Skybox Imaging will use a commercial version of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Minotaur 1 rocket to launch six of its cubesat-derived, high-resolution imaging satellites in 2015, potentially clearing the way for Orbital to launch seven more of the Space Systems/Loral spacecraft later.
Lockheed Martin has demonstrated a secretly developed capability to fix one of the shortfalls of its stealthy F-22 and F-35 fighters: their inability to link to one another, or to legacy fighters, for air campaigns.
After trying for years to decommission its older cruisers—only to be thwarted by Congress each time—the U.S. Navy is taking a different approach: the service’s fiscal 2015 budget proposal calls for the ships to be taken out of service and improved for possible later deployments.
LOS ANGELES — AgustaWestland is using its experience gained from the development of an urgent operational requirement for the U.K. to offer an upgraded engine for operators of the Lynx helicopter.
Expect additional funding in the forthcoming fiscal 2015 Pentagon budget request to address shortcomings in the Boeing Ground-Based Midcourse Defense program, according to Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for procurement. “We are going to be taking an initiative to address some of these problems,” Kendall said during the Credit Suisse/McAleese & Associates Defense Programs conference Feb. 25 in Washington. “We recognize the problems we have had with all the currently fielded interceptors,” he said.
MOJAVE, Calif. — Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic are modifying the interior of SpaceShipTwo (SS2) to accommodate the final configuration of the rocket motor that will be used to power the space vehicle to suborbital space later this year. The modifications also include fitting the interior and passenger seats for the first time. Completion work on the cabin, and the upgrades to install the full-duration-capable Sierra Nevada RM2 motor, are expected to take several months and will pave the way to the fourth powered test flight (PF04) around mid-year.
Aviation Week Laureate Awards March 6, 2014 National Building Museum Washington, D.C. Join Us! Aviation Week’s 57th annual Laureate Awards will recognize individuals/teams for their extraordinary accomplishments. Their achievements embody the spirit of exploration, innovation, vision or any combination of these attributes that inspire others to strive for significant, broad-reaching progress in aviation and aerospace.
Commercial helicopter operators will purchase between 4,800 and 5,500 helicopters during 2014-2018, according to a survey and market forecast by Honeywell.
LOS ANGELES — Bell Helicopter has been evaluating the ability of its MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor to carry the engine of an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The trials, part of the company’s ongoing work to prove the Osprey as a potential successor to the Grumman C-2 Greyhound carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft, saw the company load a frame designed by Pratt & Whitney to carry the power section of the F135 engine loaded into the rear cabin of the Osprey.
DEFENSE ELECTRONICS: The U.S. defense electronics market has emerged from the recent recession and is recovering, Forecast International says in its latest market forecast. The consultancy says the 500-plus leading programs reviewed in the study will be worth at least $137.4 billion between 2014-2023. “The big push remains on developing groundbreaking technologies, but due to tight budgets, this goal will be very hard to achieve,” says Richard Sterk, Forecast International senior analyst.
LOS ANGELES — AgustaWestland has begun the certification test phase for its AW609 commercial tiltrotor. The two AW609 prototypes, AC1 in the U.S. and AC2 in Italy, have flown almost 1,000 hr. between them, a third of which were flown in the last two years since AgustaWestland took full control of the program from Bell Helicopter, which was a partner until 2011. Test pilots completed flight envelope expansion trials in December 2013, and the company plans to increase the flying rate further in 2014.
The civil upheaval in the Ukraine has had no discernible effect on production of the core stage of Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Antares launch vehicle, according to a company spokesman, who said the company has enough Ukrainian hardware on hand to continue launching cargo to the International Space Station in its pressurized Cygnus capsule into early 2015.
Aurora Flight Sciences and Lockheed Martin are preparing for their demonstrations under the first phase of the Office of Naval Research’s (ONR) Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System (Aacus) program. The goal of the five-year Aacus program is to demonstrate the capability for a soldier on the ground to use a handheld device to call up an unmanned helicopter for cargo resupply or casualty evacuation.
SpeedNews Events! Registration Open SpeedNews 4th Annual Aerospace Raw Materials & Manufacturers Supply Chain Conference March 3, 2014 Beverly Hills, California SpeedNews 28th Annual Commercial Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference March 3-5, 2014 Beverly Hills, California
ARMY EADS-NA, Herndon, Va., was awarded a $22,856,085 modification (P00766) to contract W58RGZ-06-C-0194 to acquire four UH-72A Lakota helicopters with engine inlet barrier filters and ARC-231 radios. Fiscal 2014 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $22,856,085 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is March 31, 2015. The work will be performed in Columbia, Miss. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Relatively flat spending proposed for the Pentagon in fiscal 2015, followed by potentially significant – but highly uncertain – increases in 2016 and beyond have Wall Street analysts and the aerospace and defense industry hopeful that 2013-14 represents the nadir for U.S. defense spending.
NEW MARKETS: Western investors have been increasingly and eagerly eyeing a potential new wave of developing economies to bet on, and now at least one report asserts the defense sector in particular should pay attention. Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey are expected to increase their defense spending from $40.6 billion now to $61.1 billion by 2019, according to online report provider ReportsnReports.com.
Final reports on the 2012 Delta IV anomaly that generated low thrust in its RL-10B-2 upper-stage engine are expected in April, but the successful launch of a Delta IV with the GPS IIF-5 spacecraft Feb. 20 indicates fixes added to the launcher’s engine-processing procedures worked as planned.
While the U.S. Navy plans to start the work needed to overhaul and refuel the aircraft carrier George Washington as part of its mid-life overhaul, whether the service will complete that job or decommission the ship remains in doubt.
In determining the future of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) — and the missions the ship is slated to perform — the Pentagon is looking back to the program’s roots, when the U.S. Navy sought a smaller but capable ship to take care of threats in coastal areas and help clear the way for national capital assets.
HOUSTON — NASA estimates it will spend between $8 billion and $11.2 billion on U.S. commercial resupply services in support of the six-person International Space Station between 2017 and 2024, according to a request for information (RFI) related to a forthcoming Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract announcement. The agreement will call on providers to deliver 14,250-16,750 kg (31,400-36,900 lb.) of pressurized cargo and 1,500-4,000 kg of unpressurized cargo annually.
Despite budget pressures, the U.S. Army is on track to begin the acquisition process for an advanced rotorcraft to replace its Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk medium utility helicopters starting in the mid-2030s, says the official leading the effort. A materiel development decision (MDD)—formally launching the acquisition process—is scheduled for August 2015, says Dan Bailey, the Army’s newly appointed Joint Multi-Role/Future Vertical Lift (JMR/FVL) program director.
