ISTANBUL — Turkey is exploring whether it would be feasible to launch an indigenous fighter program, even though the government recognizes that the country still might have to be satisfied with another off-the-shelf procurement.
The U.S. Army is launching a three-stage effort to field a vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and other missions, including cargo resupply. The first phase is operational deployment of the Boeing A160T Hummingbird unmanned helicopter to Afghanistan carrying the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (Darpa) Argus-IS giga-pixel wide-area video surveillance sensor.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Shuttle Endeavour’s six-man STS-134 crew returned to Kennedy Space Center on May 12 for a second launch attempt slated for 8:56 a.m. EDT on May 16. “It’s great to be back,” Endeavour commander Mark Kelly told reporters after he and his all-veteran crew landed at Kennedy. The astronauts, who are in the process of sleep-shifting to accommodate an overnight work schedule, flew together on a single Gulfstream aircraft.
Private space companies probably can expect at least 44 paying passengers for trips to orbit in the next 10 years, NASA has told Congress, but the price per seat could be higher than the U.S. government already is paying for rides on Russia’s Soyuz capsule.
The stealthier H-60 Black Hawk helicopters used in the May 1 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound may have been modified at Sikorsky’s Hawk Works facilities near Elmira, N.Y. That is where the United Technologies Corp. helicopter company has completed specialized, low-volume Black Hawk variants and has conducted prototyping activities, such as the construction of the X2 demonstrator.
The U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy told lawmakers May 11 that the Pentagon has not formally embraced a draft European Union (EU) code of conduct for space, but he indicated that the Obama administration sees the deal as one way to pressure Russia and China over space debris and aggressive orbital activity.
The House Armed Services Committee has overwhelmingly approved a provision to the defense authorization bill that would require the Pentagon to grant General Electric and Rolls-Royce access to government facilities to work on the F136 alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter during fiscal 2012, as long as the government incurs no cost.
MUOS OK: The U.S. Navy does not expect the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) next-generation ultra-high frequency satellite program to suffer a Nunn-McCurdy cost and schedule breach, officials told lawmakers May 11. Moreover, Rear Adm. David Titley, director of the service’s Oceanography, Space & Maritime Domain Awareness Division, told the Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee that the Navy expects to have at least 70% capacity left in its legacy ultra-high frequency fleet of satellites by the time MUOS Space Vehicle 1 is on orbit in May 2012.
LONDON — Russian Helicopters is preparing to start deliveries of Mi-171Shs to the Peruvian defense ministry, with all six helicopters on order to be handed over this year. The first batch of three military-transport rotorcraft is completed and ready to be airlifted to Peru, according to Russian Helicopters, the umbrella organization for Russia’s helicopter industry. The Mi-171s were ordered last year through Rosoboronexport and are being built at the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant. Russia also will provide spares and support.
LONDON — Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) will be a partner on the EADS Cassidian Talarion unmanned aircraft should the medium-altitude/long-endurance (MALE) concept transition into a formal program. TAI and EADS signed the collaboration memorandum of understanding during the International Defense Industry Fair in Istanbul. The exact work allocation for TAI has not been settled yet.
Washington analysts at the Center for Strategic & International Studies do not expect much in the way of immediate results from this week’s U.S.-China strategic dialogue meeting.
LONDON — The Swedish defense procurement agency, FMV, is setting the stage for a new torpedo acquisition to replace its Torpedo 45 for use on NH90 helicopters, submarines and corvettes. An initial quantity of 50-100 units is being considered to outfit five rotorcraft, 10 surface ships and four submarines, but the final size of the buy will be much larger given a nominal use of 50 torpedoes a year in exercises and training. In each case the torpedo launch system has to be integrated with Saab command-and-control systems used on all three platforms.
A Northrop Grumman microsatellite launched as a secondary payload on the first orbital flight of the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Falcon 9/Dragon stack last year met its test objectives, paving the way for future microsatellite developments. Dubbed Mayflower, the microsat rode the Falcon 9 to an elliptical orbit averaging 285 km (180 mi.) in altitude, validating an “advanced solar cell deployment system” and collecting baseline design data for future flights at higher altitudes, Northrop Grumman said May 11.
Intelsat has reported a problem with the deployment of the New Dawn satellite’s west antenna reflector, which controls C-band communications. Intelsat and satellite manufacturer Orbital Sciences Corp. are investigating this issue and assessing possible corrective actions, Intelsat said May 10 in announcing first-quarter financial results. For the time being, deployment of the east Ku-band antenna reflector also has been postponed until the issue with the west reflector is resolved.
With the Pentagon facing yet another round of budget cutting and a continuing search for efficiencies — along with a reassessment of roles and missions to fine-tune who should do what with which equipment — there are hints that the U.S. Air Force’s new bomber program is popular and the increasingly expensive F-35 program is not.
The House Armed Services Committee’s version of the fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill has no earmarks, but it has an account of nearly $1 billion set aside to provide money for scores of amendments, adding funds for everything from cancer research to National Guard radio communications. The bill to set defense policy for the coming year is the first in a new era for the U.S. Congress — one in which earmarks are outlawed.
BEIJING — China’s Avic and its partners have test flown a pilotless version of the Brantly B-2B helicopter, promoting it as having military and civilian uses including surveillance, searching for disaster survivors and scientific research. Dubbed the V750, the helicopter has a gross weight of 757 kg (1,670 lb.), payload of 80 kg and a range of 500 km (310 mi.), according to Chinese companies Weifang Tianxiang Aerospace Industry, Qingdao Haili Helicopters and Avic’s trading company, Catic.
BRAZILIAN CONCERN: The conservative Hudson Institute on May 10 warned against potential U.S. Air Force contracting with Brazil’s Embraer for the armed service’s proposed light-attack and armed reconnaissance aircraft effort. Hudson analysts assert that Brazil’s foreign policy has become more anti-U.S. over the last decade and that any award to Embraer would give the burgeoning South American giant leverage in future U.S. national security concerns. Embraer is pitching its Super Tucano to supply 20 Light Support Aircraft to Afghanistan via the U.S.
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Boeing remains confident of bolstering its C-17 backlog with additional international sales on top of the expected order from India, despite the challenges of maintaining unit cost in the face of reduced production rates, possible gaps in the delivery stream and no new U.S. Air Force orders.
TIED UP: Washington watchdogs at the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) are trying to call attention to purported conflicts of interest by the director of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) is hoping the White House will withdraw a draft executive order (EO) that would require contractors to disclose certain political donations made in the two years before they bid for U.S. contracting work. The requirement drafted in April would infringe on the contracting process and inhibit free speech, AIA President Marion Blakey said in a May 5 letter to President Barack Obama.
