U.S. Army officials are planning to reveal their downselect of candidates for building the service’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) aircraft next month; the decision had been expected this month.
U.S. Army officials are planning to reveal their downselect of candidates for building the service’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) aircraft next month; the decision had been expected this month.
MISSION OPS: NASA has awarded Lockheed Martin a $340.6 million extension of the Facilities Development and Operations Contract that supports the Mission Operations Directorate at the Johnson Space Center, including the Mission Control Center. The extension, effective Oct. 1, includes a two-year base period and a 12-month option that would bring the total value of the initial 2009 contract award to an estimated $1.3 billion, according to NASA’s Aug. 1 announcement.
A grass-roots advocacy group hopes to raise $250,000 on the Internet to fund early development of extraterrestrial “lawn darts” that would pierce the Martian soil to look for living organisms protected from the deadly radiation on the surface. The penetrators would piggyback to Mars on any lander headed there, then separate from its host head-shield during descent and plunge as much as 2 meters into the ground to position its life-seeking instruments.
LONDON — U.K. defense contractor BAE Systems says its sales will be weighted toward the second half of 2014 after seeing a decline of more than £800 million ($1.35 billion) in sales compared to the first half of 2013.
The U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division is considering using electromagnetic rails or other technologies to replace or augment legacy thrusting systems — Pratt & Whitney J-57 jet engines and 5-in.-diameter Zuni rockets — at two test sites. “Current supplies of jet engines at [the jet car track site] and rocket motors at [the supersonic naval ordinance research tracks] are depleting,” says the Navy in recent request for information (RFI) .
LONDON — The Spanish air force is looking into medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAVs in the coming years, and plans to commit to a European-built system in the 2020s. Requirements for a MALE UAV have been prepared and delivered to the Spanish defense procurement agency, officials say.
DONAUWORTH, Germany — Corrosion issues on the naval version of the NH90 military helicopter are now under control, according to senior Airbus Helicopters officials. Company engineers are working on solving these issues, which prompted the Dutch government to halt deliveries of its final seven aircraft.
LOND ON — Finmeccanica is involved in too many sectors, products and services, and needs to focus on its core products, new CEO Mauro Moretti says. Speaking 80 days into his tenure of the Italian aerospace and defense giant, as it announced its half-yearly financial results in Rome on August 1, Moretti revealed some details of his planned far-reaching reorganization of the company.
JAGUAR CRASH: A Jaguar fighter of the Indian air force (IAF) crashed in the western state of Gujarat on Aug. 1, a defense official says. The accident occurred at 12:06 p.m. local time, shortly after the aircraft took off on a routine sortie from the Bhuj airbase in Gujarat. It crashed about 19 mi. from the airbase, the official says. The pilot was on a flying training mission and has ejected safely, he says. “There is no reported damage on the ground.” The reason for the accident remains unclear, and the defense ministry has ordered an investigation.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] . (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Aug. 5-7 — AIAA Space 2014 Forum and Exposition, San Diego, Calif. For more information go to www.aiaa.org/space2014 aug. 10 - 12 — Aviation Week's Executive Intelligence Summit, Middleburg, Va. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events
