China’s first aircraft carrier, Jet-15 to be deployed in August

China’s first aircraft is likely to be commissioned on August 1 and deployed in the contended South China Sea, adding fighter jets for a series of scientific exploration and sea trials.

“The military authority plans to let the aircraft carrier be commissioned this year,” Deputy Commander of Chinese navy Xu Hongmeng said.

Shanghai Daily also quoted Xu saying that the unnamed carrier has already taken part in four sea trials in the Pacific since August last year.

Meanwhile, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman said in an interview that the carrier would be used mainly for scientific research and training pilots for future carriers.

Since 1985, China has acquired four used aircraft carriers for study – the Australian HMAS Melbourne and the ex-Soviet carriers Minsk, Kiev and Varyag. The said carrier is redeveloped from the previously unfinished Varyag and is believed to be the first of the three being eyed for acquisition by the Chinese navy. 

Sources says that China has conceived of deploying J-15 fighters which is said to be the variant of Russia’s Su-33 to operate from the carrier. Military experts regard J-15 as the most suitable aircraft for the carrier. The vessel is reported to be capable of carrying around 30 fighters and helicopters as well as a crew of around 2,000.

Experts believe that China’s early deployment in SCS could stir up more tensions in the region and to counter America’s strategy in global supremacy at the sea.

Source: http://www.brahmand.com

U.S. Navy Compromises on Ship Programs

The U.S. Navy’s topline fiscal 2013 baseline budget request of about $155.9 billion is a study in compromise, protecting some of the service’s signature programs by reducing some, delaying some, and scuttling some other programs altogether.

The request is about $9.5 billion less than planned for in the fiscal 2012 budget, and the proposed Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) includes about $58 billion less than had been planned going into the middle part of the decade.

The budget proposal adds funding for the next-generation aircraft carriers, but also includes a plan to drop to 10 carriers in fiscal 2013 from the current fleet of 11 — a temporary reduction, analysts note.

And while the budget proposal continues to support submarine programs, the spending plan reduces the level of funding for the Ohio-class nuclear-missile submarine fleet and delays the procurement of a Virginia-class sub to fiscal 2018 from 2014.

The Navy also intends to reduce the procurement of the Joint High Speed Vessel and terminate the fleet oiler replacement, T-AO(X).

Another program facing reductions across the FYDP is the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor, which has become a workhorse for the Navy and U.S. Marine Corps.

Of the $155.9 billion, the largest share is being proposed for operations and maintenance, about $49.9 billion, with about $44.2 billion being sought for personnel, $42.5 billion being requested for procurement, $16.9 billion being tagged for research and development and $2.4 billion being slated for military construction.

The proposed procurement request breaks out this way: $17.3 billion for aircraft, $3.1 billion for weapons, $13.6 billion for shipbuilding and conversion, $6.3 billion for “other” Navy procurement, $2.6 billion for the Marine Corps and $1 billion for ammunition.

Altogether, total procurement is about $32 billion less than the proposed fiscal 2012 budget, including requested cuts of about $14.6 billion for aircraft, $10.1 billion for ships, $1.1 billion for weapons, $2.5 billion for the Marine Corps, $700 million for ammunition and $3 billion for other Navy procurement.

The research and development request is about $2.3 billion less than the previous fiscal year’s, and operations and maintenance amounts are about $2.6 billion less.

-aviationweek.com

7 More USN P-8A Aircraft Orders for Boeing

SEATTLE — Boeing on Nov. 3 received a $1.7 billion low-rate initial production (LRIP) award from the U.S. Navy for seven additional P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft.

LRIP-II is the follow-on to an initial LRIP-I contract awarded in January to provide six Poseidon aircraft. Overall, the Navy plans to purchase 117 Boeing 737-based P-8A anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to replace its P-3 fleet.

As part of the contract, Boeing will provide aircrew and maintenance training for the Navy beginning in 2012, in addition to logistics support, spares, support equipment and tools. The training system will include a full-motion, full-visual Operational Flight Trainer that simulates the flight crew stations, and a Weapons Tactics Trainer for the mission crew stations.

“This contract is the result of the Boeing and Navy team’s hard work and commitment, and moves us a step closer to P-8A full-rate production,” said Chuck Dabundo, Boeing vice president and P-8 program manager. “We’ve assembled and flown the first LRIP plane and continue to focus on building P-8A aircraft on cost and on schedule.”

“LRIP-II brings the P-8A program one step closer to delivering the Poseidon to the fleet,” said Capt. Scott Dillon, P-8A deputy program manager for the Navy.

Boeing completed assembly of the first LRIP-I aircraft at its Renton, Wash., facility this summer. The aircraft subsequently completed a successful first flight July 7, 2011, from Renton Field to Boeing Field, which marked its transition from fabrication and assembly to mission system installation and checkout in Seattle.

The Poseidon team is using a first-in-industry in-line production process that draws on Boeing’s Next-Generation 737 production system. All P-8A-unique aircraft modifications are made in sequence during fabrication and assembly.

The team has built and is testing six flight-test and two ground-test aircraft under the U.S. Navy System Development and Demonstration contract awarded to Boeing in 2004. Four flight-test aircraft, T1, T2, T3 and T5, are conducting testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The program’s static test plane, S1, completed its test program in January. S2, the fatigue test plane, will begin testing next year. Initial operational capability is planned for 2013.

A derivative of the Next-Generation 737-800, the Poseidon is built by a Boeing-led industry team that includes CFM International, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Spirit AeroSystems, BAE Systems and GE Aviation.

 

-planenews.com

US seeks military ties, not base, in Philippines

WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States says it shares a common interest with the Philippines in protecting freedom of navigation in the South China Sea but is not seeking to re-establish a military base on the territory of its Southeast Asian treaty ally.

Despite impending budget cuts, the U.S. has signaled its intent to reinforce its presence in the Asia-Pacific, where there is some trepidation over China’s rising military capabilities. In recent months it has announced plans to station troops in Australia and dock Navy ships in Singapore. That has fueled speculation the U.S. could seek to re-establish the permanent military presence it had in the Philippines until the early 1990s.

As senior diplomats and defense officials from the Philippines and the U.S. began two days of annual strategic talks in Washington on Thursday, both sides said the focus was on intensifying military cooperation in other ways, such as more joint exercises.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. is interested in increasing training and cooperation in areas including search and rescue, freedom of navigation, countering terror and countering piracy.

“The idea that we are looking to establish U.S. bases or permanently station U.S. forces in the Philippines, or anywhere else in Southeast Asia, as part of a China containment strategy is patently false,” said Cmdr. Leslie Hull-Ryde, a Defense Department spokeswoman.

The Philippines has turned to Washington for military hardware after accusing Chinese ships last year of repeatedly intruding into areas it claims in the South China Sea’s disputed Spratly Islands and disrupting oil exploration in its territorial waters.

The U.S. says it has a national interest in peaceful resolution of the territorial conflicts and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea – where Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan also have claims. The waters are also home to some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

“Certainly freedom of navigation in the South China Sea is something we share an interest in and something that we are interested in protecting together,” Nuland told a news conference.

Earlier, in Manila, Philippines Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said any additional joint military activity would conform with the 1999 agreement that allows U.S. ship and aircraft to visit and resupply, and for joint military exercises in the Philippines.

The Philippine Senate voted in 1991 to close major U.S. military bases in the country, but since 2002 hundreds of U.S. troops have been training and arming Filipino soldiers fighting al-Qaida-linked militants in a Muslim-majority region of the southern Philippines.

The talks in Washington involve the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Kurt Campbell, and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense Peter Lavoy. Their Philippine counterparts are Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio and Defense Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino.

During the talks, the Philippines will discuss requests for an additional U.S. Coast Guard cutter, a squadron of F-16 fighter jets and other weapons the Philippines needs to bolster its territorial defense, Philippine defense spokesman Peter Paul Galvez said.

 

-ktvn.com

F-35B Completes Initial Shipboard Vertical Landing Aboard USS Wasp

The Navy and Marine Corps Team made naval aviation history Oct. 3 as the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) test aircraft BF-2 landed safely on USS Wasp‘s (LHD 1) flight deck, the first at-sea vertical landing for the Marine Corps’ F-35 JSF version.

Marine Corps test pilot Lt. Col. Fred Schenk landed BF-2 at 3:12 pm.

“It was exactly like we predicted,” said Schenk. “But that’s because of all the hard work and extensive preparation done by the Wasp and JSF team.”

The first vertical landing is part of the initial ship trials for the F-35B which started Monday and is expected to last two weeks. The tests are scheduled to collect data on the aircraft’s ability to perform short take-offs and vertical landings on a ship at sea, as well as determine how the aircraft integrates with the ship’s landing systems, and deck and hangar operations.

This test period, the first of three scheduled at-sea test periods over the course of the development program, will also collect environmental data on the deck through added instrumentation to measure the F-35B‘s impact to flight deck operations.

“The first at sea vertical landing is a huge milestone,” said Marine Corps Col. Roger Cordell, military site director for F-35 test and evaluation at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. “We’re still early in this test period, and we expect to learn a lot more, but this is a great step toward delivering the capability to the fleet.”

Wasp spent time in a shipyard earlier this year, preparing for the F-35 test period; adding specialized instrumentation to measure deck environmental effects.

“It is no small feat to put together sea trials,” said Vice Adm. David Venlet, F-35 Program Executive Officer. “This test was planned to happen on 3 October back in early spring of this year and the team delivered on schedule. Signs of dependable performance are emerging across broad aspects of the development program. Professionals from the Navy, Marine Corps and industry team of Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and Pratt and Whitney and Rolls Royce continue to work tirelessly to deliver this aircraft to the fleet.”

“Every time an aircraft is first tested at sea we learn a great deal and the data collected from this event will inform us about the further development work necessary to successfully integrate the F-35B on large-deck amphibious ships. By all accounts, we’re off to a great start today,” Venlet said.

The F-35B is the variant of the Joint Strike Fighter for the U.S. Marine Corps, capable of short take-offs and vertical landings for use on amphibious ships or expeditionary airfields to provide air power to the Marine Air-Ground Task Force. The F-35B will replace Marine AV-8B Harriers and F-18 Hornets and is undergoing test and evaluation at NAS Patuxent River prior to delivery to the fleet.

In addition to being the first ship to successfully land the F-35B, USS Wasp was also the first ship to host the V-22 Osprey during shipboard trials in October 2007.

Summary information regarding the performance of the F-35B ship trials will be made available after the completion of the test period.

 

-dcmilitary.com

UH-1Y Huey fired first APKWS shots

The Navy and Marine Corps recently fired the first shots of the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II from a UH-1Y helicopter at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, Calif.

The recent shots, part of the program’s low-rate initial production phase, mark the start of APWKS testing on the UH-1Y in preparation for fielding next year. During the tests, Marine pilots fired a total of six shots from a UH-1Y against stationary targets with ranges varying from 1.5-5 kilometers. The initial shots from UH-1Y mark the first time a MK152 warhead has been fired from any aircraft, allowing safer operation aboard ships than the previous M151 warhead.

“I am very excited to bring this new capability to our Marines in combat,” said Capt. Brian Corey, APKWS program manager.

APKWS II, a semi-active laser guidance section that integrates with current 2.75-inch rocket motors and warheads, provides aviators with a highly precise weapon that is effective against soft and lightly armored targets while minimizing collateral damage.

“We have seen great success firing APKWS from both AH-1W and UH-1Y helicopters,” said Lt. Cmdr. Nick Green, Airborne Rockets/Pyro deputy program manager for the Direct and Time Sensitive Strike Weapons program office (PMA-242).

“I am very proud of our team for working so hard toward fielding APKWS on our threshold platform, AH-1W, and our objective platform, UH-1Y, at the same time.”

Initial operating capability of APKWS on the Corps’ AH-1W and UH-1Y helicopters is scheduled for second quarter of fiscal year 2012.

Source: Naval Air Systems Command

Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award goes to F/A-18, EA-18G principal deputy

The principal deputy for the F/A-18 and EA-18G Program Office, PMA-265, received the Department of the Navy’s highest civilian service award during a ceremony Aug. 22 here.

William Taylor received the Distinguished Civilian Service Award because he “personifies long-term commitment and dedication to the success of the F/A-18 and EA-18G program as well as the people who support these aircraft every day,” said Capt. Frank Morley, PMA-265 program manager.

For the last 12 years, Taylor has served as a civilian advisor to three program managers and has helped develop, enhance, test, deliver and sustain a combined fleet of more than 1,700 aircraft.

According to the citation, with Taylor’s direction and support, the F/A-18 and EA-18G program streamlined delivery of the AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array radar to the fleet and Royal Australian Air Force; and enabled the infrared search and track program to successfully reach a Milestone B decision.

During the award presentation, he was recognized for his role in achieving the successful award of the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G multi-year III procurement contract. With the contract in place, the Navy achieved $605 million in savings.

“While I am honored by receiving this award, I am humbled as well by the countless individuals I have had the pleasure of working with over my years in PMA-265,” Taylor said. “It is their dedicated service that has significantly contributed to the success of the F/A-18 and EA-18G program and to my being individually recognized.”

Taylor also received accolades for his work with the F/A-18 air vehicle team to evaluate the steps necessary to extend the service life of the legacy Hornet aircraft. The assessment was completed in fiscal year 2009 and the extension program began.

“It is rewarding to be honored in this way, not only for myself, but for the entire PMA-265 team,” Taylor said. “We are here in support of the fleet and this award is a testament to just how much the work we do at NAVAIR impacts each squadron as well as naval aviation as a whole.”

Taylor received the Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Stan Arthur Award for Acquisition Logistics Team of the Year in 2005 for his work as the F/A-18 integrated readiness support team lead. He also received the Navy Superior Civilian Service Award in 2003 and Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 1996.

“I am proud to serve alongside Bill,” Morley said. “He practices the idea that successful leaders understand the importance of growing others.”

 

-dcmilitary.com

Northrop to supply 28 Bell 407-based Fire Scout UAV for US Navy

The U.S. Navy is to award Northrop Grumman a contract to supply 28 MQ-8C Fire Scout “rapid deployment capability” (RDC) vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aircraft using the larger Bell 407 helicopter airframe to increase endurance and payload.

The notice of intent says the RDC aircraft are to be fielded by the first quarter of 2014 to meet an urgent operational requirement. The Navy has said the “endurance upgrade” Fire Scout is needed to support special operations.

After also evaluating the Boeing A160T Hummingbird and Lockheed Martin/Kaman unmanned K-Max, the Navy has adopted the 407 airframe jointly developed by Northrop Grumman and Bell as the Fire-X and first flown in December. The 407-based MQ-8C will use the same unmanned systems as the MQ-8B, which is on the smaller Schweizer 333 helicopter airframe, including the existing ship-installed ground control station, data links and automatic recovery system.

The choice follows the recommendation of the Fire Scout program office. Last month, Capt. Patrick Smith, the Navy’s Fire Scout program manager, said the recommendation of the 407 airframe was “based on the time frame limitations” imposed by the urgent operational requirement to develop the MQ-8C within 24 months, for deployment in 2014 (Aerospace DAILY, Aug. 19).

-aviationweek.com