U.S. Army Secretary John McHugh is promising to spend $7 billion over the next decade on renewable-energy technologies. McHugh also announced last week the establishment of the Energy Initiatives Office Task Force, which will be focused on “working with the private sector to execute large-scale renewable energy projects,” according to an Army statement. The task force will conduct “an aggressive outreach effort to attract and engage private industry” in the renewable energy effort, the service says.
TAIPEI, Taiwan — First deliveries of Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to Taiwan appear set for 2014. Sources familiar with the situation add that the first Black Hawk is due to be completed in May 2013, but then needs to be modified to meet Taiwan’s requirements. Also, Taiwanese pilots and maintenance engineers will have to train in the U.S. before the aircraft comes to Taiwan.
UP FOR GRABS: On Aug. 15, NASA will unveil its latest batch of 2,000 space program artifacts to be given away to eligible organizations that request them. Most of the artifacts are from the space shuttle program, and include thermal tiles and spacesuit components. “Artifacts are released incrementally when NASA no longer needs them, in accordance with export control laws and regulations,” the agency says.
Air Combat Command chief Gen. William Fraser has declared initial operational capability (IOC) for the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk Block 30 unmanned aircraft, officially clearing its use for operational missions. Fraser signed off on the initial operational capability decision Aug. 10, according to Mike Norcini, chief of Global Hawk requirements for ACC. “There are enough assets and infrastructure in place to support the one continuous Block 30 orbit requirement for IOC,” Fraser says.
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa)are setting up an engineering review board to investigate the loss of the second and final Hypersonic Test Vehicle (HTV-2) shortly after launch from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on Aug 11.
TAIPEI, Taiwan — At least three Asian nations are planning to upgrade their Lockheed Martin F-16s with active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, possibly following the U.S. Air Force’s lead. Taiwan is seeking U.S. government permission for an F-16 upgrade package that includes AESA radar, targeting pods and missiles. This AESA radar competition in Taiwan—and globally—is between Northrop Grumman’s Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) and the Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar (RACR).
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has completed two weeks of testing on a Textron-built countermeasure system for protecting vehicles from rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Textron Defense Systems’ TRAPSNet—an enhanced version of its Tactical Rocket-Propelled Grenade Airbag Protection System (TRAPS)—is a passive countermeasure that automatically deploys a net to defeat the RPG before it reaches the vehicle, minimizing collateral damage.
William Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for space operations, will head a new mission directorate at the U.S. space agency that combines Space Operations and Exploration Systems. To be called the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEO), the new organization at NASA headquarters in Washington will manage U.S. operations on the International Space Station (ISS) and development of capabilities for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Aug. 16 - 18 — Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International North America 2011, Washington Convention Center. For more information call 703-845-9671 ext. 213, or go to www.symposium.auvsi.org/auvsi11/public/enter.aspx Aug. 16 - 21 — MAKS - International Aviation & Space Salon MAKS 2011, Zhukovsky, Russia. For more information go to www.aviasalon.com/en/
The newly negotiated contract between the Ingalls Shipbuilding unit of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and the U.S. Navy for the DDG-113 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer includes provisions that take into account a half-decade gap in building the vessel type as well as the long-term effects of Hurricane Katrina on the yard, HII CEO Michael Petters says.
More than a year of in-space testing has demonstrated that a nontoxic “green” thruster technology developed in Sweden is spaceworthy, with better head-to-head performance than hydrazine, according to a paper presented this week at the Conference on Small Satellites in Utah.
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s ministry of national defense (MND) caused a sensation during the preview of the 2011 Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition by displaying a billboard depicting an aircraft carrier, similar to China’s former Soviet ship Varyag, being blown up by a Taiwanese Hsiung Feng III anti-ship cruise missile.
Wall Street analysts say they see defense industry spin-offs and other divestitures growing as investors are likely to keep pushing for the release of slower-growing businesses.
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) are assessing data from today’s Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) test flight to establish why telemetry was lost during the mission.
A major hurdle to the U.S. military in preventing or deterring cyberattacks has been a prohibition against the use of offensive cyber- and electronic-attack weapons, but those barriers are being defined and some may be removed.
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding unit should meet its overall cost-and-schedule targets for the U.S. Navy’s next-generation aircraft carrier CVN-78 Gerald R. Ford despite recently acknowledged potential overruns on the ship’s current design-and-construction contract, HII CEO Michael Petters says. “We remain committed to the financial targets,” Petters told Wall Street investment analysts during the company’s Aug. 11 conference call to detail second-quarter financial results. “The targets on this ship have not changed.”
GHOST STORY: Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Ghost electrically powered vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) mini-UAV is making its debut at next week’s Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International show in Washington. Weighing 9 lb., the tandem-rotor autonomous aircraft can fly for up to 30 min. on battery power and is designed for low noise and ease of use in urban warfare and special operations. IAI also has developed the Panther family of tilt-prop small VTOL UAVs.
The June 9 test-stand fire that ruined one of the two rocket engines scheduled to power the first flight of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus II launch vehicle was caused by kerosene fuel leaking from a 40-year-old manifold manufactured in the former Soviet Union.
HOUSTON — NASA is paying too much to educate civil servants and contract employees by failing to seek the best academic value, set financial limits or seek future service commitments from workers, as well as by allowing reimbursements for academic credits earned for prior experience, according to an audit by agency Inspector General Paul Martin.
LONDON — The U.K. aims to complete its defense reforms by April 2013, according to Jon Day, second permanent secretary for defense. The initiative is born of a report produced by the Defense Reform Unit headed by Peter Levene and largely embraced by Defense Secretary Liam Fox. The changes are part of a larger restructuring effort to help the U.K. cure problems in its military spending and management system.
Despite the hopes of U.S. defense industry advocates to stave off steep cuts to the Pentagon, the military-minded have scant representation so far on a new 12-member congressional panel charged with finding $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction this year. But that is not to say congressional military policy-making committees were completely shut out.
