The U.S. Navy’s proposed maintenance cuts could corrode the service’s ability to deploy its surface fleet — literally. The reductions would cut into the proposed ship “availabilities” — shipyard maintenance periods — and the main concerns the Navy needs to address in those periods are sanding, chipping and otherwise cleaning up corrosion on the ships.
The loss of a big Boeing-built Intelsat communications satellite in the first failure of a Sea Launch Zenit rocket since the multinational company emerged from bankruptcy protection is likely to make it more difficult for the equatorial launch provider to regain momentum. The company has no firm missions on its manifest beyond the one that failed Jan. 31, and relies on Russian hardware at a time when the reliability of that country’s launchers has been questioned through quality-control issues.
TAKING FLIGHT: The FAA could begin asking for UAV test site proposals as early as Feb. 4, industry officials say. The FAA was tasked with selecting the six sites by the end of 2012, but the process has been stretched out by privacy concerns. The test sites will help the FAA and industry establish rules, procedures and technologies for flying unmanned aircraft in civilian airspace.
BEIJING — South Korea’s first satellite is communicating with the ground, demonstrating initial functionality following a launch on a KSLV-1 rocket on Jan. 30. To follow the KSLV-1, which matches a South Korean second stage to a first stage based on Russian technology, South Korea aims at developing its own rocket engine of 10 metric tons (22,000 lb.) thrust by 2016 and a 75-ton-thrust engine by 2018, officials tell local media.
LONDON — The U.S. Air Force is deactivating the last Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II squadron in Europe. The 81st Fighter Sqdn. based at Spangdahlem AB, Germany, will shut down later this year as part of ongoing defense cuts. According to officials, deactivation became official upon “the termination of the continuing-resolution provision that prohibited the ‘retirement, divestiture, realignment and transfer’ of aircraft.”
LONDON — AgustaWestland is pushing ahead with the flight-test program of its AW169 twin-engine helicopter, with the first flight of the fourth prototype. AC4 took to the air on Jan. 31 at the company’s facilities at Vergiate, Italy, and will join the other three prototypes. According to the company, the aircraft performed as expected, with test pilots assessing general handling and basic systems.
LONDON — The Swedish Armed Forces Helicopter Wing is making final preparations to deploy its new Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawks for medevac missions in Afghanistan. The April deployment will come just 14 months after the arrival of the first aircraft and just more than two years after the Swedish government placed the foreign military sales (FMS) order with the U.S. government for 15 aircraft in October 2010.
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
April 17-18, 2013 Atlanta, GA Reducing Costs Through A Better Understanding Of Partnerships And Better Forecasting, Sustainment, And Product Support Strategies MRO Military is strategically designed to provide you with the information you need in order to: -- Control lifecycle costs -- Improve your forecasting methods and inventory management techniques -- Stay ahead of the game by hearing the latest acquisition changes in defense logistics directly from DLA
In a sometimes painful confirmation hearing for defense secretary, former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) waded through questions about his past statements and misstatements as well as legitimate policy differences over nuclear weapons policy.
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s proposed cuts in maintenance to accommodate funding shortfalls caused by the continuing resolution, combined with potential further belt-tightening that could be brought on by sequestration, could not come at a worse time, according to service officials.
Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy are ready to flight test the final software load for the X-47B unmanned combat air system demonstrator (UCAS-D), with all the features required to enable operation from an aircraft carrier later this year. Based at NAS Patuxent River, Md., the two X-47Bs are being used for carrier-qualification testing ahead of the at-sea demonstration planned for the summer. Tests have included land-based catapult launches at Pax and deck-handling trials at sea on the carrier USS Truman.
HOUSTON — The first in a new generation of NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellites has begun a measured climb to geosynchronous orbit, following a successful launch aboard a United Space Alliance Atlas V rocket late Jan. 30 from Cape Canaveral. The Boeing-built TDRS-K spacecraft marks the first addition in a decade to the aging, seven-spacecraft communications constellation that supports the Ka-, Ku- and S-band requirements of the International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope and a growing fleet of multi-agency Earth observations satellites.
The Senate defeated by a vote of 79-19 an amendment that would have blocked the transfer of F-16 fighters and M1 Abrams tanks to Egypt. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) sponsored the amendment, arguing that it is a “grave mistake” to send Lockheed Martin F-16s and General Dynamics tanks to Egypt, now that the government has changed since the political upheaval there generated by the Arab Spring.
LONDON — The U.K. Ministry of Defense (MoD) has unveiled its spending plan for new equipment and support over the next 10 years. The U.K.’s Equipment Plan, published Jan. 31, outlines spending of £160 billion ($250 billion) for new equipment in what is called a “fully funded Defense Equipment Plan.” The plan sets aside £8 billion for what the MoD calls “a number of additional programs that are a high priority for defense.”
IN ORBIT: South Korea’s STSAT 2C satellite is operating nominally following the Asian nation’s first successful launch from its Naro Space Center Jan. 30, according to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. Succeeding on the third try with its two-stage KSLV-1 launcher, South Korea became the 11th nation to orbit its own spacecraft. Weighing less than 100 kg (220 lb.), the satellite will test space hardware and measure radiation levels from its elliptical polar orbit. Lofted from the facility southeast of Seoul, it follows North Korea’s Dec.
LOS ANGELES — Scaled Composites’ veteran Kevin Mickey has been named president of the Northrop Grumman subsidiary, taking over from Doug Shane, who is taking on a special assignment to focus on completing the Virgin Galactic and Stratolaunch programs.
Boeing will not be housing its new intelligence gathering system, the medium-sized Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA), on an Embraer platform, according to the Brazilian manufacturer’s defense chief Luiz Carlos Aguiar. He said the two are not in talks on the MSA project despite an agreement on other projects, such as the KC-390.
Tom Burbage, the single, consistent public face of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program since its inception, is finally retiring, according to program sources. Burbage retires as the executive vice president and general manager of program integration for the F-35. As such, his primary responsibility has been to keep the international coalition of countries outside the U.S. on track and, where possible, chase new international business. Stephen O’Bryan is currently working under Burbage as vice president of program integration.
Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) contractor Bluefin Robotics is gearing up to produce a variant of its Knifefish UUV for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), the company says. Knifefish is a specialized Bluefin-21 UUV that is being developed for the Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (SMCM UUV) effort. Bluefin is under subcontract to General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems for that program.
