LONDON — A German subsidiary of European missile manufacturer MBDA has successfully tested technology which could deliver a “dial-a-yield” capability to conventional weapons.
Looking to reduce its $8 billion annual fuel bill, the U.S. Air Force is seeking ideas for coatings and surfaces that could reduce drag on its current aircraft fleet, and potentially also benefit commercial operators. The Air Force Research Laboratory has posted a request for information (RFI) on engineered surfaces and coatings that would promote and protect drag-reducing laminar on wings, tails, fuselages and nacelles on current and future aircraft.
MOSCOW — The unique containerized version of Russia’s Novator Club missile system, integrated by the Agat company, is being developed for export with a new passive sensor. It is understood that Malaysia is the first export customer for the Club-K, which is built into modules that are outwardly indistinguishable from standard shipping containers, according to an Aug. 27 announcement at the MAKS air show at Zhukovsky, outside Moscow.
The unexpected appearance of a U.S. Navy P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft over Yemen’s capital of Sana’a starting Aug. 6 has focused new attention on the covert war against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) that has been unfolding in the nation’s hinterlands for more than two years.
Seeking ideas from nature on how to make air vehicles more autonomous, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) plans to establish a center of excellence for nature-inspired sciences. The center will investigate novel sensory systems such as smell, sound, magnetic and chemical sensing, and understand how to process their output and fuse the information to control air vehicles.
Wind tunnel tests on a high-power, air-driven generator designed for the U.S. Navy’s Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) pod have been completed and its developer is looking for other applications, including power generation on unmanned aircraft. The high-power ram-air turbine (Hi-RAT) developed by Advanced Technologies Inc. (ATGI) was flight tested by one of the NGJ bidders, but the Raytheon jammer selected by the Navy uses a different power-generation system.
APACHE SALE: In what the Pentagon calls a “first-of-its-kind” deal, the U.S. has agreed to sell eight new Apache AH-64E attack helicopters and Longbow radars worth about $500 million to Indonesia, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel confirms. Hagel provided details about the deal Aug. 25 during a joint news conference with Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro. The U.S.
ARMY AAI, Hunt Valley, Md., was awarded a firm-fixed-price, no-option, non-multiyear contract modification (P00111) of $11,798,626 with a cumulative maximum value of $1,530,786,418 for purchase of six Shadow unmanned aircraft vehicles and auxiliary equipment. Performance location will be at Hunt Valley, and funding will be from fiscal 2012 other funding. One bid solicited and one received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Redstone Arsenal (Aviation), Redstone, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-08-C-0023).
The widely leaked news over the weekend that the Obama administration is considering military strikes in Syria, along with other Middle East turmoil, is forming the backdrop as Washington begins to seriously mull what kind of military to have over the next few decades.
Gregory Johnson, the former NASA astronaut and retired U.S. Air Force colonel, will become executive director of the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (Casis), the Florida-based nonprofit selected two years ago by the space agency to manage research across the U.S. National Laboratory elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The appointment is effective Sept. 1, according to an Aug. 26 Casis announcement.
In an effort to demonstrate that unmanned aircraft can be integrated into civil airspace, NASA is planning a competition next year that will challenge contestants to complete a series of missions while ensuring their UAVs remain well clear of other aircraft and obey the same rules as other air traffic.
AIR FORCE Textron Defense Systems, Wilmington, Mass., has been awarded a $640,786,442 modification (PZ00001) to a firm-fixed-price contract (FA8213-12-C-0064) for 1,300 cluster bomb units. The work will be performed in Wilmington and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2015. This contract involves foreign military sales (FMS) for Saudi Arabia. FMS funds in the amount of $410,218,248 are being obligated at time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/OO-ALC/EBHKA, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity. NAVY
U.S. and Chinese forces participated in a counter-piracy exercise in the Gulf of Aden earlier this month as the two countries continue to make good on their promise to have more positive military-to-military engagements. The guided-missile destroyer DDG-87 USS Mason worked with elements of the Chinese navy Aug. 24-25, just days after Gen. Chang Wanquan, China’s defense minister, spoke with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon about the need for such joint exercises.
LONDON — All three North Sea oil and gas helicopter operators have halted operations of the AS332L2 Super Puma helicopter as investigators begin their probe into why a CHC-operated Super Puma ditched into the sea just minutes before its planned landing in the Shetland Islands, resulting in the deaths of four passengers.
The U.S. Navy is looking to improve the management of its software licenses following the findings in a recent Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report. Navy Enterprise Licensing Agreements “included unacceptable language in two of the 11 best practice areas we identified in software licensing training,” the IG says.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Aug. 28 - 29 — Fourth International Technical Specialists' Meeting on Vertical Lift Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, NAS Patuxent River, Md. For more information go to www.vtol.org/erf Aug. 29 - Sept. 1 — Asian/Australian Rotorcraft Forum, Tianjin, China. For more information go to www.vtol.org/arf
The Aegis Combat System successfully completed a test earlier this week that proves the system can defend beyond its line-of-sight by integrating data from a remote sensor to intercept a target, Aegis prime contractor Lockheed Martin says.
REACTIVATED: NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) will be revived in September to spend another three years discovering and characterizing asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth or be suitable candidates for exploration. NASA anticipates WISE will use its 16-in.
