CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins started a series of on-orbit tests Monday that could lead to large “sparse arrays” of satellites in space maintaining their relative position using electromagnetic fields generated by superconducting coils.
Aviation Week 2013 Military Fleet & MRO Forecast! 2014 NOW HERE!!! Stop Guessing What the Future Holds With Aviation Week’s Military Fleet & MRO Forecast. This 10 year, year-over-year forecast provides an in-depth understanding of what’s to come so you can locate new business opportunities. To schedule a personal demo, call 866.857.0148 or +1.515.237.3682
The U.S. Marine Corps must consider accepting Boeing EA-18G Growlers for electronic warfare (EW) missions rather than waiting for the F-35B to prevent a potentially lengthy aerial EW gap from developing, a service EW veterans association says.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Alan Estevez as the new deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics last week, and this week it could confirm retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz as the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
Observations from Japan’s Suzaku X-ray astronomy satellite indicate that iron and other heavy elements that make life possible were spread throughout the universe during a violent period of stellar explosions and super-massive black hole outbursts 10 billion years ago. The findings come from a U.S.-Japanese research team that bases its conclusions on observations of the massive Perseus galaxy cluster.
LONDON — The Netherlands is to deploy four Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters to Mali at the request of the United Nations, The Hague has announced. The deployment, on behalf of the U.N. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, will begin at the end of this year and will tentatively end in 2015, according to the Netherlands defense ministry.
As part of its recent analysis of the U.S. Navy’s shipbuilding plans, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has envisioned a fleet size much different than what the service foresees. “CBO’s estimate of $21.2 billion per year for the full cost of the Navy’s 2014 shipbuilding plan is 34% higher than the $15.8 billion the Navy has spent on average per year for all items in its shipbuilding accounts over the past 30 years,” the report notes.
Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy are targeting the end of 2014 to have the extended-endurance MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned aircraft ready for deployment on a DDG-51 Burke-class destroyer, to support special-warfare units operating under Africa Command. A modified Bell 407 light commercial helicopter, the MQ-8C, made its first flights from NAS Point Mugu, Calif., on Oct. 31, barely 18 months after the award of the $154 million rapid development contract.
LONDON — Air forces from across Latin America and the U.S. and Canada are deploying to Brazil for the region’s largest military exercises. Some 96 combat and support aircraft from nine countries are arriving at Natal airbase on Brazil’s eastern coast for Exercise Cruzex Flight 2013, running from Nov. 4-15.
TEL AVIV — The U.S. plans to fast-track the delivery of six V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft to Israel, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says. The Pentagon will reallocate part of the next production group originally destined for the U.S. Marine Corps to meet the Israeli request for six aircraft. The V-22 is produced under a multi-year procurement, with the fiscal 2014 budget plan funding the production of 18 USMC Ospreys and three for the Air Force Special Operations Command.
AMOS-5: Amos-5 manufacturer Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has devised a workaround for a power anomaly that prevented the operation of some of the satellite’s engines via its power supply 2. IAI says that “alternative activation methods” should allow all eight of the engines to be operated with power supply 2, according to a statement from Amos-5 operator Spacecom. IAI also has determined that the satellite’s original service lifetime of 15 years will not be affected by the problem.
As the U.S. Navy continues to hone its submarine payload delivery systems, the service is searching for unmanned systems to deploy from those boats, including submerged and aerial vehicles. Recent research and development tests have combined submarines with unmanned undersea vehicles used for the oil and gas industry, such as the Lockheed Martin Marlin.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Nov. 5 - 7 — National Defense Industrial Association Aircraft Survivability Symposium, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Claif., U.S. Personnel Only. For more information go to www.ndia.org/meetings/4940/Pages/default.aspx Nov. 13 - 14 — Aviation Week Aerospace & Defense Programs, Arizona Biltmore, Phoenix, Ariz. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events
HOUSTON — Three International Space Station astronauts reparked their Soyuz crew transport capsule on Nov. 1, opening a docking port on the orbiting science lab for the anticipated arrival next week of U.S., Russian and Japanese crewmembers. The 21-min. Soyuz TMA-09M maneuver concluded at 4:54 a.m. EDT, as ISS commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, U.S. astronaut Karen Nyberg and the European Space Agency’s Luca Parmitano redocked at the Russian segment Zvezda module.
Ever since Lockheed’s unsurpassed SR-71 Blackbird was retired from U.S. Air Force service almost two decades ago, the perennial question has been: Will it ever be succeeded by a new-generation, higher-speed aircraft and, if so, when?
Embraer’s defense and security business grew to more than 20% of the company’s net revenues in the third quarter, as continued market growth coincided with a decrease in commercial aircraft deliveries. Formed in 2010, the Brazilian manufacturer’s Defense & Security segment had net revenues of $266.8 million in the third quarter, up from $256.6 million a year earlier. This was 20.7% of the company’s total net revenues for the quarter.
NEW DELHI — India’s space agency on Oct. 31 carried out a launch simulation for its first Mars orbiter to validate the mission’s flight readiness before its scheduled liftoff next week, a senior space scientist says. The 8 1/2-hr. simulation, which was conducted at the first launch pad in Sriharikota in south India, included satellite battery checkup, withdrawal of the mobile service tower and testing of electrical systems, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan says.
SEOUL — South Korea may move quickly to order the Lockheed Martin F-35 for its derailed F-X Phase 3 competition for 60 fighters – and then again it may not. In a program that has become chaotic and unpredictable even by the standards of fighter acquisitions, a range of very different outcomes is in the offing.
