Briefings : UK Afghanistan kit, Tejas, CH-53K

• £189 million worth of new equipment is to be provided from reserve funds for British troops in Afghanistan. The bulk of the money is going on improved communications and ISTAR equipment though also extra body armour, gunsights and logistics will be bought. British troops are to leave Sangin this year and be redeployed to the central part of Helmand.
• India has rolled out the Naval version of it's Tejas fighter. NP1 is a two-seat trainer and has a number of changes over the land-based Tejas apart from the usual (stronger landing gear, arrester hook) including a leading edge vortex controller to cut speed on approach and nose modifications to improve downward visability. NP1 is due to fly before the end of the year.
  
  
• Germany, Israel and Taiwan are very interested in the forthcoming CH-53K heavy lift helicopter due to enter service with the US Marines late in this decade.
• Twenty armoured cars, used on the streets of Northern Ireland, have been drafted into help police on the British mainland catch a gunman on the run in Northumberland.

Briefings : Scimitar, VIP helicopter, JSF

The Scimitar has been in service since 1971, so its the same age as me. And like me its starting to feel it's age. The Army's reconnaissance vehicles have been criticised as being past their sell-by date. The FRES programme is intended to deliver a replacement but of course has been plagued by delays. The Army's most decorated soldier WO2 Mick Flynn said the Scimitar's gun often jammed and the light tank often broke down.

Boeing are to offer a licence-built AgustaWestland AW101 in a renewed competition to produce a new VIP helicopter for the USA. The AW101 did win the competition before, that time as part of a joint-bid with Lockheed which eventually was cancelled after huge cost rises.

The carrier version of JSF, the F-35C, has made it's first flight. The JSF is due to start replacing the US Navy's Hornets by around 2016. The USAF and US Army meanwhile has ordered 8 more C-27J tactical transports from Finmeccania.

Briefings : Lynx AH9A, Camouflage, USN Fighter Gap

The upgraded Lynx AH9A has entered service with the British Army in Afghanistan. The first two helicopters sent to the country began operational flights earlier this month following some training and test flights. The AH9A has more powerful engines and improved guns, electronics and self-protection.

Also in Afghanistan British troops have begun wearing the new MTP camouflage scheme, the first change in camouflage for 40 years. The US Navy will attempt to close it's "fighter gap" by extending the lives of it's Hornets into the 2020s rather than trying to speed up production of the JSF or buying more Super Hornets.

What happened to the X-37B after it was launched into space? The USAF arn't saying but amateur satellite observors have discovered it's orbit.

Briefings : Albion, VXX, Iran

HMS Albion has arrived in the Spanish port of Santander to bring home British troops returning from Afghanistan who could not fly into the UK because of the current restrictions as well as some civilians. Ark Royal and Ocean are also on standby to bring home Britons from Channel ports (though the current ferries seem able to cope at the moment).

Earlier reports that NATO F-16s had suffered engine damage after flying through the volcanic ash cloud are now being thrown into doubt.

The US are relaunching it's VIP helicopter programme after the horrific cost overruns that scuppered the VH-71. The new VXX could see a new joint bid by Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky though that probably means the airframe won't be a European design which angers some Americans (though of course they don't mind Europeans buying American aeroplanes).

Iran showed off it's military hardware though are these SA-20s or oil drums on the back of a truck?

Video : AgustaWestland Lynx AH9A

From the MOD, but mostly because the Lynx is my favourite helicopter!

10 more Lynx to be upgraded

10 more Lynx AH9 helicopters are to be upgraded to AH9A standard in order for them to be able to used in Afghanistan. The upgrade includes more powerful engines, a strengthened structure and upgraded avionics. This further contract is on top of the existing upgrade currently being carried out on 12 Lynx the first of which will deploy to Afghanistan next month.

Briefings : JCA hover, Korean helicopter, Defence cuts

The F-35B JSF (JCA in the UK) has demonstrated it can hover during a test flight in the US. The aircraft hovered for 96 seconds.



The Korean Utility Helicopter, developed by KAI and Eurocopter, has made it's first flight. Stop the presses! Gordon Brown has admitted he was wrong. He told the Iraq Enquiry defence spending had increased in real terms during every year in the New Labour regime but has now had to admit in real terms the defence budget has dropped.

Briefings : A400M, New Armour, Combat SAR

EADS has reached a deal in principle with it's seven European partners about extra funding to cover some of the cost overruns during development of the A400M transport. EADS will get 3.5 billion euros extra though that will still leave them with a short fall of 1.7 billion.

The MOD Investment Approvals Board will meet today to select who will build 2 new armoured vehicles for the Army. The FRES Specialist Vehicle and Warrior IFV upgrade contracts could be worth up to £5 billion. For FRES SV BAE's CV90 is up against General Dynamics UK's ASCOD SV. BAE is up against Lockheed Martin for the Warrior Capability Sustainment programme.

Type 42 destroyer HMS Nottingham has been officially decommissioned. The future frigate FSC will apparently be the Type 26 when its built. Argentina has gone to the UN for help with their Falklands dispute though the UN have pretty much told them "so what" (in nice diplomatic language of course).

The USAF has abandoned looking for a large helicopter for the combat search & rescue mission and instead may buy 112 Sikorsky UH-60Ms to recapitalize it's fleet. Australia have ordered 7 Chinooks and plan to decide on the helicopter to replace it's Seahawks next year.

Briefings : Falklands, UAV, Helicopters

The MOD says it is maintaining it's forces in the Falklands area amid reports that the Royal Navy is sending more ships but i thought ships like the Type 42 HMS York were already there. Anyone else feeling nostalgic for the 1980s?

The US Marines are looking into using unmanned air vehicles for resupplying troops in Afghanistan in order to take traffic off the IED and insurgent-infested roads. The French are looking into working with the UK on a MALE (medium-altitude long-endurance) UAV.

After the VH-71 disaster the US are starting a new competition to procure  a helicopter for the POTUS.

Briefings : Moshtarak round-up, India, Helicopters

Moshtarak is said to be going to plan with 15,000 NATO troops now stationed in southern Helmand and key objectives said to have been achieved and the majority of territory NATO aimed to seize now in their hands. The focus is now to win the hearts and minds of the civilian population. Though the number of IEDs is said to more more than the NATO commanders expected and this is slowing matters. Two rockets went off course and killed 12 civilians and NATO has responded by banning the use of rockets.

India is to spend big on defence over the next 12 years with plans to spend $200 billion on new equipment by 2022. The aim is to replace much of the Soviet-era equipment in the Indian armed forces especially in the air force. Half of the combat aeroplanes and the entire transport and helicopter fleets are to be replaced.

Russia is aiming to greatly expand it's share of the world helicopter market, with the aim of quadrupaling it's market share in 5 years. A piece of the Indian defence budget would help in that of course. The prototype of the German Army's new CH-53GA helicopter has made it's first flight.

Briefings (21/01/10) : Lynx, Submarine accident, Chinese Navy

The first 4 upgraded Lynx AH9A helicopters, upgraded for service in Afghanistan, have re-entered service. Though they are currently in North Yorkshire for training before being deployed.

The Commander of HMS Superb Steven Drysdale admitted failures which resulted in the crashing of the submarine into rocks south of Suez in 2008. Other officers on aboard also admitted failures. You may wonder what the Royal Navy is doing during the Haiti disaster? Well nothing at all so far unfortunately as they have no ships currently in the Caribbean due to cost savings however RFA Largs Bay will be sent.

Following on from the gunsights used by the US Marines with Biblical references on them now it seems the British Army will also have them as they have ordered the sights for their L129A1 rifles.

With the Chinese seemingly having the upper hand in the info-war the US Office for Naval Intelligence (ONI) have not helped matters by accidentally putting a report about the Chinese Navy on a publically accessible website (or maybe it was intentional?) Report can be found here, for the moment anyway.

An Israeli company has created a sonic cannon that can potentially kill if the person is close enough.

Briefings (09/01/10) : Chinook, Afghanistan, A400M

Following on from the leaked MOD documents that indicated problems with the Chinook Mk2 engine control software before the Mull of Kintyre crash the Chief of the Air Staff has said that the FADEC software was not to blame. This was later attacked by the former chief test pilot of the Chinook Mk2 and said the original pilot gross negligence verdict was unfair.

How to rebuild the Afghanistan army, by someone who helped rebuild Liberia's army.

The A400M turbulence continues, France is insisting the project continues though Germany appears unwilling to put any more money in. Staying with France the French helicopter carrier Jeanne d'Arc retires in May after a 50 year service, and could become a helipad for the rich!

Chinook HC3 finally enters service; Lynx AH9A

After lying in storage for years following a fiasco involving control software the RAF has finally accepted into service the first 2 of 8 Chinook HC3 helicopters and the type has now achieved initial operational capability clearance. All 8 are expected to be received by the RAF by the end of the year. The HC3s remained unusable since 2002 because of an inability to certify their software but the HC3s have now had their avionics bought (downgraded we assume) to HC2/2A standard. The Army has also received the first 4 of 12 upgraded Lynx AH9A with new more powerful engines for Afghanistan operations. The rest of the AH9 fleet may also be upgraded at a later stage.

Was software to blame for Chinook crash?

The BBC say they have received evidence that the crash of a Chinook helicopter in 1994 that killed 29 people may have been due to faulty software in the engine management system. In the official enquiries the pilots were found guilty of gross negligance but the BBC say the MOD documents it has received, written months before the crash, say there were problems with the Chinook Mk2's airworthiness and the engine control software, FADEC, was "positively dangerous".

The MOD replied that the Chinook Mk2 has had a very safe service history since the crash on the Mull of Kintyre and that the MOD documents in question were availably to the Inquiry team and were not new evidence. The MOD have refused to reopen the Inquiry despite later inquiries in the House of Lords and House of Parliament that found the gross negligence verdicts on the pilots unjustified.

UK Chinooks to be upgraded

The UK's Chinook HC2/2A helicopters are to be upgraded in 2 separate contracts. 21 new Titan 385ES-HD sensor turrets and to upgrade 4 existing turrets to HD standard. The turrets include "a High-Definition SLX Merlin medium waveband infra red camera" and other electro-optical sensors. Meanwhile additional cargo handling equipment will also be fitted to the Chinooks. Low friction rollers allow for more rapid unloading (which of course means the Chinook will on the ground and vulnerable for a shorter time).

Lynx Wildcat makes first flight

The next generation light transport and maritime strike helicopter for the UK the Lynx Wildcat has made it's first flight. ZZ400 took off from AgustaWestland's Yeovil site yesterday, two more test aircraft will join it next year. Entry into service with the Army is 2014 and the Navy 2015.

UK to buy 30 Chinooks

The MOD is to buy 30 Chinooks it has been reported in order to increase the number available in Afghanistan. The number of Chinooks in theatre will be increased to 20 if the overall fleet can be raised from 38 to 68. Just two minor problems remain, one being the MOD haven't yet said where the money will come from (which means something else may have to take the hit) and the second being the US will have to be persuaded to let the British "jump the queue" and take Chinooks intended for the US if they are to be got into service within 2 years. A change in strategy means the UK helicopter will be reduced to 4 types in the longer term (which makes sense) : Chinook, Merlin (which will all be "marinised"), Lynx and Apache. A competition for a new medium lift helicopter has been abandoned in favour of Chinook.

SAR network to be restored to old strength

The UK's Search & Rescue network of stations is to be restored back to 28 after being cut to 26 earlier. There had been plans to reduce the stations to 24 but this would have left coverage too light so the decision to reduce the network has been reversed. The extra 2 bases will be restored by next Summer. What is the catch? Well some bases will be closed to night-time operations to enable day-time coverage to be maintained. So if your ship decides to sink best make sure it happens in the daylight! Still overall a good news story, for a change.

AugustaWestland get Apache support contract

AugustaWestland has won a £439 million contract from the MOD for the maintanence of the Apache helicopter fleet. The Apache Project Team based at Yeovil will be looking after the Army's 67 strong fleet.

RAF helicopter in Atlantic rescue

A Sea King SAR helicopter from RAF Valley has made a dramatic pick-up of an injured sailor on a Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal in the North Atlantic. The frigate was over 200 miles west of Ireland in rough weather, the Sea king having to be stripped of non-essential equipment to maximise the range. The sailor was airlifted off the frigate and taken to hospital in Ireland.