A&D Supplier Innovation Challenge Winners Announced! More than 80 suppliers were evaluated on the basis of value provided to primes, subcontractors and end-users. See who topped the list in terms of: -- Design innovation that changes product size, weight or capability -- Technology breakthroughs that provide new or substantially improved performance View the complete list of winners and nominees at
With Northrop Grumman making its first official moves toward spinning off its shipbuilding segments as a single unit, industry wires are starting to buzz with chatter that the spin-off could go public as its own company. Such a move would satisfy the U.S. Navy’s desire to keep its nuclear vessel builders in the hands of a U.S.-based company that knows what it is doing. The question, of course, is whether Wall Street will buy into the plan.
NEW DELHI — Saab Group signed a letter of intent last week with Mahindra Satyam and will soon form a joint venture for civil aeronautics, special IT systems, network-centric warfare and command and control systems, CEO Håkan Buskhe tells AVIATION WEEK. Mahindra Satyam is a global business and information technology services company with expertise in supply chain management, engineering and product life-cycle management and infrastructure services.
AVIATION WEEK Management Forums, MRO Engines Forum 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
BENGALURU, India – The Indian Air Force (IAF) sees “marginal” positive change in defense public sector undertaking (DPSU) Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) in terms of its commitment to delivering “quality products and sticking to the deadlines.” A senior IAF official who was part of the recent IAF Commanders’ Conference in New Delhi tells AVIATION WEEK that the slight shift in HAL’s commitment was mainly due to the firm stand adopted by India’s military services.
AIR FORCE Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was awarded a maximum $9,000,000 follow-on contract for avionics sustaining engineering services for the C/KC-135 series aircraft fleet. At this time, nothing has been obligated. OO-ALC/GKCK, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is the contracting activity (FA8105-11-D-0001). ARMY
NAVY Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $48,107,835 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-10-C-2229) for additional planning and advanced engineering services in support of the LHA replacement (LHA[R]) Flight 0 amphibious assault ship (LHA 7). The work will be performed in Pascagoula and is expected to be completed by May 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — NASA managers met Nov. 1 to review preparations for the space shuttle Discovery launch on STS-133, clearing the spacecraft for liftoff Nov. 3 on what will be its 39th and final flight. It was a quick meeting, with unanimous consent to press ahead with a launch attempt at 3:52 p.m. EDT. “If I wouldn’t have talked about how quickly it was going, it would have gone even faster. We didn’t have any technical issues to discuss,” quips Mike Moses, shuttle launch integration manager at Kennedy Space Center.
LONDON — Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez on Oct. 29 accepted into inventory eight Embraer AT-29 Super Tucano trainer and light attack aircraft. The initial aircraft were delivered in December 2009, and another batch arrived this year. The Dominican Republic air force notes that 10 pilots and 21 copilots already have been trained to operate the turboprop, with another eight pilots now in training.
HOMELAND IT: U.S. law enforcement agencies have dramatically increased their focus on counterterrorism and homeland security, especially through the use of information technology, but they still face challenges in managing the expansion of related information-sharing networks, making sure everyone necessary participates and seeking flexibility in homeland security grant programs to account for variation in local needs and capabilities, according to a new Rand Corp. report.
BENGALURU, India — India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) on Oct. 28 conducted a 2.3-hr. flight of its Nishant UAV that tested its structural health-monitoring (SHM) system. Nichant’s 32nd flight was carried out at Kolar airfield, near Bengaluru.
MORE REAPERS: The British Defense Ministry plans to buy up to five more General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft, says Peter Luff, the U.K’s minister for defense equipment, support and technology. The purchases would unfold through 2014. Luff also notes that the latest batch of 100 Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk III unmanned air systems ordered in recent weeks are slated to be delivered during the next two years. These platforms support British special operations forces and regular ground troops.
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
MIDDLE MEN: Congressional auditors looking into defense primes and subcontractors say in a new review of six major programs that primes generally attempted to shift cost risk onto subcontractors through fixed-price deals — even when their own contract with the government was cost-reimbursement. The U.S. Government Accountability Office report, dated Oct. 28, says that based on some estimates, 60-70% of work on defense contracts is now done by subcontractors, with certain industries aiming to outsource up to 80%.
LONDON — An Ariane 5 has launched two telecommunications satellites, Lockheed Martin’s BSAT-3B and Thales Alenia Space’s W3B satellites, into orbit from the European space launch facility in Kourou, French Guiana. It was the fourth Ariane 5 mission of the year, with takeoff at 6:51 p.m. local time. Arianespace says the 5,370-kg. (11,800-lb.) W3B for Eutelsat deployed 28 min. into the mission, followed by the 2,060-kg. BSAT-3B for Japan’s B-SAT Corp.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) NOV. 1 - 2 — Shephard Group’s Air Power Middle East 2010, The Ritz-Carlton, Doha, Qatar. For more information go to www.shephard.co.uk.org Nov. 1 - 3 — AVIATION WEEK A&D Programs 2010, Arizona Biltmore, Phoenix, Ariz. For more information go to http://www.aviationweek.com/events
LONDON — With the U.K. government’s decision not to field the Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft, military planners are now trying to decide how to cover the capability gap.
GENOA, Italy — The Italian air force is embarking on an extensive program to revamp its helicopter fleet to better address combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) missions and other roles. One of the newest projects involves replacing the AB212, which is now around 20 years old — the first three were acquired in 1979 and the rest in the mid-1980s.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — NASA has postponed the Oct. 29 start of the countdown for the STS-133 mission, the 39th and final flight of shuttle Discovery, to replace couplings in the right-hand Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) helium line. The work, which NASA Test Director Jeff Spaulding says is “not very complicated…we’ve done it in the past,” nevertheless requires time-consuming tank repressurization and launch pad clearance, precluding other pre-flight activities.
KEEP GOING: Advocates for Senate ratification of the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty between the U.S. and Russia are working hard to dismiss any new opposition after a U.S. launch control center lost communication with some ballistic missiles Oct. 23. The glitch suspended communication between 50 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles and F.E. Warren AFB near Cheyenne, Wyo., for nearly 45 min., according to Air Force officials. The fleet counts 450 ICBMs. When the event became public days later, there were conservatives like Wyoming Sen.
SMALL STEP: Russia’s Aerocon has unveiled a micro-unmanned aircraft, the Inspector-101. With a takeoff weight of just 250 grams (8.7 ounces) and a wingspan of 30 cm. (12 in.), the Inspector-101 with its flying wing design is the smallest UAV developed in Russia so far. Aerocon’s unmanned programs chief, Alexander Kornusheko, tells AVIATION WEEK that now the company is testing this UAV with a 2-gram digital video camera as a payload. The other option is an 8-gram analog camera.
NEIGHBORLY DEAL: Argentina is the fifth nation to indicate its intent to purchase Embraer KC-390s and participate in development and production of the Brazilian airlifter. Negotiations have begun on the acquisition of six aircraft and the involvement of Fabrica Argentina de Avioes in manufacture of the four-jet tanker/transport. Chile, Colombia, Portugal and the Czech Republic have already begun discussions on participation in the program.
