ARMY BAE Systems Land and Armaments, L.P., Troy, Mich., was awarded a $449,964,969 fixed-price-incentive-fee contract for the technology development phase for the Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The work will be performed in Madison, Ala.; Detroit; Waltham, Mass.; and Troy, with an estimated completion date of June 26, 2013. Bids were solicited through the Internet with three received. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-11-C-C001). NAVY
Aviation Week Intelligence Network Exclusive Leading U.S. Navy Expenses 1999-2009, Ranked By Total Amount Spent Or Allocated Aviation Week Intelligence Network Exclusive Leading U.S.
The U.S. Navy is seeking to jump-start its efforts to develop a large-displacement unmanned underwater vehicle (LDUUV)—an underwater “mothership” platform that would release and control other UUVs—even as service officials acknowledge major hurdles remain in developing UUV programs. The Navy is especially having problems developing UUVs for coastal areas, which have become a priority focus for recent naval missions.
An independent analysis by Booz Allen Hamilton of NASA’s plans to develop the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) raises questions about the cost assumptions the agency is using in its own estimates of what it will cost to build the big new rocket. “Due to unjustified, sometimes substantial future cost savings, the team views each program estimate as optimistic,” Booz Allen evaluators tell NASA managers in a preliminary presentation of their findings.
FLYING AGAIN: Northrop Grumman’s X-47B naval unmanned combat aircraft system demonstrator returned to the air on Aug. 12 with a 24-min. flight at Edwards AFB, Calif., to test the latest software load, precision-GPS navigation system and Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT) low-latency data link. The aircraft, air vehicle AV-1, reached 180 kt. and 7,500 ft. Meanwhile, the second X-47B, AV-2, has begun engine runs at Edwards with high-speed taxi tests expected before the end of August.
MOSCOW — The first two prototypes of the modernized Mil Mi-34S1 single-engine helicopter have commenced development trials. The rotorcraft is the lightest model in the Russian Helicopters product portfolio. The holding company says one of the rotorcraft completed its 23-min. first flight on Aug. 5. The other model, painted in Russian air force livery, is undergoing ground engine tests before joining the flight test program, according to Dmitry Rodin, Mi-34 program director, speaking to Aviation Week at the Moscow air show.
U.S. high school students with an interest in robotics will get a chance to test their work in microgravity through a new competition that will use free-flying satellite testbeds inside the International Space Station (ISS) to determine the winning entry.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) AUG. 30 - 31 — Technology Training Corp. Military Vision Systems Conference, Holiday Inn, Alexandria, Va. For more information call 310-563-1210, fax 310-563-1220, or go to www.ttcus.com AUG. 30 - Sept. 1 — Unmanned Aircraft Systems Conference, Paris Las Vegas Hotel, Paris. For more information call 310-563-1210, fax 310-563-1220, or go to www.ttcus.com
MUSIC ENCORE: With its first Manned-Unmanned System Integration Capability (Music) exercise coming up in mid-September, the U.S. Army is turning its attention to a follow-on demonstration, Music 2, in 2013. “Where the focus of Music 1 is interoperability, for Music 2 it will be mission expansion and doing things more efficiently,” says Tim Owings, deputy program manager for Army unmanned aerial systems. Increased automation and sensor fusion will reduce the ratio of operators to aircraft.
Raytheon plans guided test flights of its 13-lb. Small Tactical Munition (STM) from an unmanned aircraft in October as it works to get the weapon mature enough to be selected for a U.S. Marine Corps program to arm the RQ-7 Shadow tactical UAV. “We think our weapon is as mature as anything out there,” says Cody Tretschok, STM capture manager. The system’s technology readiness level (TRL) after guided flights from Raytheon’s Cobra testbed UAV will be TRL 6-7, he believes.
Even though the Pentagon’s acquisition chief, Ashton Carter, approved the award of two technology development contracts worth almost $900 million for the U.S. Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) program last week, questions remain about the GCV’s future.
QUAD TILT: AeroVironment is working on a quadrotor vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) mini-UAV. Promotional flyers on the vehicle were briefly displayed at the AUVSI Unmanned Systems North America 2011 show in Washington last week, but then withdrawn, with the company saying an announcement would be made later. Showing a concept image during a press briefing at the show, Tom Herring, senior vice president and general manager of unmanned systems, said the quiet, battery-powered VTOL unmanned aircraft system is “in the future.”
MOSCOW — The Russian industrial team that developed the containerized Club-K missile concept says sales talks are picking up and deals with several unspecified export customers are nearing conclusion. At the same time, developers have expanded the offering of the Club-K system to add new weapon systems and different container configurations. In addition to the anti-ship 3M054TE and 3M54TE1 missiles, and the land-attack 3M015TE cruise missile, developers say the Kh-35 anti-ship missile and 91PE1 and 91PTE2 anti-submarine missile are available.
RAPID RESPONSE: Acknowledging the rapid innovation under way at the low end of the unmanned aircraft market, the U.S. Army would like to be able to run a competition for small UAVs every three years. “The problem is the acquisition process. It takes us 10 years to get a requirement,” says Tim Owings, deputy program manager for Army unmanned aerial systems.
BLUE DEVIL: Rockwell Collins is providing prime contractor MAV6 with vehicle, flight and ground-control systems for the U.S. Air Force’s $86 million Blue Devil 2 long-endurance, multi-intelligence airship, which is scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan in January. This marks the company’s first contract to provide an unmanned aircraft system ground-control station. The company will draw on its experience building flight simulators for training, says David Vos, senior director for unmanned aerial system and control technologies.
U.S. Marine Corps plans to arm the AAI RQ-7B Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft have cleared NATO treaty compliance hurdles. The service now expects to conduct a field user evaluation within 18-24 months. NATO approval was needed as the rail-launched Shadow falls under a treaty intended to prevent the proliferation of intermediate-range cruise missiles. “We had to demonstrate it is a UAS,” says Col. James Rector, Navy program manager for small tactical unmanned aerial systems.
HOUSTON — The Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI), a key European contribution and one of four primary instruments under development for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), has completed space environmental and calibration testing. Tests took place at the U.K. Science and Technology Facilities Council’s RAL Space in Oxfordshire, European Space Agency (ESA) officials reported Aug. 18.
AAI Corp. is to help AME Unmanned Systems develop and support its Fury 1500 long-endurance small tactical unmanned aircraft, under a strategic alliance agreement. AME’s Fury is a 300-lb.-class flying-wing aircraft with an endurance exceeding 16 hr. while carrying a 75-125-lb. payload. It is being fielded to Afghanistan under the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Sand Dragon program to counter improvised explosive devices.
On either a conventional battlefield or in urban settings, there is virtually no way to defend against unmanned aerial systems (UAS) with electronic or cyberweapons.
BEIJING — Aiming for first delivery in 2016 of whichever foreign fighter wins its F-X competition, Japan will next month choose three primary local manufacturers for the aircraft. Established suppliers likely to be chosen include Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the airframe, IHI for the engine and Mitsubishi Electric for the fighter’s systems. A major challenge confronting the defense ministry is to preserve the country’s fighter industrial base.
U.S. missile ballistic defense (BMD) officials want to standardize the different messaging and communication processes among BMD platforms to make sure the right information is delivered in time to support the decision of whether to fire an interceptor, says an official for a company involved in BMD efforts. Some form of standardization is “being looked at,” says Larry Brachfeld, principal engineer of Sparta, a Cobham Analytic Solutions unit working on BMD command-and-control issues.
U.S. Air Force safety investigators have approved the return to flight of the F-35 flight-test force while continuing to explore what caused the failure of an integrated power package (IPP) and subsequent fire on AF-4. The fire was quickly extinguished by onboard systems after the Aug. 2 incident at Edwards AFB, Calif. The investigators have narrowed down the root cause to an IPP valve that “did not function properly,” according to a statement issued today by the U.S.-led F-35 Joint Program Office.
MOSCOW — Russia’s Tactical Missile Corp. expects to see revenue this year grow by 10 billion rubles ($340 million) despite a financial hit from the conflict in Libya. The missile and defense electronics company is projecting turnover of 44 billion rubles this year, compared with the 34 billion in sales booked last year that generated 3 billion rubles in profit, says the company’s chief designer, Boris Obnosov.
