U.S. Army Won't Fight if C-27J Is Canceled

The U.S. Army is not prepared to fight to keep the C-27J cargo aircraft program alive should an Air Force recommendation to cancel the program be finalized by senior Pentagon officials.

Gen. Raymond Odierno, the Army chief of staff, was briefed in October on options to address the Air Force proposal.

Since then, the Army backed off the option to reacquire the program, according to a second service official. An Army spokesman declined to comment on the move since the budget has not been finalized.Army aviation officials proposed Odierno insist the Air Force continue conducting direct support missions of critical Army supplies, and the Army National Guard recommended transferring C-27J procurement money and the mission back to the Army, according to a service official.

At the same time, the decision is likely to set up a fight between the Air Force and Air National Guard since a number of Guard wings gave up aircraft over the past few years in anticipation of receiving C-27Js.

The debate between the parties over the future of the C-27J, built by L-3 Communications and Alenia Aeronautica, has intensified in recent weeks in advance of the Pentagon finalizing its 2013 budget proposal, expected to determine the fate of the program.

The Air Force recommendation to cancel the once-joint program in its draft 2013 funding plan has become a hotly contested issue.

Certain lawmakers have voiced opposition to canceling the program, including the entire Connecticut congressional delegation, which wrote Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter urging him to "reject any recommendation to terminate the program or reduce the current [Air National Guard] beddown plan."

The Connecticut air guard has been slated to receive the planes but the Air Force has yet to purchase the aircraft for the wing. Other Air National Guard units are flying the C-27J.

Air and Army Guard officials say the C-27J is the best U.S. aircraft for delivering critical supplies and troops to hard-to-reach places on the battlefield. As the Pentagon's budget shrinks, the officials say it can conduct the so-called direct-support mission at a fraction of the cost of the four-engine C-130.

The C-27J is cheaper to fly than the C-130J and the CH-47 Chinook helicopter, according to Brig. Gen. Mark Bartman, the assistant adjutant general for air in Ohio. Flying one cargo pallet or 10 soldiers in a C-130J costs about $7,100 per hour, while the C-27J can accomplish the same mission for $2,100 per hour.

"It's not to say that the C-130J cannot accomplish the same mission as the C-27J; however, the C-27J is a much more cost-effective, 'right-sized' platform moving forward in the current budget environment, and also gives the Army the greatest amount of flexibility in fixed-wing airlift," Bartman said.

While the Chinook can accomplish the same mission, it is not the best use of the twin-rotor helicopter, according to a former Army division commander.

"We flew some of our CH-47s on routes that should have been fixed-wing routes at a cost in lost combat assault sorties and extended use of the CH-47," the former commander in Afghanistan said.

Since the August deployment of two C-27Js to Afghanistan, the 179th Air Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard has "removed the burden" of forward operating base resupply from the CH-47 fleet, the official said.

The 179th's C-27Js have flown more than 900 sorties, moving more than 6,900 people and almost 400 tons of time-sensitive, mission-critical cargo. Though the C-27J became an Air Force program, the Army's requirement to have organic, direct support airlift did not change.

The Air Force intended to buy 38 C-27Js. National Guard wings in Ohio, Maryland, Michigan and Mississippi are supposed to split the first batch. Other aircraft are set for wings in Connecticut, North Dakota and Montana, but they have not been funded.

The adjutants general from six of those states wrote Carter on Nov. 30 urging him not to cancel the program. A decision to cancel the effort would "negatively impact the National Guard and will weaken our national and homeland defense," they wrote.

The one-time Joint Cargo Aircraft program was turned over to the Air Force in 2009. At the time, Gen. George Casey, then-Army chief of staff, and Gen. Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief, struck a deal in which the Air Force would receive the C-27J aircraft, but would fly under Army parameters.

The decision was met with skepticism in Army and Air Force ranks. The Air Force typically flies fully loaded cargo planes between hubs, while the Army uses the C-23 Sherpa to move small numbers of troops and equipment to forward locations. The Air Force pledged to fly these "direct support" missions using the C-27J and C-130.

Now under a substantial budget crunch, Air Force leaders have proposed eliminating the aircraft from the service's inventory and conducting the mission with C-130s.

The Army, which led the Joint Cargo Aircraft program, originally intended to replace the C-23 with the C-27J. When it turned the program over to the Air Force, the decision to retire the Sherpa was not reversed, even though many aircraft can fly for another 20 years, one Army National Guard official said. ■

Iraq Places Order for 18 F-16s

Lockheed Martin has been awarded an $835 million contract for 18 Block 52 F-16 Fighting Falcons for Iraq.

IRAQ WILL RECEIVE 18 Block 52 F-16 Fighting Falcons, like the one shown above. (U.S. Air Force)

The contract, awarded Dec. 5, calls for the delivery of 12 C-model single-seat jets and six D-model combat-capable two-seat training jets by May 30, 2018.

The company will also provide support equipment; technical orders; integrated logistics support; and contractor logistics support. The jets will be powered by Pratt and Whitney's F100 PW-229 afterburning turbofan, which delivers 29,000 pounds of thrust. The deal was originally announced in late September.

Iraq is buying the jets though the U.S. Defense Department's Foreign Military Sales system.

India, China To Open Military Dialogue

NEW DELHI - Officials from India and China, which last year put off discussions of military relations, will meet here Dec. 8 to begin a military dialogue, an Indian Defence Ministry official said.

The deputy chief of China's People's Liberation Army is representing China at the talks, sources said.

The officials will discuss the resumption of joint military exercises. The two countries' armies have held joint land exercises twice - in China in 2007 and in India in 2008.

China and India were scheduled to hold border talks Nov. 28-29, but they were put off by Beijing, which objected to the Tibetan Dalai Lama attending an international Buddhist conference here.

There needs to be a greater understanding between the armies of the two countries through more exchanges, the Indian Defence Ministry official said.

France Willing to Help Libyans With Training

TRIPOLI, Libya - France is ready to offer military training to Libya and is examining ways to boost its cooperation with the new regime, French army chief of staff Adm. Edouard Guillaud said Dec. 5.

"France is ready to provide what the Libyan government asks for, particularly in [military] training," Guillaud said after talks with Libyan leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil and Defence Minister Osama Juili.

He said his visit was to "contact our Libyan counterparts after the revolution, to see how to cooperate now that peace has returned."

"We had relations with the former Libyan Army. We will revive them, either with the Navy, Air Force or Army."

Asked if arms sales were discussed with Libya's leaders, Guillaud replied: "I am a user, not a seller, of weapons."

France spearheaded the NATO operation which helped topple Moammar Gadhafi, who was captured and killed Oct. 20 after ruling Libya for more than 42 years.

'Trail-blazing' U.K. Attack Sub Proves Itself in U.S.

NORFOLK, Va. - HMS Astute, Britain's first new attack submarine in more than two decades, is the most advanced undersea craft ever fielded by the Royal Navy. But the sub's many improvements often have been masked by a long-running series of developmental and operational problems - including design issues, cost overruns, production missteps, lengthy construction delays, an embarrassingly public grounding last year in Scotland and a tragic shooting on board in April.

CMDR. IAIN BRECKENRIDGE, standing with binoculars, guides the submarine Astute to a berth in Norfolk, Va., on Nov. 28. (MC1 Todd A. Schaffer / U.S. Navy)

Now operating from the U.S. East Coast as part of a lengthy trials period, the Astute finally has had a chance to show what it can do, and in November test-fired Tomahawk cruise missiles in the Gulf of Mexico. But the British media, even in reporting on its successes, continue to label the ship a jinx.

Cmdr. Iain Breckenridge, the submarine's commanding officer, bristled when asked about the jinx moniker during a Nov. 29 interview on board his ship.

"The media will always jump at an easy target. So we're an easy target, they're having a field day," he said.

"Fine by me, that's well behind us. I don't dwell on it, I don't look back. Myself and my team move forward to prove what a great submarine she is. With the Tomahawk firings recently, our successful torpedo firings in the summer in the U.K., pushing forward to get all trials completed, getting to Norfolk to meet the senior U.S. leadership, going to AUTEC [the U.S. Navy's Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center test range] in January to finish trials, and getting her back to the U.K. in March, ready to go back into the yard for her final maintenance period before she becomes operational, for us, that's all good news.

"So the media won't use that, because that's not an interesting story. If anything minor happens, they'll jump on it and go, 'wow, wow, jinxed submarine!'

"Well, ask any of my ship's company, any of our supporting personnel, anyone in the Navy, any of our families, any of our friends in the U.S. submarine force; in fact, anybody that basically understands what a first-of-class submarine's got to go through, and they'll recognize that the term 'jinx' is just a very easy one that the media jumps on.

"Does it bother me? Used to, initially. Not bothered by it anymore. There are much more important things to deal with. It's a fantastic submarine to deliver to the front line as soon as possible. And I've got a really good team helping me do that."

TESTS, TESTS AND MORE TESTS

Breckenridge, a veteran submariner who previously commanded HMS Tireless, brought the Astute to the U.S. in October to begin a series of weapons, sensors, systems and warm-weather trials.

"We've got to prove the design, and prove the build," he said. "Over subsequent submarines, they just have to prove the build."

The boat loaded Tomahawk cruise missiles at the U.S. Navy's submarine base in Kings Bay, Ga., then launched two T-hawks from the Gulf of Mexico onto a missile range at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. "Both flew beautifully," Breckenridge said.

Operations on the AUTEC range in January will fully prove the submarine's new Type 2076 integrated sonar suite, and more Spearfish torpedoes will be test-fired.

Breckenridge ticked off a list of new features aboard the sub, which is fitted with six 21-inch torpedo tubes, one more than previous classes. The weapons room also is larger, with a lower deck, allowing for a 50 percent increase in the number of weapons carried - "on the order of 36," he said.

The submarine features a large lockout chamber aft of the fin, or sail, and can carry a drydeck shelter to allow swimmers to enter and leave the sub while submerged.

"That was a real design driver for the boat, and that's why we've got a big sail," he explained. "The shapes and curves [of the hull] help the dry deck shelter sit in the right place."

In the control room, Breckenridge pointed proudly to the Thales Optronics mast displays. Astute is the first British submarine to dispense with traditional periscopes and adopt photronics masts, similar to the arrangement aboard U.S. Virginia-class submarines.

"Much as I loved my old peri-scopes, this is much better," he said. Using the periscope on older submarines at night, he said, required "lights off, curtains draped, black lighting, can't see anything, not good for your eyes. This submarine," he said, has a "better working environment, better for the team. A really good capability. This is U.K. trail-blazing stuff."

The attack center control room on Astute is traditionally located forward on 1 Deck - topmost of the sub's three deck levels - but without the need for hull-penetrating periscopes, designers will have more flexibility to move it. Later ships in the seven-unit class, Breckenridge said, may move the room to 2 Deck and aft a bit. "There's more room down there," he said.

The captain was especially proud of the sub's maneuvering and hovering capabilities, featuring independent diving plane controls handled by a new, complex autopilot system.

"One of the limiting factors in designing a submarine maneuvering envelope is having a stern plane failure to dive or rise," Breckenridge explained. "In my situation, I've got a much wider operating envelope because, if the stern plane does fail to dive, it's probably only going to be one of them, and I can immediately correct it by slowing down and putting the noncasualty plane to rise. It gives us a much broader operating envelope."

Maliki Says He's Confident of Iraq's future

WASHINGTON - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Dec. 5 expressed confidence in the future of his country following a full withdrawal of U.S. troops at the end of the month. But he said he was counting on American assistance.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced in October that U.S. troops would leave Iraq by the end of 2011, bringing to a close an almost nine-year war.

"Today, however, I am confident about the future of my country and the capabilities and resilience of our people," Maliki wrote in an op-ed piece in The Washington Post.

He said his government was seeking a "comprehensive redevelopment" of the country, which would involve creation of legislation and institutions, strengthening of freedoms, and reinforcement of Iraqi democracy.

"We want to build a state of citizens and not sects," Maliki wrote. "We want to create a healthy environment conducive to investment and provide vital services to citizens, including access to a proper education."

The prime minister said Iraq sought to build a strong army and security forces that have the capacity to protect its sovereignty and interests.

"We are able to do this with the help of the United States," he said.

Maliki said Baghdad opposed foreign interference in Iraqi affairs. "Iraq does not aspire to unduly influence any state but looks to cooperate with all countries to help maintain regional security," he wrote. "Iraq will not allow itself to become a source of disruption to friendly countries."

In contrast to the government of Saddam Hussein, the new Iraqi government has been treating neighboring Iran as a friendly state.

Iran Shoots Down U.S. Drone: Al-Alam TV

TEHRAN - Iran's military has shot down a U.S. Army RQ-170 unmanned aerial vehicle in the "east of the country," Iran's Al-Alam Arabic language satellite channel reported on Dec. 4, quoting a military source.

The report did not say when or where the drone was downed, but said it was not "badly damaged" and still in good shape.

No further details were provided.