The Indian navy’s interest in a long-endurance maritime surveillance UAV is seeing tremendous interest by vendors in Israel, Europe and the U.S., with the U.S. government clearing Northrop Grumman to conduct preliminary discussions with the Indian navy on the MQ-4C Triton. The Triton is the modified Global Hawk developed under the U.S. Navy’s Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program. The company highlighted the platform and capability for the first time at the Aero India exposition last week.
LONDON — The U.K.’s Boeing CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter force is looking at how it will rebuild its “contingency capability” once combat operations in Afghanistan cease at the end of 2015.
BENGALURU — India has unveiled an updated design for its fifth-generation fighter concept, known as the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). Representations of the fighter have changed often in the last few years. But the scale 1:8 model of the concept displayed at last week’s Aero India 2013 show in Bengaluru is understood to be the final airframe and platform with which the program will proceed.
Defense-based businesses with aerospace capabilities will start looking for potential merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunities for the commercial side of the business, a new report on industry M&A activity predicts. Continued growth in commercial aviation and contraction in defense budgets are expected to drive the trend, says Scott Thompson, U.S. aerospace and defense leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which just released its fourth-quarter and full-year 2012 M&A report for the aerospace and defense industries.
BENGALURU — Indian state-run defense company Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) and Elop Ltd., a subsidiary of Israel’s Elbit Systems, have entered into a joint venture agreement to produce a surveillance system for naval helicopters. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the Aero India show in the southern city of Bengaluru for combined production of the Compact Multi Purpose Advance Stabilization System (Compass).
The Senate Armed Services Committee will meet Feb. 12 at 2:30 p.m. to discuss what has become an extraordinarily controversial nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) for defense secretary. Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) intends to call for a panel vote on the nomination after the discussion.
Recent program shifts for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) could raise congressional concerns about foreign interest—or the lack of it—in the effort, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The JLTV is being developed by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps as a successor to the stalwart high-mobility, multi-wheeled vehicle, or Humvee, that has been a staple for the services since 1985.
Azerbaijan launched its first satellite Feb. 7 atop an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from Europe’s equatorial spaceport in French Guiana. Built by Dulles, Va.-based Orbital Sciences Corp. for Azerbaijan satellite operator Azercosmos, the Azerspace/Africasat-1a spacecraft carries 24 C-band transponders and 12 Ku-band transponders to deliver communications coverage to Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Europe and Africa.
BENGALURU — BAE Systems is adamant that Boeing’s anti-ship missile, the Harpoon, can be part of the Eurofighter Typhoon’s weapons arsenal. “We are aware of that issue and the Typhoon can carry a Harpoon if a customer wants to integrate it. We have proposed, however, some novel alternatives other than the Harpoon,” Guy Griffiths, the group managing director of international business at BAE Systems, told Aviation Week Feb. 8 at Aero India.
Teledyne Brown Engineering will continue to support International Space Station (ISS) operations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and Marshall Space Flight Center under a mission operations and integration contract worth as much as $120.1 million over the next five years. The Huntsville, Ala.-based company will support all phases of flight under the cost-plus-award fee award, including mission preparation, crew and flight controller training, and meeting other requirements in real time.
Across-the-board budget cuts beginning March 1 could squeeze NASA funding by $14 billion over the next eight years, according to a report by Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee. A “constraint” in the bill that imposes sequestration mandates that funding for the Census Bureau follow its traditional pattern, the report says. The census is funded at low levels during the early years of the decade and higher levels later as the next census deadline draws near.
LONDON — Helicopter MRO organization Heli-One has secured its first contract with the U.K. defense ministry — a deal to support the engines for the Royal Air Force’s Westland Puma Mk. 2 transport helicopters. The company, a subsidiary of helicopter operator CHC, signed the deal on Feb. 7 to provide logistic support for the Turbomeca Makila 1A1 engines fitted to the newly upgraded aircraft over the next 13 years. The deal is understood to be worth $80 million.
BENGALURU — Rockwell Collins is looking at expanding its sales outside the U.S. through more local partnerships in markets such as India. “Most of the U.S. aircraft that are supplied the world over are naturally equipped with our advanced avionics [equipment],” Jay Little, senior Asia Pacific director of marketing and strategy, tells Aviation week. “Besides providing to the original equipment manufacturer, we plan to sell this equipment directly to international customers.”
Asteroid 2012 DA14, speeding toward a record close approach to the Earth next week, poses no apparent danger to humans or orbiting satellites and will likely depart on a course-altering trajectory that should not bring it this way again, according to experts preparing for the encounter. Nonetheless, the attention-grabbing episode promises to serve as a reminder of a larger threat the world’s space powers are just beginning to size up.
BRUSSELS and PARIS — The European Council is planning a drastic funding reduction to its showcase Earth observation program, according to a draft of the EU’s nearly €1 trillion ($1.3 trillion) budget proposal for 2014-20, cutting more than €2 billion from the €5.8 billion planned for operations and sustainment of the Copernicus program, including money earmarked for development of follow-on spacecraft. The draft, obtained following two days of meetings in Brussels Feb. 7-8, indicates Copernicus will receive just €3.786 billion for the seven-year period.
The Republican chairmen of the two House committees with NASA oversight responsibility have charged publicly that senior leadership at the space agency may have been involved in the leak of classified information to China and other nations, and that a federal criminal probe into the charges has been dropped under “political pressure.”
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Feb. 11 - 12 — Battlefield Healthcare, Copthorne Tara Hotel, London, U.K. For more information go to www.smi-online.co.uk Feb. 17 - 21 — NAVDEX 2013, Marina of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC), Abu Dhabi, UAE. For more information go to www.smi-online.co.uk
BENGALURU — Sikorsky has already pitched for the Indian navy’s initial requirement for 16 helicopters, but is not discussing publicly which rotorcraft it will propose for the service’s much larger follow-on program for 123 naval multi-role helicopters (NMRH).
U.S. administration officials are preparing to endorse a report that calls for revisions to the nation’s nuclear strategy and discusses the possibility of a one-third reduction to the arsenal, according to the Center for Public Integrity. The document does not call for immediate changes to the nuclear force; rather officials are seeking to negotiate further reductions to nuclear weapons with Russia. It also notes that President Barack Obama may preview the issue during his Feb. 12 State of the Union Address.
