ANOTHER TRY: The U.S. Air Force is planning to use the RL10B-2 engine for a late February flight of the fifth Wideband Global Satcom satellite on a Delta IV rocket, according to Dave Madden, who directs the Air Force’s military satellite communications system program office. The Delta IV, which uses the RL10B-2 to power the upper stage, malfunctioned during an Oct. 8 GPS IIF launch and has not flown since. Air Force officials have yet to find a root cause for the low-thrust anomaly.
LONDON — NHIndustries has set a trio of milestones as it steps up deliveries of the land-based and naval versions of the NH90 helicopter. NHIndustries — the joint venture of AgustaWestland, Eurocopter and Fokker — is set to deliver the first Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) variant to the Belgian Air Component on Dec. 21 following the first flight of the aircraft on Sept. 18. On the same day, the consortium will also deliver the first NH90 in the “Step B” NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH) configuration to the French navy.
ISTRES, France — French defense procurement agency DGA is in talks with the U.S. Air Force to acquire the General Atomics-built MQ-9 Reaper as a possible interim solution to its medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV requirement. Speaking to reporters here Dec. 19, DGA chief Laurent Collet-Billon said he is discussing the option of purchasing the drones through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
BEIJING — Selection of an aircraft for South Korea’s F-X fighter Phase 3 competition will not be made until the first half of next year. The country’s Defense Industry Committee, chaired by the defense minister, says negotiations are stuck on the point of offsets and other conditions, rather than price. The decision to order heavy attack helicopters, almost certainly Boeing AH-64 Apaches, has also been deferred until the first half of 2013.
Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), fearing FAA is failing to address privacy concerns involving UAVs, is taking steps to mandate privacy protections and public transparency as the agency begins to facilitate the introduction of UAVs into the national airspace system. Markey on Dec. 18 introduced a bill, H.R.6676, the Drone Aircraft Privacy Transparency Act, calling for disclosure about the use of UAVs and for warrant requirements for law enforcement use.
Doubts still hang over the military utility of small satellites, holding back progress on low-cost, quick-reaction systems that could be launched at short notice to fill gaps in space coverage. To prove their viability, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has begun a program to demonstrate that small satellites produced and launched on demand can provide imagery on request directly to individual soldiers.
MOVING UP: Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) will lead the Senate Appropriations Committee, replacing Sen. Daniel Inouye, a Hawaii Democrat who died earlier this week of respiratory complications. She picks up the gavel after Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who was next in line in terms of seniority, opted to remain the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
HOUSTON — A Russian Soyuz rocket reached orbit early Dec. 19 with a three-man multinational crew that includes veteran astronaut Chris Hadfield, who is scheduled to become the first Canadian to command the International Space Station in mid-March. The Soyuz TMA-07M capsule carrying cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn and Hadfield was on course to dock with the 256-mi.-high station’s Rassvet module on Dec. 21 at 9:12 a.m., EST.
LONDON — Officials at the U.K. Ministry of Defense are to assess how to meet the country’s future maritime patrol needs following the cancellation of the BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft program in 2010. Findings of a study carried out by the House of Commons’ Defense Committee inquiry into maritime surveillance will be handed to the Military Capability Board (MCB) in April, and options that “merit further investigation” will be examined prior to the next Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR) due to take place in 2015.
NEW DELHI — India is likely to buy two additional Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft to strengthen its air defense, according to Defense Minister A.K. Antony.
Turkish Ambassador Namik Tan is emphasizing his country’s support for its continued participation in the multinational F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, as some partners are expressing hesitation owing to delays and cost increases. Earlier this month, Canada and Australia both waffled on their plans for the single-engine, stealthy fighter made by Lockheed Martin.
SINGAPORE — Swiss defense company Ruag has acquired Australia’s Rosebank Engineering. Ruag says it has bought 100% of the defense company for an undisclosed sum, and that the acquisition will boost Ruag’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Rosebank has 154 employees, mostly based in Melbourne. It recently established a joint venture in India, VyoneeshRosebank, that aims to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services to the Indian military as well as some component manufacturing.
PATRIOT DEPLOYMENT: Turkish Ambassador to the U.S. Namik Tan says that the first deliveries of Patriot air- and missile-defense equipment have begun arriving in the country. NATO opted this month to deploy Patriot defenses along the southern Turkish border with Syria to protect against the potential for a ballistic or chemical missile attack from Damascus as it attempts to fend off rebel groups. Meanwhile, Turkey continues to house refugees from its war-torn neighbor in camps near the border. Tan declined to say when the Patriot batteries would be operational.
NASA’s fuel-depleted Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (Grail) A and B lunar mission probes slammed into a mountain near Goldschmidt crater at the Moon’s North Pole late Dec. 17, ending a one-year mission. The carefully targeted impact of the two washing machine-sized spacecraft, renamed Ebb and Flow, occurred on schedule, with Ebb striking first at 5:28 p.m. EST, and Flow striking 32 sec. later. The spacecraft impacted the Moon at 3,800 mph.
After months of fighting against the possibility of nearly $1 trillion in across-the-board budget cuts, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says he will not accept a deal to prevent sequestration that does not contain other concessions on issues such as taxation and entitlement reform. Talks between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) had been progressing. Without a deal, Boehner plans to proceed with a “Plan B” that the White House is dismissing as not viable in the Senate.
The death of Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the chairman of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, is setting off a shuffling of committee chairmanships. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is likely to take over as the chairman of the full appropriations committee, leaving a spot open on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is likely to move into that slot, and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) tells Aviation Week she is preparing to fill Feinstein’s role as the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation has named Eric Trappier to replace outgoing Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Edelstenne, who will step down Jan. 8.
