The companies bidding for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps’ Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program have experienced a shakeup, with the field widening to five teams.

Oshkosh is joining the race, while Navistar and BAE Systems, which paired for the technology development phase, are now competing separately.

The Army and Marine Corps are developing the JLTV to replace a portion of their fleet of Humvees. Companies wanting to compete in the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase had to submit bids March 27.

The Defense Department has said it plans to award up to three contracts for the 27-month EMD phase. There are two planned JLTV variants: a Combat Tactical Vehicle that can transport four passengers and carry 3,500 pounds. and a Combat Support Vehicle that can transport two passengers and carry 5,100 pounds.

According to an Oct. 3 request for proposals, the Army plans to buy at least 50,000 vehicles with the option to buy more, while the Marines could buy 5,500 vehicles. The new target price per vehicle is $250,000.

In October 2008, the Army awarded three contracts for the technology development phase of the program. Winning teams were Lockheed Martin, a BAE Systems/Navistar team and General Tactical Vehicles, which is a joint venture between Humvee-maker AM General and General Dynamics Land Systems. Those teams built and delivered several prototypes, which the Army and Marine Corps evaluated in an effort to refine vehicle requirements.

The Army said all along that it would reopen the competition for the EMD phase of the program, but many predicted the companies that participated in the technology development would have an advantage.

That advantage may not be as firm since the Army and Marine Corps overhauled the requirements to bring down weight and cost, and win back congressional support.

Five teams have confirmed submitting bids for the next phase of the competition.

Lockheed Martin
Formed in 2005, the core Lockheed Martin-led JLTV team includes the tactical wheeled vehicles team at BAE Systems in Sealy, Texas. It also includes Cummins Engine, Allison Transmission, Bosch, Meritor Defense, Lotus Engineering, L3 Combat Propulsion Systems and Vehma International of America.

It was one of three teams that won a contract for the JLTV technology development phase.

“Our improvements removed hundreds of pounds of weight from our [technology development] design, which was already proven in helicopter lift tests,” Scott Greene, vice president of ground vehicles at Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control business, said in a statement.

By relying on more affordable materials and reducing the use of exotic metals, like titanium, the industry team was able to bring down cost, according to Kathryn Hasse, Lockheed’s JLTV program director.

General Tactical Vehicles (GTV)
As expected, the joint venture between General Dynamics Land Systems and AM General is also competing for an EMD contract. The team’s vehicle, the Eagle, makes use of a Double-V hull design, which has proved effective against roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“With the GTV JLTV Eagle, we offer a modified non-developmental, low-risk vehicle with inherent manufacturing readiness that is built for program success and an accelerated path to production,” Mark Roualet, president of General Dynamics Land Systems, said in a statement.

BAE Systems
BAE Systems teamed up with Navistar Defense in the last round of JLTV, but this time around, the two companies are submitting separate bids.

The BAE Systems-led team still includes Northrop Grumman and Meritor Defense. With its submission, BAE announced that it had also selected an engine designed and built by Ford. They are calling their vehicle the Valanx.

“We are excited about this significant enhancement to our team and vehicle and look forward to the possibilities it could offer in the future,” BAE spokeswoman Stephanie Serkhoshian said in an email.

Ford designed and built the 6.7 Power Stroke engine for its F-Series Super Duty trucks.

Navistar
Navistar will bid with a variant of its Saratoga light tactical vehicle, which Navistar launched in October after conducting its own automotive and blast testing, the company said.

“We made a significant investment in developing the Saratoga on our own nickel because that’s what we do commercially — it is part of our DNA,” Archie Massicotte, Navistar Defense president, said in a press release. “The Saratoga is a solid design and now that we have seen the requirements of the JLTV migrate toward our vehicle capabilities, we are in a position to modify the Saratoga to fit those requirements.”

Oshkosh
Oshkosh is offering a variant of its Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle (L-ATV).

The company says it has committed significant resources for light vehicle research and development to produce the L-ATV.

“Since 2006, we have aggressively and continuously worked to design, develop and test the L-ATV to deliver a robust, mature solution for the JLTV EMD phase,” John Bryant, vice president and general manager of Joint and Marine Corps Programs for Oshkosh Defense, said in a statement.

Oshkosh also builds the MRAP-All Terrain Vehicle, designed to meet an urgent need in Afghanistan for a lighter MRAP.

Source: Defense news

The UH-60M Black Hawk is currently the most advanced UH-60/S-70 model, whose variants are in service with the US Army and over 20 other countries around the world. To date, UH-60M customers include the USA, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, plus a request from Egypt. Unlike global competitors such as Russia’s Mi-8/17 series, however, the UH-60’s operational armament is generally limited to door guns. That may be about to change, thanks to a UAE initiative.

Colombia currently flies the armed S-70 “Arpia III”, and Sikorsky has worked on armed “AH-60” versions as an offering in some foreign competitions, but efforts to sell the concept in Australia and elsewhere were less successful. Nevertheless, Sikorsky executives see considerable potential for multi-role helicopters and conversion kits, in an era of global insurgencies, tight budgets, and limited helicopter numbers. Now, the UAE has become their launch customer. What is Sikorsky’s Battlehawk, and what are their plans?...

The relationship between India and Russia has changed significantly since the end of the Cold War, but there’s one area in which ties have remained virtually unbroken – defence cooperation.

The recent visit of India’s Navy chief underscored the closeness of defence ties with Russia. A failed Russian fighter bid won’t change that.

India, with a defence budget for the current year of Rs. 1.5 trillion ($32.5 billion), imports more than 70 percent of its arms, the vast majority of which come from Russia. It’s against this backdrop that Indian Navy Chief Adm. Nirmal Verma recently concluded a visit to Russia following an invitation from Adm. Vladimir Sergeivich Vysotskiy, commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy.

Verma’s visit was only the latest in a series of high-level meetings between top defence personnel and leaders from both countries, and followed a visit by Vysotskiy to India in January.

During his trip, Verma took in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Kaliningrad and Severodvinsk, and engaged with numerous senior Russian officials including Deputy Defence Minister A. Antonov. Verma also visited design bureaus and shipyards engaged in constructing ships for the Indian Navy.

According to the Indian Navy, Verma ‘reviewed the progress of the Talwar Class follow-on warships, under construction at the Yantar shipyard, and was reassured that the first warship “Teg” would commence trials shortly and be delivered in six to eight months.’The new frigates in this class, namely ‘Teg,’ ‘Teer’ and ‘Trikand’ are follow-ons of the three Talwar Class warships built for India by Russia and brought into service in the early part of the last decade. With the new ships, the Russian-origin Klub missiles would be replaced by the indigenous BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile system.

During his visit to the Sevmash Shipyard, where the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov is being retrofitted, Verma noted that ‘significant progress had been made on the Gorshkov project and the ship was shaping up well for the preliminary sea trials.’ A press release by the Indian Navy also noted that Verma ‘made a first-hand assessment of all projects,’ adding that ‘they were progressing satisfactorily and had reached critical stages of maturity.’ He also expressed satisfaction with the quality of construction and repairs, and told Russian media that the Russian Mig 29KUB fighter jet designed for the Gorshkov was sound, claiming that the recent accident involving the aircraft wouldn’t affect India’s arms orders with Russia.

But discussions went beyond just talk of hardware, reflecting the strategic importance that the two sides place on relations. For example, the two sides also discussed increasing cooperation in anti-piracy operations, and they agreed that the INDRA series of exercises still form an important aspect of the bilateral relationship and so should be continued and expanded.

WASHINGTON: The US is open to Indian participation in its Joint Strike Fighter programme that would finally lead to its purchase of fifth generation F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter, a top Pentagon official has said.

"There is nothing on our side, no principle which bars that on our side, Indian participation in the Joint Strike Fighter. Right now, they're focused on these aircraft which are top-of-the-line fourth-gen fighters," Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Ashton Carter said yesterday.

U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Ashton Carter, head of acquisitions at the Pentagon, hinted at the possibility saying that there was "nothing on our side, no principle that bar Indian participation in the Joint Strike Fighter program."

"Right now," he added, "they're focused on these aircraft which are top-of-the-line fourth-generation fighters."

Carter was delivering a keynote address on "US-India Defense Relations" at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, on the occasion of the release of a report on India's Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) programme.

At a cost of about USD 10 billion for 126 aircraft, the MMRCA competition is the largest Indian fighter tender in years.

Determined to increase its defenses and become a regional superpower, India plans to spend up to $30 billion on its military by 2012. In recent months, it inducted a long-range, nuclear-tipped missile into its armed forces, unveiling a defense spending budget spiked by 24 percent since last year.

The United States' consideration of offering the F-35 to India isn't new.

In 2007, Lockheed Martin briefed Indian air force officials on the stealth aircraft but plans for a sale were subsequently blocked by Washington.

India's interest, though, remains.

Lockheed Martin Vice President Orville Prins recently confirmed that the company had received an official interest request by the Indian navy. The request concerned naval variants of the F-35, including the F-35B STOVL and F-35C.

"We are going to offer our aircraft to them," he was quoted saying by the Defense Update Web site.

The possible release of Joint Strike Fighter program technology to India marks a significant shift in policy toward New Delhi, a change resulting from growing concern over the military growth of China.

Also, if the United States holds out on its initial reservations, it may lose a potential client to Russia.

India is considering buying 250 T-50 fifth-generation fighters from Russia in an ambitious joint development project with Sukhoi.

Germany plans to sell 200 Leopard tanks to Saudi Arabia after lifting a decades-long ban on selling heavy weaponry to the Persian Gulf kingdom, the Der Spiegel said Saturday.

The federal security council approved the sale last week, the weekly news magazine said without citing sources.

The Saudis want to buy 200 Leopard 2A7+ tanks in an order potentially worth billions of euros to companies Kraus-Maffei and Rheinmetall, Der Spiegel said.

Saudi officials held talks with the Spanish subsidiary of the US military-industrial complex corporation General Dynamics about buying their version of the Leopard tank, but a larger portion of the order will go to German companies Kraus-Maffei and Rheinmetall, the magazine said.

Under the deals announced by the German government, Saudi Arabia will receive 200 of the last generation of Leopard 2A7+ tanks -- the upgraded version of the German battle tank first presented in 2010.

Since the 1980's, Germany has blocked the sale of Leopard 2 tanks to Saudi Arabia, afraid the equipment would be used against Israel.

The Saudis are also in talks with US companies for 60 billion dollars worth (41 billion euros) of defence equipment that would become the largest US contract ever.

The order is to include 84 new F-15 fighter jets and 178 combat helicopters.

Length: 10,97 m; Width: 4.00 m; Height: 2.64 m. Weight: 67,500 kg. Motor power: 1500 horsepower; Speed: 72 km/h.
Operating Range: 450km. Armament: 120 mm / L55 smoothbore cannon, 12.7 mm machine gun, 40 mm grenade launcher and 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun.
Distance to destroy targets: 2,500 m; Crew: 4 peoples.

According to the company, Saab 2000 is an ideal partner for the Indian Navy’s requirement of an aircraft with long range, extended time on station, fast response, long service life and anti surface warfare capabilities. The aircraft maintains a cruising speed of 350 knots, it can climb to an altitude of 20,000 ft in 10 minutes, reaching operating area 1,000 nautical miles afar within three hours. It can operate from high altitude airfields, taking off with maximum load and fuel even at very hot temperatures.

The Saab 2000 MPA can be equipped with Saab RBS15 anti-ship missile system and its associated Command & Control (C2) system supporting mission planning of missile launching zones, trajectories and target seeking activities. The Saab 2000 MPA can operate at a maximum range exceeding 2,000 nautical miles, with mission endurance exceeding 9.5 hours.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The cost of building the F-35 fighter jet, set to replace a large part of the US warplane fleet, is "unaffordable" in its current version and must be reviewed, the Pentagon's top acquisition official said Thursday.

"Over the lifetime of this program, the decade or so, the per-aircraft cost of the 2,443 aircraft we want has doubled in real terms," said Ashton Carter, the under secretary of Defence for acquisition, technology and logistics.

"That's our forecast for how much the aircraft's going to cost.

"Said differently, that's what it's going to cost if we keep doing what we're doing. And that's unacceptable. It's unaffordable at that rate."

The cost of the plane has jumped to $385 billion, about $103 million per plane in constant dollars or $113 million in fiscal year 2011 dollars, said Christine Fox, the Defence Department's director of cost assessment and program evaluation.

Republican Senator John McCain called the figure "truly troubling," considering the original price was $69 million per airplane.

"The facts regarding this program are truly troubling," said McCain. "No program should expect to be continued with that kind of track record, especially in our current fiscal climate," said McCain.

"It seems to me we have to start at least considering alternatives"

The F-35 or Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), made by Lockheed Martin, is the Pentagon's most costly weapons program.

An additional appropriation of $4 billion brings the cost of development of the plane to $51 billion, "dismaying" figures," said Michigan Senator Carl Levin, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"These are dismaying; indeed, they are disturbing numbers in costs to us and to the taxpayers of the United States," Levin said.

Carter attributed the cost overruns and delays to the plane's complexities and its radar-evading equipment, as well as the short-takeoff and vertical takeoff versions. And he said the culture of easy money at the Pentagon since 9/11 was also to blame.

"In the decade of ever-increasing Defence budgets, which we just enjoyed, it was always possible for our managers, when they ran into a technical problem or a difficult choice, to reach for more money," said Carter. "And the money was available in the decade after 9/11."

Russia National Technology Group representative in Argentina, Anatoly Zuev said: Uruguay decided to buy a lots of Russian multi-task armored cars "Tiger".

According to Anatoly Zuev, the contract Russian and Uruguay signed on 28 / 4 past is high political nature.

"Currently, Uruguay Ministry of Interioris especially need this car to fight drug trafficking", the representative Russia National Technology Group said.

However, he didn't specify the total contract value and the quantity of vehicles that Russia'll provide for the partner.

Although this vehicle has undergone trials in Brazil but for at the moment there isn't still any contract between the two countries. Therefore, the Russian representative said, Uruguay is the first country in Latin America lead in the procurement of armored cars "Tiger".

Over 10 years of technical defense cooperation - between Russia and Uruguay, two countries have signed dozens of contracts to transfer weapons. However, "Tiger" vehicle purchased contract is the first contract which Uruguay signed with Russian Interior Ministry.

Armored cars "Tiger" Gaz-2330 is capable of accelerating to 140km / h, which can carry 6-9 people or 12 tons of useful load. Car team can fight with personal weapons from opening door on the roof or through holes on the sides of doors.

Price per unit "Tiger" Gaz-2330 which manufactured from 2005 up to $ 300,000.

Motor Sich company (Ukraine) signed new contracts with China relating to repair aircraft engines RD-93.

The above information was revealed by Mr. Albert Loginoc, head of international cooperation of Motor Sich.

Under the agreement, Ukraine will support Chengdu Aircraft Group repair parts of the RD-93 engine and overhauled in the future, all the work will be in China.

A source in the Motor Sich said, China has not the equipment and facilities to repair the engine of Russia. Therefore, the first RD-93 can be sent to Ukraine to repair.

These events also confirm previous speculation that China will forced to ask Ukraine's help to repair RD-93.

According to some sources, Motor-Sich has permit repair of RD-series 33-2 production and between the two engine variants have no major differences.

Motor-Sich has started helping China to repair the AL-31F in 1992. Currently, the Motor-Sich's plant has trained professionals and technical workers in China. They are aggressively researching technological for repairing and testing the AL-31F.

In the future, this cooperation can not be sustained. A source at Migremont - unit provides chassis repair services and Avionics equipment (aviation electronics) for the Su-27 aircraft in China - revealed that the business relationships with China in has ceased, when China achieved progress in the repair of Russia' aircraft.

Non-stop therein, China is trying to find a contract to provide repair services for the Su-27 aircraft of Indonesia. That means China has become the rival of Ukraine in the field repair service and maintenance on the world market.

About two years ago, Kanwa get accurate information to say that China has progress in copying the Russia's RD-33 engines and undertaked by United Guizhou Aviation Company .

Though the information is not confirmed by these companies, but an article on the China Aviation magazine 7 / 2007 has attracted the attention of Kanwa. According to Kanwa, this article refers to RD-33 copy.

According to the article, Guizhou Aviation Engine Research Institute has conducted the work called "five comparisons" and focus on two types of aircraft engines.

Policy "five comparisons" is this company compare their design with the foreign samples on 5 aspects including design, production technology, production and testing (copying products), compared with the original model (import) and technical information from foreign countries.

Specifically, these include comparisons designs and foreign information, design drawings and the original model, production technology and technical information of foreign countries, production technology and the design parameters, and finally the test product is compared with the design parameters.

The F-35A model AF-7 was delivered to the Air Force at Lockheed's final assembly plant in Fort Worth, Texas, on 5 May.

The flighter was then flown to Edwards Air Force Base, California to to complete an airframe-specific flight test programme.

The hand-over marks the delivery of the first production jet nearly 10 years after Lockheed won the contract to deliver 1,763 F-35As to the US Air Force, plus a total of 640 F-35Bs and F-35Cs for the Marine Corps and navy, respectively.

"Today we begin to fulfil the vision of our government and international customers," said Larry Lawson, Lockheed's F-35 program manager.

Fighter development program JSF has been delayed several years because designed flaws, while funding for projects ongoing to increase up.

This is a aircraft development program which many countries involved, including 9 countries. The delay caused the countries complained constantly and reviewing arms procurement plan.

With this event, the JSF program has achieved important progress, overcome the harsh criticism.

F-35A has entered the first stage of production, currently the 8 of 13 first productions is shipped out. F-35B has passed the critical test phase, F-35C is also ready for first production.

According to the US Air Force plans the first F-35A team will operate in 2017-2018. According to a report by the US Air Force, the end of 2011, 20 first F-35A aircrafts will be produced and delivered for pilot-training.

In parallel with the pilot training, US Air Force will assess the ability of the aircraft. The amendments will be conducted after this review.

The first F-35A aircrafts is the short variant, the information about the surrounding environment, target, weapon interface will be displayed on the dashboard, instead of integrating flying-helmet as the original design.

Complete system of the F-35A will be armed in the second production. Lockheed Martin will manufacture F-35 aircraft with several different blocks, after putting into operation and evaluation. Deficiencies (if any) will be overcome for the next block.

Lockheed Martin said, the perfecting through the different bolcks will give better results and save time, costs rather than trying to improve in the first production.