Aerospace & Defense Programs November 6-7, 2012 Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Ariz. Join top defense leaders for discussions on complexity, lessons learned, and affordability aimed at improving program performance! Themes for 2012 include: -- Complexity -- Driving improvement and the roles that innovation and technology play -- Value chain optimization
KAZAKH SATS: EADS space subsidiary Astrium has established Ghalam, a joint venture with Kazcosmos’ subsidiary Kazakhstan Garysh Sapary, to assemble, integrate and test satellites at a purpose-built facility in Astana, Kazakhstan, according to Kazcosmos chairman Talgat Musabayev. The venture will help fulfill Kazcosmos’ requirement for technology transfer and know-how as Astrium develops a pair of Earth observation satellites for the agency (Aerospace DAILY, May 6, 2011).
ASTANA, Kazakhstan — Eurocopter Kazakhstan, a joint venture between Eurocopter and state-owned Kazakhstan Engineering, has received its first EC145 light utility helicopter kits, and expects to have eight kits to assemble by mid-November, says EADS Kazakhstan General Director Silvere Delaunay.
NEW DELHI — India inducted its frontline Sukhoi combat aircraft at its air force’s Halwara base in the northern state of Punjab, bordering Pakistan, on Sept. 25. The Su-30MKI, the Indian-built version of the Russian combat aircraft, will replace the now phased-out, Soviet-origin MiG-23 fighters in the 220 Squadron also known as “Desert Tigers,” a defense ministry official says. The first batch of Su-30MKIs was inducted into the Indian air force (IAF) in September 2002.
NASA may be able to return samples from Mars without significant international cooperation, in part by eliminating stovepipes in the way it organizes for scientific and human space missions.
There is little political, deterrent or military value in either the U.S. or Israel bombing Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, say participants at this week’s Air Force Association air warfare symposium here. “If the Iranians really wanted a store of enriched uranium, they could buy it,” says a U.S. official with links to the U.S. military’s cyber and operations communities. “And they don’t have to process it themselves except for the national prestige it would give the country and to keep the international spotlight on Tehran.”
HOUSTON — The B612 Foundation says it has made financial and technical strides in the first three months of the Silicon Valley non-profit’s bid to mount the world’s first private deep-space mission, a space telescope to greatly increase the identification of near Earth asteroids (NEAs) that could pose a collision threat.
The U.S. Navy’s first Afloat Forward Staging Base (Interim) (AFSB(I)) USS Ponce is making its debut at the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 2012 (IMCMEX 12) through the end of this month. Designated as an amphibious transport dock (LPD) more than 41 years ago, Ponce was converted and reclassified as an AFSB(I) in April and arrived in Bahrain for duty on July 6, to fulfill a longstanding U.S. Central Command (Centcom) request.
NEW DELHI — India’s 101st space mission, the GSAT-10 communication satellite, will be launched Sept. 29 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from the European spaceport at Kourou in French Guiana. “The 3.4-ton heavy satellite, GSAT-10, has been integrated with the Ariane 5 rocket along with Astra-2F spacecraft of SES as co-passenger for the launch Sept. 29 at 2:48 a.m. Indian time,” an Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) official says. Astra-2F belongs to the Luxembourg-based leading satellite operator SES.
Belarus plans to add more Russian-made military aircraft to boost its border patrol capabilities. “We discussed many issues related to the air force. I asked for assistance and I got it,” the president of the former Soviet Republic, Alexander Lukashenko, told reporters following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
FRANKFURT — Germany’s federal government is voicing serious concerns internally about the planned merger of EADS and BAE Systems. A Ministry of Economics and Technology report, destined for the federal parliament’s economics committee, points to a series of issues that puts the proposal’s viability in question.
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) plans to deploy nearly 15 airborne warning and control systems during the next 10 years. “India is planning additional airborne warning and control system projects with radars atop larger aircraft such as the IL-76, Boeing 777 or Airbus 320,” according to a defense ministry official. The announcement comes on the heels of the arrival of the first of three Embraer 145 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft from Brazil’s Embraer Defense and Security on Aug. 17.
AIR FORCE Raytheon, McKinney, Texas (FA8620-06-G-4041, DO 001211), is being awarded a $44,032,247 contract modification for the Reaper/Predator Program. This contract modification is for Multi-spectral Targeting System, Target Location Accuracy, High- Definition Video and Targeting Improvements. The location of the performance is McKinney, Texas. The work is expected to be completed by July 17, 2015. The contracting activity is AFLCMC/WIIK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
Talk of restarting the production line aside, the true financial focus now and in coming years for the U.S. Air Force will be aimed at maintaining the nation’s stealthy F-22 Raptor. For fiscal 2012, for example, the Air Force is spending about $803.4 million to modify and sustain the Raptor, compared to $132.2 million to produce the F-22, according to data provided by Avascent050, an online market analysis toolkit for global defense programs.
Boeing has confirmed a $1.9 billion U.S. Navy order for 11 P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, which the company describes as a “stepping-stone to full-rate production.” The order represents the manufacturer’s third low-rate initial production award, and follows two in 2011 that combined for 13 aircraft. The new order will take the Navy’s total fleet to 24, as part of an overall plan to acquire 117 as replacements for the Lockheed Martin P-3.
