Subscription Required

 

Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, August 18, 2014 is published in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, an Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) Market Briefing and is included with your AWIN membership.

Already a member of AWIN or subscribe to Aerospace Daily & Defense Report through your company? Login with your existing email and password.

Not a member?  Learn how you can access the market intelligence and data you need to stay abreast of what's happening in the aerospace and defense community.

Magazine Issue

Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, August 18, 2014

Download PDF

Programs

article

Northrop Bomber Team Relieved Over California Legislation

Aug 18, 2014
The California legislature has passed a last-minute measure to equally offer a tax incentive package to both contracting teams vying for the next-generation U.S. Air Force bomber program, overturning an earlier law that gave a $420 million discount to the Boeing/Lockheed Martin team alone.
article

Flight Test Planning Underway As Commercial Crew Downselect Nears

Aug 18, 2014
As NASA prepares to announce the company or companies that will take crews to the International Space Station in the next round of its commercial crew vehicle development effort, planning is well underway for the flight tests that will certify the commercial vehicles for operational missions.
article

Report: Japan To Buy Three RQ-4s

Aug 18, 2014
HAWKS WANTED: Japan will buy three Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawks in its fiscal 2015 budget, the Mainichi newspaper reports. The unmanned surveillance aircraft will be operated by a tri-service joint unit at the Misawa airbase in northern Japan, with the aim of entry-into-service after five years, Mainichi says, perhaps referring to full operational capability. Estimated costs including ground equipment are about 100 billion yen ($980 million). Two U.S. RQ-4s were temporarily deployed to Misawa in May 2014.
article

Northrop To Upgrade U.S. Army UH-60L Cockpits

Aug 18, 2014
Northrop Grumman has won a contract to upgrade 700-900 U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk utility helicopters, beating out teams including Elbit Systems, Lockheed Martin and Rockwell Collins. The upgrade with give the older UH-60Ls a glass cockpit with electronic displays replicating those of the in-production UH-60M. Upgraded Black Hawks will be designated UH-60Vs.
article

Helicopter Operators Invited To Bid For VIP Helicopter Contract

Aug 18, 2014
LONDON — Seven U.K.-based helicopter operators have been invited to tender to provide VIP transport helicopter services to the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF). AgustaWestland, British International Helicopter Services, Castle Air, Cobham, Gama Aviation, Qinetiq and Sloane Helicopters were invited in July to tender by the U.K. defense ministry for the five-year-long Rotary Wing Command Service Air Transport contract.
article

U.S. Navy SM-6 Scores Low-Altitude Intercept

Aug 18, 2014
During flight test “Juliet” earlier this month, the U.S. Navy’s Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) successfully intercepted a subsonic, low-altitude target at White Sands Missile Range. Juliet is one of 10 follow-on operational test and evaluation (FOT&E) events planned for the SM-6’s missile performance and demonstration.
article

Australia Reportedly Buying Two More A330s, One Or Two C-17s

Aug 18, 2014
BEIJING – Australia will buy two more Airbus A330 tankers and one or two more Boeing C-17 Globemaster airlifters, local media report, quoting Defense Minister David Johnston. “When you get good service from a platform it prompts you to say, why don’t you get some more?” Johnston said in reference to the tanker-derivative of the A330 airliner. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has five of the aircraft, which retain the airliner’s main-deck seating and belly cargo holds.
article

Orbital Cygnus Resupply Ship Departs Space Station

Aug 18, 2014
HOUSTON – Orbital Sciences’ second Cygnus resupply capsule departed the International Space Station (ISS) early Aug. 15, following a 30-day stay that began with the delivery of nearly 3,300 lb. of crew supplies and research equipment.
article

South African Combat Aircraft Flies

Aug 18, 2014
LONDON – South African defense firm Paramount Group’s first aircraft, the Advanced High Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft (Ahrlac), has made its first flight. The first prototype of the turboprop-powered twin-boom aircraft flew from Wonderboom Airport in Pretoria on Aug. 13.

Calendar of Events

article

Upcoming Events

Aug 18, 2014
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) aug. 22-24 — 254th Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine, Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Bangaglore, India. For more information go to www.isam.in aug. 25 — 4th International Technical Specialists’ Meeting on Vertical Lift Aircraft RDT&E Patuxent River, Maryland. For more information go to www.vtol.org/pax

Technology

article

U.S. Air Force Research Lab Has Sights On IBM’s New Brain-Like Chip

Aug 18, 2014
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) plans to acquire an IBM TrueNorth neurosynaptic processor, the most powerful brain-inspired microchip yet developed. The lab plans to use the chip for machine learning, artificial intelligence, neural network and other research. Unveiled Aug. 7 and developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), TrueNorth has a brain-inspired computing architecture powered by 1 million electronic “neurons” and 256 million electronic “synapses” between the neurons.