Raytheon has completed flight tests of a low-cost missile rapidly developed to shoot down mortars, rockets and unmanned aircraft, but has yet to find a home for the weapon. Developed under the U.S. Army’s Accelerated Improved Intercept Initiative (AI3) program, the missile scored 22 successes in 24 “system intercepts” during testing at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., Sept. 16-30, says Michael Means, senior business development manager for Raytheon Missile Systems.
NEW DELHI — India has issued a final notice to AgustaWestland as it moves to cancel the planned purchase of AW101 helicopters for VIP transport that has been tainted by a bribery scandal. “We have issued a final show cause notice to AgustaWestland on Oct. 21 asking why all or any action, including cancellation of the contract, should not be taken against them for violating the terms of the pre-integrity pact and the contract for the procurement of 12 AW101 helicopters,” a defense ministry official says.
Current and future military cargo trucks could be turned into individual autonomous ground vehicles that could be herded into driverless convoys under a program being developed by Lockheed Martin.
Shortcomings in air traffic control and flight procedures are among a string of causes which led to the loss of a Norwegian Hercules in Sweden in March 2012, accident investigators have reported. Four aircrew and one passenger died when the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNAF) C-130J Hercules transport crashed into the Kebnekaise Massif, Sweden’s highest mountain, during the NATO Cold Response exercises on March 12 of last year. The aircraft — call sign Haze 01 — had been flying a sortie from Narvik/Evenes Airport in Norway to Kiruna airport, Sweden.
The U.S. Navy issued a stop-work order Oct. 23 on the contract it gave Raytheon earlier this month for the service’s Air & Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), in the wake of Lockheed Martin’s protest. Lockheed spokesman Keith Little said Oct. 22 that the contractor protested the AMDR contract “after careful consideration,” adding, “We submitted a technically compliant solution at a very affordable price. We do not believe the merits of our offering were properly considered during the evaluation process.”
FAA has given Applied Research Associates Inc.’s (ARA) Nighthawk IV micro-UAV a special airworthiness certificate, which will allow potential customers to apply for agency approval to operate the 2-lb. aicraft in the national airspace.
LONDON — European missile manufacturer MBDA says it has successfully tested its Dual Mode Brimstone (DMB) air-to-ground missile against fast-moving ground targets. In a series of trials conducted by the company in October, five Brimstones were fired at a range of targets moving at speeds of up to 70 mph., from different launch conditions including long-range and off-boresight positions. The company claims every one of the firings achieved a direct hit.
LONDON — U.K. air accident investigators are examining pilot error as the possible cause of a fatal crash of a CHC helicopter off the Shetland Islands in late August. Four oil workers died when the CHC Scotia-operated Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma, registered G-WNSB, crashed into the sea while on approach to Sumburgh Airport in the Shetland Islands on Aug. 23 after a flight from the Borgsten Dolphin drilling platform on behalf of oil company Total.
NEXTGEN HIT: Under continuing resolution funding levels for fiscal 2014, FAA’s NextGen program could see impacts from sequestration cuts to the U.S. military. Beverly Pheto, chief of staff for Rep. Rosa De Lauro (D-Conn.), says defense agencies would likely see about $20 billion in cuts if Congress does not act to change cap levels. The cuts to the military could have an impact on the FAA’s NextGen program in terms of achieving critical mass of participating aircraft.
The U.S. Navy is defending its long-term shipbuilding plan in the wake of a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report that says the strategy would fall short on ship deployment and funding needed for service requirements and acquisition.
The U.S. Navy’s new long-term shipbuilding plan calls for buying fewer ships than a year ago and would fall short on ship deployment and funding needed for service and acquisition requirements, a recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report says.
After a series of Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) annual conventions where the main battle tank was conspicuous by its absence, a General Dynamics Land Systems M1 tank is back on the show floor this year, albeit missing two features — its turret and its turbine engine. The vehicle shown by GD is a turretless propulsion technology demonstrator for a diesel-powered M1, and the manufacturer says that dynamometer tests performed by the Army in August and September showed a 49% improvement in fuel consumption over the turbine-engined vehicle.
Saab is rolling four of its U.S.-based business units into one, Saab Defense & Security USA, company officials told reporters at the Association of the U.S. Army conference Oct. 22. The change brings four Saab units — Saab Training USA LLC, Saab Barracuda LLC, Saab Support and Services LLC, and the defense elements of Saab Sensis — into one that is based in the U.S.
TEL AVIV — The Israeli air force is in the midst of its first major reorganization since 1973, continuing to modernize its fighter force and overhauling its long-held command structure to cope with the region’s changing dynamic and with an eye toward the Iranian nuclear threat. Although the air force may not have the ability to destroy the entire Iranian nuclear program, it could cause considerable damage and delay it.
Flir Systems is pushing toward a goal of “infrared everywhere” by combining its defense and commercial market access and technology, according to new president and CEO Andrew Teich. A 14-year veteran of the company, Teich moved into his current job in May.
Aerospace & Defense Programs November 13-14, 2013 Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Ariz. Strategic Priorities in a Sequestration Era. Learn which programs are being affected and where government is likely to place its bets. Register Today www.aviationweek.com/events/adp
This week marks the beginning of the endgame for how Washington will deal with budgets, taxes, entitlements and other federal spending through next year, as lawmakers, lobbyists and their constituents and clients rush to influence the outcomes of a new round of bipartisan spending negotiations pegged for the end of 2013.
