The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is extending the time needed to review proposals from contractors vying for a contract worth up to $10 billion for 10 years of work sustaining the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) missile shield system. Lockheed Martin/Raytheon and Boeing/Northrop Grumman are locked in a duel for the work. MDA had planned for a downselect in early summer; this is now slated for November.
PHILADELPHIA — Boeing expects to continue its niche acquisition activities and is looking at infrastructure security as one potential area for investment. Infrastructure security is gaining increased attention at Boeing. Although the field is still “fragmented” and the company is still defining how exactly it should look at the field, it is one area where a deal could emerge, says Chris Raymond, vice president for business development and strategy for Boeing’s defense business. At this point, a specific acquisition opportunity has not been identified.
BEIJING — The South Korean air force plans to choose next year among the Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagle, Eurofighter Typhoon and Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning for its F-X Phase 3 program, subject to funding from parliament.
PHILADELPHIA and NEW DELHI — The Indian cabinet’s decision to proceed with a U.S. foreign military sale purchase of 10 C-17s should stretch the California-based Boeing production line until 2014. The exact timeline will be dictated by the delivery schedule included in the yet-to-be-signed letter of agreement between the Indian government and the U.S. The 10 aircraft are expected to be delivered in two batches — five aircraft one year and five more the next.
SINGAPORE — Airbus Military is a strong contender to win a contract for fixed-wing military transports to replace the Indonesian air force’s aging Fokker F27s. For more than a year now, Airbus Military has been negotiating to transfer production of its C-212 aircraft to Indonesian Aerospace in an effort to capitalize on the Southeast Asian country’s lower cost base, but Airbus Military wants to ensure it gets sales out of Indonesia before it transfers the C-212 production line.
SINGAPORE — Japan appears set to increase its investment in unmanned systems, in response to lessons learned from the Fukushima nuclear disaster that followed the March 11 earthquake/tsunami. The nuclear disaster highlighted how useful robots are in dealing with such situations, says Japan’s defense minister, Toshimi Kitazawa, who addressed delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore June 4.
PHILADELPHIA — Boeing expects the first flight test of the Arrow 3 ballistic missile interceptor to take place toward the end of the year. The program so far has matched all six “knowledge points” by which its progress is being measured, with three more due to be completed this year, says Mira Ricardel, who heads Boeing’s missile defense activities.
Pratt & Whitney is looking for cost savings on the next batch of F135 engines for the vertical-lift F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, but warns the steep procurement cut imposed by the Pentagon will push up the price. “It is a challenge to maintain affordability when the production volume is reduced so significantly,” says Bennett Croswell, president of Pratt’s military engines business.
LOCKHEED ATTACKED: Investigation of the “significant and tenacious” May 21 cyberattack on Lockheed Martin’s computer network has concluded that the March breach at secure identity-authentication provider RSA “was a direct contributing factor,” the defense giant says. In March, RSA acknowledged that an “extremely sophisticated” cyberattack “in the category of the advanced persistent threat” had succeeded in extracting information related to its widely deployed SecureID two-factor user authentication system.
PHILADELPHIA — Boeing officials are offering to continue production of the GPS IIF satellite for the U.S. Air Force despite a decision by the service to move on to the Lockheed Martin GPS IIIA program. Roger Krone, president of Boeing Network and Space Systems, says the company is willing to maintain the existing prices for further sales of GPS IIF satellites to the Air Force. He made his comments June 6 during briefings for the media in advance of the Paris Air Show.
The outcome of talks due for completion this summer about final requirements for the next increment of U.S. Air Force GPS satellites could affect the constellation’s ability to support next-generation FAA air traffic requirements. USAF is finalizing plans for the next increment of GPS III satellites, dubbed GPS IIIB, and questions loom about what new technologies will be included.
LONDON — India and Pakistan are increasing the size of their nuclear weapon arsenals and delivery mechanisms, even as the total global stockpile of nuclear warheads is decreasing, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) asserts.
PHILADELPHIA — Boeing and Bell are exploring configuration options for a new rotorcraft that would take advantage of the tiltrotor configuration prominently used on the V-22.
TWO BIRDS: Lockheed Martin officials say that two GPS III spacecraft could be launched on a single Atlas V if United Launch Alliance (ULA) can develop an adapter for the rocket designed with a five-meter fairing. ULA began an eight-month study of dual-launch options for the Atlas V and Delta IV in May, says company spokeswoman Jessica Rye. Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin is focused on building the first engineering development units for the GPS IIIA pathfinder satellite.
SINGAPORE — New Zealand, which has moved into a government deficit, is evaluating whether its air force should retain its Boeing 757s or get another aircraft type that will be cheaper to operate and maintain. The Royal New Zealand Air Force is the only 757 operator in the region, so spare parts and maintenance support may become a concern, New Zealand’s defense minister, Wayne Mapp, tells Aviation Week on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. The Royal New Zealand Air Force has two 757-200s and it uses these as VIP transports.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) JUNE 7 — ATI Short Course: Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Applications, Hilton Garden Inn, Dayton, Ohio. For more information go to www.aticourses.com june 14 - 16 — 2011 Institution of Metal Finishing for Aerospace & Defense Industries, Royal Air Force Museum, Cosford, England, U.K. For more information call (202) 547-0229 or go to www.instituteofmetalfinishing.org
NEW DELHI — India will test a 5,000-km-range (3,100-mi.) intercontinental ballistic missile by the end of this year, according to the chief of the country’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). “[The] Agni-V missile [should] be ready for a test, probably in December,” says V.K. Saraswat.
