LONDON — The U.K. Royal Air Force has carried out its last missions with the Eurocopter SA330 Puma Mk1. The last Mk.1 flew its final sortie on Dec. 14. The Mk.1s are being replaced by 24 Puma Mk.2s that are progressively being upgraded by Eurocopter at their facilities at Brasov in Romania under the Puma Life-Extension Program, launched in September 2009. The first aircraft entered the program in October 2009 and the upgrades should extend the life of the long-serving medium helicopter until around 2025.
Of little surprise to anyone who follows federal procurement, the Pentagon is the hands-down leader when it comes to U.S. government sole-source contracting, accounting for nearly half of the bigger deals between fall 2008 and spring of this year.
LONDON — The U.K. Ministry of Defense will award a contract to provide for its Military Flight Training System (MFTS) in 2015. Industry partner Ascent — a Lockheed Martin/Babcock International joint venture — has issued a request for proposals for a new fleet of fixed-wing training aircraft that will be used for elementary, basic, multi-engine and fixed-wing rear crew training for all three of the U.K. armed services until 2030.
After a long delay, board members for the non-profit organization set up to organize and promote use of the U.S. National Laboratory on the International Space Station were finally appointed. In order to make up for lost time, they are scheduling weekly meetings by telephone.
SAN DIEGO — After relying for years on contractors to provide maintenance and other services, the U.S. Navy is looking to redevelop the expertise to do much of that work with its own personnel in-house. This course change could significantly alter maintenance and other related contracts in years to come.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Jan. 7 - 10, 2013 — 61st AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition, Gaylord Texan Hotel and Convention Center, Grapevine (Dallas/Ft. Worth Region), Tex. For more information go to www.aiaa.org/asm2013/ Jan. 9 - 10 — Fourth Annual China Aerospace Manufacturing Summit, Post Hotel, Harbin City, China. For more information go to www.galleonevents.com
SPACE PRIORITIES: Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), incoming chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, is looking for programs that inspire the public. During a recent hearing on NASA, a key space-policy adviser may have provided clues to the new chairman‘s priorities. “People have an interest in life,” says Scott Pace, the head of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University.
BEIJING — China is referring to a southern military command as a “theater of operations,” warlike language evidently designed to increase pressure on rival claimants to the South China Sea. The term, unfamiliar in peacetime, has appeared in a report by the state’s Xinhua news agency covering a visit to the southern city of Guangzhou by the new chairman of the Communist Party, Xi Jinping. Xi has inspected the command and called on the Chinese armed forces to increase their “real combat” awareness through military training, Xinhua says.
Lockheed Martin’s newest hit-to-kill air defense weapon achieved its first intercept this month in its production configuration, and full production is expected late next year. The Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC)-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor destroyed a tactical ballistic missile during a flight test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., Dec. 6.
The U.S. Navy has underscored its growing interest in developing greater cyber warfare capabilities with the approval and release of key strategy documents meant to guide the service’s efforts in the field.
Aviation Week Events - Defense Technology And Affordability Requirements March 5-6 2013 Hilton Arlington Arlington, VA Join senior defense officials and discover where priorities and opportunities exist beyond the FY 2014 budget and hear First-hand how programs are implementing affordable and effective designs! Register now at www.aviationweek.com/events/dtar
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) is petitioning the leaders of the defense authorization bill’s conference to extract satellites and their related items from the U.S. Munitions List.
A U.S. defense official suggests North Korea’s first-ever satellite is tumbling in its polar orbit. U.S. Strategic Command, which tracks orbiting objects, referred questions to the Pentagon. A spokeswoman there said she would not comment on classified intelligence matters. One observer who tracked the spacecraft with night vision goggles said the satellite was “flickering,” and produced an intermittent trace on a time-exposure photograph, which could suggest tumbling.
IN THE CROSSHAIRS: A liberal think tank is targeting Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) for opposing sequestration cuts to the Defense Department with an advertising campaign (www.cutpentagonwaste.com) on cable stations in politically savvy New Hampshire.
SENATE TO CABINET: Numerous reports, starting with Bloomberg, said Dec. 13 that President Barack Obama will nominate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to become secretary of state and former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) for secretary of defense. Both men enjoy good reputations in the Senate, which must confirm their nominations, meaning their approval is expected. The libertarian Cato Institute in Washington said Hagel’s appointment would be welcome news for critics of the last decade’s explosive defense spending and activity around the world.
The Pentagon recently issued a new set of directives to better control the developmental use of autonomous weapons. “Autonomous and semi-autonomous weapon systems shall be designed to allow commanders and operators to exercise appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force,” the directive says.
NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory A and B lunar mission spacecraft are scheduled for a violent but potentially scientifically productive end as they carry out a controlled plummet into a mountain ridge near the Moon’s north pole on Dec. 17. The impacts, within seconds of one another at 5:28 p.m. EST, will be monitored by ultraviolet sensors on NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter for the presence of water vapor and other potential volatiles in lunar soil exposed to long periods of sunlight.
LONDON — Cassidian is preparing the ground for potentially reduced levels of revenue from its air systems and service activities after 2015, company CEO Bernhard Gerwert has revealed.
Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) has released the names of the Republican chairmen of the House Armed Services subcommittees. Rep. Michael Turner (Ohio), who currently leads the subcommittee on strategic forces, will take over the powerful air and land forces subcommittee. Rep. Randy Forbes (Va.) moves from the Readiness panel to the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, a boon for his Navy-heavy district along the Virginia coast.
Planners and doctrine experts linked to the U.S. Army and Marine Corps are staking out defensive positions in case the U.S. government’s “Pacific pivot” strategy and the closely associated Air Force-and-Navy-led concept of Air Sea Battle (ASB) threatens the future importance of heavy ground forces.
Australia, dropping its commitment to operate only Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightnings in its future air combat fleet, will ask the U.S. for the price of a second batch of 24 Boeing Super Hornets. Because of repeated delays in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, Lockheed Martin now looks increasingly likely to get only about half of the Australian requirement for 100 fighters previously earmarked for the company in full.
