Fire Scout UAVs Deploy to CENTCOM

A U.S. Navy Fire Scout UAV system has been shipped to the Central Command (CENTCOM) operating area to support U.S. Army and coalition forces in Afghanistan, the Navy announced April 21.

A MQ-8B Fire Scout UAV is loaded aboard a C-17 transport on April 13 at NAS Patuxent River, Md. The Navy drones are being sent to Afghanistan to provide video surveillance. (Mikel Proulx / U.S. Navy)

The system, under development by the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to operate from ships, will be land-based in CENTCOM for about a year. The Fire Scouts "will provide hundreds of hours of full motion video," NAVAIR said in a press release, in support of the Pentagon's Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance task force.

A wide variety of UAVs have been deployed over Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in CENTCOM at least since 2003, performing high-, medium- and low-altitude missions ranging from surveillance to strike. Most of the drones are fixed-wing, while the Fire Scout is a small helicopter able to stay aloft more than eight hours, fly at altitudes up to about 17,000 feet and travel about 115 knots.
Each Fire Scout system consists of up to three MQ-8B aircraft, at least one ground control station and other hardware.
For the CENTCOM mission, three Fire Scouts are being used along with two ground control stations. NAVAIR employees traveled with the system to perform set-up, but the system will be operated in theater by Northrop Grumman contract personnel, NAVAIR said.
Two ground control stations were loaded on a U.S. Air Force C-5 transport at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and shipped out on April 8. A smaller C-17 transport flew out the three Fire Scout vehicles on April 13.
Fire Scouts have been deployed to sea twice, first on the frigate McInerney in 2009-2010, and currently on the frigate Halyburton.
Although the system is intended for use on other ships, the Navy plans to make it a centerpiece of the mission modules under development for the littoral combat ship (LCS). Trials were carried out last November on board the first LCS, the single-hull Freedom, and tests are now being carried out aboard the multihull LCS Independence.

U.S. to Deploy Drones Against Gadhafi: Gates

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military will use armed drones over Libya, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said April 21, calling them a "modest contribution" to international coalition efforts there.
Gates said the decision to use unmanned drones armed with missiles was made "because of the humanitarian situation" in Libya, where strongman Moammar Gadhafi's forces are battling a Western-backed insurgency.

"They give you a capability that even the A-10 (anti-tank aircraft) and AC-130 (ground attack aircraft) couldn't provide" in the conflict in the North African nation, he told a press briefing.

F-35 Program Stabilizing, May Still Be Late

Overall, the F-35 Lightning II program is making progress, but much more needs to be done before the tri-service effort can be considered truly back on track, Vice Adm. David Venlet, the program's manager, told reporters on April 21.
Venlet said that flight testing has begun to pick up as of the beginning of the year. As well, the program's ability to manufacture aircraft is beginning to stabilize.

Still, the admiral reiterated other senior Pentagon officials' warning this year that the initial operational capability might slip past the planned 2016 date for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy versions of the stealthy fifth-generation fighter jet.
"Our [Technical Baseline Review] schedule now shows development test completing in '16. Realistically, I don't see it being in '16 for Air Force and Navy," he said.
But Venlet said he deferred to the service chiefs about exactly when the aircraft would be declared operational.
This year and next year, the program must demonstrate that costs are under control, with the first order of business to determine the actual cost of the Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Four contract aircraft, he said.
"We're probably just approaching about the early first 10 percent of LRIP-4 production, and I'm waiting to see actuals align to the baseline," Venlet said. "Then we'll be negotiating LRIP-5."
LRIP-5 will consist of 35 aircraft, he said.
Lockheed Martin, the F-35's prime contractor, is set to deliver its proposal shortly. After the government receives the contract, the program office will extensively review the proposal before negotiations begin, Venlet said. The program office also will conduct a "should cost" review.
It is important that Lockheed deliver on the LRIP-4 contract, Venlet said. Though the LRIP-4 contract is based on a fixed price, the dollar amount the government pays is allowed to rise by about 6.5 percent. If the price exceeds that amount, Lockheed is on the hook for that additional cost.
However, Venlet said the government cannot allow the company to be driven out of business by absorbing huge additional costs indefinitely, and as such, contracts for LRIP-5 could be adjusted to ensure the company has an acceptable margin. This, Venlet said, is why Lockheed's performance on LRIP-4 is so important. Venlet said, thus far, he is very pleased with the F-35's radar cross-section, which has undergone testing over ranges.
"We don't have any worries currently that [is] going to be a defective piece of the aircraft," he said.
However, other manufacturing issues are plaguing the program. There are parts shortages for the Navy's F-35C version, and some engines have had to be replaced due to quality problems.
Venlet also said the manufacturing timelines of certain parts need to be shorter. Currently, some parts take 29 months to build; he wants that down to 24 months.
The other big task on the plate for the F-35 program is to build a sustainment strategy for the aircraft, Venlet said.
"This is really a year to focus on sustainment," he said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story failed to indicate that Venlet was repeating earlier warnings that the F-35A and –C might miss their planned 2016 in-service date.

Indian Army Division Prepares for Desert Exercise

NEW DELHI - Some 15,000 Indian troops - a full division of the Army - will go next month to the Rajasthan desert, along the Indo-Pakistani border, for a ground exercise that will include armored columns, tanks, mechanized vehicles and artillery.
The exercise will test the Indian Army's ability to respond swiftly to attacks in extreme heat. The Army's 2004 doctrine states that future wars are expected to be swift and brief so that battlefield objectives can be accomplished before the nuclear threshold is crossed, an Indian Army official said.

The service also will fine-tune its use of network-centric warfare systems, which integrate soldiers on the ground with the central command, the Army official said.
Exercise participants will include elite troops.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony is expected to witness part of the land exercises, which will begin during the first week of May.
In April 2010, the Indian Army held similar exercises in the Rajasthan desert, which were immediately followed by Pakistani Army ground exercises held along the border.
The neighboring rivals customarily inform each other in advance of planned exercises.

Taiwan To Build New 'Stealth' Warship

TAIPEI - Taiwan plans to build a new 'stealth' warship armed with guided-missiles next year in response to China's naval build-up, a top military officer and a lawmaker said April 18.
Construction of the prototype of the 500-ton corvette is due to start in 2012 for completion in 2014, deputy defense minister Lin Yu-pao said in answer to a question by Kuomintang party legislator Lin Yu-fang at parliament.

The warship, which the navy says is harder to detect on radar, is expected to emerge after China puts into service its first battle carrier group, the legislator said.
The twin-hulled boat will be armed with up to eight home-grown Hsiung-feng II ship-to-ship missiles and eight other more lethal Hsiung-feng III anti-ship supersonic missiles.
The remarks came as China has been restoring Varyag, a former Soviet aircraft carrier bought in 1998.
The aircraft carrier will be used for training and as a model for a future indigenously-built ship, according to Andrei Chang, head of the Kanwa Information Centre, which monitors China's military.
The ship, currently based in the northeast port of Dalian, could make its first sea trip "very soon," he said.
Calls have been mounting on the island for the military to come up with counter-measures against the perceived threat.
Ties between Taiwan and China have eased markedly since Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang party came to power in 2008, ramping up trade and allowing in more Chinese tourists.
But Beijing still refuses to renounce the use of force, even though Taiwan has been self-governing since 1949 at the end of a civil war, prompting the island to keep modernizing its forces.

Boeing, Lockheed, BAE To Vie for Japan's F-X

TOKYO - Following an April 11 request for proposals, Japan's lengthy search for a replacement next-generation fighter, dubbed F-X, has been whittled down to three candidates: Boeing, with its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet; Lockheed Martin, with its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter; and BAE Systems, representing the Eurofighter consortium. The results were announced at an April 13 bidders meeting at the Japanese Ministry of Defense.
Many industry watchers say the F-35 and the Eurofighter are the two strongest contenders, according to Satoshi Tsuzukibashi, director of the Office of Defense Production Committee at Nippon Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation), Japan's biggest industrial lobby.

Japan's MoD is looking for a fighter to counter an increasingly capable Chinese Air Force. Japanese industry - in particular Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), which builds a Japanese version of the F-16C/D, the Mitsubishi F-2, under license from Lockheed Martin - is looking for licensed production. Keidanren supports this goal in order to sustain Japan's high-tech industrial base, Tsuzukibashi said.
"Actually, we don't care which one it is, as long as Japanese industry has the means to continue its industrial base with licensed production and technology," he said. "Actually, in that sense, the Eurofighter might be a little bit easier."
The original field of candidates included Lockheed's F-22 Raptor, the Dassault Rafale and the F-15FX, according to MoD documents. The request for proposals, delayed a year for political reasons, was supposed to have occurred in late March but was postponed because of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The bids are to replace the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's F-4EJ Kai Phantoms built by MHI, which are due to begin retiring in 2015, and will be for 40 planes, according to MoD documents. Japan also will need to replace its F-15Js in the next 10 years, which could increase the number of F-X fighters to 150.
Taisei Ugaki, a veteran military commentator here, said April 14 that there was strong pressure for MHI to maintain its assembly line, and that any move toward the Eurofighter would face "strong U.S. pressure" to buy American in order to maintain the U.S.-Japan alliance.
Despite the latest delay, bids will be due Aug. 31, and a contract awarded at the end of the year, according to MoD documents.

Slow Progress Frustrates India Brass

NEW DELHI - The Indian Army is adding numerous capabilities that were only on the drawing board five years ago, but the slow pace of acquisition has frustrated service leaders.
Army doctrine underscores the possibility of simultaneous conflict with Pakistan and China, so new assets are sought to increase firepower, including reconnaissance, surveillance and network-centric systems, a senior Army official said. For instance, the Army has sought to purchase a variety of 155mm howitzers for 10 years but without success. A government-to-government order has been struck to buy light howitzers from BAE's U.S. subsidiary through the Foreign Military Sales route, but the Army is still waiting. The $1 billion Tactical Communication System, an ambitious project that will integrate the soldier on the battlefield to the command center, is still in preliminary stages of procurement, even though the Army demanded the system nearly five years ago.
India must prepare for the growing Chinese threat, said the Army official.
"China's White Paper 2010 very clearly outlines jointness, informationization and mechanization as the three components of a force that would be fielded in 2020," said Rahul Bhonsle, retired Indian Army brigadier and independent defense analyst here. "There would also be high reliance on air and heliborne assets for mobility and firepower. India's armed forces will have to focus on attaining seamless network centricity to retain deterrence."
Not only will the Army have to add assets, but it will have to incorporate lessons learned from battles in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, the Army official added.
"The over-reliance on the Russian air defense systems has to go," is the immediate lesson the Indian Army should learn from the current battle in Libya, the Army official said.
"Iraq and Afghanistan have indicated the importance of unmanned aerial vehicles and attack helicopters as means of surveillance and target acquisition and rapid targeting without being vulnerable to the ubiquitous improvised explosive device," Bhonsle said. "The importance of IED protection, active and passive in urban as well as rural roads, has also been highlighted."
Even as the Army has drawn an ambitious plan to buy weapons and equipment worth more than $30 billion in the next five to seven years, the most important hardware acquisition, the 155mm self-propelled guns, is still pending, another Army official said.
Other planned Army purchases during the next five to seven years include air defense, missiles and UAVs, and introduction of command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems to integrate the battle theater with headquarters through dedicated satellite and information technology systems, a senior Indian Defence Ministry official said.