HOUSTON — NASA space shuttle program managers approved a Nov. 1 launch date for the 11-day STS-133 mission aboard the shuttle Discovery, following a Oct. 6 review of mission preparations. John Shannon, the shuttle program manager, received a unanimous “go” from the team members to continue with launch preparations.
Montreal-based CMC Electronics will provide its CMA-9000 flight management system (FMS) for the Boeing-led avionics upgrade of the U.S. Air Force’s 59-strong KC-10 fleet. The first tanker is scheduled to be modified and flight tested in 2012 at Boeing’s facility in San Antonio, with delivery of the final KC-10 modification expected in 2015.
LONDON — In advance of the Royal Australian Air Force’s receipt of its first Airbus A330-based Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) in the coming weeks, Spanish military authorities have provided the aircraft’s military type certificate. The RAAF is due to receive two of its five KC-30A MRTTs this year.
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The inability of the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) to provide the proper oversight of a contractor security program helped allow contractors to illegally retain security clearances at sensitive jobs in Kuwait, the Pentagon Inspector General (IG) says. “CSSC-K [Combat Support Services Contract-Kuwait] contractor employees worked in sensitive positions without the required security clearance,” the IG says in its September report.
LONDON — U.K. Defense Secretary Liam Fox reaffirmed the British government’s commitment to maintain the Trident replacement program but shed little new light on the ongoing Strategic Defense and Security Review while speaking at the Conservative Party’s congress. In his address, Fox notes that economic circumstances are constraining the ambitions he has for defense. Nevertheless, he says, “we have to be willing to invest” to field forces that can be adaptive and handle a range of scenarios.
NASA has given a thumbs-up in its mission confirmation review process for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (Maven) project, heading it toward a 2013 launch.
The Defense Department’s decision to decertify Lockheed Martin’s premier Fort Worth fighter assembly facility for poor auditing has caught company officials off guard. “We were surprised by this action,” says Joe Stout, a company spokesman. “We have a corrective action plan in place that the Defense Contract Management Agency accepted on June 30, and we have been executing tasks on schedule in accordance with the plan.”
NEW DELHI — Price negotiations will begin soon for 99 General Electric F414 fighter jet engines selected to power the Mk II version of the Indian Air Force’s Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). India’s Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) awarded the contract on Oct. 1, and it is expected to be signed in a few months (Aerospace DAILY, Oct. 1).
BENGALURU, India — Signaling the end of the monopoly enjoyed by Indian government-owned Defense Public Sector Units, Minister of State for Defense M.M. Pallam Raju has asked DPSUs to shift gears and compete for defense manufacturing work. Pallam’s comments are significant in light of increased participation of private players in the defense and aerospace sectors.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has denied a protest from U.S. Aerospace, a small California-based firm, claiming that it was inappropriately rejected from participating in the U.S. Air Force’s $35 billion KC-135 replacement competition. This clears the way for the Air Force to continue reviewing bids from Boeing and EADS North America; a downselect is expected as soon as the end of November.
KOCHI, INDIA — The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) plans to double its assets and personnel gradually, with a proportional beefing up of infrastructure. The ICG has formally commissioned a new station at Murud Janjira in Maharashtra. The station had been set up and activated in June 2010 as part of the strengthening of Joint Coastal Patrolling (JCP) off Gujarat and the Maharashtra coast.
The Stuxnet cyberworm – now claimed by Iran’s government as proof of U.S. efforts to derail its peaceful nuclear program – is a formidable piece of code, a senior U.S. Homeland Security Department official says. “The capabilities and sophistication of Stuxnet [should] not be underestimated,” says Sean McGurk, acting director of the department’s national cybersecurity and communications integration center and former director of control systems security.
ICBM SUPPORT: Northrop Grumman Corp. has awarded Lockheed Martin a $106 million contract to develop the next-generation Reentry Field Support Equipment (RFSE) for the U.S. Air Force’s Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) system. Under the 58-month contract, awarded in July but announced Oct. 6, Lockheed Martin will deliver two sets of RFSE. Production of an additional 10 sets for deployment to all operational Minuteman III wings will be performed under a follow-on contract. Northrop is the prime ICBM integrator.
LOS ANGELES — Lockheed Martin is hoping for additional U.S. Air Force funds to continue evaluating the X-55A Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft (ACCA) now that the low-cost transport has completed its latest flight-test phase.
LOS ANGELES — Aerospace workers as well as city and state officials rallied Oct. 5 in Southern California as part of nationwide moves by EADS North America aimed at showcasing the proposed KC-45 tanker for the U.S. Air Force contest — and the jobs they say it will support across the country. The rally, one of several orchestrated in a parallel operation countering a similar series of meetings held by competitor Boeing, was hosted in Irvine by Parker Aerospace. Parker would be a major supplier on both the KC-45 and Boeing’s proposed KC-767 program.
Flir completed its acquisition of sensing-technology company ICx on Oct. 5 for a total purchase price of $268 million, the companies announced. The deal concludes a process that began in August, when Flir initiated a tender offer for all outstanding ICx shares. The tender offer expired on Oct. 1, and the acquisition closed on Oct. 5.
PARIS — Iridium Communications has finalized an agreement with French export credit agency Coface that will clear the way for provision of a $1.8 billion credit facility to finance the space segment of its Iridium Next constellation.
The U.S. Army is expecting to announce the winner of a contract to develop the Enhanced Medium-Altitude Reconnaissance Surveillance System (Emarss) by the end of the year, says Lt. Col. Mike Zuvanich, program director. The program is designed to field 36 Emarss aircraft, all to be based on the Hawker Beechcraft Kingair 350ER; the competition is to handle integration of the mission systems. Total life-cycle cost of the system is expected to be more than $1 billion, Zuvanich says.
IAF TRAINER: Hawker Beechcraft says an Indian Air Force decision on the replacement for the troubled HPT-32 Deepak 2 trainer is expected in the “coming months.” The company’s T-6C military trainer will be evaluated by IAF officials in field trials beginning Oct. 11. The initial deal calls for 75 aircraft, but companies have said it could be around 104 total. Competitors include Embraer, EADS, Grob, Pilatus and others. The indigenously designed HPT-32 was grounded for a long period starting in July 2009 after several reported fatalities and engine failures.
The U.S. could face a 12-month gap in backup Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite coverage, crucial to predictions of severe weather , starting in April 2015 as a result of accumulated delays in GOES-R spacecraft procurement and instrument development, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) warns.
