A modified Diamond DA42 is to be used for flights over Alaska later this year to measure greenhouse gas emissions from thawing permafrost. Aurora Flight Sciences has performed flights of its Centaur aircraft over the Chesapeake Bay to calibrate the specially developed measurement system. The twin-diesel Centaur was developed as an optionally piloted aircraft (OPA), but will be flown manned for the measurement flights over Alaska’s Northern Slope later this year, says Aurora. The research mission is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
LAUNCH SURVEY: The U.S. Air Force is surveying industry bidders on their near- and long-term plans to offer national security launch services, as well as what companies see as critical issues in providing this capability, recommendations for changes to Pentagon policy — especially in helping to lower launch costs — and how Defense Department acquisitions could help stabilize the industrial base. Comments are sought by June 21 for the ongoing strategic National Security Space Launch Assessment, according to a May 29 notice in the Federal Register.
With just more than 2 1/2 half years remaining for teams in the Google Lunar X-Prize (GLXP) contest to successfully land on the Moon and claim up to $30 million in prizes, organizers say a group of leading contenders is starting to emerge.
Ahead of a major ad hoc spending review out of the Pentagon next week, a blue-ribbon panel of five defense think tank analysts is advising lawmakers and defense officials to invest more in next-generation technologies like unmanned systems, cyber, space and updated versions of legacy weapon capabilities like the Long-Range Strike bomber at the expense of the civilian defense workforce, short-term readiness and even elements of the nuclear triad.
The U.S. Marine Corps plans to declare initial operational capability (IOC) with the F-35B in late 2015, says Commandant Gen. James Amos. The Marines are the first customer slated to declare IOC, and as such are willing to use the 2B software package, which allows for a limited flight envelope and limited weapons carriage, in the short term. A more expansive 3F software release is slated for 2017.
Alenia Aermacchi, General Dynamics Canada and DRS Technologies Canada have firmed up their teaming agreement on the C-27J Spartan as Canada prepares to release the long-awaited draft request for proposals (RFP) for new search-and-rescue aircraft. Under the agreement, GD Canada would act as mission system integrator if the C-27J is selected for the Fixed-Wing Search And Rescue (FWSAR) program. Alenia would be prime contractor and supply green aircraft to be modified, missionized and supported by GD in Atlantic Canada.
The Pentagon has selected three companies for cost-sharing projects to build refineries capable of producing biofuels at costs competitive with petroleum-derived aviation and naval fuels. Emerald Biofuels, Fulcrum BioEnergy and Nature’s BioReserve will receive contracts totaling $16 million, funded under Title III of the Defense Production Act (DPA). They will be matched by more than $17 million in company investment.
The U.S. Navy kicked off its aircraft carrier mid-cycle material assessment (MCMA) this month by completing the tough new review with the CVN-70 USS Carl Vinson. MCMA is part of the Navy’s renewed focus on regular maintenance and pinpointing issues before they become major problems. “MCMA is a program intended to assess the material condition of a ship between Board of Inspection and Survey (Insurv) inspection cycles,” says Lt. Cmdr. Michael Payne, the Vinson’s damage control assistant.
KOREAN BUY: The South Korean military will seek approval to buy 20 maritime aircraft to supplement 16 Lockheed Martin P-3Cs in dealing with the threat of North Korean submarines, local media reports. The requirement, set by the joint chiefs of staff, will cost an estimated 1 trillion won ($900 million), says Yonhap news agency, quoting an unnamed military source. The candidate aircraft are the Boeing P-8 Poseidon, Airbus Military C-295MPA and Lockheed Martin SC-130J, a proposed maritime version of the Hercules airlifter.
SEVILLE, Spain — Airbus Military is delivering proposals to the French government for an Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) fitted with a cargo door on the main deck.
NEW DELHI — Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony has set a deadline of the end of 2014 for the country’s indigenously developed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft to obtain its final operational clearance (FOC). Developed by the Defense and Research Development Organization’s (DRDO) Aeronautical Development Agency and manufactured at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the Tejas has faced delays over more than two decades. It will have to attain final operational clearance (FOC) before being inducted into the Indian air force (IAF).
The second express Russian Soyuz mission to the International Space Station restored the outpost to six-crewmember operations late March 28, after the capsule docked to deliver veteran cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg and the European Space Agency’s Luca Parmitano.
SAN DIEGO — Ambitious plans for an internationally developed space solar power (SSP) system to provide energy on a global scale by the middle of the century have been unveiled by space pioneer, humanitarian and former Indian President Abdul Kalam.
Carrier-based flight trials of the U.S. Navy’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator (UCAS-D) aboard the USS George H.W. Bush were briefly brought to a halt last week due to an unlikely frequency-sharing issue between the air vehicle and officials of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is trying to fix a problem with a faulty weather satellite.
MOSCOW — The Russian military continues its rearmament effort, with a plan to buy its first amphibious aircraft in decades. The Russian Defense Ministry placed an order on May 24 with Taganrog-based Beriev company for six Be-200s. The contract’s value is 8.4 billion rubles ($269 million), and deliveries are to be completed by the end of 2016.
Bristow has predicted it will not see its fleet of Eurocopter EC225 helicopters return to service before the first quarter of 2014. While posting its fourth-quarter earnings last week, the company said progress in Eurocopter’s probe to discover what caused two EC225s to ditch in the North Sea in 2012 was encouraging, but that it would not rush its aircraft back into operation.
NASA may be overreaching in its more than $200 million cleanup plans for the Santa Susana Field Laboratory 30 mi. northwest of Los Angeles, which for decades was used by the Department of Energy, the U.S. Air Force and the space agency for nuclear energy research and rocket testing, according to NASA Inspector General Paul Martin. The cleanup is projected to drive NASA’s otherwise little-noticed Environmental Compliance and Restoration budget line from $45 million in 2012 to $75.5 million annually through 2018.
