The U.S. Air Force is expected to decide whether to stick with Boeing’s original next-generation, secure communications terminal or opt for a competing design from Raytheon as early as March, according to industry officials.
NEW DELHI — India is preparing to conduct sea trials of its first indigenously built nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, the INS Arihant, which the navy hopes to induct into service by the end of 2014.
The Lockheed Martin Kaman K-Max unmanned cargo helicopter is being considered for possible shipboard operations. “We have looked at this — how do we take them to a sea-based environment,” says Jon McMillen, Lockheed K-Max business development manager. The industry team must determine which sensors will have to be employed with the aircraft, he said last week during a media briefing.
While the U.S. Navy is eyeing a smaller Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fleet than previously envisioned, the ships could still offer greater aviation support potential. Navy officials say the program of record still calls for 52 ships, but they acknowledge the Pentagon is considering reducing that acquisition by as many as 20 because of budgetary and other concerns. Sources familiar with the program say Navy officials privately have indicated they could accommodate future fleet plans with a minimum of about three dozen LCS vessels.
ARLINGTON, Va. — As the U.S. continues to rebalance its military forces and resources back toward the Asia-Pacific region, service leaders are starting to get a handle on what they will need to regain a better naval footing in the area. It is a different Asia-Pacific than the U.S. knew when it started to focus more of its military might in the Middle East more than a decade ago.
The U.S. Navy recently awarded Bechtel Plant Machinery of Monroeville, Pa., a $593.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for nuclear propulsion components. No completion date or additional information is provided on naval nuclear propulsion program contracts. The award comes in the wake of a recent $7.1 billion contract modification to a previously awarded contract for naval nuclear propulsion work at the Bettis & Knolls Atomic Power Laboratories.
BEIJING — China has begun flight testing a high-bypass ratio turbofan that will greatly improve the performance of the Y-20 heavy airlifter and potentially power the C919 commercial aircraft. The engine is the WS-20, according to local media that have published photographs of it in the left inboard position of an in-flight Ilyushin Il-76 used as a testbed. WS-20 is apparently the military name of the powerplant, which has also been called SF-A for civil purposes.
COLLISION THREAT: Catastrophic collisions of space junk and orbital assets are likely to occur every five to nine years, and the space debris population may have already reached a “tipping point,” U.S. congressional researchers say in their latest review. “Many experts now believe that mitigation efforts alone are insufficient to prevent the continual increase of space debris,” the Congressional Research Service reported earlier this month. “A growing view among experts holds that some level of active removal of debris from the space environment is necessary.
Deserts could become sources of biofuel, based on research conducted by Boeing and partners in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The research has shown that saltwater-tolerant plants called halophytes, grown in coastal deserts and fed by seawater, can produce biofuel “more efficiently than other well-known feedstocks,” Boeing says.
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EXODUS: One of the U.S. aerospace and defense industry’s most powerful advocates on Capitol Hill, Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), will leave Congress after this year when the next session of lawmakers take their seats. Moran is a senior member of the House defense appropriations panel. His retirement announcement follows other looming congressional departures affecting aerospace and defense. Neighboring Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), a key NASA appropriator, is also retiring. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) has just taken over the defense subcommittee for the late Rep.
LONDON — Certification of Airbus Helicopters’ new EC175 intermediate twin-engined helicopter is imminent, but the company does not plan to begin deliveries until the second half of 2014. The move, described as a “corporate decision” by Jean-Brice Dumont, head of engineering at Airbus Helicopters – formerly Eurocopter - will mean that launch customers will now receive their aircraft a year and a half later than originally envisaged.
HOUSTON — NASA’s Morpheus prototype planetary lander ascended to an estimated 305 ft. and traversed 358 ft. during a 64-sec. free flight at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Jan. 21, the vehicle’s highest and longest ascent yet in a test-flight campaign expected to last into March. The latest test flight eclipsed a Jan. 16th ascent, in which the methane and liquid oxygen-fueled Morpheus rose to 187 ft. and covered 154 ft. during 57 sec. of flight near the test site adjacent to the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) runway.
Researchers and entrepreneurs interested in using the International Space Station as a satellite bus for Earth remote-sensing sensors will have a chance at government subsidies for launch and operations under a renewed request for proposals from the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (Casis).
As the U.S. Navy invests heavily in Aegis combat system upgrades, especially for ballistic missile defense, international interest in the system is growing, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. “A number of countries have approached the U.S. and Navy,” says Doug Wilhelm, Lockheed’s director of international programs. There are now 14 international ships outfitted with Aegis, Wilhelm noted during a media briefing last week. With the recent deal to equip Australian ships, the total will be 22.
ASTEROID ASSISTANCE: More countries should participate in the activities of the International Space Station, and the Obama administration would welcome international support for NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission, a U.S. official told the International Space Exploration Forum recently. Moreover, governments should explore more ways to encourage entrepreneurial ventures in space, as well as do “much more” to defend Earth from near-earth objects and space debris, according to remarks by Deputy Secretary of State William Burns.
ATK’s Solar Electric Propulsion MegaFlex solar array design is in line for thermal vacuum deployment testing at NASA’s Glenn Research Center Plum Brook Station this month, following a full deployment demonstration at the company’s Goleta, Calif., facilities in December.
PARIS — Europe’s comet-chasing Rosetta spacecraft emerged from 31 months of deep-space slumber Jan. 20 to reestablish communications with Earth. The €1.3 billion ($1.76 billion) European Space Agency (ESA) mission made contact with NASA’s 70-meter-dia. ground station at Goldstone, Calif., 48 min. into a nail-chewing hour-long window that opened at 12:30 p.m. eastern.
While the U.S. Navy still plans heavy investments in its more traditional fleet of destroyers, cruisers and carriers, top service officers are touting new classes of surface ships meant to carry more assets — especially aircraft — to the fight. The Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB), Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) and Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) are all getting quite a bit of attention from Navy officials.
The National Space Society says it “strongly opposes” passage of a U.S. House of Representatives bill (HR 3625) pushed prominently by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.). The bill would exempt the International Space Station, heavy-lift Space Launch System and Orion crew vehicle from termination without proactive congressional approval, as well as free $507 million in funds held to cover termination liability costs under a contract interpretation by NASA’s Democratic management of the Anti-Deficiency Act.
LONDON — Airbus Helicopters is carrying out final tests on an upgrade to its real-time monitoring of the EC225’s bevel gear vertical shaft, which caused the type to be grounded for nine months during 2012 and 2013.
