After shortlisting 25 proposals from 24 states, the FAA has selected six test sites across the U.S. to conduct civil unmanned aircraft system (UAS) research. Geographic and climatic diversity were key requirements for the selection. The six selected operators are: the University of Alaska, the state of Nevada, New York’s Griffiss International Airport, North Dakota Department of Commerce, Texas A&M University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Canada has cancelled a planned C$2 billion ($1.9 billion) purchase of armored vehicles, saying they are no longer required. BAE Systems, General Dynamics and Nexter were competing for the contract to supply 108 heavily protected Close Combat Vehicles (CCV). Conceived to meet threats encountered in Afghanistan, the CCV armored personnel carrier was intended to fill the protection, mobility and firepower gap between the Canadian army’s Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) and Leopard 2 main battle tank.
NEW DELHI — Almost 30 years after it was conceived, India’s indigenously designed and developed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) has reached the second phase of its long-awaited Initial Operational Clearance (IOC II), clearing the way for its induction into the Indian air force. The LCA, manufactured by the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), will now be called Tejas Mk. 1. It will be called Tejas Mk. 2 after receiving its final operational clearance (FOC), slated for the end of 2014.
HONOLULU, Hawaii — The U.S. Navy is seeing the price of Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) hulls decreasing and the service is now looking at developing more common ship systems to further reduce costs, says Rear Adm. Brian Antonio, LCS program executive officer. “Both shipbuilders right now are showing great progress,” Antonio tells Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN). “And we’ve delivered seaframes that meet the high-level requirements and knock down challenges.”
Teams using robots developed by companies now owned by Google took five of the top eight places in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (Darpa) Robotics Challenge trails, staged in Homestead, Fla., on Dec. 20-21. A humanoid robot designed by Tokyo-based Schaft scored highest among 16 teams that took part in the trials to demonstrate the ability of robots to perform a series of disaster-response tasks from climbing a ladder to driving a vehicle.
LONDON — Denmark’s decision to select the Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk as its future shipboard helicopter did not break procurement regulations, a national watchdog has ruled.
With the first set of Pratt & Whitney engines delivered for the U.S. Air Force’s KC-46 test aircraft, Boeing is planning to roll out the first green 767-2C next year. The 767-2C is the customized commercial platform on which the KC-46 is designed. The 2C includes provisions — such as customized plumbing — to support the KC-46’s refueling mission.
LONDON — Russian Helicopters has completed the first flight of its long-delayed Mi-38 heavy helicopter with Russian-built Klimov TV7-117V engines. The engines are fitted to the third prototype aircraft, which made a first hover on Nov. 13, and then a first flight on Nov. 29, although Russian Helicopters did not announce the event until Dec. 17. The aircraft flew at the National Helicopter Development Center at Tomilino near Moscow.
Kellstrom finished consolidating and segregating its business into commercial and defense units, and it expects the first quarter of 2014 to start showing the results of those efforts, as well as its “leaner and meaner side,” says Roscoe Musselwhite, Kellstrom Materials president. Kellstrom purchased AirLiance Materials in May, which subsequently involved not only consolidating and streamlining its commercial parts distribution business, but also all of the operations functions, such as IT migration and vendor code and invoice harmonization.
LONDON — The Norwegian government has signed off on the purchase of 16 AgustaWestland AW101 heavy helicopters for search and rescue. Oslo decided on Nov. 8 that the three-engine AW101 will replace a fleet of Westland-built Sea King helicopters under the Norwegian All-Weather Search and Rescue Helicopter (NAWSARH) program, beating competition from Eurocopter’s EC725.
ASIAN ALLIES: The U.S. State Department approved and reported to Congress more than $20 billion in U.S. arms sales to countries across the Asia-Pacific region in 2013, according to Acting Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs Tom Kelly. And for the fourth consecutive year, total U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) have exceeded $30 billion, he told an audience earlier this month at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The latest statistics show U.S.
MUNICH — Airbus Military has set itself a target of obtaining two export contracts for the new Airbus A400M Atlas airlifter by 2016. CEO Domingo Urena-Raso, who will shortly become head of the Military Aircraft division of Airbus Defense and Space when EADS changes its name to Airbus in the New Year, said he was hopeful of achieving at least one contract in 2014 and another in 2015. These would be allocated for the first export production slots for the airlifter, which are due to become available in 2017.
In observance of the year-end holiday season, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report will not publish issues from Dec. 24 through Dec. 30. Aviation Week Intelligence Network subscribers can visit www.aviationweek.com/awin during that time for updates.
As the more information emerges about the recent fraud case involving overseas port service—or “husbanding”—contracts, U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has detailed a series of efforts the service is taking to prevent such abuses in the future.
Fixed-wing aircraft slated for air-warfare missions rank as the number one aviation and shipbuilding investment over the coming 10 years for U.S. partners and allies in the Asia-Pacific, according to an Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis of data provided by Avascent Analytics.
Three more major air traffic management organizations are joining Nav Canada in purchasing stakes in Aireon, a satellite-based surveillance system that has the potential to extend ATM coverage over oceanic airspace.
LONDON — The Chief of the U.K. Defense Staff has warned that overspending on equipment is leading to shortages in manpower to train on and use the matériel. In a December speech to the Royal United Service Institute (RUSI), Gen. Sir Nicholas Houghton, who became chief of the defense staff in July, said current levels of equipment spending could lead to a “strategically incoherent force structure.”
BRUSSELS — European Union governments have agreed to move forward, albeit slowly, on the joint development of key defense capabilities, including air-to-air refueling, a next-generation UAV, satellite communications and cybersecurity. During a two-day meeting in Brussels Dec. 19-20, the heads of state of the 28-member EU also discussed—but did not approve—joint funding of some military activities, such as those led by France in the Central African Republic.
BRAZILIAN SPACE: Brazil’s Visiona Tecnologia Espacial S.A. has signed contracts with Thales Alenia Space and Arianespace to build and launch a civil/military broadband communications satellite for the Brazilian government’s Geostationary Satellite Defense and Strategic Communications (SGDC) system. Visiona, a joint venture of Embraer and Brazil’s state-owned telecommunications company Telebras, is to become a satellite integrator for Brazilian space agency AEB. Near-term, the company has been tasked with integrating SGDC under Brazil’s national broadband initiative.
