Hyderabad, India – Aviation Conclave 2010 opened in Hyderabad Nov. 18 with its hosts determined to show that the south India city is ready to become a leading aerospace hub.
TARGETED OPPORTUNITY: BAE Systems is heading a proposal team to provide part of the U.K.’s Military Flying Training System (MFTS) program. BAE Systems has teamed with Swiss aircraft maker Pilatus, along with the Gama Group and Babcock Aerospace, to bid for a basic training portion of the MFTS. The aircraft on offer would be the PC-21. The umbrella program is run as a partnership between the U.K. defense ministry and a Lockheed Martin/Babcock International joint venture.
SBSS VISION: “Continuity of service” is a top priority for Pentagon officials as they craft an acquisition strategy for the follow-on to the first Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) satellite, says Col. Arnie Streland, who heads the U.S. Air Force’s Space Superiority Directorate. This likely means the service will not fund advances in technology for the sensor.
ZHUHAI, CHINA– Airshow China is hosting the first international demonstration of the Chengdu JF-17/FC-1, flown here by a team from the Pakistan air force. Officials from China’s Aviation Industries of China (Avic) and China Aero-Technology Import Export Corporation (Catic) tell Aviation Week that despite the low price of the aircraft, it is not a low-tech piece of equipment, but rather a “21st century product.”
HYDERABAD – India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) plans to establish four new state-of-the-art facilities in and near Hyderabad. DRDO chief, V.K. Saraswat, told Aviation Week during the Aviation Conclave 2010 here that the facilities will further Hyderbad’s mission to become an Indian aerospace hub. DRDO will provide more than Rs 1,000 crore ($220.1 million) for all the projects over the next five years, Saraswat says.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) NOV. 23 - 25 — International Aerospace Symposium of South Africa 2010, Villa Via Hotel, Cape Town. For more information call +27 (12) 841-4128 or see www.iassa.org.za/ Nov. 29 - Dec. 3 — I/ITSEC 2010, “The World’s Largest Modeling, Simulation & Training Conference, Orlando, Fla. For more information go to www.iitsec.org
San Francisco — NASA’s DC-8 Icebridge mission has used a laser altimeter to provide high-fidelity measurements of snow thickness on sea ice and to penetrate ice sheets covering the South Pole to a depth of 10 km. (6.2 mi.). The flights, which wound up for the season last weekend, are staged from Punta Arenas, Chile, and bridge a data gap in Antarctic ice studies that opened up when NASA lost its Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICEsat-1) last year after six years of operation. ICEsat-2 is not due for launch until 2015.
EYES OPEN: European leaders have signaled a willingness to work with the U.S. to build a global network of space- and terrestrial-based surveillance systems that would permit the early detection and identification of vessels believed to be engaged in narcotics traffic, illegal immigration and other illicit activities at sea. The network has been championed by the U.S’s. National Maritime-domain Awareness Coordination Office (NMAO), which sees it as an effective way to combat piracy.
GOOD TEST: Safran’s Snecma unit has completed a successful ground test of the Vinci upper-stage cryogenic engine with its extendible nozzle deployed, marking a major step forward in its development program. The test, run on the third development model, was the first with the 3-meter-long carbon/matrix composite nozzle fully extended. Vinci is to equip the higher-power Ariane 5 ME, slated to enter service in 2016.
COMPETITIVE PROGRAMS: U.S. Air Force Undersecretary Erin Conaton says that as Pentagon budgets flatten, military space systems must prove that the “cost of national security space is justified.” The Fiscal 2010 budget is slated to go to Congress in early February, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to save $102 billion within five years. “It is not enough simply to demonstrate the need” for space programs, they must also provide “good value” to the nation, Conaton told an audience at the Air Force Association’s Global Warfare Conference in Los Angeles last week.
ZHUHAI, China – Eurocopter has further cemented its links with China through two new ventures announced at Airshow China. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with the Civil Aviation University of China (CAUC) for ab-initio (from the beginning) pilot training activities, to prepare a new generation of helicopter flyers for China.
MRAP BUY: The Marine Corps Systems Command awarded Navistar Defense LLC of Warrenville, Ill., a $253 million delivery order under a previously awarded contract for the procurement of 250 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected recovery vehicles and contractor logistics support, the Pentagon said Nov. 19. The award’s objective is to support coalition forces in Afghanistan who require assistance with disabled vehicles. The work will be performed in West Point, Miss., and is expected to be completed before October 2011.
Houston—With repairs to the fuel tank of the shuttle Discovery still underway, NASA shuttle program managers on Nov. 18 retargeted the earliest date for a second round of launch opportunities for the agency’s senior orbiter from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3. The delay will permit more time for agency managers to establish flight rationale using the repaired fuel tank. The upcoming launch period will close three days later to permit a Dec. 15 Soyuz launching with three U.S., Russian and European space station crewmembers.
E-6B SUPPORT: DRS C3 & Aviation Co. of Herndon, Va., has been awarded a $43,525,578 firm-fixed-price contract for logistics services in support of E-6B aircraft, including management of government-owned inventory and material support of aircraft, the Defense Department announced Nov. 18. The work will be performed at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.; Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Md.; Travis Air Force Base, Calif.; and Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. It is expected to be completed in November 2011.
ZHUHAI, China—As Superior Aviation Beijing ramps up its general aviation activities in China, the company also is working on developing an unmanned aircraft helicopter with potential use for site surveillance or on ships. The V750 is based on a Brantly B-2B helicopter design and is being developed by the Weifan Freesky Aviation Industry Co. The system is designed for more than four hours of endurance, with a 3,000 meter service ceiling, 757 kg. maximum takeoff weight and 80 kg. mission payload.
LONDON—The U.S. Air Force has lost another F-22 to an accident, this one crashing during a training mission while operating from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. The fate of the pilot was not yet known. The F-22, on a nighttime training mission, lost contact with air traffic control on Nov. 16. The crash site was found 100 mi. north of Anchorage, the USAF says.
Beijing—The first satellite based on the CAST DFH-5 bus should be launched in 2016 or 2017, addressing the active market for large spacecraft platforms. Development is scheduled for the next five-year economic plan of the Chinese government, covering 2011 to 2015, says Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CAST) President Yang Baohua.
The lightning rod for rapid fielding of directed energy (DE) weapons and advanced sensors will be the military’s next-generation jammer programs that exploit technologies like active electronically scanned arrays (AESAs) antennas and high-power microwave (HPM) capabilities, say senior U.S. government and industry officials at the 13th Directed Energy Conference.
With serious U.S. Defense Department budget decisions about to be made in the coming months, the big question for the U.S. Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) is whether the service can finish key program testing before the Pentagon decides whether to keep or ax the vehicle.
ZHUHAI, China—Zhuhai Yintong Energy is promoting its high-power lithium ion batteries at Airshow China. Yintong’s Aviation Supplies unit is promoting small lithium ion battery electric unmanned aerial vehicles capable of carrying high-resolution imaging equipment to altitudes of 4,000 meters, or more than 13,000 ft. A typical Yintong UAV measures 1.56 meters in length (5 ft. 1 in.) and weighs 5.5 kg. empty (12.1 lb). Maximum payload is 5 kg.
GENOA—Italy is boosting defense modernization spending even as other elements of its defense budget suffer. So far there are no signs the political turmoil in Italy, with the future of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government in doubt, is threatening to undo the fact that military spending is being shielded from wider budget cuts. For 2011, the defense ministry has submitted a request for €20.49 billion ($27.9 billion), an 0.6% increase from 2010, with the core defense budget of €14.3 billion up only 0.2%.
