HOUSTON — The enthusiasm for a Mars sample return mission remains high in Europe as well as in the U.S., but it can only be realized if the brightest minds in the global planetary science community can marshal the resources to overcome the technical and political obstacles, according to space agency officials who gathered here June 12 for a NASA-sponsored workshop.
As Pentagon spending legislation for fiscal 2013 moves through Congress this year, the differences are shaping up to be more between the House and Senate, rather than between authorizers and appropriators. The Senate defense authorization bill, approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) last month, made slight trims to the investment accounts: about half a billion from the $97 billion procurement request, and $121 million from the $69 billion research request.
SMALL UAVs: The Danish armed forces have placed a $9.6 million order for AeroVironment’s Puma small UAV, following a competitive evaluation, the company announced June 12. The 13-lb. Puma AE is designed for both land-based and maritime operations. Eighteen nations outside the U.S. have purchased AeroVironment’s Puma AE, Wasp or Raven B small UAVs, according to the company. Denmark previously ordered the Raven B in 2007.
PARIS — MBDA is hoping to secure the full development and production contract for the MMP short-range, portable missile system by year’s end to maintain the scheduled first delivery in 2017.
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Navy is investigating what caused the crash of a Northrop Grumman-built Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator (BAMS-D) unmanned aircraft into swamps near Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. on June 11. The aircraft, a Block 10 RQ-4 version equipped with maritime sensors, was being used by the U.S. Navy as part of tests in the run-up to delivery of the initial purpose-built MQ-4C. The first of these is scheduled to be handed over to the Navy at a special ceremony at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., facility on June 14.
PARIS — Sagem has completed a series of 18 test flights of its long-endurance Patroller S drone in a multisensor, multimission configuration, the Paris-based company announced June 11. Designed for coastal surveillance and homeland security missions, the modular Patroller unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can be fitted with pod-mounted payloads for flights lasting 20-30 hr. at a maximum altitude of 25,000 ft.
Has rescheduled liftoff of the MSG-3 meteorological spacecraft to July 5 from June 19 to give satellite fleet operator Hughes Network Systems time to conduct additional checks of its EchoStar 17.
AIR FORCE Cessna Aircraft Co., Wichita, is being awarded a $12,377,992 (face value) firm-fixed-price contract to purchase four C-208B aircraft for the Special Defense Acquisition Fund inventory, as well as training for 16 pilots, and 14 maintainers for future international partner needs by exercising the option against the subject contract. The location of the performance is Wichita. The work is to be completed by Nov. 30, 2013. ASC/WNZI, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8617-11-C-6209 P0009).
AIR FORCE Rockwell Collins Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is being awarded a $12,437,659 (face value) firm-fixed-price and modification contract for the order of 4,592 Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR) units and assorted accessories through the exercise of 30 corresponding options on the DAGR follow-on contract. The location of the performance is Coralville, Iowa. The work is to be completed by May 2013. SMC/GPK, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8807-09-C-0002, P00029).
The U.S. Air Force’s chief of staff warns planners not to expect an influx of remotely piloted vehicles to shift from Central Command to training organizations.
PARIS — The proliferation of low-cost unmanned aircraft has driven Thales back to embracing the concept of gun-based air defenses. “You cannot afford to use very expensive missiles” against such targets, says Laurent Dupont, in charge of advanced weapon systems at Thales. RapidFire also looks to take advantage of improvements in sensor accuracy and ammunition to enable the gun air defense concept.
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CAE is to provide a suite of ground-based training systems for BAE Systems Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers (AJT) ordered by Saudi Arabia, which the company identifies only as an “undisclosed customer.” The Saudis placed a ₤1.6 billion ($2.5 billion) order with BAE in May for 22 Hawk AJTs and 55 Pilatus PC-21 turboprop trainers. The Arab nation already operates earlier Hawk Mk.65s and PC-9s.
HOUSTON — A growing collaborative effort between NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) and the Houston Technology Center (HTC) to establish high-tech startups by leveraging the skills of laid-off shuttle and Constellation program workers as well as other active professionals is beginning to take advantage of synergies with the region’s other economic strong suits: energy, medicine, information technology and emergent nanotechnology.
Iran’s threat earlier this year to close the Strait of Hormuz highlighted what many experts view as a longstanding fundamental weakness in U.S. naval strategy: the inability to effectively and economically spot and neutralize naval mines. Such mines can cost as little as $1,000 each and are relatively easy for Iran to put in place. Finding and neutralizing them might take U.S. naval forces a month or more, essentially allowing Iran to achieve its strategic goal of blocking trade in the narrow body of water.
PARIS — German unmanned aircraft maker EMT is working on an upgraded version of its Luna tactical unmanned aircraft and a replacement for its hand-launched Aladin system. The Luna NG (next generation) is still in the development and concept phase, but targets an emerging German army requirement to replace the current-generation Luna and KZO unmanned aircraft. A vehicle mock-up is making its debut at the Eurosatory arms exhibition in Paris.
NUSTAR: NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuStar) high-energy X-ray observatory is on track for an 11:30 a.m. EDT launch June 13 by an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket dropped from a converted L-1011 commercial jet south of the Kwajalein atoll. During a teleconference from Kwajalein, NASA Launch Director Omar Baez said the drop, at 3:30 a.m. local time, will take place in a 120-mi. square “box” south of Kwajalein from an altitude of 41,000 ft.
