JSPOC STOPPED: The U.S. Air Force is pausing upgrade work on its Joint Space Operations Center, says Air Force Space Command chief Gen. William Shelton. The JSPOC oversees monitoring of roughly 20,000 orbiting objects and notifies operators of potential satellite collisions. That number is expected to triple by 2030. But the JSPOC has been lacking in technology.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) APR. 21 — The Wings Club Luncheon featuring Calin Rovinescu, President & CEO, Air Canada, The Yale Club, New York. For more information call 212-867-1770 or go to [email protected] Apr. 25 — Greater Washington Aviation Open 23rd annual golf tournament, Lansdowne Golf Resort, Lansdowne, Va. For more information email [email protected], or go to www.gwao.org
BENGALURU, India — India’s Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) recorded revenues of Rs 5,550 crore ($1.23 billion) for its fiscal year 2010-11, a 6.3% jump over the previous fiscal year. The company achieved exports of $41.69 million, an increase of 76% over last year’s $23.65 million.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — NASA’s prime space shuttle contractor, United Space Alliance, told employees April 15 that half of them will need to find other jobs this summer. The official notification was long expected, as the shutdown of the 30-year-old shuttle program has been under way for several years. “We’re starting the process,” USA spokeswoman Kari Fluegel says. “We’ll take self-nominations [for layoffs] first, then determine who else needs to go.”
RIO DE JANEIRO — Launcher and pad preparations to boost the Ukraine-built Cyclone-4 from Brazil’s Alcantara launch center are entering their final phase, with the goal of completing the qualification liftoff next year. Discussions between Ukraine and Brazil to jointly work on a Delta II-class launcher and launch site in northern Brazil date back to the 1990s and have been officially underway since 2003.
TILTROTOR TECH: Bell Helicopter has teamed with V-22 partner Boeing to propose an advanced tiltrotor for the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Medium technology demonstration. The Army plans to award three to five $3-4 million contracts in May for 24-30-month configuration studies that are planned to lead to two competing flight demonstrators later this decade. JMR Medium would demonstrate technology for a rotorcraft family to replace the AH-64D, UH-60M, AH-1Z, UH-1Y and MH-60R/S after 2025.
BENGALURU, India — The Indian Air Force (IAF) has begun laying the groundwork for the formation of Tejas fighter squadrons, although it still awaits the delivery of two test aircraft from the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL).
Lockheed Martin’s Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system successfully tracked and engaged an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) target using data from a remote AN/TPY-2 radar during an April 15 test off Hawaii, the company confirms. This marked the Aegis BMD system’s first engagement against an IRBM as well as the first time the system used a launch-on-remote capability, the company says, which allows the Aegis BMD system to employ remote sensors to detect threats as early in the flight as possible.
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is preparing for another set of field tests that could be used to develop underwater laser communications capability. The NRL completed its first undersea laser-generation field demonstration in May 2010 and will look to expand on those tests this June, says Ted Jones, a civilian physicist and team research leader for the NRL plasma physics division.
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.
