News Story: Computer system for Hawkei vehicles tested

by Richard Tomkins

A C4I integral Computing System for the Australian Army's Hawkei vehicle has been tested by the government's Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group, the Australian Ministry of Defense announced on Monday.

The CASG Land 121 Phase 4 project team conducted the tests at the Monegeetta Proving Ground and signed a project charter for the system with nine companies involved in the system.

CASG identified the companies as Thales Australia, Cablex, Elbit Land Systems Australia, Esterline, Harris Australia, Kongsberg, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins, and Thomas Global Systems.

"Using generic vehicle architecture and a central computing concept to host various C4I systems and communications, the ICS will optimize and centralize the flow of information to the user, enabling rapid decision making and multi-tasking at levels not previously achievable on land based platforms," said Land 121 Phase 4 Project Director Col. John McLean said in a press release.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Story: India Jaguar fighters face upgrade challenges

Indian Air Force SEPECAT Jaguar (Image: Wiki Commons)

By: Vivek Raghuvanshi

NEW DELHI ― The Indian Air Force’s British-made Jaguar aircraft completed its maiden flight last week after integrating an advanced active electronically scanned array radar, but service officials say the Jaguar upgrade program is moving slowly and that there’s uncertainty regarding the mounting of proposed new engines.

The upgrade program of the Jaguar fighter, undertaken by India’s state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, includes mounting new engines from Honeywell of the U.S., but an executive with HAL said it’s ”still awaiting the go-ahead from the Indian Air Force for the new engines.”

“Not only is the upgrade program slow, but the autopilots on the Jaguar aircraft are malfunctioning,” the IAF official said.

Furthermore, only 18 autopilot systems out of a required 108 could be integrated on Jaguar aircraft, according to a second Air Force official. India contracted the purchase of 35 autopilots from Thales of France on the Jaguar, which were received between December 2006 and January 2008.

Due to contractual restrictions, HAL could integrate only 18 out of the 35 autopilots up until March 2017.

And the autopilots installed on the aircraft are functioning at a suboptimal level because a vital component ― the Auto Pilot Electronic Unit, which maintains the flight path of the aircraft ― required repairs by Thales, which are expected to be completed in 7 to 26 months.

The HAL executive placed blame: ”Upgrade of autopilot has been slow because of delays in supplies by French defense companies.”

The Jaguar with the new AESA radar made its maiden flight Aug. 10, but the Air Force will carry out six more tests before induction.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

AUS: Deployable Mine Countermeasure Capabilities For Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is forging ahead with new technologies to counter the threat of sea mines to military and commercial vessels.

The Head of Navy Capability, Rear Admiral Jonathan Mead, said the prevalence and increasing sophistication of sea mines means the Royal Australian Navy must continue to improve the way it finds and disposes of these mines.

“New autonomous and remote-controlled technologies deployed from within the maritime task force provides the opportunity to find and dispose of sea mines more safely and efficiently,” Rear Admiral Mead said.

“In the 2030s, Defence will seek to replace its specialised mine hunting and environmental survey vessels with a single fleet of multi-role vessels embarking advanced autonomous and uninhabited systems.”

Rear Admiral Mead said these newly introduced systems are the first step in realising a future capability which would allow the Royal Australian Navy to clear sea mines with minimal risk to its people and assets.

“Thales Australia Ltd will deliver and support the new equipment over the next 15 years,” Rear Admiral Mead said.

The new capability will primarily be based and sustained at HMAS Waterhen in Sydney, New South Wales.

AUS DoD

News Report: French, Indian Companies Form Joint Venture to Develop Military Sensors

France's Thales Group and India's Reliance Defence and Engineering announced their intent to form a joint venture company to integrate and maintain radar and electronic warfare sensors in India.

Reliance Defence will be a majority shareholder with 51% of the new company's shares while Thales will hold 49% of shares in the joint venture. "The joint venture will develop… activity in the Special Economic Zone of Mihan-Nagpur together with an Indian supply chain for the manufacturing of microwave technologies and high-performance airborne electronics," Reliance Defence said in a statement.

"We are delighted to seal this strategic collaboration with Reliance Defence Limited. This joint venture resonates with our strategy to strengthen our industrial footprint in the country by building collaborations with the Indian industry. It reaffirms our commitment to India, and our active contribution to "Make in India"," Patrice Caine, Chairman and CEO, Thales, said.

News Story: Components selection ramps up in massive French-Australian submarine deal

By: Pierre Tran

PARIS – Lockheed Martin will report this summer results of studies for potential suppliers of sonar and other critical systems for Australia’s planned fleet of 12 new attack submarines, said Mike Oliver, program director for the future submarine combat system. 

“Lockheed Martin has been conducting trade studies in a number of key areas of the submarine’s design,” he told Defense News. “We are examining all options and will deliver the results of those trade studies in June to the customer.”

Sonar is among the key systems, the company’s program team said. 

Australia this time last year picked DCNS to build the future submarine after a tender which pitted the French company against Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, backed by Tokyo. 

“The choice of sonar systems and arrays is in the hands of Lockheed Martin,” Marie-Pierre de Bailliencourt, general manager at DCNS, told Defense News. 

Canberra in September selected Lockheed as combat system integrator, partnering with DCNS, which will design, build and service a fleet of 12 ocean-going diesel-electric boats. The program is worth AUS$50 billion ($38.1 billion) over some 35 years. 

A survey of sonar and other systems marks a first step in a selection process that Thales hopes to win through its Australian subsidiary.

The French electronics company expects to secure more than €1 billion of deals, with €100 million per boat based on sonar systems, electronic warfare and periscopes. A towed sonar array is part of the kit. 

A Thales spokesperson declined comment. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: UK to promote 'Make in India' policy

By: Vivek Raghuvanshi

NEW DELHI — India and the U.K. have decided to enhance defense ties based on the joint development and production of weapons at Indian facilities under the 'Make In India' policy. This was decided during a meeting here on Thursday between the visiting U.K. secretary of defense, Michael Fallon, and his Indian counterpart, Arun Jaitley. 

"The renewed engagement will place capability and technology development at its core and seek to harness the complementary strengths of both nations in defense manufacturing and use the combined strengths of their respective private and public sectors to develop defense solutions for use in both home and shared export markets," according to a joint statement issued by the Indian Ministry of Defence. 

A senior MoD official pointed out that the two countries are devising a mechanism to identify defense projects that could be jointly developed and produced and even exported; however, no blueprint has yest been crafted. 

The fate of the Advanced Hawk trainer aircraft, for which the state enterprise Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is the prime supplier for wings, avionics and multifunction display systems, is uncertain, as the Indian Air Force has not committed to ordering the aircraft. 

BAE Systems and HAL signed a memorandum of understanding in 2015 to fund the development and production of the trainer with a combat role capability. The aircraft was to be marketed for both the domestic and export market, and it even debuted at the Aero India 2017 show in Bangalore in February. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews

AUS: $2 billion Ground Based Air Defence System Big Opportunity for Australian Defence Industry

National Advanced Surface to Air Missile
System (NASAMS)

The Turnbull Government has provided approval for the development of a Short Range Ground Based Air Defence system to improve protection for deployed personnel.

Minister for Defence Senator the Hon Marise Payne said the project is the first step in the development of the Australian Army’s contribution to the Australian Defence Force’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence Program announced in the 2016 Defence White Paper.

The Government will invest up to $2 billion in the system which will provide the inner most layer of Australia’s enhanced integrated air and missile [Defence] capability. The capability will be operated by the Army’s 16th Air Land Regiment.

“A modern and integrated ground-based air defence system is needed to protect our deployed forces from increasingly sophisticated air threats, both globally and within our region,” said Minister Payne.

“Australia’s current short-range capability is 30 years old and due to be retired early next decade. The replacement system will provide improved protection for our deployed servicemen and women.”

Industry: Thales delivers a flight and navigation training simulator to the Royal Malaysian Air Force

Thales was selected to deliver an FNPT II (Flight and Navigation Procedures Trainer) simulator to the Royal Malaysian Air Force for the purposes of initial pilot training. The simulator, delivered to the company Gading Kasturi, has been in operation since December. 

Key Points

• Delivery of this flight and navigation training simulator marks the first flight simulation contract won by Thales in the Malaysian market.
• The arrival of this flight simulator enables Malaysian Air Force pilots to receive initial training, and is a welcome addition to existing training facilities.
• Thales worked on this project with 6MOUV, a French small and medium-sized enterprise.

News Story: Indian Navy seeks to replace Israeli Barak-1 air defense system

Barak-1 SAM (Image: Wiki Commons)

By: Vivek Raghuvanshi

NEW DELHI — India's Navy has launched a new program to buy short-range surface-to-air missile systems from overseas to replace its aging Israeli Barak-1 air defense systems. 

India has made a global request for information to purchase 10 SRSAM systems and 600 missiles at a cost of about $1.5 billion.

Once responses are received in the next two months, the Navy will issue a tender under the Make in India policy's global purchasing category after six months to acquire the SRSAM systems. Under the program, overseas defense companies would need to forge partnerships with domestic companies to carry out 30 percent offsets obligations and include indigenous technology in the SRSAM systems.

An Indian Navy official said the proposed SRSAM system should be capable of vertically launching Mach 3-class active seeker missiles that can provide 360-degree defense coverage to meet all naval air defense applications including the need to carry out multiple simultaneous engagements.

Each SRSAM system will have a command and control system, a fire control system, a command link radar and one launcher to carry between eight and 16 missiles depending upon the size of the warship. The system's is expected to be inducted within the next five years.

According to an Indian Navy official, the foreign companies expected to make a bid are European-wide MBDA; Thales of France; Saab of Sweden; KBP Tula of Russia; Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems of Israel; Raytheon of the United States; and Doosan Group and Samsung of South Korea. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: ‘Make In India’ Was the Key Focus of Aero India Show

Embraer EMB-145 AEW&C with DRDO Radar

by Chris Pocock

The 11th Aero India show at Bangalore last week was bigger than ever, as foreign manufacturers vied to offer attractive “Make In India” proposals to meet the country’s substantial defense needs. Meanwhile, the country’s own long-established aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) showed the Advanced Hawk jet trainer that has been co-developed with BAE Systems, and proposed an Indian multi-role helicopter (IMRH). Neither project has official backing in the form of a firm requirement or orders, but at the show HAL did sign a memorandum of understanding with the government for a large new helicopter testing and production facility in the state of Karnataka.

India’s fighter requirements were, as expected, high on the agenda. Saab made an aggressive pitch for the Gripen E, that included the proposed maritime version that could meet the Indian Navy’s requirement for 57 multi-role carrier-borne fighters. Kent-Ake Molin, commercial manager, said that Saab has “mobilized a robust global supply chain for India. We are not doing a copy and paste…the facility we will set up here will be new. Besides, we will bring in capabilities India has been wanting, such as superplastic forming and integration and use of software.” During the show, Saab Aeronautics head Ulf Nilsson told an Indian business daily that the Swedish company is talking about an Indian partnership to the Adani Group, which wants to build a 200-acre aerospace factory at Mundra. 

A Gripen took part in the flying display, and so did an F-16, another candidate for the Indian Air Force’s yet-to-be-fully-defined requirement for a new, possibly single-engine fighter to be produced in-country. But concerns about possible changes in U.S. technology transfer policy clouded Lockheed Martin’s pitch for Indian-based production of the F-16V version of the Fighting Falcon. The American company issued a statement noting that its current proposal “was supported by the Obama administration as part of a broader cooperative dialogue with the government of India…we understand that the Trump administration will want to take a fresh look at some of these programs and we stand prepared to support that effort to ensure that any deal of this importance is properly aligned with U.S. policy priorities.”

Read the full story at AINonline

News Story: Low-key Aero India 2017 witnessed limited agreements

By: Vivek Raghuvanshi

BANGALORE, India — The aerospace and defense exhibition Aero India 2017 was low-key in terms of business activities, with no major deals signed or Ministry of Defence announcements on the Strategic Partners policy, which has the potential to boost business for the domestic private sector. 

Friday was the expo's final business day, but it remains open Feb. 18 for the general public.

More than 72 fighter aircraft participated at the event in the wake of the runup for a production tender for single-engine fighters for the Indian Air Force; however, the MoD did not announce introduce a road map for the tender. 

Mostly only joint venture agreements and memorandums of understanding were announced between overseas defense companies and Indian entities. Foreign companies partner with domestic businesses to stay connected to the Indian market, which will see all future big-ticket tenders awarded to domestic companies under a much-awaited MoD policy. 

A top MoD official said Aero India 2017 was productive, as it provided a platform to foreign original equipment manufacturers to forge partnerships with domestic defense companies to move forward Make in India defense initiatives. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Thales, Bharat Dynamics ink STARStreak capability transfer deal

by Ryan Maass

Thales Group and Indian state-owned contractor Bharat Dynamics have signed off on exploring the transfer of technology for the STARStreak missile capability.

A memorandum of understanding was inked by representatives from both parties in the presence of U.K. defense procurement leaders at the Aero India conference in Bengaluru. Under the agreement, Thales officials in Britain will support the Indian government's interest in purchasing STARStreak missiles operated by U.K. forces.

The deal supports the Make in India initiative, an effort to bolster India's domestic economic output in aerospace, defense and other areas. Thales says it also strengthens strategic ties between the two countries.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Story: Australian-French Sub Deal Signals Appetite For Defense Uptick Down Under

By: Pierre Tran

PARIS – Defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is due to sign Tuesday an intergovernment agreement with his Australian counterpart, Maryse Payne, on cooperation on the AU$50 billion ($36 billion) Australian Future Submarine Program, Australian defence industry minister Christopher Pyne said. 

That signing in Adelaide, South Australia, will be “the next milestone” in working with DCNS, the boat builder, and Direction Générale de l’Armement procurement office, Pyne said after giving a Dec. 15 keynote speech to IHEDN, the Institute for Advanced Studies in National Defense, at the war college, here. 

Pyne added that he and the Australian prime minister would attend the signing and that Australia and France had already signed a security agreement in the week of Dec. 5. 

The program to build 12 ocean-going, diesel-electric submarines is the single biggest item in the Australian defense budget, he told a lecture theater packed with IHEDN students, officers and industry executives. 

DCNS will build the diesel-electric boats, with Lockheed Martin supplying the combat integration system. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: India Seeks Global Ties for Its Light Combat Aircraft Mark-1A Program

By: Vivek Raghuvanshi

NEW DELHI — India has floated global bids to procure state-of-the-art active electronically scanned array radars and electronic warfare self-protection jammer pods for the forthcoming modified version of the indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft Mark-1A aircraft. 

Under the ministry of defence's directions, India's sole combat aircraft manufacturer, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., on Thursday released global requests for quotations for the equipment. Two systems will be selected by April next year, according to a top MoD defense production official. 

"We cannot wait for Indian companies to develop and build these proven systems, and they will be bought off-the-shelf from overseas," the MoD official added. 

Under a fast-track program, around 100 AESA radars will be bought at a cost of $1.85 billion million, and bids have been issued to Elta of Israel, US companies Raytheon and Northrop Grumman, SAAB of Sweden, Thales of France and Rosoboronoexport of Russia. 

In addition, 100 electronic-warfare jammer pods will be procured from overseas at a cost of $200 million, and bids have been sent to Elta, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, SAAB, Thales, Rosoboronoexport, Indra of Spain and Leonardo-subsidiary Finmeccanica of Italy.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: France, Australia Reach Deal to Share Secrets on Defense Programs

By: Pierre Tran

PARIS – France and Australia yesterday signed a treaty for sharing classified information, a bilateral agreement aimed at supporting work on the Future Submarine Program, the two countries said Thursday. 

“The agreement will directly support the delivery of the Future Submarine Program and will further enable greater cooperation on a range of national security matters,” the French defense ministry and Australian Attorney General’s office said in a joint statement. 

Defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Attorney General George Brandis signed the agreement, which sets out “mechanisms and safeguards to enable the sharing of classified information,” the partner nations said. 

The agreement covers classification and information handling, recognition of personnel and facility security clearance. Responsibility is also assigned where contractors work on projects based on classified information. 

“This intergovernmental agreement constitutes a significant milestone in the development of a strategic partnership between France and Australia,” the nations said.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (29-Nov-2016)

Christopher Cowan, Thulasi Wigneswaran, Elisabeth Buchan and Alexander Vipond

Sea State

The Indian Navy’s anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability received a boost this past week, with the commissioning of the INS Chennai. Equipped with two ASW helicopters as well as sophisticated sonar systems, the INS Chennai is optimised for ASW missions but also has a potent anti-air capability and boasts a stealthy design. The INS Chennai is the third and last ship of the Indian Navy’s Kolkata-class guided missile destroyers; the first two—the INS Kolkata and the INS Kochi—were commissioned in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

According IHS Jane’s, the Royal Danish Navy is looking to acquire SM-2 missiles for its fleet of Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates and will make a decision on planned frigate ballistic missile defence upgrades in 2018. The Danish frigates are admired by many (including some members of the US Navy) for their flexibility; equipping them with the SM-2 would add a punch to their arsenal.

Industry: Thales to upgrade Collins submarine with latest generation sonar systems

Royal Australian Navy Collins class Submarine

Thales has signed a design and pre-production contract to upgrade Australia’s Collins class submarine sonar systems, enhancing their capability to outperform the most advanced underwater threats in an increasingly complex environment.

• Maintain Royal Australian Navy’s operational edge in the region and contribute to Australian sovereignty
• Better detection of evolving underwater threats and upgrades to cylindrical and flank arrays, as well as on-board processing
• Benefits of multi-decade investment in Australian innovation

As Australia’s leading provider of sonar technologies, Thales will build on its local and international expertise to prepare for upgrades to the submarines’ cylindrical array, flank array, and on-board processing to maintain Royal Australian Navy superiority in the region.

Benefitting from a multi-decade investment in Australian innovation, Thales will utilise some of the latest developments in underwater sensing to replace the Collins arrays, which have not been upgraded since first entering service in the mid-1990s.

AUS: Thales Australia Awarded Collins Sonar Upgrade Design

The Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, today announced that Thales Australia has been awarded a $100 million contract  to design a major sonar system upgrade for Collins class submarines.

Minister Pyne said Thales Australia will engage other Australian-based companies including Sonartech Atlas and L3 Oceania, as well as suppliers from the United Kingdom (UK) and France to design the Collins sonar system upgrade.

“The sonar system upgrade will install improved sonar sensor arrays aboard each of the Collins submarines, as well as improved signal processing systems,” Minister Pyne said.

“Under the contract Australian industry will play a key role in delivering leading edge sonar capability for Australian submarines.”

“The Australian industry component of the contract to be led by Thales Australia is worth in the order of $50 million and will support around 50 Australian jobs in Sydney and Perth.

“This is a clear example of our commitment to building and harnessing the innovation potential of Australia’s defence industry, as outlined in the 2016 Defence Industry Policy Statement,” he said.

AUS DoD

Industry: Airbus Helicopters delivers final EC135 T2+ for Australian military training program

Image: Airbus

• Full fleet of 15 helicopters delivered only two years after contract signature.
• H135 family confirmed as a reference for military helicopter training.

Donauwörth, Germany - Airbus Helicopters has achieved Factory Acceptance of the last six of the EC135 T2+ for the Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS) for the Australian Defence Force (ADF), completing on-time deliveries of the full fleet of 15 helicopters.

Under the JP9000 Phase 7 HATS project, a new joint helicopter training program for Navy and Army aircrew will utilise 15 EC135 T2+ helicopters, along with flight simulators and a new flight-deck equipped sea-going training vessel. Boeing Defence Australia is the prime contractor for the new training system, partnered by Thales Australia who supplies the flight simulators and synthetic training devices.

A member of the H135 family of light twin-engine helicopters, the EC135 T2+ is an ideal training platform, and initial flying activities have commenced at their new home in Nowra, Australia.

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (15-Nov-2016)

Christopher Cowan, Thulasi Wigneswaran, Elisabeth Buchan and Alexander Vipond

Sea State

South Korea launched its newest submarine—the Lee Beom-seok—at a ceremony last week. Named after a famous Korean resistance fighter, the Lee Beom-seok is the eighth of a planned nine Son-Won-II-class diesel electric submarines. Based on the German Type-214 submarine, the Son-Won-II-class displaces 1,800 tonnes and is equipped with air independent propulsion systems. The launch of the Lee Beom-seok­ comes as South Korea races to increase the size of its submarine fleet in response to North Korea’s fleet of 70 submarines. North Korea’s submarines have been quite active recently; one launched a ballistic missile earlier this year while another is thought to be responsible for sinking a South Korean corvette in 2010.

Secretary of the US Navy, Ray Mabus, announced the name of his service’s next amphibious assault ship and it’s sure to please World War II aficionados. Named for the famous campaign in which American, Australian and New Zealand troops took back the island of Bougainville from the Japanese; the third ship of the America-class will be named the USS Bougainville. The new ship will have a well deck for amphibious operations. The two other America-class vessels—the USS America and the USS Tripoli—don’t have that feature, and are rather optimised for airborne operations using helicopters and F-35B fighters.