Andrew Mellon AuditoriumWashington, D.C.March 7, 2012The 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
BEIJING — Pratt & Whitney is working with IHI Corp. to determine how much of the F135 fighter engine can be built in Japan for local requirements. The U.S. manufacturer expects to go through the same process with Samsung Techwin in South Korea should that country follow Japan in ordering the fighter that the F135 powers, the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning, says Bennett Croswell, president of Pratt & Whitney’s military engine division.
NEW DELHI — The Indian army has decided to buy 20 Cheetal helicopters and associated equipment from state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) to fill a serious need for the multirole aircraft. “We have signed a contract worth [$77 million] with the defense ministry to supply 20 Cheetals to the army over the next four years, besides providing training to its pilots and technical crew,” a HAL spokesman said.
Sikorsky says its contender for the U.S. Army’s Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) requirement, the S-76 Raider, will have a $15 million flyaway cost, compared with an estimated $12 million for an off-the-shelf helicopter. The bold statement is being made to counter claims that the all-new Raider is unaffordable. “There are too many misperceptions out there. It’s time to put in print that this is a $15 million aircraft,” says Steve Engebretson, the company’s AAS program director.
Northrop Grumman is preparing to demonstrate its proposed replacement for the U.S. Air Force’s transportable air defense radars, drawing heavily on a mobile system already under development for the U.S. Marine Corps. Northrop, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon were awarded competitive contracts in August 2012 as a precursor to engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) of the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar (3DLRR).
ABU DHABI — The first batch of KAI Surion utility helicopters has joined the Republic of Korea army for trials. According to KAI officials at the IDEX exhibition in Abu Dhabi, four of the 8.7-ton aircraft, which are also known as the Korean Utility Helicopter (KUH), were delivered to the Korean army in November and are currently undergoing army flight trials in preparation for the beginning of operations later this year.
AT A DISADVANTAGE: The number of Pentagon contracts worth $20 million or more awarded directly to a company under Small Business Administration 8(a) eligibility fell “significantly” from fiscal 2008 to 2012, congressional auditors report. The fall-off comes after an October 2009 law that required a formal, written justification for each award, prompted by concern that bigger businesses were still able to game the federal system or that small and so-called disadvantaged businesses were not being sought out earnestly.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. Air Force’s KC-46 development contract with Boeing can survive sequestration at least for fiscal 2013, but its expected effects, combined with operating under a continuing resolution, will drive the service to break the fixed-price deal as soon as the fall.
Finmeccanica has named Daniele Romiti the new head of AgustaWestland following bribery allegations surrounding the sale of 12 helicopters to India in 2010. Romiti, who is currently the helicopter company’s chief operating officer, was named to the post on Feb. 21 as part of a wide-ranging reorganization. Romiti succeeds Bruno Spagnolini, who was placed under house arrest earlier this month. Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi was also arrested. He was the head of AgustaWestland at the time the alleged corruption took place.
A new mission directorate at NASA headquarters, set up to give more emphasis to technology development for a wide range of potential missions, will be able to push technology readiness level (TRL) more efficiently than mission-oriented work, according to the engineer selected to head the new organization.
As if further evidence of its resolving power was needed, NASA’s Kepler planet finder has located a planet circling a star similar to the Sun that is only slightly larger than the Moon. Called Kepler-37b, it is the smallest planet yet observed, smaller than any in the Solar System and one of three circling a star about 210 light years from Earth. None are bigger than Mercury, all orbit their star, Kepler-37, closer than Mercury does to the Sun and all are outside the habitable zone where liquid water might support life.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. Air Force could have to trim as many as three F-35As from its fiscal 2013 purchasing plans if sequestration takes effect March 1, according to Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh. This would affect deliveries for low-rate initial production (LRIP) Lot 5, a contract only finalized late in 2012 after a year of tough negotiations between the Pentagon and prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The $3.8 billion contract includes 32 U.S. aircraft, of which 22 are F-35As designed for the Air Force.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has delayed the April launch of its fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-4) to the International Space Station (ISS) as it tests a replacement component on the cargo vessel’s Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC). Previously slated to launch April 18, the Astrium-built ATV-4 was delivered in September to the European Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, where it is undergoing final integration and test prior to the mission. It is the fourth of five ATVs slated to launch to the ISS between 2008 and 2014.
LONDON — BAE Systems has reported a fall in earnings and warned that some of its key business areas are likely to suffer further in 2013. In its 2012 results, the company said that U.S. defense budgets had “flattened” and were expected to remain constrained in response to reducing overseas operations in Afghanistan and “measures to address federal deficits.”
Pentagon UAV investments have been on the rise, ranking 46th among all non-construction-related Defense Department expenses in 2011 — the first time in recent years such expenses have cracked the top 50, according to an exclusive Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis. The Pentagon cost category “drones” reached $1.5 billion in contracts and contract modifications, according to AWIN’s analysis of contracting data aggregated by the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting.
The FAA is formally placing significant emphasis on privacy concerns regarding its congressional mandate to stand up test sites for domestic unmanned air systems (UAS) and to integrate the aircraft into the national airspace. In a Feb. 21 Federal Register notice, FAA Chief Counsel Kathryn Thomson said even formal allegations of wrongdoing could cost interested parties their certification.
NEW YORK — EADS is revising its goal for equal revenues from its civil and defense programs by 2020 after failing to finalize its merger with BAE Systems and accounting for cuts in government defense spending. But the European manufacturer has yet to decide on a new target and the future direction of its Cassidian defense business.
Often faulted for failing to meet science project cost and schedule targets, NASA seems to be following an effective strategy with the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Project, or Maven. The $453 million mission, scheduled for launch Nov. 18, will study climate-influencing changes in the Martian upper atmosphere. If the mission is successful, Maven’s development could become a case study for other science mission projects, according to NASA’s inspector general (IG).
NASA’s Space Technology Program, upgraded this week into a full-fledged mission directorate at the agency’s headquarters, is funding development of an electric-thruster technology that holds promise both in propulsion for tiny cubesats and as a lightweight replacement for attitude-control and in-space propulsion systems on larger spacecraft.
