LONDON — A decision on the U.K.’s first major purchase of the Lockheed Martin F-35B Joint Strike Fighter could be announced next month, when the aircraft makes its international debut at the Royal International Air Tattoo on July 11. Defense officials have hinted to Aviation Week that ministers could make an announcement of the purchase, known as Main Gate 4, at the show at RAF Fairford, rather than at the Farnborough air show a few days later.
Launch upstart SpaceX is bolstering its case in federal court against the U.S. Air Force’s decision to award five years of launches to its rival, United Launch Alliance, thanks to help from Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona). Citing a June 20 letter from McCain to Pentagon procurement chief Frank Kendall, SpaceX says Air Force diligence in the pricing for ULA’s purchase of Russian RD-180 engines for its Atlas V rockets was lacking. ULA declined on multiple occasions to release the cost of the engine to the press.
GLOBAL DEFENSE: Consulting company Frost & Sullivan says the global defense procurement marketplace is “gaining momentum,” albeit with headwinds, and is expected to reach $660 billion annually in 2018. That is compared with about $600 billion now.
PARIS — After two months of delays, SpaceX says it will launch six second-generation Orbcomm communications satellites July 14 atop a Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket from Cape Canaveral AFS, Florida. The launch of New Jersey-based Orbcomm’s six OG2 satellites has been repeatedly delayed due to technical and weather-related setbacks, beginning with a Falcon 9 first-stage helium leak that pushed the initial May 10 launch date to early June.
ATK’s Space Components division is manufacturing the distinctive “Mickey Mouse ears” solar arrays that will power NASA’s InSight Mars launder set for launch in 2016. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, prime contractor on the Discovery-class mission, awarded the ATK unit a contract for the arrays, which passed preliminary design review in February and are in production. The circular arrays also powered the 2008 Mars Phoenix Lander, and the design has potential applications in upcoming deep-space missions.
Manching, Germany — The Eurofighter consortium is planning to carry out flight tests on a series of aerodynamic improvements meant to enhance maneuverability and make the aircraft more stable when carrying large stores of weapons.
The Obama administration submitted its updated $65.8 billion fiscal 2015 Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) budget request to Congress earlier this week for the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of State and Other International Programs (State/OIP). The $58.6 billion request for DOD OCO funding is $20.9 billion less than the $79.4 billion placeholder included in the 2015 Budget. The OCO request also includes $1.4 billion for State/OIP beyond the $5.9 billion included in the Budget, bringing the State OCO total to $7.3 billion.
Three U.S. Marine Corps F-35Bs have taken off from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, en route to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, ahead of their planned Atlantic Ocean crossing to the United Kingdom. Four F-35Bs are expected to be in country by the week of July 7 for flying displays at the Royal International Air Tattoo and Farnborough air show next month. “The Marine Corps will resume F-35B flight operations today. We are continuing with our plans to deploy to the U.K. next month,” said Capt. Rich Ulsh, a Marine Corps spokesman.
Sikorsky, teamed with Lockheed Martin, has been awarded a $1.28 billion U.S. Air Force contract for engineering and manufacturing development of a combat rescue helicopter (CRH) based on the UH-60M Black Hawk. The contract, for which Sikorsky was the only bidder, covers four development aircraft and seven aircrew and maintainer training systems. The Air Force plans to field 112 helicopters, valued at $7.9 billion, to replace its HH-60G Pave Hawks.
SEATTLE – Boeing’s new Maritime Surveillance Aircraft, based on a Bombardier Challenger business jet, is to make its first public appearance at the Farnborough air show, the company says. Since its first flight tests in February, the MSA demonstrator has been here for the installation of its full sensor and display suite. At Farnborough, the Flir Systems 380HD electro-optical sensor package will be operational and the functioning of other sensors will be simulated for potential customers.
The U.S. Navy is leading the military services in making more open systems acquisitions, a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says. “While each of the military services has policies for incorporating open systems on their weapon acquisition programs, the Navy has made the greatest strides in institutionalizing open systems acquisitions, and a number of its programs have implemented such an approach from early development,” the GAO says in its report, released earlier this month.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] . (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) June 16 - 20 — 20th AIAA/CEAS Aero-acoustics Conference, Hyatt Regency Atlanta. For more information go to www.aiaa.org/EventDetail.aspx?id=18626 June 16 - 20 — 11th AIAA/ASME Joint Thermophysics and Heat Transfer Conference, Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. For more information go to www.aiaa.org/EventDetail.aspx?id=18644
Aviation Week & Space Technology’s 40 Under 40 feature in the Aug. 11 issue will recognize rising stars in the global aviation and defense industry. In a field packed with talent, there are some individuals who rise to the top—who possess an exceptional combination of leadership skills, technical prowess and business acumen, and a firm conviction that "good enough" is never enough.
