NASA will aim for a March 14 air-launch of its Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, spacecraft on a mission begun in 2003 to identify high-energy X-ray sources—including distant black holes—with unprecedented sensitivity.
STRANGE STOCKS: Citing news reports of program cancellations naming the U.S. Air Force Global Hawk Block 30 and the Army’s Humvee recapitalization program, financial analyst Robert Stallard at RBC Capital Markets thinks it strange that Wall Street has seen fit to return many defense stocks back to levels close to where they were before the August 2011 Budget Control Act — even after the administration indicated major defense cuts were coming.
The U.S. Navy has conducted autonomous aerial refueling tests as a step toward a flight demonstration in 2014 using the Northrop Grumman X-47B unmanned combat air system (UCAS). In tests completed in late January, a Calspan-operated Learjet acting as a surrogate unmanned aircraft was flown autonomously behind an Omega-operated Boeing 707 probe-and-drogue tanker.
The U.S. Navy should do a “thorough analyses of alternatives (AOA) for its future surface combatant program,” the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended in a report released Jan. 24. GAO also found the Navy analysis used to restart the service’s DDG-51 Arleigh Burke destroyer line and scuttle Navy plans for a larger, more modern DDG-1000 Zumwalt class fleet fails to justify the service’s decision.
THROWBOTS: Qinetiq North America announced Jan. 24 that it had received a $5.3 million order from the Pentagon’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (Jieddo) for more than 100 Dragon Runner 10 throwable robots. Weighing in at just more than 10 lb., the 15-in.-long, 13.5-in.-wide and 5.8-in.-tall robot can climb stairs and carry various payloads including sensors, cameras, and robotic arms while maintaining effective wireless communication over long distances. Deliveries will continue into spring 2012.
PARIS — Eurocopter has begun discussions with the German government regarding planned defense spending cuts that likely will see procurement reduced to 55-70 units. Initial discussions are also due to begin this week with Spain’s new government to determine what cuts may loom there. Although more paring is all but inevitable, Eurocopter President and CEO Lutz Bertling says their scale is not clear. In Germany, for instance, the number of Tigers to be acquired is likely to be higher than the 40 units discussed.
PARIS — Eurocopter expects helicopter deliveries to enter a new growth phase in 2012, with order intake anticipated to rise for a second year. “Our assumption is very strong growth in the next years,” CEO Lutz Bertling says. Deliveries are expected to return to their pre-crisis level, or about 600, up from 503 units last year, 527 in 2010 and 558 in 2009. Order intake this year should surpass 500 units, Bertling believes.
A Jan. 24 DAILY story misidentified the EELV engine being offered at a discount to United Launch Alliance. It is the RS-68 engine, which powers the core stage of the Delta IV.
HOUSTON — The crew of the International Space Station joined with launch teams in Kazakhstan early this week for a series of preparations leading to the late Jan. 27 arrival of Russia’s first Progress resupply mission of 2012. The unpiloted space freighter, loaded with nearly three tons of dry goods, research gear, propellant, water and compressed air, is scheduled for launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Jan. 25 at 6:06 p.m. EST, or Jan. 26 at 5:06 a.m. at the desert launch site.
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, long a center for sounding rocket science campaigns, is becoming a site for small satellite launches as well, according to NASA’s new chief technologist. Mason Peck, a Cornell professor who assumed a two-year assignment managing NASA’s open-ended technology-development effort Jan. 3, toured the venerable launch site on Virginia’s eastern shore Jan. 24, and found it a promising spot for smallsat work.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — While U.S. launch officials slowly make headway in their efforts to curb rising launch costs, some are calling for a better compromise between mission assurance and affordability as the Air Force studies a possible rate increase to 10 national security space launches per year.
The U.S. Air Force is embarking on an accelerated analysis of alternatives for a future defense weather satellite constellation after initiating the termination of Northrop Grumman’s Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS) contract.
The leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) are scheduled to dine with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Jan. 25 at the Pentagon to discuss the broad outlines of looming defense budget reductions. Their briefing will come one day before the press anticipates a similar readout, as the military considers how to approach a $489 billion reduction to its prior spending plans for the next decade.
Feb. 14-16, 2012 Arlington, VA Shedding light on DoD’s future spending priorities and important technology areas! Hear from senior service leaders on what the customer wants and how requirements are shifting. For more information and to register visit www.aviationweek.com/events/dtar. Click here to view the pdf
LONDON — After some delay, Oman’s long-anticipated purchase of Eurofighter Typhoons has taken an important step forward. The Omani government has now submitted a request for proposals to BAE Systems for both procurement and, importantly, support of the strike fighter. The initial deal is expected to be for around 12 aircraft. Contract award is expected later in the year, with delivery likely to come 36 months later.
ARMY General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, Calif., was awarded a $30,342,272 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract in support of the MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system quick reaction capability. The work will be performed in Poway, Calif., with an estimated completion date of May 7, 2012. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-09-C-0153).
A solar flare that erupted Jan. 22 has prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to issue warnings of a geomagnetic storm that will wash over Earth on the morning of Jan. 24, potentially upsetting power grids, navigation and satellites. For spacecraft, geostationary satellites are most at risk because their orbits at 22,300 mi. above the equator put them beyond the protection of the planet’s radiation belts. Satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) generally operate within the radiation belts.
AAI Corp. is proposing a new vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) design for the U.S. Navy’s medium-range maritime unmanned aerial system (MRMUAS) requirement. The Shadow Knight is based on the slowed-rotor/compound (SR/C) concept licensed from Carter Aviation Technologies, but with changes to enable a true hover capability for operation from ships.
The Pentagon’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (Jieddo) is looking for industry solutions to the problem of homemade explosives (HME) — specifically those made with ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which has become the deadliest weapon used against NATO troops in Afghanistan. According to a Broad Area Announcement issued Jan. 17, Jieddo is looking for studies that will “define the signatures and available observables” for these explosives, as well as “aid in the development of capabilities to counter these threats.”
President Barack Obama’s budget release will be delayed a week until Feb. 13, an administration official confirms. “The date was determined based on the need to finalize decisions and technical details of the document,” the official said in an email, adding that in keeping with efforts to rein in the federal deficit, the administration will not distribute paper copies of the budget. The administration is supposed to submit its budget to Congress on the first Monday of February. The Obama administration has met that deadline just once — in 2010.
