The defense industry supply chain is rife with counterfeit parts and efforts to police them are failing, increasing the risk that such parts could compromise the quality of U.S.-made defense systems, or even offer back doors to cybersnoops, escalating the threat of espionage and intellectual theft.
NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute will distribute $26 million among 29 teams selected to investigate the range of health and performance issues confronting humans during long-duration spaceflight.
HOUSTON — The unpiloted SpaceX Dragon spacecraft sped toward its first encounter with the International Space Station May 23, on the eve of a crucial set of maneuvers and communication exchanges intended to bring the first U.S. commercial resupply ship within a mile and a half of the six-person orbiting science lab.
If the House was displeased by the U.S. Air Force’s plan to scale back the Air National Guard, the Senate is equally annoyed. In fact, one of the top senators on National Guard matters is bothered by the lack of analysis provided by the Air Force to support its Air Guard budget decisions. A May 23 hearing of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee allowed Guard officials to vent as much as they could publicly about how the active duty Air Force overrode their suggestions on how to trim the budget.
The primary task of the joint Air-Sea Battle concept is “getting shooters to the fight in whatever dimension” they operate, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Norman Schwartz says.
It is nearly 2-min.-warning time for the U.S. Navy’s competition for the Aegis Combat System Engineering Agent (CSEA), and the general consensus in the defense community is that the service is willing to grasp the opportunity to open up the vaunted program to contractor newcomers.
TOULOUSE — Airbus Military expects to finalize an initial in-service support contract with France for the A400M airlifter soon. Closing negotiations are ongoing to ensure support is available once the first aircraft is delivered around year’s end. Completing those talks “is a matter of some weeks,” says Stephan Miegel, head of the A400M customer services program.
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HOUSTON — SpaceX’s Dragon capsule thundered into orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket early May 22, marking a successful start in the 10-year-old company’s bid to carry out the first U.S. commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The F-35B conducted its first flight out of Eglin AFB, Fla., May 22, marking one of several steps needed to officially stand up pilot training for the Lockheed Martin stealthy jet there. The first F-35A conventional-takeoff-and-landing aircraft arrived at Eglin in July 2011 and the first B variant, optimized for the Marine Corps’ short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing requirement, arrived in January. Twelve F-35s are now at the base.
Mankind’s next objective in space exploration should be the establishment of a permanent international base on the Moon, in the “professional opinion” of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Airbus Military expects to receive the A400M type certification in July, with the start of a key test phase needed for that approval merely “a question of days.”
LOS ANGELES — Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) tested three separate engines over three consecutive days last week as negotiations near completion for the sale of the rocket maker from United Technologies Corp. (UTC) to an unidentified investor group.
REMOTE VIEWING: Consultancy Forecast International (FI) projects the worldwide civil and commercial remote sensing satellite market will reach $17 billion over 2012-2021, during which 108 remote sensing satellites will be produced. “Demand for remote sensing satellite data continues to increase,” FI says.
Regardless of whether the U.S. Navy has to deal with the impact of sequestration, the service will certainly have to plan for a smaller fleet and fleet ship trade-offs to accommodate the economic climate, defense analysts say. “We’re heading for smaller fleet,” says Eric Labs, senior Congressional Budget Office analyst for naval weapons and forces. “This should be the question—how small will be too small?”
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The core crew size for the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) will be increasing, confirms Robert Work, undersecretary for the service. The increase is significant because the addition of crew members calls into question the low manning requirements envisioned for the ship. More sailors means higher lifecycle costs; the projected, relatively cheap long-term costs of operating the vessel have been a major selling point for the ship in Congress.
HOUSTON — SpaceX, after replacing a faulty first-stage check valve, readied the Falcon 9/Dragon combination for a second attempt to launch the first U.S. commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in the early morning hours of May 22. U.S. Air Force weather forecasters offered an 80% chance of favorable weather for a 3:44 a.m. EDT liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. There has been a slight concern about isolated rain showers in the region. SpaceX has a backup launch opportunity on May 25 at 2:33 a.m. EDT.
MADRID — Airbus Military and Cobham are modifying the hose-and-drogue refueling system for the U.K.’s A330-based Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA), to mitigate fuel-venting when working with Royal Air Force Tornado and Typhoon fighters.
U.S. AIR FORCE United Launch Services, L.L.C., Littleton, Colo., is being awarded a $398,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for Atlas V EELV launch service in support of a Mobile User Objective System-4 mission and Delta IV EELV launch service in support of a Global Positioning System mission. The location of the performance is Decatur, Ala. Work is to be completed by Nov. 30, 2014. SMC/LRK, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8811-11-C-0001 P00018). U.S. NAVY
Northrop Grumman is adjusting its schedule to support installation of the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (Canes) system on U.S. Navy ships following a delay caused by a contract-award objection from Lockheed Martin, which later withdrew the protest.
