PARIS — European Space Agency (ESA) officials can rest assured that France has no intention of nixing its contribution to the Earth Observation Envelope Program (EOEP) when representatives of member-governments meet in November to determine budgets for the agency’s biggest projects.
The U.S. Air Force has completed the first flight of an aircraft using alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) biofuel. The Fairchild A-10 completed the test flight from Eglin AFB, Fla., on June 28 “without any issues,” according to the service. The Air Force has approved fleet-wide certification of ATJ fuel, following previous efforts involving synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) fuel produced from coal and natural gas and hydrotreated renewable jet (HRJ) fuel derived from vegetable oils and animal fats.
On the site it had planned to assemble A330-based tankers for the U.S. Air Force, Airbus hopes to make its A320 family more competitive in the world’s biggest replacement market for single-aisle transports.
The threat of a biological catastrophe remains a concern for the U.S., and industry is not properly “incentivized” to tackle the problem, says the former vice chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Like cyber attacks, “bio is a 21st century threat and has an attribute of anonymity that other things like nuclear weapons did not have in the 20th century,” retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright recently told a small group of reporters.
As the U.S. Navy tries to get its fleet shipshape following years of neglect, the service has found a way to train its sailors to do a better job by learning the ropes on their own vessels and equipment. “Rear Adm. Dave Thomas, commander, Naval Surface Force, Atlantic (CNSL) and his team have established several waterfront initiatives over the past two years to deliver maintenance training directly to our sailors on the deckplates,” Adm. J.C. Harvey Jr., commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, says in a recent blog.
A student team from the University of Texas’ Austin campus succeeded in spoofing the GPS on an unmanned air vehicle at a range of 1 km and causing it to change position during a demonstration at the White Sands missile range in New Mexico.
Japan’s “Shizuku” Global Change Observation Mission-W1 spacecraft has maneuvered to the lead of the international Afternoon Constellation, or A-Train, series of six Earth observation spacecraft, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced July 2. The maneuvers, which placed GCOM-W1’s Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 at the point of the NASA-managed, polar-orbiting A-Train, were carried out by JAXA on June 29.
General Dynamics (GD) recently reached an agreement to buy the ship repair and coatings division of Virginia-based Earl Industries, in a move that extends GD’s reach into the burgeoning naval ship-repair business, especially in the hotly contested mid-Atlantic region.
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom recently completed the first stage of developmental testing for the LCS surface warfare mission package, a major milestone for the ship and module-development program, both of which have come under more congressional scrutiny recently for cost and other issues.
Under the offset policy, any international vendor landing an Indian defense deal worth more than 3 billion rupees ($53 million) must reinvest 30% of the value with Indian industry.
MICA NG: The French military is moving forward with plans to field an updated version of its Mica air-to-air weapon, with an in-service date planned around 2023. The exact performance details of the weapon are not set, although it is likely to retain the existing airframe to minimize the cost of systems integration. Subsystem selections are still being made, with a variety of French vendors looking to provide key components.
SOFTWARE VIOLATION: United Technologies Corp. and its subsidiaries Pratt & Whitney Canada and Hamilton Sundstrand will pay more than $75 million to the U.S. government to settle criminal and administrative charges related to accusations that it sold China software enabling its authorities to develop and produce their first modern military attack helicopter, the Z-10. The U.S. State Department further is imposing a partial disbarment of PWC for new export licenses, although it can request them on a case-by-case basis.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) JULY 9 - 10 — Military Airlift Asia-Pacific, “The perfect opportunity to discuss current airlifting capabilities and operations that are happening across Asia-Pacific,” Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore. For more information go to www.www.militaryairliftasiapac.com <http://www.militaryairliftasiapac.com
QATAR’S CHOICE: Qatar is looking at modernizing its helicopter force and is examining a range of options for naval rotorcraft. Options include the NH Industries NFH90, which has suffered from a dearth of new orders of late, with the U.S. offering a combination of 10 MH-60Rs and 12 MH-60S helicopters; six more MH-60S with the armed helicopter modification kit are offered as an option. The Pentagon, in notifying Congress about the potential deal, puts the price at an estimated $2.5 billion.
OSPREY PAUSE: The Pentagon is moving forward with the delivery of the MV-22 Osprey aircraft to III Marine Expeditionary Force in Japan, but the Bell-Boeing tiltrotor will not fly there until the Japanese government receives the full results of investigations into recent V-22 mishaps in Morocco and Florida. Those findings are expected to be delivered in August.
Exactly how Congress will navigate the fiscal minefield it laid for itself between now and the end of the year is a mystery even to lawmakers. But that does not stop anyone in Washington from trying to influence the process or play it for political advantage. Last August, lawmakers passed the Budget Control Act, which required the government to reduce the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion over a decade. Without a new congressional agreement, the government will face an across-the-board budget cut of about $1 trillion on Jan. 2, 2013.
AZERIS DENIED: The U.S. State Department will not approve the sale of military equipment to Azerbaijan, according to a key U.S. lawmaker who opposed helping the central Asian nation. State had proposed adding Azerbaijan to the authorized sales territory for military equipment that would be used in helicopter-borne border surveillance and “police-type” activities. Rep.
FORT WORTH APPROVES: Lockheed Martin’s union workers in Fort Worth and elsewhere who build the F-35 and F-16 voted June 28 by an 80% margin to accept a new four-year labor contract that will provide yearly pay increases of 2.5-3% and bonuses.
Fleet size matters, but so does capability when it comes to deciding the right ship mix for the Pacific-pivot focus of the U.S. Navy in the coming years, the chief of naval operations (CNO) says. While the Navy will be looking to put more ships in the Pacific, the service also will be focused on plugging in the right kind of ships, according to CNO Adm. Jonathan Greenert.
