MOSCOW — The fifth prototype of the T-50 fifth-generation fighter made its first, 1-hr. flight in Komsomolsk-on-Amur on Oct. 28, manufacturer Sukhoi reports. After the factory trials, the aircraft T-50-5 will join the other four prototypes in a flight-test program in Zhukovsky, near Moscow, according to Sukhoi. Two more aircraft are involved in the ground test — one is used as a ground rig, and another for static tests.
PARIS — The potentially faulty component that caused the launch of Europe’s €940 million ($1.25 billion) Gaia star-mapper to be postponed will also need to be replaced on the BepiColombo Mercury probe ahead of a planned 2015 launch, the European Space Agency (ESA) says.
MEXICAN TRAINERS: The Mexican air force has placed a follow-on order for a second batch of six Beechcraft T-6C+ turboprop trainers to continue replacing its Pilatus PC-7s. An initial six aircraft ordered in Januarry 2012 are to be delivered late this year after required export licenses are received. The T-4C+ has a glass cockpit, head-up display, and wing hardpoints for external stores and practice weapons.
The Defense Department has set the stage for low-rate initial production of an upgraded version of the Paladin self-propelled cannon system. The Defense Acquisition Executive approved Milestone C for the Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) program, the U.S. Army and PIM contractor BAE Systems announced this week at the annual meeting of the Association of the U.S. Army. Milestone C is a key incremental step in the Pentagon’s acquisition process, allowing entry into the production and deployment phase.
Even as the government gets ready to sort out Lockheed Martin’s protest of the U.S. Navy’s recent Air & Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) contract with Raytheon, investments continue to build for maritime missile defense.
As other defense contractors consider how to make military ground vehicles autonomous, Oshkosh Defense is exploring new uses for the autonomous technology it began developing in 2004. “So now we have a fairly mature system that is basically a kit that can be installed on any tactical wheeled vehicle. It’s been designed pretty much from the ground up to be a system for use in convoy logistics missions,” John Beck, chief engineer for unmanned systems at Oshkosh said Oct. 23, the final day of the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington.
LONDON — The U.K.’s unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator Taranis has made its first test flights, according to documentation given to a government inquiry committee regarding the use of remotely piloted vehicles. In the public evidence, being heard by the Commons Select Committee and supplied by the U.K. Defense Ministry, ground tests of the UCAV commenced in 2010 and “flight trials took place in 2013.” No further detail is given about when or where the test flights may have taken place.
Northrop Grumman is not saying whether it will compete in the U.S. Air Force’s Long-Range Strike – Bomber program. Boeing and Lockheed Martin have announced that they will be teaming up to pursue the contract, with Boeing as prime and Lockheed as chief teammate.
The U.S. Navy is calling on industry to provide it with options on how to train helicopter pilots in the future. Naval Air Systems Command (Navair) has put out a request for information on how it can supplement or replace its aging fleet of Bell TH-57 Sea Ranger single-engine training helicopters to support the helicopter flight training of Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and foreign student pilots.
XIAN, China — The proposed Sino-Russian Advanced Heavy Lifter (AHL) helicopter may be much larger than previously expected, some brief details revealed by Avicopter suggest. The helicopter is under study—as it has been since 2008—when the Russian and Chinese governments agreed to cooperate on its development. Gross weight will be 30-40 tons, says Avicopter, which had previously said it would weigh up to 30 tons.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) oct. 29 — Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition, Cheongju International Airport. For more information go to www.seoulairshow.com/eng/ oct. 29 - 31— Aviation Week MRO Asia 2013, SingEx Exhibition and Convention Center, Singapore. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events
For a second time in a week the U.S. Navy’s first-of-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) is in need of repairs. The USS Freedom was pierside in Singapore Oct. 24, making preparations to get underway when the crew found “seawater contamination in the starboard steerable waterjet hydraulic system,” says Lt. Cmdr. Clayton Doss.
HOUSTON — Human space travelers may have more than rising intraocular pressures to be concerned about when it comes to their eyesight, according to a NASA-funded study of mice that revealed profound changes in eye structure and gene expression after just 13 days in space.
SEQUESTRATION: There are no other outcomes under widespread, automatic budget authority reductions except for a smaller U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy, according to the top civilian and uniformed acquisition official of each armed service. The officials told the House Armed Services tactical air and land subcommittee that the consequences mean a less-capable and less-ready U.S. military.
LONDON — Eurocopter and UAV manufacturer AeroVironment have signed a cooperative agreement to develop new capabilities. Announcing the move at the Association of the U.S. Army event in Washington Oct. 23, the two companies said the agreement would allow them to explore expanding into new markets and developing new capabilities to meet future customer needs.
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) completed the flight of its first upgraded Mirage 2000 at the Istres-Le Tubé air base in France early this month, according to a spokesman of manufacturer Dassault Aviation. Faced with a depleted tactical air capability and an inordinate delay in signing the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal, the IAF is pushing to expedite the upgrading of its Mirage 2000s. The first upgraded Dassault Mirage 2000H is likely to be delivered in August or September 2014, says an IAF official.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has completed the first two endurance demonstration flights of the Improved Gray Eagle (IGE) unmanned aircraft for the U.S. Army, flying for 45.3 hr. compared with 25 hr. for the in-service Block 1 MQ-1C. IGE was developed with company funding to increase endurance and payload with minor modifications to the Gray Eagle. Following the second customer-funded demonstration flight, GA-ASI says, it will analyze the data and share it with the Army to “allow them to decide the follow-on activities for IGE.”
Five companies are designing long-endurance, ship-based surveillance and strike unmanned aircraft under the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (Darpa) Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) program. TERN is intended to demonstrate the capability to provide Predator-class medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned-aircraft capabilities from the flight decks of small ships, including the U.S. Navy’s LCS-2 Littoral Combat Ships and DDG-51 destroyers.
