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Planned dates for the Tejas [LCA] to enter service and replace
the MiG-21 fleet could not be met due to schedule delays, blocking the
development of the FBW Flight Control System and the delivery of GE F404
engines, both crucial components of the aircraft. This meant that the IAF would
have to take other steps to stem the decline in numbers. The Tejas first flew on
4 January 2001. Final tests were done in January 2011 and it is to enter
operational service by 2013.


  
MiG-29s have had reliability problems, are too important to the fleet, thus
requiring and has to upgrade them. Planned buys have taken too long, and a
fighter modernization numbers crisis exists that affects a number of air forces
around the world. Its MiG-21s are retiring fast, and so are subsequent
generation of MiG-23/27 and MiG-25 aircraft. At the same time, the IAF MMRCA
light-medium fighter competition will fill other gaps with 126 imported
fighters, but it has yet to produce a contract, let alone a delivery
  date


 

Tejas is a homegrown IAF combat aircraft, meant to replace the aging MiG-and may also
replace the Navy Harrier. Tejas is a delta-wing, tailess design, and can reach a
top speed of Mach 1.8 and climb to 15,500 km, with a basic range or 3,000 km.
Weapons consist of a twin 23 mm cannon and eight external hardpoints carrying up
to four tons of ordinance, including Python 5, Astra BVRAAM & AA-11 and
AA-12 missiles

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A $260 million agreement for the first 55 Lot 1 Arrowhead
systems was reached on 11 November 2003. First deliveries were to begin in March
2005, with the first Army unit equipped with Arrowhead to be fielded by June
2005. The Lockheed Marin Arrowhead team outfitted the first eight AH-64D Apache
Longbows with the new day/night vision system at the Boeing  Apache
production facility during 2005. The Arrowhead-equipped Apache helicopters
departed for Fort Hood in two flights and were officially delivered in June
2005.The $247 million Lot 2 follow-on production contract for Arrowhead was
awarded by the US Army Program Executive Office-Aviation on 26 January 2005. It
authorized production of 97 Arrowhead systems for the US Army and foreign
military sales customers.


The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command awarded Lockheed
Martin the Lot 3 follow-on production contract for Arrowhead in June 2006. The
$385.6M agreement authorized production of 219 Arrowhead kits plus spares for
the U.S. Army and foreign military sales. A 2007 order for 158 units in
Production Lot 4 was placed for $311 million by the US Army. The $172 million
Production Lot 5 agreement authorized production of 126 Arrowhead kits and/or
equivalent unit spares, foreign military sales kits and ground support
equipment. An order for 55 Lot 6 Arrowhead systems was placed in 2009 for
$142M.


 



Lockheed Martin announced a $260 million follow-on production
contract for Production Lot 7 on 17 August 2010. By the end of Lot 7, which
extends production through April 2013, over 1,000 kits were delivered. By 2011,
704 US Army Apaches would be equipped with the Arrowhead system. In February
2011 the 1,000th M-TADS/PNVS system was delivered to the U.S. Army. Lockheed
Martin installed the first two Arrowhead on RNLAF AH-64D Apaches during 2007 The
contract was awarded in April 2005, and included the delivery of 24 Arrowhead
kits as well as spares, specific ground support equipment, training and two
Arrowhead kit installations. In August 2009, the Netherlands submitted a request
to upgrade its 29 Block I AH-64D Apaches to the Block II configuration,
including an upgrade to the Arrowhead system. A $212 million contract to equip
67 United Kingdon Agusta Westland Apache Mk1 helicopters with Arrowhead was
placed in May 2005. The contract was awarded by the UK Ministry of Defense (MOD)
to prime contractor AgustaWestland, with the first two delivered in November
2008 w/ deliveries to conclude in 2015.

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South Korea started bidding process to pick a contractor to provide 60 advanced
fighter jets for US$7.3B facing a decision to select either the Lockheed
Martin’s F-35 Lightning II stealth jet Boeing F-15 Silent Eagle or the European
Aerospace Defense and Space Company [EADS] Eurofighter Tranche 3 Typhoon, to
replace the Air Force’s aging fleet of F-4 and F-5 jets. Bidding will be
assessed for the three jets before making a final decision in an effort to
produce affordable yet highly capable aircraft, but contractors may propose
prices that exceed budgets and adopt a wait-and-see approach during the
competitive bidding sessions. If prices proposed by the three firms exceed the
approved budget, the acquisition plan may need to be re-examined.




The Japanese F-35A fleet is reported to be more expensive than their American counterparts,
due to the cost of incorporating Japanese-made parts, but the actual figures are
controversial. The U.S. authorized 24 F-35 A engine and radar components to be
produced in Japan, accounting for about 10% of the plane’s value, and that
number is expected to grow with additional approvals. Overall, IHI Corp. will
manufacture 17 engine fan and turbine parts, while Mitsubishi Electric Corp.
will produce 7 radar system components that include signal receivers.




Parts for the rear fuselage, wings, and undercarriage will come from Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries Ltd. and other Japanese contractors. That will help Japan gain important experience for its own stealth fighters, and build on the composites manufacturing expertise gained in its F-16-derived F-2 program. The government has reportedly budgeted about $844.1M in FY 2013 for F-35 related industrial  infrastructure, including new facilities at an MHI factory in Aichi Prefecture.
The problem is that Japanese firms will be manufacturing only for JASDF F-35s, sharply raising per-part costs. The 2 aircraft ordered in 2013 will be the first with Japanese parts, and are now budgeted at about $153.5M each. The cost of the contract has jumped 27% in real terms.

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Both the Mil Mi-28 “Havoc” Night Hunter and the Ka-52 “Hokum” or Alligator attack
helicopters were once troubled programs, but are now maturing into service and
being offered for export as Russia tries to win back helicopter markets it once
held firmly with sales of the Hip and the Hind. These markets have been hit hard
by sales of Western types such as the Boeing AH-64 Apache. The new wave of
renewal means that by 2020 the Russian military services will be equipped with
around 1,000 new-build helicopters.



The Ka-52 and Mi-28 are linchpins of this modernization, but the choice to integrate
both surprised many observers who thought that there would only be room for one
attack helicopter in the future inventory. But senior commanders point out that
the complex and heavily armed Mi-28 is more suited for operations west of the
Urals, while the Ka-52 with its unique co-axial configuration and robustness may
be more appropriate for the more remote regions of the country. Back in the
1990s, commanders selected the Ka-50—the Ka-52's single-seat predecessor—as the
country's primary attack helo, but it did not enter service in significant numbers. A decade later officials reexamined this option, and the Mi-28 was revived.


With increasing numbers now joining the Russian air force, the Mi-28 is enjoying
significant interest from export customers. Russian Helicopters, and Rosoboron
export contracts may replace some of the sizable fleet of Mi-24 and Mi-35 Hinds
which remain in service today. The existing fleet of Mi-24 Hind attack helicopters will be fully replaced with new-generation Mi-28N Night Hunter and Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters by
2015., and Ka-52 helicopter tests have begun. The Ka-52 is a twin-seat derivative of the Ka-50 Hokum-A attack helicopter, and is designed primarily for reconnaissance and target designation purposes. It is similar to the U.S. AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

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Sophisticated drone prototypes will face off in what could be a multi-billion-dollar
competition to shape the future of air warfare. Lockheed Martin is developing
the Sea Ghost jet-powered killer drone. Along with previously disclosed
unmanned aerial vehicle designs from rivals Boeing, Northrop Grumman and
General Atomics, the Sea Ghost will go head-to-head for a Navy contract to put
fast, stealthy, missile- and bomb-armed drones on the decks of aircraft carriers by 2018.



The Air Force is considering buying whichever UAV the Navy picks for the  Unamnned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike requirement. The UCLASS competition winner could
dominate the pilotless warplane business for a generation. The Sea Ghost, in development for several years, is a tailless flying wing — similar to a miniature B-2 stealth bomber. The Lockheed Sea Ghost leverages experience with the RQ-170 Sentinel Unmanned Aircraft System, the Joint Strike Fighter F-35C and other Navy program technologies. The Sea Ghost has radar-evading qualities but is potentially difficult to control in flight, as it lacks the vertical stabilizers most planes possess. The Sea Ghost shares engineering components with the Boeing & Northrop’s UCLASS contestants, both of which boast roughly 50-foot wingspans. Boeing has flown the latest version of the X-45 drone w/ design roots stretching into the 1990s. Most observers expect Boeing to tweak
the X-45C with tougher landing gear and other special modifications for carrier ops.




Northrop is testing X-47B copies, another flying-wing design and a rough contemporary of the X-45 under a Navy demonstration contract. And will perform the carrier
launches of a jet-powered drone. The General Atomics Sea Avenger is an advanced
version of the MQ-9 Reaper as an outlier with its Sea Avenger, but with a jet
engine in place of the Reaper propeller. The Sea Avenger has swept wings and
vertical tails, just like today’s manned, carrier-based fighters. The Sea Ghost
could share water-resistance stealth coatings w/ F-35Cs and other
radar-defeating techs such as special antennas The Sea Ghost connection to the
marginally-stealthy RQ-170 is promoted by Lockheed.

This ticket schedule item is currently under review by several
dispatch teams. Installations have not yet responded with a quote

This ticket schedule item is currently under review by several
dispatch teams. Installations have not yet responded with a quote

This ticket schedule item is currently under review by several
dispatch teams. Installations have not yet responded with a quote

This ticket schedule item is currently under review by several
dispatch teams. Installations have not yet responded with a quote

This ticket schedule item is currently under review by several
dispatch teams. Installations have not yet responded with a quote