NEW DELHI — India’s soon-to-retire army chief, Gen. V.K. Singh, says he was recently offered a bribe of 140 million rupees ($2.7 million) by a defense lobbyist to clear the purchase of military vehicles. In an interview with an Indian newspaper, Singh says the lobbyist offered the bribe in return for approving the purchase of 600 “substandard” vehicles of a “particular make.” He claims that 7,000 such vehicles were already in use in the Indian army and many have been sold at “exorbitant prices with no questions asked.
The U.S. military is starting to show greater appreciation for maritime irregular warfare (MIW), a recent Rand report says, but the nation’s defense planners need to develop a more complete strategy for such operations. “In light of ongoing U.S. involvement in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the concept of irregular warfare has become prevalent in U.S. defense strategy and doctrine,” Rand says in its report, “Characterizing and Exploring the Implications of Maritime Irregular Warfare,” released this month.
The actions of Congress, the government and businesses have yet to stop the flow of counterfeit defense electronics parts from China. Last year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) set up a fictitious company to buy electronic parts online (Aerospace DAILY, Nov. 9). GAO purchased 16 different parts from 13 Chinese suppliers. All 16 of those parts, including seven used on aircraft such as Boeing’s F-15 fighter and the Bell-Boeing V-22 tiltrotor, were counterfeit.
April 2-3, 2012 Dallas, TX Dallas Convention Center Engine MRO comes to North America — the largest engine market! Co-located with MRO Americas -- Free access to the exhibition! Register today! www.aviationweek.com/events Click here to view the pdf
The European Space Agency’s third Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) resupply spacecraft is speeding toward a docking with the International Space Station (ISS), following a smooth countdown and liftoff from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, early March 23.
NEW DELHI — India’s Mars Orbiter Mission is getting a boost, with the government allocating 1.25 billion rupees ($25 million) to the effort for the 2012-13 fiscal year. “The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to launch a Mars orbiter as early as November 2013 with a scientific payload weighing nearly 25 kg [55 lb.],” according to the budget document, which was introduced in parliament March 16.
NASA WORK: NASA has selected four Texas companies to perform a range of engineering and architectural services for Johnson Space Center in Houston under five-year contracts worth a combined $49 million. They include PDG Architects; Reynolds, Smith and Hills Inc; and URS Group Inc., all of Houston; and HDR Architecture of Dallas. The agreements, announced March 22, cover feasibility studies; conceptual design work; engineering reports; budget estimates; and designs for alterations, new construction, repairs and refurbishment.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Mar. 26 - 28 — 10th Annual U.S. Missile Defense Conference and Exhibit, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.aiaa.org MAR. 26 - 28 — The 8th Annual Safety & Quality Summit, Westin Bayshore Hotel, Vancouver, B.C., Canada. For more information go to www.chcsafetyqualitysummit.com
FRANKFURT — The German government is to acquire a 15% stake in EADS, twice as much as previously planned. The German finance ministry has set aside additional resources in the 2012 federal budget to enable the move, a government official said.
LONDON — Norway has restructured its F-35 procurement plan, signaling it may buy some aircraft early but stretch out the total procurement. The adjustments are part of a new defense white paper unveiled March 23. Norway says the purchase of F-35s is “a key priority” of the new document. The procurement total is set at 52 aircraft; approval of the last six is expected later. The Norwegian government notes that “despite changes made by other partner nations, Norway finds that its previous and robust real-cost estimates remain accurate.”
FORT EUSTIS, Va. — With the value of teaming unmanned with manned aircraft having been proved in combat, U.S. Army researchers are preparing to take the next steps in autonomy and integration. Previous research into hunter-killer teaming of UAVs and helicopters led to systems fielded on the Boeing AH-64D Apache and Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior that give the crews “Level 2” capability to receive imagery directly from UAVs.
KOUROU, French Guiana — European Space Agency Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain met with his Chinese counterpart March 22-23 to discuss future cooperation in manned spaceflight, including the potential for a Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS). The two sides met at Dordain’s request on the sidelines of the European Space Agency’s third Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) launch to the ISS March 23 to further establish a dialogue and lay the groundwork for potential Sino-European cooperation in manned spaceflight.
One of the United States’ little-noticed conventional arms control treaties turns 20 today, while its enforcement continues to rely on aircraft and surveillance gear stuck in the analog age. The Open Skies Treaty enables countries to fly over each other’s territories, assuring signatories that their neighbors are not massing troops along a border, enabling them to monitor rail lines and generally building confidence between nations.
As promised, the U.S. Navy is focusing on taking greater care of its surface fleet, with the release this month of a new manual that details how the service will better maintain most of those ships. The Navy has been making ship maintenance and readiness a higher priority in recent years in the wake of reports and other revelations of more than a decade of degradation and deferred or ignored repair needs.
U.S. Army researchers are planning demonstrations of technologies to improve the ability of rotorcraft to defend themselves from ground threats while engaging a wider range of targets, including unmanned aircraft. Planned demonstrations include an integrated, remote door-gun and ground-fire warning system. This would provide the crew with 360-deg. situational awareness and allow the helicopter to return ground fire automatically.
INTELSAT 22: The Intelsat 22 communications satellite is slated to launch on an International Launch Services Proton rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on March 25 at 8:10 a.m. EDT (6:10 p.m. local time). Based on Boeing’s 702MP satellite bus, the 6,200-kg (13,700-lb.) spacecraft will carry two Ku-band mobility beams providing coverage of the Indian Ocean region. From its position at 72 deg. East, it will serve the Middle East and eastern Africa with its Ku-band capacity.
HOUSTON — Researchers could be at work soon on new techniques for the detection and treatment of vision problems found in astronauts assigned to long-duration missions aboard the International Space Station (ISS). A report earlier this month in the journal Radiology, based on magnetic resonance imaging studies on 27 long-duration astronauts, found some with symptoms similar to idiopathic intercranial hypertension, including swelling of the optic nerve and an outward pressure on the eyeballs (Aerospace DAILY, March 15).
In a broadside to the U.S. Navy, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says he is “underwhelmed” by the service’s response to the cost of Ford-class aircraft carriers that has grown by 18% to more than $12.3 billion.
HOUSTON — NASA and its longtime partner, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), are positioning themselves to fund and restart the production of plutonium-238 within “six to seven years” as a power source for a range of possible missions to the outer Solar System, including those assigned to support the search for extraterrestrial life.
GENEVA — The European Defense Agency (EDA) has elicited member-state support for the idea of pooling air-to-air refueling resources, although a concrete action plan remains to be defined. In a meeting of the steering group of member states for the Brussels-based organization, EDA secured a “political declaration” that countries have the “willingness to support further development of these capabilities and to better coordinate them,” according to an official statement after the gathering.
