The “old paradigm” of major-powers nuclear arms control is dead, and yet it will take several more iterations of deals between Russia and the U.S., as well as smaller nuclear powers like India and Pakistan, before another major arms reduction agreement is reached, let alone one including several countries, key officials and analysts opined April 8.
COLORADO SPRINGS — The senior officer overseeing U.S. Air Force Space Command says he refuses to lose sight of looking toward a future of more resilient architectures for spacecraft and launchers, though the near-term focus is on slicing $508 million from its operations and maintenance budget through the end of September.
LONDON — The Swedish armed forces have begun operational use of four newly purchased UH-60M Black Hawks in Afghanistan. The Swedish Air Element, based at Camp Marmal near Mazar-e-Sharif, officially began operations with the Black Hawk, locally designated Hkp 16, on April 1, following the deployment of the aircraft in mid-March. The Swedish Black Hawks are being used for medevac duties and troop transport.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Next year’s flight test of the Orion multipurpose crew vehicle will include an operational practice session for NASA flight controllers, as well as data collection needed to refine the heat shield and other design elements. When the Delta IV Heavy carrying the Orion clears the launch tower at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., control of the flight will shift to Mission Control Center-Houston, just as it did during shuttle-era human launches.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Lockheed Martin will begin anechoic tests this week of the GPS non-flight satellite testbed (GNST), an engineering, manufacturing and development pathfinder for the future GPS III constellation.
The four-star admiral in charge of U.S. Pacific Command says that assuming Asia-Pacific requirements are prioritized in current and future Pentagon budgets, he expects the command will be able to fulfill its duties.
A total of 216 U.S. small businesses will be able to negotiate for $38.7 million worth of NASA contracts under the latest round of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program bidding.
LONDON — Midlife updates and plans to deal with obsolescence in the AH-64 Apache attack and EH101 Merlin transport helicopter fleets are the top priorities for the U.K.’s Joint Helicopter Command. Air Vice Marshal Carl Dixon, commander of the U.K.’s Joint Helicopter Command (JHC), told Aviation Week that the Apache was now the Army’s “premier league fire contribution” and that the aircraft had more than proven itself in Afghanistan.
Boeing is set to begin detailed wind tunnel tests of its Crew Space Transportation (CST-100) spacecraft following a successful preliminary design review of the launch vehicle adapter structure. The CST-100 is designed to carry crews to the International Space Station as well as take space tourists to the Bigelow Aerospace orbital space complex, and could make its first test flight as early as 2016.
As U.S. forces pull back from Afghanistan, the K-Max unmanned cargo helicopter is busily carrying equipment and supplies that the Pentagon does not want to leave behind, contractor Lockheed Martin says. “As we withdraw, we’re seeing a lot of utility,” says Jon McMillen, Lockheed K-Max director of business development. “Most of that is for retrieval — bringing equipment back to take home,” he said April 5 during a Lockheed briefing of programs in advance of the 2013 Navy League Sea-Air-Space Symposium.
STAY TUNED: There will be “quite a bit” of information about the U.S.’s “limited” ballistic missile defenses in the fiscal 2014 budget request from the Obama administration on April 10, according to Rose Gottemoeller, acting undersecretary for arms control and international security at the U.S. State Department.
LOS ANGELES — Scaled Composites is in the final run-up to the first powered flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) suborbital vehicle, following the completion of a “feather” braking maneuver during a drop test with the rocket installed. The 9-min. glide flight, which took place over Mojave, Calif., on April 3, included the first flight test with a nitrous vent. This was located in the pylon attaching the SS2 to the WhiteKnightTwo mothership that carried the vehicle aloft to its air-launch altitude.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Boeing is developing a family of three small satellites ranging from 4 to 1,000 kg (9 to 2,200 lb.) in size to whet the growing appetite of commercial and government customers interested in pursuing lower-cost space platforms.
NEW DELHI — India’s ambitious Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract is facing hurdles at the negotiation table, as sources say Dassault it seeking to absolve itself of responsibility for the copies of its Rafale fighter to be assembled in India by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). Under an agreement, the Indian air force (IAF) is likely to get 18 Rafale aircraft from Dassault Aviation in fly-away condition.
While budget-related uncertainty continues to cloud the acquisition outlook for most U.S. defense programs, Lockheed Martin says it sees strong potential MH-60 Romeo sales on the international market, especially when the helicopter is married with the company’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
The antisubmarine warfare (ASW) module for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) will likely turn the ship into a faster sub hunter than other surface vessels, says U.S. Navy Capt. John Ailes, program manager for the LCS mission module integration effort. Ailes, recently selected to be rear admiral, says the ASW module “is particularly immune to noise” interference because of software development. That means the ASW module-equipped LCSs will be able to travel at higher speeds to check a similar area for submarines.
