Prototyping is still a vital tool for U.S. Air Force and Pentagon programs, but officials worry that its benefits may be misunderstood and downplayed, according to a recent prototypes workshop draft report released by the National Research Council (NRC). “Prototyping has historically been of great benefit to the Air Force and Department of Defense (DOD) in terms of risk reduction and concept demonstration prior to system development, both during austere budget environments and at other times,” the NRC report says.
LONDON — Airbus Military is close to finalizing the flight control laws to support air-to-air refueling on the Airbus A400M Atlas airlifter. Company test pilots in late November completed the first “wet” air-to-air refueling of an A400M from a French air force C-160 Transall in a set of sorties designed to verify the newly written flight control laws, known to the company as “Delta Six Romeo - Papa.” Until then, the aircraft had only conducted “dry” contacts from U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) Vickers VC10s and A330-200 Multi-Role Tanker Transports.
March 6, 2014 National Buidling Museum - Washington, DC 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.
A large, classified unmanned aircraft developed by Northrop Grumman is now flying—and it demonstrates a major advance in combining stealth and aerodynamic efficiency. Defense and intelligence officials say the secret unmanned aerial system (UAS), designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, is scheduled to enter production for the U.S. Air Force and could be operational by 2015.
The decision by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates to cap Lockheed Martin’s production of the stealthy, twin-engine F-22 will “prove to be one of the strategically dislocating decisions that we will suffer from” on security made in this era, according to Gen. (ret.) T. Michael Moseley, former Air Force chief of staff from 2005-2008.
PARIS — NASA will seek a supplemental role aboard the European Space Agency’s (ESA) next two large astrophysics missions, including a new-generation X-ray telescope and a gravitational wave observatory.
Electronic components distributors can now get a one-of-a-kind DNA mark to authenticate their products. Applied DNA Sciences, a provider of DNA-based anti-counterfeiting and product authentication technology, is now offering unique electronic components plant-based SigNature DNA marks to specifically identify authorized distributors, to be applied to incoming components, or legacy inventory before shipment per customer request. The marked components will be absolutely identifiable as sourced from the authorized channel, the company says.
NEW DELHI — India is increasing its ability to produce highly enriched uranium for military purposes, including more powerful nuclear weapons, at a facility near Mysore in the southern state of Karnataka, a U.S.-based think tank says.
MOSCOW — The Russian armed forces are beginning to enjoy the first benefits of the massive rearmament spelled out under the 10-year defense procurement program adopted in 2010. The air force alone can count on receiving almost a quarter of the program’s budget — or about 4.5 trillion rubles ($136 billion). The program’s implementation was reviewed by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a series of meetings in late November in which military officials and defense manufacturers reported on their achievements and plans.
HORNET FANS: Rep. Randy Forbes, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee, is adding his name to a list of lawmakers — most with ties to Boeing — calling on the Pentagon to maintain the Boeing F-18 production line beyond current Navy plans due to worries about losing industrial capacity. Forbes, whose southeast Virginia district surrounds the largest naval complex in the world in Norfolk, wrote Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Dec. 4 to say he thinks that “creating a single U.S.
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The current battle over East China Sea airspace shows the need for even greater cooperation between U.S. and Chinese military forces and officials, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says. “I would focus on one particular area … that is developing a stronger military-to-military relationship between the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] and the United States,” Hagel told reporters Dec. 5. “We have been working at that — both sides.”
The U.S. Navy recently completed the successful installation of the first operational next-generation tactical afloat network aboard the Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer DDG-80 USS McCampbell. Based in Yokosuka, Japan, McCampbell completed its installation of the Consolidated Afloat Network and Enterprise Services (Canes) in November. Prior to that, the destroyer conducted sea trials in October to validate how the network would perform in an operational environment and that the network would meet mission needs, Navy officials say.
When it comes to shipbuilding for the Pentagon, there are really two U.S. Navies to consider — nuclear and non-nuclear — says Mike Petters, CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), the nation’s largest military shipbuilder. Both present their own set of challenges. “They certainly are different customers,” Petters said Dec. 3 during a presentation hosted by Credit Suisse. “The nuclear navy will try to engineer risk out of a program by making sure they ensure sustainability of the program,” he says.
The U.S.-led search for the existence of extraterrestrial life has reached a threshold, primarily through the discovery of alien planets made by NASA’s Kepler space telescope, making it theoretically possible that the biosignatures of gases produced by microbial life on planets circling nearby stars could be detected within a decade, experts told the House Science, Space and Technology Committee in a Dec. 4 hearing.
NASA’s Technology Capabilities Assessment Team is finding new acceptance of the agency’s need to improve efficiency by eliminating duplication across its scattered field centers, with some center directors actually willing to give up assets if they can use the savings to fund their core competencies.
LONDON — BAE Systems is set to begin flight trials early next year of the Panavia Tornado fitted with a Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). Minister for Defense Equipment, Support and Technology Philip Dunne, in written answers to Parliament Dec. 3, said the system is being integrated on the aircraft by BAE under a £53 million ($87 million) contract.
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) launched its first Falcon 9 v1.1 mission to geosynchronous transfer orbit Dec. 3, marking the Hawthorne, Calif.-based startup’s entry into the commercial launch market and positioning it to unseat United Launch Alliance (ULA), the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture that launches most NASA, U.S. Air Force and intelligence community missions.
While the U.S. Navy would rather not see deficiencies in the ships that contractors deliver to the service, it makes more economic sense to fix the ships later than to refuse to accept the vessels until the problems are addressed, shipbuilding officials say.
BEIJING — China is working on a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) but lacks practical applications of such material, says a leading Chinese researcher in the field. More than 4,000 CMC articles have been made for 360 types of parts in China, the researcher told attendees at the China Aeronautical Materials and Manufacturing Equipment Summit, organized by Galleon, in Beijing. Apart from work on parts for turbine engines, Chinese engineers have been applying CMC to ramjets and telemetry systems.
FIRST FLIGHT: The first Tranche 3 Eurofighter Typhoon has made its first flight in the U.K. The aircraft, BS116/ZK355, took off on Dec. 2 from BAE Systems’ Warton facility. The Tranche 3s are set to be the most advanced versions of the Typhoon and are equipped to provide more electrical power in preparation for the installation of the planned E-Scan radar, as well as the ability to potentially fit conformal fuel tanks on top of the rear fuselage.
