The Royal Air Force (RAF) will provide the majority of the manning for the U.K.’s future carrier strike capability. As the U.K. gears up to buy its first squadron of F-35B Lightning IIs later this year and with the first of the two new Queen Elizabeth-class carriers nearing completion, the U.K. defense ministry has put the RAF in command of the new Joint Lightning Force, with squadrons manned by both air force and navy personnel.
An Australian research team hoping to conduct a free flight Mach 8 test of a novel inlet-fueled scramjet is investigating what prevented the hypersonic flight experiment from reaching the correct test conditions.
While NASA’s engineers plot the next steps in human spaceflight and Congress struggles with the cost, the 100 Year Starship nonprofit is focused on an aggressive interstellar journey with the best humanity has to offer. Launched with a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency in early 2012, the group, led by former NASA astronaut and physician Mae Jemison, is now reaching out on its own with a cultural and socially inclusive vision of human daring that echoes the themes that Star Trek and Star Wars sounded generations ago.
A replacement for the E-8C Joint Stars and the aging T-38 trainer are the next priorities under the sacred top three – the F-35 fighter, KC-46 tanker and next-generation bomber – for the U.S. Air Force, according to its top officer. Gen. Mark Welsh, chief of staff of the service, said a next-generation ground moving target indicator (GMTI) fleet and T-X would fall just under the top three – in that order – if funding is available in the forthcoming fiscal 2015 budget.
France has taken delivery of the first copy in the fourth tranche of Rafale production aircraft, French defense procurement agency DGA has announced. All 60 of the Dassault-built fighters are equipped with updated sensors, including RBE2 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, next-generation missile launch detector capability and an identification and telemetry optronics suite. Rafale is the first European combat aircraft in service to incorporate the Thales-built AESA radar technology, offering considerably improved detection range.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) plans to seek industry interest next month in an Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) which will be capable of delivering a payload up to 5,000 lb. to space for less than $5 million per launch.
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 Click here to view the pdf
India is likely to sign a deal to purchase six additional C-130J air lifters from the U.S. in the current financial year, which ends March 31, 2014. The Defense Acquisition Council, under the Ministry of Defense, has cleared the purchase of the Lockheed Martin-built medium transport aircraft under a government-to-government foreign military sale agreement worth more than $1 billion.
Measurements of methane in the Martian atmosphere made by the Tunable Laser Spectrometer aboard NASA’s Curiosity rover since the August 2012 landing in Gale Crater find surface concentrations of the gaseous hydrocarbon much too low to support subsurface biological activity as a source.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) sept. 24-26 — Marine Military Expos, Modern Day Marine, Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va. For more information go to www.marinemilitaryexpos.com/marine-west.shtml sept. 24-26 — Aviation Week MRO Europe 2013. ExCel, London, U.K. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events
Navy officials are expected to report back to Congress by the end of this month on a plan for their strategy to address requirements for a next-generation anti-ship missile. At issue is whether and how the service will proceed with buying a new anti-ship missile capable of operating inside enemy ship defenses and without cues from the GPS system.
Research Fellows: The National Space Biomedical Research Institute has announced five First Award Fellowship recipients, competitively selected two-year opportunities to study significant health issues associated with long-duration human spaceflight. The 2013-15 recipients and their areas of research focus are Dr. Alix C. Deymier-Black, Washington University, St. Louis, musculoskeletal changes; Julianna C. Simon, University of Washington, Seattle, smart medical systems and technology; Dr. Torin K.
BAE Systems’ Digital Electronic Warfare System (DEWS) has been installed on a Boeing F-15SA Strike Eagle, and flight tests should start shortly, BAE says. DEWS is the first new U.S.-developed EW system to be installed on the F-15 since the program started, replacing the Northrop Grumman ALQ-135. It is being developed for Saudi Arabia and is part of Boeing’s Silent Eagle package on offer to South Korea.
Aviation Week A&D Programs 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
The U.S. Air Force is considering the premature retirement of the KC-10 tanker, C-5A strategic transports and some C-130s from its mobility fleet as officials search for ways to reduce spending in accordance with the Budget Act. The only cargo and transport platforms not under scrutiny for reductions are the C-17, the last of which was delivered last week, and the upgraded C-5M, says Gen. Paul Selva, who heads Air Mobility Command.
The U.S. Navy awarded Boeing’s Insitui unit a $300 million fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract this week for hardware and operational and maintenance services in support of the ScanEagle Unmanned Aerial Systems operated by the U.S. Special Operations Command.
EXPORT COUNCIL: President Barack Obama appointed Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin’s president and CEO, to the President’s Export Council on Sept. 19. Hewson is one of seven new members of the council, including Virginia Rometty, chairman, president and CEO of IBM. Jim McNerney, Boeing’s board chairman, president and CEO, chairs the top U.S. advisory panel on international trade.
Turkish missile manufacturer Roketsan has begun developing a variant of its Stand-Off Missile (SOM) that is compatible with the weapons bay of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The 1,345-lb. SOM-J, developed in conjunction with TUBI˙TAK-Sage, Turkey’s Scientific and Technological Research Council, will be the fourth variant of the Turkish indigenous weapon family, which was developed to meet the long-range strike requirements of the country’s air force.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has achieved its first-ever salvo test of the SM-3 Block IB missile, and the intercept took place at the highest altitude for the system to date. The first SM-3 IB that was launched successfully intercepted the target, a short-range ballistic missile described as the “one of the most complex targets that we have shot to date,” says Mitch Stevison, Raytheon’s SM-3 program manager. The target was an Aegis Readiness Assessment Vehicle-C, Developed by Kratos, Port Hueneme NSWC, MDA.
A raft of large U.S.-India military deals worth billions of dollars are nearing completion and likely to be culminated in the next few weeks. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is preparing to arrive in Washington on an official visit starting Sept. 27, on the heels of a visit to India by U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. And negotiations on pending acquisitions are in full swing. Top Indian defense ministry sources indicate one or more contracts could be finalized during Singh’s visit.
