LONDON — The head of the U.K. Royal Air Force says a requirement for a new maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) could re-emerge. Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford, who took over the post as Chief of the Air Staff in July, told delegates at the Defense Services Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition on Sept. 11 that the air force had to “tidy up one or two loose ends that we left out of the last SDSR [Strategic Defense and Security Review] in terms of where we wish to go as a nation, with the likes of our maritime patrol capability.”
LONDON — Nexter introduced an all-new armored personnel carrier called Titus (Tactical Infantry Transport and Utility System) at the Defense & Security Equipment International show Sept. 11 in London. Aimed at the export market, Titus is designed as a compact, agile vehicle using commercial off-the-shelf components to reduce acquisition and operating costs.
THIRD SITE: The U.S. Missile Defense Agency issued its shortlist for a potential third missile defense site in the U.S. The sites are Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center in Ohio, Camp Ethan Allen Training Site in Vermont, the Navy Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training site in Portsmouth, Maine, Fort Custer Combined Training Center in Michigan and the Army’s Fort Drum in New York. While politicians in New York and Maine have openly sought to host the Ground-based Midcourse Defense System, Vermont Sen.
NEEDS IMPROVEMENT: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) will be taking steps to improve the way it evaluates Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) proposals and awards contracts based on those proposals, in the wake of a critical Pentagon Inspector General (IG) review. “Darpa personnel did not consistently adhere to the scientific review process and Federal Acquisition Regulation requirements before awarding contracts from BAAs for 35 of 36 contracts,” the IG says in a recent report.
TIANJIN, China — A Chinese unmanned helicopter derived from the U.S. Brantly B-2B two-seater is nearing certification, with the Civil Aviation Administration of China completing its review of the aircraft in August. The Chinese navy is interesting in the helicopter, the V750, for carrying a light maritime search and surveillance radar, says the aircraft’s manufacturer, Weifang Freeksy Aviation Industry.
Aviation Week 2013 Military Fleet & MRO Forecast! The MRO Fleet, Forecasts and Data you need to accurately plan and strategize for the future. See for yourself with a free demonstration: AviationWeek.com/FleetMRO Aviation Week Intelligence Network Click here to view the pdf
November 13-14, 2013 Arizona Biltmore Phoenix, AZ Featuring the 2013 Program Excellence Awards recognizing the best in program performance and leadership! Top aerospace and defense program leaders come together to evaluate program performance — where money is being spent and best practices in tackling efficiency and cost, strategy, and supply chain.
PARIS — French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says France’s first two MQ-9 Reapers will be delivered to the armed forces and sent before the end of the year to Niger, where they could be used to support French troops deployed as part of Operation Serval in Mali. “The first two drones will be delivered and operational in Niamey before the end of the year,” he told French lawmakers Sept. 3.
Aeros has begun outdoor tethered flights of its Dragon Dream rigid-hull hybrid airship, with a first free flight of the subscale demonstrator expected shortly. The variable-buoyancy vehicle reached at altitude of around 50 ft. on its first tethered flight outside the Tustin, Calif., airship hangar on Sept. 7. This followed the award of a FAA experimental certificate allowing company-funded research and development flights.
The Pentagon and NASA will spend $44 billion developing and launching spacecraft over the next five fiscal years, including a $7 billion chunk to develop NASA’s heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
LONDON — European missile manufacturer MBDA has secured a £250 million ($400 million) production contract for the Sea Ceptor naval air defense missile.
LOS ANGELES — SpaceX is gearing up for the first launch of its upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., carrying a Canadian satellite, on Sept. 15. “We are looking towards launch at the weekend,” says Adam Harris, SpaceX government sales vice president. “It’s on the pad at Vandenberg AFB and things [are] looking really great there,” he adds. The upgraded Falcon 9 launch, which is the vehicle’s inaugural deployment from the U.S. West Coast, will loft the Canadian-built CAScade, Smallsat and IOnospheric Polar Explorer (Cassiope) satellite.
LONDON — BAE Systems has awarded design and development contracts for four more key systems on the U.K.’s future Type 26 warships, underscoring the vessel’s emphasis on stealth.
HOUSTON — Russia’s Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft departed the International Space Station with a thee-man U.S. and Russian crew late Sept. 10, descending into Kazakhstan under parachute to bring Expedition 36, a 166-day mission, to a successful close. Cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy were quickly greeted by helicopter-borne, Russian-led recovery teams as the capsule touched down southeast of Dzhezkagan at 10:58 p.m. EDT, or Sept. 11 at 8:58 a.m. local Kazakh time.
LONDON — The U.K. Royal Navy is broadening the scope of how it might use its future fleet of Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. The first of the two ships, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is 80% complete internally according to Rear Admiral Russell Harding, the head of the U.K. Fleet Air Arm, speaking at the Defence Services Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition in London Sept. 10. The vessel is due to be launched “some time in 2014” while work on the sister ship, the HMS Prince of Wales, is proceeding apace.
LONDON — Boeing and Saab will announce “in weeks rather than months” that they will team up to offer the JAS 39 Gripen for the U.S. Air Force’s T-X future trainer requirement, according to sources familiar with the deal. Saab is apparently confident that the two companies will be able to undercut the cost of the closest rival contender, the Lockheed Martin/Korea Aerospace Industries T-50.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency intercepted two separate medium-range ballistic missile targets simulating a small raid attack on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean during the first-ever operational test of this capability Sept. 10. The trial was previously planned as part of the ongoing campaign to demonstrate U.S. layered missile defenses, and Pentagon officials stress that it was not done as a response to ongoing discussions about an attack against Syria.
Raytheon is moving ahead to demonstrate more rapid and accurate close air support after finalizing a contract with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) to continue the Precision Close Air Support (PCAS) program. PCAS has been modified to shift the emphasis from automating close air support by enabling ground forces to control the weapons on unmanned aircraft. Instead, the program has been focused on transitioning technology to manned CAS aircraft.
