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

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Magazine Issue

Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, December 18, 2014

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Programs

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Cost, ‘Extensibility’ Questions Delay Asteroid Mission Decision

Dec 18, 2014
NASA has delayed an expected decision on whether to bring a small asteroid or a boulder from a larger one into lunar orbit for astronauts to study, citing questions about whether the estimated $100 million more the second option would cost would be worth the technology gained for future human missions on the path to Mars. Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot said Dec. 17 the decision likely will be delayed until early next year, in time to support a mission concept review (MCR) at the end of February.
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F-35 MRO Work To Start In Japan, Australia In 2018

Dec 18, 2014
As expected, the Pentagon has assigned heavy airframe and engine maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade (MRO&U) work for F-35s in the Pacific region to Japan and Australia. U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, F-35 program executive officer, said the initial airframe work will begin in both countries no later than 2018. The heavy engine MRO&U work will start no later than 2018 in Australia, with Japan’s capacity standing up no later than five years behind it, Bogdan said.
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First ‘Whitetail’ C-17 Emerges As Final Aircraft Are Built

Dec 18, 2014
LOS ANGELES – Boeing has rolled out the first of the final batch of “whitetail” C-17 airlifters, two of which it says have now been sold to an unidentified customer.
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Second Chance For Russia’s IL-112V Light Transport

Dec 18, 2014
MOSCOW — Russia’s military will resume development of the new Ilyushin Il-112V light transport aircraft that was suspended in 2010. The defense ministry signed a contract with United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) for development of the new aircraft, the deputy head of the corporation’s military aviation programs directorate, Vladislav Goncharenko, told the Echo of Moscow radio station. Deliveries are planned for 2018, he said.
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SpaceX Outlines Plans For Falcon Landing Attempt

Dec 18, 2014
LOS ANGELES – Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) says it has a 50% chance “at best” of successfully landing a Falcon 9 first stage on a floating platform on Dec. 19, but says lessons learned will enable it to land and relaunch a used first stage by the end of 2015.
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India Readies Next GSLV Test Flight

Dec 18, 2014
NEW DELHI — India’s first experimental flight of its latest Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV Mk. 3) with a Crew module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE) will take place on Dec. 18. The 24.5-hr. countdown for the mission began at 9 a.m. local time on Dec. 17. The lesser duration of the countdown for the mission is due to the dummy cryogenic stage.
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Netherlands Restarts NH90 Deliveries

Dec 18, 2014
LONDON — The Netherlands government is restarting deliveries of naval versions of the NH90 helicopter six months after halting them over concerns about corrosion. Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said new agreements were now in place with the aircraft’s manufacturer, NHindustries – a joint venture of AgustaWestland, Airbus Helicopters and Fokker – which gave her confidence that the corrosion issues would be resolved.

SpeedNews Defense & Space

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SpeedNews Defense & Space

Dec 18, 2014
NORTHROP GRUMMAN has $657.4m U.S. Air Force contract for four RQ-4B Block 30 Global Hawk air vehicles, two spare engines and ground control equipment for the Republic of Korea; all deliveries complete by June 28, 2019. SIERRA NEVADA CORP. completed transfer of first six ORBCOMM Generation 2 (OG2) satellites to operator Orbcomm. Satellites were launched in July; remaining 11 OG2 spacecraft being prepared for mid-2015 launch.

Business

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Boeing Boosts Share Buyback, Dividend

Dec 18, 2014
Boeing said Dec. 15 it will buy back more public shares. The $12 billion repurchase authorization approved by the board that day and announced after regular trading closed on Wall Street replaces a 2013 plan of which about $4.8 billion was remaining. Share repurchases for 2014 has wrapped up at $6 billion but is expected to resume in January 2015, Boeing said. The Chicago company also raised its regular quarterly dividend 25% to $0.91 per share.
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U.S. Aerospace Future Seen As Murky Despite Profitable 2015

Dec 18, 2014
Aerospace companies, on average, managed to make money this year than last, despite some industry-buffeting storms, but the forecast for 2015 is less certain, according to the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). “Overall, aerospace and defense companies stayed profitable in 2014 compared with 2013,” AIA says in its 2014 Year-End Review and Forecast, released Dec. 17. (See charts pp. 7-8.)

Funding & Policy

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Pentagon Needs To Improve Cloud Development, IG Says

Dec 18, 2014
LONDON — The Netherlands government is restarting deliveries of naval versions of the NH90 helicopter six months after halting them over concerns about corrosion. Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said new agreements were now in place with the aircraft’s manufacturer, NHindustries – a joint venture of AgustaWestland, Airbus Helicopters and Fokker – which gave her confidence that the corrosion issues would be resolved.

Industry Data