders include the Russian-licensed production of Su-30MKI; BAE Systems Hawk 100; the Indo-Russian fifth-generation fighter aircraft program; an upgrade of 51 aging French Mirage aircraft; and production of a variety of helicopters for the Indian defense forces.
The MTA program eyed by the proposed consortium is in addition to the finalized MTA deal with Russia.
The joint Indo-Russian deal is targeted to have an initial market of 200 MTAs, with Russia buying 100, India 45 and the remaining 60 earmarked for exports.
A 50-50 joint venture of Russia's United Aircraft Corp. and Rosoboronexport have agreed to participate with HAL on an equity-sharing basis to build the 15-ton MTA.
There are about 100 medium-lift An-32 aircraft and about 30 heavy-lift Il-76 aircraft in the Air Force's fleet.
India has already contracted purchase of C-17 heavy-lift aircraft and the C-130J Hercules from the U.S., and repeat orders are planned to augment the cargo aircraft force.
Last month, Ukrainian company Antonov handed India five updated An-32 transports, the first batch in a 105-aircraft upgrade deal.
India inked a $400 million contract with Ukraine in 2009 to upgrade the An-32 aircraft.
"India needs a competitor to HAL, especially a private-sector consortium, so that the Indian defense forces are able to get aircraft and helicopters on time and integrated with superior and advanced technologies and systems," analyst Nitin Mehta said