Local Power, Local Businesses, USMC Money

The revelations broadcast last night on CBS’ 60 Minutes about Three Cups of Tea author Greg Mortenson’s alleged fabrications about how he founded his non-profit, the Central Asia Institute, in order to build schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan and how much work his charity has actually done, have shocked many in the military who have been huge supporters of the work that Mortenson has done over the last decade-plus. It has also brought the thorny issue of aid and assistance in conflict zones into sharp relief, and raised questions about what kind of aid is necessary, and how a lack of follow-up on “completed” projects may doom some of them to irrelevance.

The whole thing reminded me of a conversation I recently had with Col. Bob Charette, director of the USMC’s Expeditionary Energy Office, who told me about something called the Nawa Renewable Energy Project that the Marines recently kickstarted in Helmand province that is being designed to both help the local community, and possibly help a local Afghan owned and operated business grow.

Started in mid-March, the project aims to provide 144 kWh/day of electrical power to the town by combining a 30kWh diesel generator with a solar array capable of 900 kW of battery storage.

It all started back in October when Marines sat down with the Nawa shura, USAID representatives and the local civil affairs team, and presented the locals with a plan to build a distributed hybrid power system which he hopes to have up and running in July. “The Afghans want it,” Charette told me, adding that “it’s actually being built by an Afghan renewable energy company … so its Afghan owned, operated and constructed.” The only thing the Marines did was to supply the upfront money Charette says, “all it was, was our funding through CERP—our support was fiscal support.” He describes the cost to the Marines as being “below $500,000.”

The plan as its being worked right now is to run power lines through the community that will allow resident to buy power as they need it, so they only have to pay for the service when they think they’ll be using the juice. “We’ve already approached other communities around Helmand” about expanding the program the Col. told me, and there are similar projects under consideration in the towns of Nad-e Ali, Now Zad, and Delaram.

Since the project is supposed to be completed by July, we’ll soon find out how successful the project is, and if this pay-as-you-go model for electricity generation at the local level is something that Afghan villagers want, and just as importantly, if the nascent Afghan businesses supporting it can sustain it over the long haul.

KC-130 Refuels A CH-53

By Alan Radecki, courtesy of Northrop Grumman

Libya: Gripen's Recce Efforts

Swedish air force Gripens may not be dropping bombs as part of the country's missions to support the U.N. Resolution 1973 enforcement action, but the aircraft are doing more than just burning up fuel in rather uneventful no-fly-zone patrolling missions.

The Gripens are being used for reconnaissance, as demonstrated by this photo released by the Swedish military (note: the resolution has apparently been degraded).

The Gripens are operating from the Sigonella air base. 

(Photos: Swedish air force)

Meanwhile, the South African air force, another Gripen user, reports it is due to receive its reconnaissance pod for the single-engine fighter this year as it continues to expand the capability set of the aircraft. That milestone is to be reached in October, Brig. Gen. John Bayne, the RSAF's director of combat systems said during last week's LAAD conference in Brazil.

The RSAF will field a helmet-mounted cueing capability on Gripen during the summer.

Sun-N-Fun Military Flightline

Afternoon first day of Sun-N-Fun3/29/11 Military parking area.Photo by Richard Smoot

RAF Voyager Tanker Arrives in U.K. (first photos)

The Royal Air Force's future tanker (the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft), now called the Voyager, made its first stop on British soil. The aircraft arrived at the Boscombe Down flight test facility.

(Photos: Crown Copyright 2011)

The U.K. will field 14 of the tankers under the private finance initiative with the AirTanker consortium. They will be based at RAF Brize Norton. The first facilities there have already been formally opened this year.

Airbus Military plans to deliver the first of the tankers to the RAF this year to undergo trials. The U.K. will receive two tankers, then conduct trials, before conversion of the last 12 A330s into tanker begins (Cobham is to undertake that work).

The current stint in the U.K. is to clear aircraft to refuel with the tanker.

In a statement, the U.K.'s defense minister for equipment, Peter Luff saysthat "recent events in Libya and the ongoing requirement for air-to-air refuelling over Afghanistan, clearly demonstrate the essential role that air-to-air refuelling plays in getting our aircraft to where they are needed.”

Goose Booking it

Goose taking off into the sunsetleaving Sun-N-Fun 04/3/11.Shot from the ground by Richard Smoot

C17 and friends at the 2010 Cocoa Beach Air Show

USAF C17 and friends enter the show flight line at the 2010 Cocoa Beach Air Show.Photograph by: Gary W. Jones of gwjones . photographic imaging

Government Reviews Cirrus Acquisition

The management at Cirrus Aircraft is awaiting word from the U.S. government regarding clearance to proceed with the Minnesota planemaker’s acquisition by China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co., Ltd., (AVIC).

The $200+ million takeover, announced Feb. 28, has met with opposition that Cirrus executives maintain is misplaced and potentially damaging.

Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.), whose district includes the main Cirrus plant and headquarters in Duluth, told the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) that he was concerned FJ33 engine and FADEC that powers the Vision jet, now under development by Cirrus, could be adapted by the Chinese for use in weapons systems. He has asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who chairs the committee, to block the sale until the national security concerns are satisfied.

The committee is expected to rule on the matter soon.

In addition to security matters, Cravaack says he is also concerned that the AVIC might transfer Cirrus production – and the jobs that go with it – to China.

Cirrus management maintains that neither of the legislator’s concerns has merit.

In determining the best course of action on the acquisition, CFIUS has a broad range of options available to it up to and including letting the White House decide.

NRL Tests Underwater Laser Communications

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is preparing for another set of field tests that could be used to develop underwater laser communications capability.

The NRL completed its first undersea laser-generation field demonstration in May 2010 and will look to expand on those tests this June, says Ted Jones, a civilian physicist and team research leader for the NRL plasma physics division.

The test involves using a laser to ionize the water, Jones says, with high-intensity pulses lasting nanoseconds. “It gets the water superheated, acting like a piston,” he says.

The ionized water generates an acoustic supersonic shock wave that can be shaped and directed by simply varying laser settings, Jones says. That wave can be used to generate high-resolution acoustic images, or high data-rate communications.

The first demonstration last year used small-energy laser pulses. In this year’s demonstration, Jones says, the lab will try to send the wave in different directions and angles. “You have to shape the piston,” he says.

The tests grew out of research into underwater weapons explosions, which analyzed the hydrodynamics involved in those events and their blast effects. Water is a good candidate for acoustic communications. “It is so conductive,” Jones says.

The laser is needed to create the heat and shock wave. The trick now is to tune the lasers so they operate as needed. “Lasers are finicky,” Jones says. “They don’t like humidity, and many older types have poor energy efficiency, though newer types are better.”

Still, the potential is worth the effort. Not only could subsurface acoustic communications help create even better links for undersea Navy assets, but laser-generated communications in that realm also could be adapted to provide better intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) to locate threats such as mines. “There is a large scope of applications,” Jones says.

The development of laser-generated undersea acoustic communications and ISR also could help the Navy justify and continue its research and development of laser-based weapons.

“The Navy is developing laser weapons applications,” Jones notes, “and it is always looking for secondary applications.”

Kenya Airways Signs Deal For Nine 787s

Kenya Airways has signed a deal for the purchase of nine Boeing 787 aircraft to replace its ageing fleet and expand routes and flight frequencies, it said on Thursday.

Kenya Airways Chief Executive Titus Naikuni said six of the new planes would replace six of the company’s ageing fleet of Boeing 767s, while the rest would be for expansion on new routes.

The airline, partly owned by Air France-KLM, had been mulling the purchase of A330s from Airbus, after the delivery of the 787, as per an earlier deal signed in 2006, was delayed from October 2010.

The first of the 787s will be delivered in the last quarter of 2013, and the airline will have an option to buy a further four planes, he said.

“They have given us delivery dates that we are comfortable with. It is a super aircraft,” Naikuni told media.

The size of Kenya Airways’ fleet, which also includes Embraers for domestic and short regional routes, has been curbing its ambitions by limiting destinations and flight frequencies, even on routes with high demand.

Kenya Airways has announced plans to raise an unspecified amount of cash to fund expansion. The process is at the stage of seeking regulatory approvals, Naikuni said.

Rising oil prices would force the company - whose strategy hinges on connecting African travellers to the outside world through its Nairobi hub - to increase fares to cushion its bottom line.

Fuel costs account for between 30 and 40% of the airline’s total operating costs.

“It (oil prices) is impacting us quite a bit. We will have to increase our fares,” said Naikuni, adding the jump in crude was so fast that hedging and fuel surcharges were not enough to deal with it.

© 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.