Iraq seeks to speed up F-16 deliveries

Iraq wants the Pentagon to speed up delivery of the 36 F-16IQ jet fighters it ordered from Lockheed Martin as it seeks to fast track the development of its armed forces following the U.S. military withdrawal in December.

Buoyed by high oil prices, the Baghdad government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is pushing through other defense deals, largely with U.S. companies, to equip his U.S.-trained armed forces.

Air defense remains a key weakness for the Iraqis and Maliki's Shiite-dominated government wants to plug the gap as soon as possible. This has alarmed Maliki's political rivals, particularly the minority Kurds.

They're part of his governing coalition but are increasingly at odds with Maliki over what's widely perceived as his drive to establish a dictatorship.

The Kurds, who have battled for independence for decades and now have a semiautonomous enclave in northern Iraq, are at increasing odds with Baghdad over oil exploration and revenue-sharing.

Their growing alliance with neighboring Turkey, on top of their ambitions for independence has alarmed Maliki.

The F-16 contracts with Lockheed Martin, each for 18 aircraft, has deeply concerned the Kurds, a key U.S. ally in overthrowing Saddam Hussein in 2003. Kurdish President Massoud Barzani, citing Maliki's dictatorial tendencies, has voiced stiff opposition to the deals.

The Kurds, and Iraq's Sunni minority, heavily outnumbered by the majority Shiites, have been just as dismayed at Baghdad's other defense acquisitions, particularly an array of deadly missiles and other sophisticated systems for the F-16s.

The Americans are wary about providing Maliki with advanced systems, particularly for the F-16 Block 52s, in part because of concerns about who the Iraqi leader might use them against.

But Baghdad is steadily acquiring missiles, radars and other systems from the United States, much to the relief of U.S. defense manufacturers who are increasingly dependent on foreign sales as U.S. defense spending is due to be cut by some $450 billion over the coming years.

All told, Baghdad is expected to spend more than $10 billion over the next few years on building up its air force and other branches of its armed forces.

The contractors include the Boeing Corp. of Seattle; Northrop-Grumman Electro-Optical Systems of Garland, Texas, and its Electronic Systems division of Baltimore; General Electric Aircraft Engines of Cincinnati; BAE Advanced Systems of Greenlawn, N.Y.; and Raytheon Co. of Lexington, Md., and Goleta, Texas.

In July, Goodrich Surveillance and Reconnaissance Systems of Westford, Mass., secured a $71.5 million contract for four DB-110 reconnaissance pod systems. This derivative of the U-2 spy plane's SYERS cameras can be operated autonomously on the F-16s, with delivery and installation completed by September 2018.

In March, Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems of Linthicum Heights, Md., received an $87.8 million order through the Pentagon's Foreign Military Sales program for 43 AN/APG-68v9 radar systems, most of which will go to Iraq. These are the most modern radar systems available for the F-16 variants the Iraqi air force will get.

Baghdad is also acquiring 100 supersonic AIM-9L/M Sidewinder heat-seeking air-to-air missiles and 150 medium-range AIM 7M/H Sparrow radar-homing missiles. Both are manufactured by Raytheon.

The AIM-9L/M-8/9 that Washington is prepared to sell Baghdad is a generation behind the AIM-9X in service with the U.S. Air Force.

Baghdad's also interested in buying 24 F100-PW-229 or F110-GE-129 Increased Performance jet engines.

The U.S. Defense Industry Daily reports "strong signs that the initial buy will be the F-100-PW-229s from Pratt and Whitney."

Baghdad ordered 18 F-16IQs -- enough for one operational squadron -- with training and weapons last September for $4.2 billion following months of delays. A second 18-plane batch was ordered in December. That's worth around $2.3 billion -- first-time sales are always more expensive than subsequent buys.

However, the U.S. Defense Industry Daily says the F-16s Iraq will get are below the standard of F-16s delivered to U.S. allies in the Mideast and Asia.

Iraq's first F-16 squadron -- it eventually wants six, equipped with up to 96 F-16s – is expected to become operational until around 2014-15. The first batch of Iraqi pilots is training in Tucson with the 162nd Fighter Wing, an Air National Guard unit that specializes in training foreign pilots.

Raytheon expects major AESA decision in coming months

Raytheon expects one of the world's major Lockheed Martin F-16 operators to make a decision about its choice of active electronic scanned array (AESA) radars in the coming months.

The US Air Force, Taiwan and South Korea are all in the "active acquisition stage" of choosing between the Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar (RACR) and Northrop Grumman's Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR), says Jim Hvizd, Raytheon's vice-president of international strategy and business development.

"In the coming months, we'll see some significant decisions regarding AESA," says Hvizd, speaking with Flightglobal at Raytheon's Farnborough chalet.

Hvizd declined to comment further on which country he feels will be the first mover.

An industry source familiar with the global F-16 upgrade market, however, tells Flightglobal that the first mover is likely to be Seoul.

It has been nearly one year since Seoul's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) issued a request for proposals to Raytheon and Northrop with regard to AESA upgrades for 132 F-16s.

The RFP called on both bidders to offer a full suite of AESA radar modes, including the interleaving of air-to-air tracking and air-to-ground mapping. More advanced capabilities, such as electronic attack and electronic protection, could be added by South Korea in the future.

A key requirement for South Korea is an offset package worth 50% of the value of the contract. After the RFP, Raytheon says it would transfer some hardware production to the nation.

Hvizd reaffirmed this commitment at Farnborough. "A big percentage of our products can be made overseas. We are always looking for global suppliers."

And although rival Northrop was the provider of the mechanically scanned radars that have traditionally equipped the F-16, Hvizd feels this is a non-issue for Raytheon's RACR campaign.

Hvizd notes that Raytheon has successfully retro-fitted AESA radars in older fighter types such as the C and E variants of the Boeing F-15 operated by the USAF.

Denmark to upgrade its F-16 aircraft with LITENING G4 Targeting Pods

The Danish Ministry of Defence announced that it has selected Northrop Grumman’s LITENING G4 targeting system for its F-16 fighter aircraft. First deliveries are expected in August 2013. The Litening G4 pods will be supplied with datalinks and full logistics support package.

LITENING G4 Advanced Targeting Pod is the latest version of the Litening targeting pod developed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Rafael has teamed with Northrop Grumman to develop and market the pods in the US and international market. The team has successfully won contracts in a number of key markets in the United States, with F/A-18 operators including Australia, Finland and Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Israel as users of the Northrop Grumman LITENING family of targeting pods.

The G4 version delivers the latest advancements in sensor, laser imaging and data link technology. The G4′s technologies include true megapixel (1kx1k) forward-looking infrared and charge-coupled device sensors, short wave infrared laser imaging sensor, color symbology, tracker improvements and enhanced zoom. These advancements deliver more accurate target identification and location at longer ranges than previous generations of LITENING targeting pod systems while reducing pilot workload.

F-16 co-designer blames stealth ‘skin' for F-22 problems

Air Force focuses on breathing restrictions

A man who helped design the F-16 says the problem that grounded the F-22 for several months last year isn’t the oxygen system.

Pierre Sprey, who helped develop the A-10 and F-16 jets, said he believes the glues that hold the F-22 stealth “skin” in place is emanating chemicals that are making the pilots sick.

According to Sprey, the Air Force has overlooked, or ignored, the potential stealth skin problems because it has not been able to test successfully for adhesive toxins in the pilot’s bloodstream. He said the Air Force doesn’t talk about the stealth adhesives because the chemical makeup of the compounds that make up the stealth skin are considered “classified information.”

The Air Force confirmed the stealth adhesive compound used in the F-22 is classified material and exclusive to the F-22, but it has downplayed Sprey’s accusations, saying the adhesives were included in a recent investigation into problems impacting F-22 pilots.

“We are aware of the theory regarding stealth coatings and other chemicals used in the production and maintenance of the F-22, and that has been rolled into our analysis,” said Heidi Davis, an Air Force spokeswoman.

Sprey said the reason the Air Force doesn’t want to reveal any problems with the adhesives’ coatings is it would severely impact the F-22, each of which cost more than $412 million, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Dealing with the F-22’s glues, which provide the F-22 its stealth, would mean a “major rebuild of the airplane,” Sprey said.

“The F-22 and the F-35 are three-fourths of the Air Force budget, and that is what is at stake,” he said.

The 170 F-22 jets are stationed at six U.S. bases, including Tyndall Air Force Base, where F-22 pilots are trained.

Sprey said when the F-22 reaches speeds above Mach 1.6, which is about 1,200 miles and hour at sea level, the adhesive sets off gases that can cause the same symptoms of dizziness that have plagued the F-22 pilots. When the F-22 is in for repairs to its “stealth coating,” the adhesive is re-spread across the plane.

“The adhesive has to be reapplied,” Sprey said. “When it is, it increases the risk to the pilots.”

According to Sprey, the pilot is exposed to diisocyanates, which are found within the polyurethane glues that comprise the stealth coatings, at a number of times because the adhesives are reapplied in the upkeep of the plane. Sprey said diisocyanates are well known as an industrial hazard that can cause both severe lung and neurologic problems.

But, Davis said Sprey’s theory cannot be considered a leading line of inquiry at this point because it would need to be reconciled with contrary evidence related to the absence of toxins in life-support system components, cockpit air samples, or post-incident pilot blood samples.

Sprey vehemently disagreed.

He said polyurethanes are used in the Lockheed Martin stealth coatings, which also contain diisoycanates, and are one among several potential sources of poisoning of pilots that Lockheed and the Air Force should have been testing for toxicity long before they flew the first F-22. The Air Force said diisoycanates have not registered in the blood of F-22 pilots.

Lockheed Martin declined to comment for this report.

According to the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry, after being inhaled most of these toxins react with the lungs and/or the blood very quickly, meaning by the time a pilot landed and had his blood sample drawn, the toxin would have disappeared.

Also, there’s the problem of whether the blood measurement protocols themselves are sensitive enough to detect the sub-part-per-million concentrations known to be toxic, according to the agency.

The agency did note the exposure by pilots should be minimal because the pilots most likely would be exposed beyond the manufacturing process. But, as Sprey noted, the continual use of the product during the repairs of the plane could have an impact in the pilot.

“They are constantly reapplying this stuff,” Sprey said.

Dina Rasor, of the Bauman Rasor Group Inc., a team of investigators dealing in federal fraud, has been investigating military issues and fraud for decades. She said there is a culture in the military that has a “circle-the-wagons” mentality when it comes to their stealth fighter, the F-22.

She also said Lockheed Martin is one of only a few contractors left who produce such aircraft and the Defense Department is reluctant to penalize the contractor.

“It is almost as if they are married,” she said.

Rasor said since the contractors, in this case Lockheed Martin, have such a close relationship with the Defense Department, no single person in the military will challenge them.

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., recently released information obtained from the Air Force that said pilots had experienced about 26 incidents of apparent oxygen deprivation per 100,000 flight hours — a rate at least 10 times higher than for any other Air Force aircraft. The Air Force had said there was less than half that number.

Who is Pierre Sprey?

Pierre Sprey was a consultant for Grumman Aircraft’s research department from 1958 to 1965, and then joined Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s “whiz kids” in the Pentagon. In 1967, he teamed with Air Force Col. John Boyd and collaborated on the design of the F-16 air-to-air fighter.

Sprey headed up the technical side of the Air Force’s concept design team for the A-10 close support fighter. He also served as special assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for systems analysis during the Johnson and Nixon administrations.

After leaving the Pentagon in the 1970s, he continued to consult for the government on fighter jets and anti-tank weaponry. He also was part of the Congressional Military Reform Caucus, which concentrated on military reform legislation.

Sprey recently worked with former military officials and journalists on military reforms. Sprey was included in a recent report by Dina Rasor, founder of the Project On Government Oversight and the Bauman & Rasor Group Inc., on the toxicity problems in the F-22.

Rasor, of the Bauman Rasor Group Inc., said working with a legend like Sprey brought a wealth of information to the subject of stealth aircraft. “He is amazing,” Rasor said.

Boeing, US Navy Conduct Successful F/A-18E/F Satellite Communications Test

Boeing  and the U.S. Navy have successfully completed an in-flight demonstration of a satellite communications (SATCOM) system that, if implemented, will enable F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircrews to conduct two-way, secure voice and data communications with other SATCOM-enabled aircraft, ships, ground forces and command centers.

The test took place May 23-30 at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division's Advanced Weapons Lab at China Lake, Calif., and was conducted by Air Test and Evaluation Squadron VX-31.

The SATCOM system was installed on a Navy EA-18G Growler -- a variant of the F/A-18F that includes a SATCOM antenna.

During the flight testing, the VX-31 aircrew conducted satellite-enabled secure voice and data transmissions with a ground-based team at China Lake and at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.

"Using the existing EA-18G architecture allowed Boeing and the Navy to demonstrate this capability less than 90 days after the initial request," said Mike Gibbons, Boeing F/A-18 and EA-18 Programs vice president. "This approach significantly reduced risk, cost and testing schedule, while demonstrating this important communications capability for the Navy."

The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a low observable, multirole aircraft that performs virtually every mission in the tactical spectrum, including air superiority, day/night strike with precision-guided weapons, fighter escort, close air support, suppression of enemy air defenses, maritime strike, reconnaissance, forward air control and tanker missions. Boeing has delivered more than 480 F/A-18E/Fs to the U.S. Navy. The F/A-18E/F has logged more than 166,000 combat flight hours supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.