Thursday, March 17, 2011

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.

NATO Chief Hopes Poland EU Presidency Boosts Russia Ties

WARSAW - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said March 17 he hoped Poland would use its upcoming presidency of the European Union to enhance the military alliance's ties with Russia.
"Poland can ... play a special role in improving the relationship between Russia and NATO in the European Union and that would be beneficial in our endeavors to improve the overall Euro-Atlantic security," Rasmussen said at a joint press conference with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski in Warsaw.
"We look very much forward to the Polish presidency of the European Union in the second half of this year," he said.
Having joined the European Union in 2004, Poland will take over the 27-member bloc's rotating presidency on July 1.
The NATO chief was in the Polish capital to mark the 12th anniversary of Poland's NATO entry along with fellow ex-communist states Hungary and the Czech Republic, a move that outraged their Soviet-era master Russia.
Poland's ties with Moscow have remained rocky since it peacefully shed communism in 1989, but its increasing importance as an EU member has seen Warsaw take on a conciliatory tone towards the Kremlin.
Rasmussen said he also thought Poland could play a role in enhancing cooperation between NATO and the European Union.
"Poland is a strong ally and has a strong position within the European Union and based on that Poland can play a special role in advancing our mutual cooperation," Rasmussen added.

Divided NATO Presses Ahead with Libya Military Plans

BRUSSELS - NATO's chief urged the U.N. on March 17 to quickly act on Libya to stop Moammar Gadhafi from crushing rebels, but the alliance was divided even as it pressed ahead with plans for a no-fly zone.
"If Gadhafi prevails it will send a clear signal that violence pays. That would be unacceptable from a humanitarian and democratic perspective," Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
"But time is running out. The sooner the United Nations can reach an agreement the better," he said on his Facebook page.
France, Britain and the United States are pressing for a U.N. Security Council vote Thursday on a resolution that includes a no-fly zone to prevent Gadhafi from using his air force to bomb his population.
Russia, Germany and other countries of the 15-member Security Council have expressed opposition or doubts about military action in Libya.
"I can't imagine the international community and the United Nations will stand idly by if the Libyan regime continues to attack its own civilian population systematically," Rasmussen told reporters during a visit in Warsaw.
He said attacks by Gadhafi's regime on civilians "may amount to crimes against humanity."
NATO military officials presented to ambassadors this week a range of plans for a potential role in Libya, including assisting humanitarian relief efforts, enforcing an arms embargo and grounding the Libyan air force, diplomats said.
"NATO stands ready to protect the civilian population if there is a demonstrable need, clear legal basis and strong regional support," Rasmussen said.
But divisions exist within the 28-nation alliance as well, with Germany and Turkey voicing opposition to a military intervention.
In addition, France, which has taken a hawkish stance in the Libyan crisis, "does not want NATO in the front line," a NATO military official said.
This could leave NATO, already with its hands full leading the war in Afghanistan, on the sidelines in a no-fly zone in Libya.
France and Britain, which has also led clarion calls for a no-fly zone, could end up taking action outside the NATO club alongside Arab nations.
The United States has also shown "little enthusiasm" in trying to bring Turkey and Germany in line with the rest of the alliance, the military official said.
The official said the Americans believe that a no-fly zone would not be enough to defeat Gadhafi, and that ground troops would be needed, an option the United States would not take part in given its commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice suggested as much on March 16, saying that action might have to "go beyond a no-fly zone at this point, as the situation on the ground has evolved, and as a no-fly zone has inherent limitations in terms of protection of civilians at immediate risk."
NATO ambassadors could meet again March 18 and this weekend to review the alliance's contingency plans for Libya and decide the next steps, diplomats said.
"NATO wants these operational plans to be ready by the end of the week or early next week," an alliance diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the planning.
The alliance "is accelerating the preparations, but no green light has been given," the diplomat said.
Even if the U.N. approves a no-fly zone and all allies agree to back the move, it would take two weeks for NATO to be operational, the NATO military official said, adding: "The chances that NATO will have a role are minimal."

Russia's $650B Arms Drive Misguided: Developer

MOSCOW - A top Russian arms developer on March 17 slammed the country's new $650 billion rearmament drive as a misguided attempt to mass produce old systems that have little use in modern warfare.
The military last month unveiled the details of a new procurement plan through 2020 that analysts said placed a strong emphasis on heavy nuclear missile spending that could keep Russia's parity with the United States.
The long-discussed program aims to fill major gaps in a dilapidated Soviet-era force that Western experts believe is no longer capable of engaging in large-scale warfare.
But the head of a prestigious Moscow institute that is designing one of Russia's latest ballistic missiles said the new drive could potentially leave the country decades behind the West.
"I feel bad for the state when they propose this senseless spending," Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology head Yury Solomonov was quoted as saying by Interfax.
Solomonov noted that the United States was now pouring money into the development of new X-37 and X-51 hypersonic space vehicles, "something that we simply do not do."
Instead, the new program intends to "reproduce things that were made decades ago for absolutely unlikely scenarios."
Solomonov said much of the spending was being funneled into the development of a new line of liquid-fuelled nuclear missiles whose use vanished with the end of the Cold War.
"I would like to assure you that it is based on delivery vehicle technology that is about 30 years old," the developer said.
The program unveiled by Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin sees Russia building 100 new ships and acquiring 1,000 helicopters along with 20 submarines and more than 600 warplanes.
But the exact breakdown of the spending plan was not revealed and analysts said much of the money appeared earmarked for missile programs that seek to ensure Russia's ability to penetrate a new European missile shield mooted by NATO.

CNO Assesses Russian, Chinese Navies

"The Russian Navy is moving again."
The U.S. Navy seeks ways to work with the Chinese and Russian navies, said Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations. (MCS Tiffini Jones Vanderwyst / Navy)
That was the description given Wednesday by Adm. Gary Roughead, the U.S. Navy's chief of naval operations (CNO), when asked for his assessment of America's former Cold War opponent.
"The Russian Navy still has great ambition, still has great pride," he said.
The collapse of the Soviet Union significantly reduced the navy, Roughead noted, with most shipbuilding programs coming to a halt or dragging out.
"That has stopped in recent years," he said. An improving Russian economy will mean "you're going to see an increase in their capability and capacity, with new shipbuilding programs taking hold." Roughead noted the recent move by Russia to acquire several French-designed Mistral-class amphibious ships as an indication of rising interest in increased operations.
The navy "will now begin to rebuild itself," he said, "and bring more modern capability to bear and operate more widely."
Roughead did not speak of a growing Russian naval force as a threat.
"I believe we should work closely with the Russian Navy to see where we can work together," he said, and cited operations with Russian ships working to counter pirates off Somalia.
Roughead was asked for his assessment of the Russian and Chinese navies during an appearance before the Senate Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee. It was the last of several hearings before the House and Senate to present the 2012 budget request.
The Chinese Navy is the fastest-growing in the world today, Roughead said.
"We see their submarine fleet expanding, their surface combatants expanding. But it's also how they're using their command and control facilities," he said, "and the nature of expanding beyond the first island chain," the ring of islands that surround the Chinese mainland.
The strategic objectives of China's naval expansion seem to be same "that nations and navies have had throughout history," Roughead said. "As economies rise it follows there will be a strong navy."
"They want to ensure their sea lanes are able to be used," he told Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., who specifically asked about China's anti-carrier missile capability.
"There has been a lot of discussion about the Dong Feng 21 missile," Roughead acknowledged. "But the DF 21 is no more an anti-access weapon than a submarine is. I would argue that you can put a ship out of action faster by putting a hole in the bottom than by putting a hole in the top."
Noting the superiority of the U.S. Navy's Virginia-class attack submarines over the several types China is building, Roughead declared that "even though the DF 21 has become a newsworthy weapon, the fact is our aircraft carriers can maneuver, and we we have systems that can counter weapons like that."
"My objective," in regards to the Chinese, Roughead said, "is to not be denied ocean areas were can operate, or not be restricted in our ability to operate."
The Chinese being constantly scrutinized as to their intentions, Roughead told Coats.
"I think it's important to gain insight into what their intent is," he said. "So we watch developments very closely."
China's designs on the Arctic Ocean were also questioned by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who asked how the Navy planned to respond to increased activity in the region due to climate change.
"There is no question in my mind that the Arctic is changing," Roughead said. But along with working closely with the Coast Guard, the CNO again observed that "the most important thing is to become party to the convention of the Law of the Sea" treaty, long hung up in the Senate. "If we are not party to that treaty we will not have a seat at the table as this unfolds."

China Aims New Missile At Taiwan: Intel Chief

TAIPEI - Taiwan's top intelligence chief said March 16 that China is targeting the island with a new type of ballistic missile.
"The Chinese communists have deployed the Dongfeng 16, which is a new powerful missile aimed at Taiwan," said Tsai Teh-sheng, the director-general of the National Security Bureau.
"Its range is longer, and it increases the threat to Taiwan," Tsai said while replying to queries raised by Lin Yu-fang, a legislator from the ruling Kuomintang party.
Tsai declined to provide technical details about the new weapon as well as the number that has been deployed so far. Dongfeng means "East Wind."
Taiwanese experts estimate China's People's Liberation Army currently has more than 1,600 missiles aimed at the island, mostly deployed in Fujian and Jiangxi provinces in the mainland's southeast.
Tensions across the Taiwan Straits have eased since Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang came to power in 2008 on a platform of beefing up trade links and allowing in more Chinese tourists.
However, China still refuses to renounce the possible use of force against the island to bring about its long-stated goal of re-taking Taiwan, which has ruled itself since the end of a civil war in 1949.
The Pentagon said in an annual report to Congress last year that China's military build-up against Taiwan has "continued unabated" despite improving political relations.

U.S. Cyber Commander Gives Network Security a 'C'

When asked how he would grade the U.S. military's ability to protect its networks, Gen. Keith Alexander, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, said he would give it a C.
"I'd like to say an A, but I think it's going to take us some time to get to an A," Alexander said, testifying March 16 before the House Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities. An A grade would indicate that the networks were completely impenetrable by outside threats.
"We have made it extremely difficult for adversaries to get in and every day we improve that," Alexander said.
In June 2009, Defense Secretary Robert Gates directed the military to stand up Cyber Command as a subordinate organization to U.S. Strategic Command. Alexander, who also serves as the director of the National Security Agency (NSA), became head of Cyber Command in May. Both organizations are located at Fort Meade, Md.
The Pentagon announced Nov. 3 that the command had reached full operational capability.
"We've worked extremely hard at building the hardening of our networks," Alexander said. "We've made tremendous progress over the last two years."

NATO Task Force Seeks Joint Strategies as Budgets Fall

NATO has created a task force that will identify ways the alliance can bolster its capabilities and purchasing power in a time of shrinking defense budgets, according to a top general.
The group will deliver ideas and proposals for "innovative, multinational approaches to capability development" by September, French Air Force Gen. Stéphane Abrial, NATO supreme allied commander, transformation, said during a briefing in Washington.
Defense ministers from NATO nations agreed to organize the task force during meetings in Brussels last week. U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Carol Pottenger, deputy chief of staff for capability and development at NATO's Norfolk, Va.-based Allied Transformation Command (ACT), is overseeing the effort. The team is made up of officials from NATO headquarters, ACT and member nations.
"We need to be able to do better with less in the future," Abrial said, noting the 28 NATO member governments do not want the financial crisis to turn into a security crisis. "Therefore we have to redouble our efforts to see how we can be more effective and more efficient."
ACT is responsible for preparing NATO troops for near-term and future conflicts and identifying capability gaps.
The task force is exploring the nations' capabilities for all types of conflicts and looking for innovative solutions and multinational approaches. At the same time, ACT and the European Defense Agency are working together to avoid duplication in numerous areas, including countering improvised explosive devices, medical support and network-centric operations, Abrial said.
"This means that the nations have embarked in a more multinational vision of capability development," he said, noting this includes doctrine, organization, training and equipment.
The task force is looking at smaller cooperation agreements within NATO that could ease procurement issues, according to Abrial. This means all 28 member nations would not have to contribute to every initiative.
"If you try to procure at 28, then it might take quite awhile to get an agreement and in order to get to the agreement, you will have to make compromises and to include some parts of ambiguity, which you will pay at the end in terms of time and cost," he said.
Impact of U.S. Joint Forces Command Closure
Abrial expects ACT to continue working closely with the Pentagon even after U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) closes. ACT and JFCOM are co-located in Norfolk, Va. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced plans to close JFCOM in April 2010.
"My understanding is that there will be a good portion of JFCOM which will stay in the Norfolk-Suffolk area, specifically which is dealing with modeling and simulation," Abrial said.
The French general expects to work more closely with the Joint Staff, which will assume the JFCOM headquarters-type roles. The rest of the responsibilities will be "distributed somehow across the different institutions in the U.S., and we have started to look at how we will re-plug into this much more distributed system," Abrial said, noting he is still awaiting U.S. decisions on JFCOM's eventual shut down.
"Working in a distributed environment will not be totally new for us because we have been working already with other entities from JFCOM," he said. "We have close contact with Cyber Command" and the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Disposal Organization, he said.
Abrial said DoD will rely on ACT more than in the past to complete some functions they once jointly tackled with JFCOM.
"My impression is that with the disestablishment of JFCOM, the work between the U.S. defense institution and ACT will even increase as compared to the past," he said.

GAO: F-35 Software 'Significantly Behind Schedule'

Software development continues to bedevil Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), according to government auditors and U.S. Air Force and program officials.
In testimony submitted to Congress, Michael Sullivan, an auditor at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), said the stealth aircraft's software development "is significantly behind schedule as it enters its most challenging phase."
Sullivan said in his report that officials had underestimated the time and effort required to develop and integrate the F-35's software, which is an order of magnitude more complicated than code found on board the Air Force's F-22 Raptor or the U.S. Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
"Delays in developing, integrating, and releasing software to the test program have cascading effects hampering flight tests, training and lab accreditation. While progress is being made, a substantial amount of software work remains before the program can demonstrate full war-fighting capability," Sullivan said March 15 in testimony to the House Armed Services Committee (HASC).
The GAO is predicting that the remaining software will be more than three years late compared with the F-35 program's 2006 plan.
The agency's statement reflects concerns voiced earlier this month by Gen. Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff, that the software might become "the pacing item in terms of the development schedule."
In joint testimony submitted to the HASC, Air Force procurement chief David Van Buren and F-35 program executive officer David Venlet said that software development concurrency is one of the program's top four concerns.
"The four highest development risks on the program risk management board are software development concurrency. [technical baseline review] replan has assessed and extended the schedule, and early code writing and lab integration testing performance measures are being closely monitored," the joint testimony read.
However, Van Buren and Venlet also stated that the F-35's software development is conforming to a recently readjusted schedule.
"The development of F-35 Mission Systems software, a component of the Air System Software, is proceeding according to a schedule adjusted as an outcome of the" aircraft's technical baseline review, Venlet and Van Buren said.
The testimony reflects earlier comments by Venlet's deputy, Air Force Maj. Gen. C.D. Moore, who stated that the program office added more time and resources to the software development effort.
"The schedule and resourcing has been adjusted to address the risks that we saw associated with those next steps," he said.

Scorpene Delivery to India Delayed 3 Years

NEW DELHI - Delivery of the first French Scorpene submarine being license-built in India has been delayed by three years, until the latter part of 2015, Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony told the Indian Parliament in a written statement March 14.
According to the $3.9 billion contract signed in 2005 between India and France, construction of the first three submarines would begin in December 2006, December 2007 and August 2008. As per the contract signed with Mazagon Docks Ltd. (MDL), the first submarine is scheduled to be delivered in December 2012, and one each year until December 2017, Antony said.
Antony, however, told Parliament that the first Scorpene delivery will be delivered in 2015.
"As per the contract, the first submarine was scheduled to be delivered in December 2012 and thereafter, one each every year till December 2017. There have been delays due to initial teething problems, absorption of complex technology, augmentation of MDL infrastructure and procurement" of material. The first submarine is now scheduled to be delivered in the second half of 2015, Antony said.
India is already facing a shortfall in submarines. Currently, the Navy has 14 submarines and, by 2012, there will be nine, a senior Navy official said.
The news of the delay in the Scorpene delivery comes at a time when the Chinese Navy is building several nuclear submarines. China has about 30 modern submarines and few dozen older ones. The Scorpenes are being built under Indian Navy's Project 75, which was approved in 1997.
The Scorpene is a conventional submarine with diesel propulsion. It is 219 feet long and has a speed of more than 20 knots with a displacement of 1,700 tons. With 31 men onboard, it can remain at sea for about 50 days and can dive to a depth of more than 1,000 feet.

Japan Sends Reservists For Quake Relief

TOKYO - Japan's defense ministry said March 16 it will send military reservists to help relief efforts in the northeast, where thousands remain missing amid massive earthquake and tsunami damage.
About 6,400 reservists will join the 70,000 troops already in the field in the region battered by the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami on March 11, a ministry official said.
The country plans to send a total of 100,000 regular troops, about 40 percent of its military, which is known as the Self Defence Forces.
In the latest official figures, the death toll mounted to 3,676, and 7,558 people were missing. About 556,000 had been evacuated and more than a million buildings and households remain without running water or electricity.
The police chief of hardest-hit Miyagi has said he fears 10,000 dead in that prefecture alone.

U.S. Drones Track Drug Lords Over Mexico: Report

WASHINGTON - The United States has begun sending unarmed drones deep into Mexico to gather intelligence about powerful drug cartels in order to assist local authorities, the New York Times reported on March 16.
The newspaper said U.S. President Barack Obama and his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon formally agreed to the high-altitude missions in a meeting on March 3 but have kept it secret because of possible political and legal constraints.
It cited unnamed U.S. officials as saying that the drones gathered vital information leading to Mexico's arrest of several suspects in last month's killing of U.S. immigration and customs agent Jaime Zapata, 32.
Such a program would suggest rising concerns about the Mexican government's ability to bring the cartels to heel through a massive military crackdown launched by Calderon in 2006.
Since then more than 34,600 people have been killed in drug-related violence that has engulfed the country, especially areas along the U.S. border where rival gangs battle over lucrative trade routes to the north.
"It wasn't that long ago when there was no way the DEA could conduct the kinds of activities they are doing now," Mike Vigil, a retired chief of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, told the Times.
"And the only way they're going to be able to keep doing them is by allowing Mexico to have plausible deniability."
The Times quoted a senior U.S. official as saying that all "counternarcotics activities were conducted at the request and direction of the Mexican government."
It quoted both Mexican and U.S. officials as saying that Mexico has been turning a blind eye to U.S. wiretapping of the telephones of drug suspects and to US agents carrying weapons in violation of longstanding Mexican restrictions.
Mexican and U.S. officials said that their joint efforts had led to the capture or killing of at least 20 high-level drug traffickers, including 12 in the last year alone, the Times reported.
However, past high-profile arrests have had little impact on the ground.
On March 15 a six-truck convoy of gunmen pursuing a marked man fatally shot six people, including two children ages 2 and 6, during a rampage through the Mexican beach resort of Acapulco, state officials said.
And in northeastern Mexico a car bomb exploded outside a police station and a children's playground, wounding a woman and a police officer.