BEIJING — China’s lunar exploration program will meet its long-standing target to launch the Chang’e 3 sample-return mission this year, but only just, according to a statement from a government authority with oversight of space activities. The mission will go ahead at the end of the year, says the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.
WILMINGTON, Del. — Boeing will begin assembly of the first new-build MH-47G later this month, as it works to finalize a contract for another seven new-airframe Chinooks to augment the U.S. Army’s fleet of special-operations helicopters. All eight new-production MH-47Gs, based on the regular Army’s CH-47F heavy-lift helicopter, are scheduled to be delivered in 2015. The Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation regiment already operates 61 MH-47Gs remanufactured from CH-47As and Ds.
CARRIER OVERHAUL: The USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) completed its Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) this week. The Roosevelt began its RCOH on Aug. 26, 2009. The ship returned to the fleet after four days of sea trials. More than 24 million man hours of work were conducted during the RCOH, including refueling the reactors, upgrading ship’s infrastructure and modernizing combat systems and air wing capabilities. The RCOH will enable the ship to carry out the remaining 23 years of its 50-year service life.
WILMINGTON, Del. — Boeing is projecting that production of the CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter will continue—and potentially increase—beyond 2020 as international sales build on another round of remanufacturing for the U.S. Army. Production of CH-47Fs for the Army is scheduled to end in 2019, but deliveries of the upgraded Block 2 aircraft are planned to begin in 2020. The Army is expected to upgrade all of its Chinooks to Block 2 standard to restore lift and range capability lost to weight growth.
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has completed the first flight of the country’s first indigenously produced turboprop trainer. The Hurkus, named after celebrated Turkish aviator Vecihi Hurkus, took to the air from the TAI facility at Akinci airbase near Ankara on Aug. 29. The aircraft, in the hands of TAI test pilot Murat Özpala, made a 33-min. flight that saw the Hurkus climb to 9,500 ft. and conduct tests of the flight control surfaces.
While the U.S. mulls the future of its nuclear deterrent and the role its naval forces will play in that realm, the continued development of nuclear-armed submarines by India — and potentially additional countries on the other side of the globe — is threatening nuclear stability in the region, a U.S. Naval War College paper says.
NEW DELHI — India will induct its heaviest aircraft, the Boeing C-17, into military service next month, giving a major boost to the country’s airlift. The aircraft wil enter service with the Indian air force (IAF) on Sept. 12 at Hindon air base near New Delhi, a senior defense ministry official says. India signed a $4.1 billion foreign military sales contract with Boeing in 2011 to acquire 10 aircraft, making the country the largest C-17 export customer. The contract was finalized last June.
F-35 ENGINES: The U.S. Navy has awarded Pratt & Whitney a $69.6 million contract covering long-lead components, parts and materials for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s F135 engine. The contract is associated with low-rate initial production (LRIP) Lot VIII, which includes 19 F135 Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL) engines for the Air Force; six Short Take-off and Vertical Landing (Stovl) engines for the Marine Corps; and four Carrier Variant engines for the Navy.
MOSCOW — Newly deployed, very-high-frequency radars can counter most stealth technologies, according to engineers and executives of Russian radar specialist Nizhny-Novgorod Research Institute (NNIIRT). The company brought the newest configuration of its multi-band 55Zh6ME radar complex — designed to support the Almaz-Antey S-400 Triumph surface-to-air missile system — to the MAKS air show at Zhukovsky, outside Moscow. It also used the show to unveil the new 55Zh6UME, a single-unit, dual-band system designed for lower cost.
While some defense analysts have criticized the “small footprint” concept underlying the rebalancing of Pentagon forces to the Asia-Pacific, leaders from U.S. allies in the region seem to embrace the idea.
French defense electronics group Sagem and the Kamov Design Bureau have announced plans to develop an enhanced version of the Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopter. Revealing the plans at the MAKS 2013 air show in Moscow on Aug. 28, the two companies said the work will “address a requirement expressed by several countries.”
HOUSTON — Japan looks upon a 2014 opportunity to have a national representative command the International Space Station as a chance to demonstrate the country’s growing capabilities in the field of human spaceflight, according to the astronaut who will shoulder the task. “It means a lot to Japan, especially after becoming a reliable partner in the program,” said Koichi Wakata, a veteran Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut, to an Aug. 28 NASA news briefing.
Airbus and VSMPO-AVISMA, its major Russian titanium supplier, have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop new alloys and processes. The deal was signed at the Moscow air show (MAKS 2013). VSMPO-AVISMA has become one of Airbus’ most important suppliers of raw materials and semi-finished products since the 1990s. It currently provides 60% of the titanium needed by Airbus and its parent EADS. A broad framework contract between the companies was signed in 2009 and expires in 2020.
Russian Helicopters has achieved civil certification of its Kazan Ansat twin-engine medium helicopter. Kazan initially designed the Ansat with fly-by-wire controls, but the company struggled to have the aircraft certified for civil use, so instead it developed a new version with hydro-mechanical controls. The new version was awarded type certification from the Aviation Register of the Interstate Aviation Committee (AR IAC) at the MAKS air show near Moscow on Aug. 28.
The U.K. Defense Ministry has canceled a three-week-long training deployment of Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft to Cyprus because of sensitivities over the deteriorating situation in Syria.
Click here to view the pdf U.S. Air Force Procurement Funding Shifts:2013 Plan for Fiscal 2014 Compared to Actual 2014 Request (Then-year dollars in millions) U.S.
When it came time to make the 2014 budget request, Pentagon planners made large cuts to major U.S. Air Force airlift programs compared to spending estimates in the 2013 budget plan. In the 2014 request, lines for the C-130J, MC-130J, C-17A and C-5 programs were all cut more than 40% when compared to the 2013 plan for the 2014 outyear. However, two modification lines for the C-130 airframe got big increases. (See charts pp. 6-11.)
LONDON — Switzerland’s purchase of 22 Saab Gripen fighter aircraft has moved a step closer, after the program was given a green light by ministers sitting on the country’s national security policy committee. Committee members voted in favor of the 3.1 billion Swiss franc ($3.3 billion) program with 14 votes to nine and two abstentions on Aug. 27.
HOUSTON — Investigators assisted by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are entering the next phase of troubleshooting of the July 16 spacesuit water leak that brought all NASA-sponsored spacewalks outside the six-person orbiting science laboratory to a halt.
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
MOBILE SATELLITE: The active Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) terminal base grew at a compound annual rate of 10% over the past five years, with more than 2.9 million active MSS terminals deployed on a global basis in 2012, according to Euroconsult. Revenues generated by the six active MSS operators reached $1.5 billion. “The industry remains very concentrated with the leading three operators, Inmarsat, Iridium and Thuraya still accounting for close to 90% and Inmarsat alone having a market share of 55%,” Euroconsult says.
