HONOLULU — A veteran P-3 naval aviator, Adm. Harry Harris, the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet commander, knows what it is like to fly the Orion on long missions. “After hours in a P-3, you are tired,” he says. “You’ve got all of these vibrations.”
ANTO, Italy — The Italian navy is working to develop the ballistic missile defense (BMD) capability of its Orizzonte-class air-defense ships and pave the way for BMD systems to be installed on a new class of ship to be launched in the early 2020s.
Lockheed Martin has rolled out the first two F-35A Lightnings for Australia, and the country has immediate plans to buy 72 of the fighters. Delivery of the first fighters is scheduled to begin this year, but initially the Royal Australian Air Force will base the two aircraft, called AU-1 and AU-2, at the Luke AFB, near Phoenix, Arizona. There they will join F-35s used for multinational pilot training.
CLOSE CALL: NASA is preparing for a close flyby of Mars by Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring on Oct. 19, taking steps both to protect its Mars-orbiting spacecraft and exploit the scientific potential of the event. The comet will shed debris traveling at 35 mi. (56 km) per second relative to Mars, a speed at which particles even half a millimeter across could seriously damage a spacecraft. NASA is performing orbit adjustments with its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey to place them on the other side of Mars when the comet’s nucleus is expected to pass by.
The U.S. military has enough force, strength and funding to handle security threats around the globe for the near term, but that won’t be the case if mandatory cuts under the Budget Control Act kick in again in two years, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says.
PARIS — Dassault Aviation reported lower Falcon business jet revenues in the first half of 2014, but orders are up and the company is optimistic that a new Indian government elected in May will soon finalize a multi-billion contract for the sale of 126 Rafale combat aircraft. Dassault Aviation Chairman and CEO Eric Trappier said the company reported net sales of €1.5 billion ($2 billion) with adjusted net income of €145 million, both down 17% compared to the same period in 2013.
PARIS — French arms procurement agency DGA took delivery of the nation’s third Airbus A400M military transport aircraft July 25. Built by Airbus Defense and Space, MSN10 was delivered to France’s Orléans-Bricy Air Base after receiving certification in mid-May.
Aleris is working on getting major aircraft manufacturers to qualify production from its new aluminum rolling mill in Zhenjiang in eastern China, and intends to begin shipping product to them this quarter. The mill’s move into the final stages of the qualification process follows its achievement of Nadcap accreditation, a necessary precondition that was announced last month.
HONOLULU, Hawaii — The Royal New Zealand Ship Canterbury (L421) provided some amphibious punch for Rim of Pacific (Rimpac) exercises this month, marking the first time the Royal New Zealand Navy has sent an amphibious support ship to take part in the world’s largest maritime exercise. “Rimpac provides an exceptional opportunity for relevant and realistic training which varies from humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR) response to maritime security,” says Cmdr. David Turner, Canterbury commanding officer.
HOUSTON — The NASA-funded National Space Biomedical Research Institute plans to establish a Center for Space Radiation Research to conduct a three-year, $6 million systematic study of the acute effects to humans of high-energy exposure from solar and cosmic sources during future explorations of the Moon, asteroids and Mars. The initiative will examine the long-term, or degenerative, effects on the human cardiovascular and circulatory systems as well.
NEW DELHI — An indigenously made, Indian air force (IAF) Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter crashed in northern India July 25, killing all seven people on board. The 5.5-ton, multi-role helicopter was on a mission from an air base in the northern province of Uttar Pradesh. “The Pilot gave a ‘may-day’ call at around 16:53 local time and soon after, contact was lost with the helicopter on the radar and on radio,” an IAF official says. The aircraft later crashed into a field.
