Cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Skripochka will embark on a six-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Nov. 15 to retrieve and install external science experiments, attach a work platform and handrails, and perform maintenance tasks. The activities, limited to the outside of the station’s Russian segment, are scheduled to get underway at 9:25 a.m. Eastern time.
Fresh off its acquisition of CapRock Communications, Harris Corp. intends to buy Schlumberger Information Solutions’ Global Connectivity Services (GCS) business, bringing its combined investment in worldwide satellite communications to nearly $1 billion so far this year.
PARIS – Australia and the U.S. have agreed to work together to enhance protection of the space environment and provide more accurate warning and tracking of potential collisions in space.
LONDON – The U.K. is trying to develop a stronger involvement in the growing South Korean defense market and has signed an equipment cooperation agreement to push forward that agenda. The British government is looking to defense exports to help sustain its defense industrial capabilities at a time of shrinking budgets back home.
NEW DELHI – India will release its Defense Production Policy and also introduce major changes to the delayed 2010 Defense Procurement Policy (DPP) in January 2011, Defense Minister A.K. Antony said Nov. 10. “So now we are going to take some more drastic steps to achieve our goal of speedy indigenization,” Antony said. In anticipation of the move, many international companies have formed Indian subsidiaries.
Key Pentagon acquisition officials are expected to meet even more stringent measures starting Nov. 15 to target affordability and control cost growth, according to further affordability guidance issued by Ashton Carter, defense undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics. Defense analysts say Carter is honing his earlier message and guidance to keep a lid on program cost growth.
LONDON – AgustaWestland is preparing for a slightly delayed first flight of the T-129 attack helicopter for Turkey as the company also secures a top-up order from the Turkish army. The latest, €150 million ($209 million) deal for nine more units brings the order backlog for the T-129 to 60 helicopters. The helos will be assembled by Turkish Aerospace Industries. Turkey retains options for around 40 more units.
NEW DELHI – Finmeccanica is launching a subsidiary to cater to the Indian Navy’s blue-water desires. The company’s Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei (WASS) subsidiary has launched its own, first-ever subsidiary, WIN (WASS India), to offer service support, monitoring of the supply chain and to enter into industrial partnerships.
LONDON – As the U.K. looks to tighten its regulations to stamp out bribery in the pursuit of international business, industry officials warn about potential shortcomings in the rules due to come into effect in April. Although U.K. industry has been broadly supportive of the push, there are some concerns about the implementation language and competitive effects the measure may have.
The results of a review into what allowed 50 U.S. Air Force intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to go offline from remote control stations will be wrapped up within the next three weeks, says Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, who oversees the air service’s Global Strike Command.
The general officer overseeing the new U.S. Air Force command established to organize, train and equip the service’s strike forces is not involved in the day-to-day planning for a multibillion-dollar, next-generation bomber.
Nov. 30 - Dec. 1, 2010 Munich, Germany Gain cost-effective best practices and strategies for engine MRO planning, new technology implementation, navigating maintenance contracts, green processes and compliance issues. Register now - http://www.aviationweek.com/events/current/mroeng/index.htm
NASA will negotiate with 13 contractors on possible systems analysis and trade study contracts aimed at refining choices for a U.S. heavy-lift launch vehicle and related technology. Companies selected will have a shot at $7.5 million in total contract awards, with a maximum value per contract of $625,000, to evaluate launch vehicle system concepts, propulsion technologies and “affordability,” the agency said late Nov. 8.
Even before India next year decides on its Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft supply of 126 fighters, the country dominates the recent history of sales for such aircraft. In a new update on the combat aircraft market, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute notes that in the 2005-2009 period, India topped the list of countries importing fighters with 12% of the total or 115 units. The United Arab Emirates came second at 11%.
NEW DELHI – The Indian air force has reached a preliminary agreement with Boeing to purchase 10 C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft. They will replace the IAF’s fleet of more than a dozen Russian Ilyushin Il-76s. The $4.1 billion deal comes in the wake of President Barack Obama’s visit to India, during which the U.S. removed some Indian laboratories from its restricted entities export list and Obama vowed to make sure “unnecessary barriers don’t stand in the way of high-tech trade between our countries.”
CULLED FLEET: Australian officials have called for industry proposals to dispose of retired de Havilland DHC-4 Caribou aircraft, first brought into service during the Vietnam War. Defense Materiel Minister Jason Clare said two of the fleet will be reserved for sale to historical organizations, while two more already have been presented to the Royal Australian Air Force Museum at Point Cook and the Australian War Memorial. Tender deadline is March 1, 2011.
Cyber missions are still being sorted out among the services to avoid duplication, and cyber operations are still not being conducted as fast as they must be to deter network attacks.
The U.S. Navy is still coming up short in its plan to fund Virginia-class submarines in coming decades and Congress will have to decide whether to go ahead with the service’s sub-building strategy or get the Navy to come up with a new plan, according to a recent report by congressional researchers. While the Navy’s global defense strategy includes a force of 48 Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) in the coming decades, the service’s funding plans still fall short of that mark, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) notes.
Nov. 30 - Dec. 1, 2010 Munich, Germany Gain cost-effective best practices and strategies for engine MRO planning, new technology implementation, navigating maintenance contracts, green processes and compliance issues. Register now - http://www.aviationweek.com/events/current/mroeng/index.htm Click here to view the pdf
LONDON – Astrium Services will perform a study looking into using satellites to gather inflight cockpit voice and flight data recorder information. The focus is on better aircraft tracking over oceans or in remote areas, as well as possibly providing a backup of information now stored on the so-called black boxes. Interest in such a system has increased since last year’s crash of Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Neither the cockpit voice nor flight data recorder have been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean seabed.
