The U.S. military has a broad set of problems hampering its operations in cyberspace, including the thorny issue of how to demarcate areas of responsibility. “You can’t have the Defense Department or a defense ministry just focused on their own [military and government] systems because they are [also] closely linked to commercial electric power or communication systems,” says Tony Billington, head of cybersecurity business development at Northrop Grumman.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s development plan for air-launched weapons is due for key trials this year as prime contractor Mectron gears up for guided flight trials of two new missiles.
BENGALURU, India — The Indian Air Force (IAF) is in the market for medium-range, surface-to-air-missile (MR-SAM) systems, and has called for information about proven platforms around the globe, according to military sources. The IAF is keen that each firing unit have the capability to function independently. It also wants the firing units to interact with other units within a common engagement zone. The units should have multifunctional radar with active, phased-array features for 3D target information.
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 411 lifted the NROL-34 mission into a highly inclined orbit from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., in a night launch Thursday. As is usual with classified missions for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), no report was made on the orbital success of the mission or payload. Launch was from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex-3 at 9:24 p.m. PDT.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s Novaer Craft is developing a single-engine basic trainer that also is to serve as the baseline for a four-passenger general aviation aircraft. The all-composite aircraft is based on the K-51 aerodynamic design, and the critical design review was completed in February, says company president Graciliano Campos. First flight is planned in the first half of 2012, followed by aircraft certification a year later.
FORT WASHINGTON, Md. — The drumbeat continued during this year’s Navy League Sea-Air-Space Symposium and Exhibition with a backbeat that’s been reverberating through the industry for the past few years: design the ships before you build them. “Nothing can create the appearance of failure more than the simultaneous design and build,” says Donald “Boysie” Bollinger, chairman, president and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards.
WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. — As the U.S. Navy prepares to upgrade its cruiser and destroyer fleets with Lockheed Martin Aegis radar systems that enable more robust ballistic-missile defense (BMD), the service’s premier site for testing radar over water is under the gun to certify the software underlying the upgrades.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — DigitalGlobe’s WorldView 3 spacecraft, set for launch in 2014, will generate resolution of 0.3 meters, too fine for commercial sale under U.S. policy but sure to be of interest to government customers. Like WorldView 2, launched in 2009, the new satellite will return data in eight colors across the visible and near infrared spectrum, adding to the information that can be extracted from a scene.
KRAFT HONORED: NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston was named for Christopher C. Kraft, Jr., the agency’s first flight director and a key figure in the success of the Apollo moon landings, in ceremonies on April 14 at Johnson Space Center. Kraft, 87, joined NASA’s forerunner, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, in 1945, and later served as flight director for each of NASA’s Mercury missions and several Gemini flights. NASA’s Mission Control Center Houston opened in 1965 for the Gemini IV flight, which featured America’s first spacewalk.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright says the Pentagon is beginning the long process of revamping its weapon system requirements formulation process because the current system “has been gamed to death” by industry and the military services.
May 10-12, 2011 Washington, D.C. Washington Marriott at Metro Center Air Transportation Modernization Conference Join us in 2011 as we align NextGen stakeholders to accelerate NAS modernization. Click here to view the pdf
RIO DE JANEIRO — The Brazilian air force is expanding its F-5 upgrade program, with a decision to have Embraer modify 11 more of the fighters. Brazil acquired the fighters used from Jordan. Discussions over expanding the core F-5M program had been under way for about a year. Deliveries under the contract are to begin in 2013, Embraer says. The contract also covers delivery of an additional flight simulator.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — China’s space industry remains hopeful it can do business with the U.S., despite a renewed chill in relations. But executives at China Great Wall Industry Corp. are finding it hard to believe that California-based Space Exploration Technologies Inc. (SpaceX) is offering lower launch prices than they can.
RIO DE JANEIRO — The Brazilian military is considering formalizing a requirement for a ground-launched cruise missile associated with the Avibras Astros II artillery rocket system. An industry official says preliminary work on the weapon already has begun and that a pending requirements statement should see the program to completion. Development would take several more years, with the exact timeline driven by funding.
The formal request for proposals (RFP) for the U.S. Army’s multibillion-dollar Joint Air-to-Ground Missile contains no major surprises, meaning the winner between a Raytheon-Boeing team and competitor Lockheed Martin could be determined by the long-term lifecycle costs of their respective pitches.
HOUSTON — U.S. researchers are reaching beyond traditional agency-to-agency channels to obtain access to the range of medical and behavioral data coming from Russia’s 520-day Mars mission simulation through cooperative agreements that could help the two spacefaring pioneers and others prepare for future deep-space expeditions.
MOSCOW — Helicopter orders from the Russian military are up and commitments for new types are on the horizon, marking a stark turnaround from the days when military orders were unable to sustain Russia’s domestic manufacturing industry.
RIO DE JANEIRO — The Brazilian government is in the early stages of developing a hypersonic waverider demonstrator, with the goal of completing the first flight test next year. The operational concept is for a Mach 14 scramjet-powered vehicle that could deploy microsatellites, says a Brazilian air force official.
LONGER STAY: Shuttle Endeavour’s final flight has been extended to 15 days, a 24-hr. addition, to allow more time for the shuttle crew to assist with upgrades of the U.S. carbon dioxide removal system onboard the International Space Station. The STS-134 mission, the 25th trip to orbit for Endeavour, is tentatively scheduled for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on April 29 at 3:47 p.m. EDT.
UAV SUSTAINMENT: While annual sustainment spending for U.S. manned fighters will remain around $1 billion or even decline for the rest of the decade, UAV sustainment will grow to nearly $3 billion a year by 2018, according to Hal Chrisman, a principal at AeroStrategy. Moreover, operators are beginning to look for alternative providers to the original equipment manufacturers, he says.
When it comes to the gathering of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data, the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class submarines are proving to be a star. Thanks in large part to the vessel’s photonics mast, the submarine is able to gather images, electronic signals and other data beyond what the Navy had initially envisioned, according to defense analysts and Navy program brass.
RIO DE JANEIRO — The Brazilian government is spelling out major emerging acquisition plans that include new satellites, an intelligence aircraft, armored vehicles and ships. The broad outlines of the massive spending initiative are presented in a document the Brazilian defense ministry released at the LAAD Defense & Security show. The document also shows that the country is targeting 2019 for development of an indigenous fighter, the F-XBR.
SINGAPORE — Indonesia plans to order the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) T-50 jet trainer and is now poised to discuss the terms of the deal. A letter was sent to KAI informing the company that the T-50 is the preferred choice and that Indonesia is ready to begin the negotiation phase, says an official in South Korea familiar with the situation.
