ARMY Fidelity Technologies Corporation, Reading, Pa., was awarded a $21,582,669 firm-fixed-price contract.The award will provide for the Armor B-Kits in support of the Heavy Mobility Tactical Truck A4, Palletized Load System A1, Heavy Mobility Tactical Truck A4 Tanker Armor Module Kit and the M915A5. The work will be performed in Reading, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 27, 2014. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with nine bids received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-13-C-0052).
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X-BAND PLANS: Washington and Tokyo continue discussing the possibility of deploying another powerful X-band radar in Japan to protect the U.S. and allies against North Korean threats, according to Frank Rose, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of State for space and defense policy. Besides U.S. assets in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan has several Aegis-class ships that have a missile defense capability, and also has deployed the Patriot air missile defense system.
HOUSTON — SpaceX and NASA were scrambling to salvage the second Dragon Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station, after the unmanned cargo capsule encountered a thruster issue shortly after its March 1 liftoff that slowed the scheduled critical deployments of its solar arrays and rendezvous maneuvers. This situation has forced at least a one-day delay in plans for a March 2 rendezvous and berthing of the Dragon capsule with the six-person orbiting science lab, according to Mike Suffredini, NASA’s space station program manager.
The U.S. Coast Guard would still like to add a small UAV like the ScanEagle to its aviation quiver, but the service says it can’t afford to fund such a program by itself, says Adm. Bob Papp, Coast Guard commandant. “We are looking at the ScanEagle,” Papp said Feb. 27 following his state of the Coast Guard speech, noting the service is doing its second deployment with the UAV this summer.
The temporary grounding of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been lifted after investigators determined the turbine blade crack that prompted the stand down was an isolated event. “Based on the findings from our initial on-wing inspection to our subsequent inspections in our lab, we determined that root cause is sufficiently understood for the F-35 to safely resume flight,” says Pratt & Whitney, the manufacturer of the fighter’s F135 engine.
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is classifying its forthcoming squadron of Boeing EA-18G Growlers as a support force distinct from its air combat units, raising the possibility that the 12 electronic-attack aircraft will be added to the fast-jet fleet instead of substituting for part of it. The move may not persuade the government to pay for more fast jets than it has planned, however.
While the rest of the U.S. defense community continues to be obsessed with the effects of sequestration, the major issue for shipbuilding juggernaut Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) is the effect of the continuing resolution (CR) currently funding the government at fiscal 2012 levels. “From the beginning of this, we’ve been focused on the continuing resolution,” HII CEO Michael Petters says. With no new appropriations yet in place for fiscal 2013, which began last October, the nation’s shipbuilding programs are adrift.
NEW DELHI — India has raised its defense budget for the next fiscal year, contrary to expectations that there would be a reduction in its military spending due to economic strains. The defense allocation for the India’s fiscal year beginning April 1 is being increased by around 5% to 2.03 trillion rupees ($38 billion), from the originally allocated 1.93 trillion rupees for the year ending March 31.
BERLIN — EADS CEO Tom Enders has given up the once important target of balancing civil and defense revenues. “Maybe it is not a bad time to have a smaller rather than larger defense business,” he said at the EADS annual press conference in Berlin Feb. 27. The plan to increase defense exposure faltered when the merger with BAE Systems collapsed last year and important potential military contracts such as the U.S. Air Force tanker program were lost.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Mar. 4 — Speed News 3rd Annual Aerospace Raw Materials & Manufacturers Supply Chain Conference, Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, Calif. For more information go to www.spednews.com/conferences.aspx mar. 5 - 6 — Aviation Week Defense Technology & Affordability Requirements, Hilton Arlington, Arlington, Va. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events
Bidding jointly to build the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role (JMR) technology demonstrator, Boeing and Sikorsky have selected the latter’s X2 coaxial-rotor high-speed helicopter configuration as the basis of its proposal, to be submitted by March 6. The two companies have teamed to pursue the JMR technology demonstration (TD) and planned a follow-on Future Vertical Lift (FVL) Medium program to field replacements for first the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and then the Boeing AH-64 Apache.
Andrew Mellon Auditorium Washington, D.C. March 7, 2012 The Aviation Week Laureate Awards recognize individuals and teams for their extraordinary accomplishments. Their achievements embody the spirit of exploration, innovation and vision that inspire others to strive for significant broad-reaching progress in aviation and aerospace. Join us at this black tie dinner and celebrate the best of the industry’s best! www.aviationweek.com/events/current/lau/index.htm
Would-be F-35 customers are still trying to determine if they can afford to operate the new fighter for the long term as a debate over the cost per flying hour for the stealthy aircraft continues between the Pentagon and manufacturer Lockheed Martin. And even as stakeholders try to sort out the ownership price for the aircraft, a grounding of the entire test fleet owing to an engine issue threatens to again delay its in-service date and increase the already bloated price tag to develop the aircraft.
SpaceX and NASA have cleared the Falcon9/Dragon Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for a March 1 liftoff, following a joint investigation into the first-stage engine loss that accompanied the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company’s first cargo delivery mission to the orbiting science laboratory in October.
The ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee has joined two House GOP committee chairmen in publicly questioning why a four-year federal investigation into whistle-blower charges that NASA failed to protect sensitive technology at Ames Research Center was abruptly shut down without explanation.
LONDON — The air arms of Australia and Saudi Arabia have formally inducted their new Airbus A330 tanker aircraft into service. Australia announced it had achieved initial operating capability for the aircraft — known in Australia as the KC-30A — on Feb. 26 during the Australian International Airshow at Avalon.
