An Oct. 1 DAILY story on the NASA reauthorization mischaracterized Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ (D-Ariz.) position on adding an extra flight to the space shuttle program. Giffords supports the flight, but opposes the “unfunded mandate” in the Senate reauthorization bill that would keep the shuttle program active beyond that flight, at an estimated cost of $140 million per month, through the end of Fiscal 2011.
LONDON — Selex Galileo has secured the latest contract for the mechanically scanned radar on the Eurofighter Typhoon, even as discussions between government and industry continue over development of an active electronically scanned array radar to replace it. The €200-million ($277-million) contract would cover Captor-M production for the 88 fighters that are part of the Tranche 3A contract. Deliveries of the aircraft are slated to take place in 2012. Selex also recently secured the contract for the Tranche 3A self-protection suite.
PRAGUE — The U.S. space policy debate in Washington is reverberating around the world, leaving companies in Europe and elsewhere unsure of their best strategies for the changing marketplace.
HOUSTON — NASA has awarded Lockheed Martin a six-month, $13-million contract extension for the integration of International Space Station cargo onboard the space shuttle, as well as deliveries using Russian, European and Japanese craft.
BEIJING — South Korea will begin exploratory development of the Korea Attack Helicopter project, intended to create a home-grown replacement for the army’s AH-1S Cobras and Hughes 500MDs. An allocation of 19.2 billion won ($17 million) will pay for the work.
FINNISH MLRS: The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on Sept. 29 of a possible $100 million foreign military sale to Finland to upgrade two dozen M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, as well as associated parts, equipment and logistical support. Finland already has M270s. The prime contractor would be Lockheed Martin. “Finland will use this equipment to modernize its armed forces by expanding its existing architecture to counter threats from potential attacks,” the agency said in a public statement Sept. 30.
NEW DELHI — As part of the growing U.S.-India partnership on transnational crime and criminal investigations, U.S. FBI experts concluded a five-day law enforcement exchange with the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, with a focus on interview and interrogation techniques.
NEW DELHI — Lack of commonality in aircraft models has made inventory management a grueling task for the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik tells AVIATION WEEK here on the IAF’s 78th anniversary. Steps are being taken to bring obsolescence levels (50% of equipment is outdated) down to 20% by 2014-15. “Air defense is the most critical,” he says.
PRAGUE — A unit of Swedish Space Corp. (SSC) has space-qualified a high-performance “green” propellant on the main Prisma satellite, demonstrating the technology’s promise for cost and time savings in preparing satellites for launch. One potential use of the technology is “preloaded satellites,” fully fueled and ready for launch on need.
INDIAN INTERCEPTOR: The Indian Coast Guard Interceptor Boat C-148 was commissioned by Vice Adm. Anil Chopra, director general of the Coast Guard at Veraval, in the west Indian state of Gujarat on Oct. 1. With this induction, the coast guard fleet now boasts 44 ships, 19 interceptor boats, six hovercraft, 24 fixed-wing Dorniers and 21 helicopters. The C-148 — a 28-meter (92-ft.) interceptor with 90 tons displacement — is the sixth in the series of eleven boats, designed and built indigenously by ABG Shipyard, to be deployed for enhancing close coast surveillance.
They may not have the sizzle of Southwest buying AirTran, but aerospace and defense (A&D) deals are heating up after a sharp downturn. Two days after Southwest Airlines unveiled its proposed $1.4 billion acquisition of AirTran Airways, TransDigm Group Inc., a midsize supplier of aircraft components, announced a deal of almost similar size to buy McKechnie Aerospace Holdings.
PARIS — Safran and state-owned chemicals and propulsion manufacturer SNPE have come to a tentative agreement that would allow SNPE’s solid rocket business to be merged with that of Safran’s Snecma unit.
PRAGUE — NASA, the European Space Agency and the Russian space agency Roscosmos have agreed to changes in the International Space Station (ISS) manifest that will see the second Automated Transfer Vehicle launched on Feb. 15 and confirm the final planned shuttle flight, STS-134, on the orbiter Endeavour for Feb. 27. As part of the changes, approved at the International Astronautical Conference in Prague Oct. 1, Roscsomos agreed to look into additional Soyuz launch and landing options to reinforce the robustness of the manifest.
Two versions of an ultra-quiet, vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned surveillance aircraft built and tested in Israel will be rolled out for the public this month. The Panther family UAVs, a product of Israel Aerospace Industries’ Malat division, can be built with a varying number of engines and wingspans.
LONDON — Britain’s large Unite union is warning the U.K. could lose more than 16% of its defense workforce as a result of planned spending cuts due to emerge as part of the government’s far-reaching spending review scheduled to be revealed on Oct. 20. The union cites an Oxford Economics study that suggests “cuts of 26% would lead to potentially over 55,000 job cuts in the U.K.”
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recommends an aggressive and sustained campaign to recruit and support the training of America’s minorities as part of a sustained strategy to strengthen the nation’s science and engineering talent pool. The effort’s two highest priorities are the retention of African Americans, American Indians and Hispanics through high school and college as well as improved training in the two fields for teachers assigned to K through 12 classrooms, according to the NAS panel’s Sept. 30 report.
ROBOTIC GUARDS: The recently renamed Nevada National Security Site has brought the first of three autonomous Mobile Detection Assessment Response System (Mdars) robots online to provide random security patrols at remote portions of historic testing grounds. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said the robot will save about $6 million versus traditional equipment such as cameras, towers, lights, trenching and motion detection units to support protection of remote, sensitive areas.
HOUSTON — NASA has awarded Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International a 10-year contract for spacesuit and extravehicular activity support aboard the shuttle and International Space Station worth up to $728.9 million. The Extravehicular Space Operations Contract, which takes effect Oct. 1, includes a $315.5-million base amount for work performed through Sept. 30, 2015.
COMMERCIAL BOOST: FAA has made the first awards in a new grant program to fund projects that develop and expand commercial space transportation infrastructure. New Mexico Spaceport Authority is receiving $43,000 for an Automated Weather Observing System; Alaska Aerospace Corp. is receiving $227,195 for a Rocket Motor Storage Facility; East Kern Airport District in Mojave, Calif., is getting $125,000 for an emergency response vehicle; and Jacksonville Airport Authority in Florida will receive $104,805 to develop a Spaceport Master Plan for Cecil Field.
