Washington – There are dozens of photos of China’s new J-20 fighter design and technical assessments from multiple sources, but there has yet to be a single authoritative article by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) about the aircraft’s mission.
F-35 CHANGES: Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. of Fort Worth has been awarded a $237,740,000 contract modification for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter for changes to the configuration baseline hardware or software resulting from the JSF development effort, the Defense Department announced May 7. This modification increases the concurrency cap for the U.S. Marine Corps and U.K. short takeoff vertical landing aircraft; Air Force and Netherlands conventional takeoff and landing aircraft; and Navy carrier variant aircraft.
As the U.S. cuts its Army forces and shifts its focus and resources into the Asia-Pacific region, Congress may start to put the service’s proposed Ground Combat Vehicle under greater scrutiny.
Washington – When it comes to the Air Force’s request to pare back the Air National Guard and mothball the Global Hawk Block 30, the response from Capitol Hill is a resounding, “no.” The House Appropriations defense subcommittee will consider legislation May 8 that blocks the Air Force request to revamp the National Guard and to mothball Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4B Global Hawk and Alenia’s C-27J Spartan.
Bordeaux, France – Commercial satellite imagery provider DigitalGlobe rejected an unsolicited May 4 offer from competitor GeoEye to purchase the Longmont, Colo.-based company in a $792 million deal that would create the largest fleet of high-resolution imaging satellites in the world. In a May 6 letter to GeoEye President and CEO Matt O’Connell, DigitalGlobe rejected GeoEye’s public offer, asserting it substantially undervalues DigitalGlobe in relation to its standalone business and financial prospects.
The nation’s NASA- and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-administered Earth observation program is at risk of collapse, the victim of poor strategic planning, budget shortfalls and cost overruns.
AEHF-2: The U.S. Air Force’s second Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) spacecraft was successfully placed in orbit May 4 by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket Liftoff from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., took place at 2:42 p.m. EDT and the rocket’s Centaur upper stage deployed the spacecraft at 3:33 p.m.
RAIDER: Sikorsky is shifting the focus of its private-venture S-97 Raider high-speed helicopter prototype program from competing for the U.S. Army’s Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) requirement to demonstrating technology for the planned Future Vertical Lift (FVL) medium program to replace the company’s UH-60 Black Hawk beginning in 2030. For AAS, the Army plans to decide between an off-the-shelf helicopter and a life extension for the Bell OH-58B Kiowa Warrior. Funded by Sikorsky and its suppliers, the $200 million Raider program includes two prototypes, to fly in 2014.
An industry trade group is trying to spur the release of the FAA’s proposed rules for allowing small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to operate in civilian airspace, which had been anticipated in March. On April 26, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) confirmed that the rules had not received the “appropriate signatures” needed before they could be forwarded to OMB for release to the public, the letter says.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) may 8 - 9 — Aviation Week CAM - Civil Aviation Manufacturing, "Meeting the needs of leading major manufacturers and suppliers in the civil aviation arena," The Renaissance Charlotte Suites, Charlotte, NC. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events
LONDON — The Dutch defense ministry is looking to move forward on a range of F-16 improvements to keep the remaining fleet operationally viable until it is replaced by the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter. With the F-35A schedule in flux, Dutch defense planners are not certain when the F-16 will be phased out, but are working on the assumption that all of the fighters will be retired in 2026.
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — Pratt & Whitney warns that cutbacks in F-35 procurement and the termination of the F-22 will lead to at least three years of lower-volume production of fifth-generation combat engines, seriously challenging its cost-reduction goals for the Joint Strike Fighter engine. “The challenge is to get to more than 50 engines [per year], and then the volume is flat to down slightly through 2015,” says Pratt & Whitney Military Engines President Bennett Croswell. “That challenge is exacerbated by other systems coming down or going away.”
The U.S. Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office has unveiled details of its ORS-4 rail-launched satellite experiment. Dubbed “Super Stripey,” ORS-4 will combine the Scout launch missile rail system at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., and at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, with the Stripey target system at Sandia National Laboratory. Working with Aerojet, ORS is developing an expanded, three-stage, solid-rocket version of the original sounding rocket.
BERLIN — Commercial satellite imagery provider GeoEye is proposing to buy competitor DigitalGlobe in a $792 million deal that would create the largest fleet of high-resolution imaging satellites in the world. The two companies have been in merger talks for several months, but negotiations recently broke down, GeoEye CEO and President Matt O’Connell told investors and reporters during a May 4 teleconference call.
China specialists contend that conflict with the U.S. is inevitable and that space- and cyber-supremacy, at least for limited periods, will be deciding factors in a confrontation if a Chinese attack is unexpected, short in duration and quick in resolution.
