LOS ANGELES — The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (Jasdf) is expected to announce the result of its exhaustive F-X fighter contest this week, with Lockheed Martin’s F-35 strongly tipped as the winner. The other contenders for the $4 billion contract, Boeing and BAE Systems, are understood to have been advised of the Jasdf’s decision over the past few days. Boeing was offering the F/A-18E/F in conjunction with the U.S. Navy, while BAE Systems was leading a Typhoon bid for Eurofighter with support from Japan’s Sumitomo Corp.
Safety concerns about getting a commercial crew vehicle away from the International Space Station in an emergency are driving NASA’s preferred design to a docking system instead of the grapple-and-berth linkup to be used on upcoming commercial cargo flights.
The Pentagon’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (Jieddo) has spent more than $21 billion since its inception in 2006 in an all-out effort to counter the roadside bombs and homemade land mines that have proven to be the most deadly weapons used against American and NATO forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
NEW DELHI — BAE Systems has bagged a ₤59 million ($92 million) contract from India to supply spares and ground support equipment to aid the operations of the Indian air force’s Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers. The latest order brings the total value of Hawk-related contracts won in India to more than ₤600 million in the last 18 months. Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs) are manufactured in India under license by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), with materials, parts and support services provided by BAE Systems.
Congressional Democrats are waving off the possibility of steep cuts to defense spending in January 2013. According to the Budget Control Act passed in August, defense accounts are in line for a $600 billion hit over the next nine years starting in 2013 — a penalty that will be imposed if Congress fails to agree to $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction by that time.
JOHNSON SUPPORT: NASA has awarded a $165 million, one-year extension of the agency’s Facilities Development and Operations Contract with Lockheed Martin Corp., of Gaithersburg, Md., for support services within the Christopher C. Kraft, Jr., Mission Control Center and the Jake Garn Mission Simulator facility at Johnson Space Center. The agreement represents the first of two one-year extension options negotiated between NASA and Lockheed Martin under a base contract agreement that took effect on Jan. 1, 2009. The new option period extends from Oct. 1, 2012 through Sept.
ANOTHER ONE GONE: Michele Flournoy, the Pentagon’s undersecretary for policy, announced her resignation Dec. 12, citing the need to be with her family. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta praised her as an “invaluable advisor.” Flournoy will stay on until early next year to ease the transition.
FILTON, England — With defense spending likely to slow the growth in demand for new military aircraft engines, Rolls-Royce is exploring ways to enhance its service offering, both in terms of global footprint and the range of services offered. The goal is to double revenue and, in the process, increase the share of turnover derived from support services to 55-60% from 52%, says Paul Craig, executive vice president of defense services for Rolls-Royce.
LONDON — The contracting headaches with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter have credit-ratings company Moody’s worried, not just for Lockheed Martin but also the stealthy aircraft’s expansive supply chain. While the ratings agency notes in a new report that “we still believe the program is unlikely to be canceled outright,” it does highlight areas of concern. Specifically, Moody’s says, “at a minimum, production looks likely to be delayed further, and potentially more meaningful quantity reductions could be next.
LANGKAWI, Malaysia — Airbus Military is hoping the new level of industrial cooperation it plans to have with Indonesian Aerospace (IAe) will help it secure new Asia-Pacific customers and achieve a lower cost base. “We have to be extremely competitive. We have a lot of competition,” Airbus Military chief Domingo Urena-Raso tells Aviation Week on the sidelines of the LIMA Airshow in Langkawi, Malaysia.
ASTRONAUT CAPTURE: Veteran NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson has been named director of Commercial Crew Interface by the Boeing Co., a position in which he assumes comprehensive oversight for crew integration and operations in the design of the CST-100, Boeing’s seven-person spacecraft under development for NASA’s Commercial Crew Development 2 initiative. The appointment is effective Dec. 16. Ferguson retired from NASA on Dec. 9 after 13 years in the astronaut corps.
TYPHOON WARNING: With the start of the new year, Germany will have its Eurofighter force ready to support the NATO Response Force (NRF) if the capability is called on during a crisis. The operational readiness was validated during a NATO exercise last month, the German air force says. The fighter wing JG74 began preparing for NRF more than a year ago, which will see the unit ready to contribute with 300 personnel and six aircraft on standby (four would likely be deployed) to support the alliance’s rapid response mission.
ARMY The Boeing Co., Mesa, Ariz., was awarded a $141,318,475 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the services in support of 30 Apache AH-64D attack helicopters for Taiwan. The work will be performed in Mesa, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 30, 2017. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-09-C-0147).
While the nation’s top uniformed officer says the U.S. military is committed to developing a fifth-generation fighter jet, he indicates that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter may be on a path to a slowdown. “There are some fact-of-life changes that we’ll probably have to make based on the ability to procure on the time lines that we’d like to have,” Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a Dec. 9 event sponsored by the Atlantic Council.
Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and Embraer may get the lion’s share of attention, but the airplanes they build are the sum of systems and parts that are procured from hundreds of suppliers around the globe. So it is not surprising that United Technologies Corp.’s $18.4 billion deal to acquire Goodrich is generating a lot of speculation about the future of the aerospace supply chain.
SpaceX will attempt the first commercial link-up with the International Space Station (ISS) on Feb. 7, which could be a major milestone on the way to the low-Earth-orbit economy NASA is trying to create.
FILTON, England — As the U.K. starts exploring support options for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Defense Ministry is looking to rely on industry for the in-service maintenance approach. In effect, the goal is to replicate the outsourcing structure already in place for the Tornado GR4 RB199 engine and the Eurofighter Typhoon’s Eurojet EJ200. In both cases Rolls-Royce is providing the support.
LANGKAWI, Malaysia — Malaysia’s defense minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, says the news media misquoted him with regards to the Eurofighter Typhoon’s prospects in Malaysia. The Malaysian air force has a requirement for 18 multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA), with a winner to be announced sometime before 2016. Besides the Eurofighter Typhoon, the other contenders are the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale, Saab Gripen, Sukhoi Su-30 and RSK MiG-35.
LANGKAWI, Malaysia — With an eye on becoming a bigger player in the global aerospace and defense industry, Malaysia intends to use its offset requirements. The Malaysian air force needs 18 fighter aircraft and at least two airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. The navy, meanwhile, has a requirement for six anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters. The armed services have been evaluating the technical specifications of the platforms on offer and calculating the life-cycle costs, but the government has a broader view.
The U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) will focus its spending more intently on the development of autonomous and unmanned systems, according to the agency’s recently released science and technology (S&T) strategic plan.
PARIS — Australian teleport operator NewSat announced an agreement with European launch consortium Arianespace Dec. 9 to loft a Lockheed Martin-built Ka-band satellite designed to cover the Middle East, Africa and Asia in the second half of 2014. Melbourne-based NewSat plans up to seven orbital slots in Ka- and Ku-band in the coming years to provide high-bandwidth communication services to government and enterprise markets, including mining, oil, gas, media and carrier-grade telecommunications.
