Luftwaffe F-4F Phantom IIs are back on 15-min. quick reaction alert (QRA) because the Eurofighter Typhoons that conducted the mission are still grounded due to safety concerns about their ejection seats. German Eurofighters have been grounded since Sept. 15 as a result of information coming to light from the investigation into the Aug. 24 crash of a two-seat fighter. The crash occurred during a training mission from Moron air base in Spain that killed one of the pilots (Aerospace DAILY, Sept. 17).
AEGIS SUPPORT: The U.S. Navy is awarding Lockheed Martin a $197.5 million contract for post-Critical Design Review Aegis Combat Systems Engineering to support the government of Australia under the Foreign Military Sales program. Australia chose the Aegis Combat System for its Air Warfare Destroyer program. If all options are exercised, the total value of the contract could reach $211.4 million. Work will be performed in Moorestown, N.J., and Adelaide, Australia, and is expected to be complete by December 2014.
AMES MOURNS: Clarence “Sy” Syvertson, an expert on hypersonic airflow who was director of NASA’s Ames Research Center from 1977 to 1984, died Sept. 13 at age 84 of natural causes. Syvertson began his career at Ames in 1948 and led development of its 3.5-ft. hypersonic wind tunnel branch that was used for North American Aviation’s XB-70 Valkyrie prototype for a deep-penetration bomber, the Martin M2 lifting body and other advanced designs.
LONDON — The German military has extended by two years its lease agreement with Rheinmetall for provision of the Israel Aerospace Industries Heron 1 unmanned aircraft. The Heron 1 is already deployed to Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan to support German and NATO forces in the country. The contract extension will take the deal from Oct. 23, 2010, to Oct. 22, 2012, prime contractor Rheinmetall says. The contract covers the operation of three Heron 1s and ground equipment.
HAT IN RING: AgustaWestland North America has responded to three U.S. government requests for information. The company is proposing the AW139 for the USAF Common Vertical-Lift Support Program (CVLSP) and the AW101 for the service’s Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) replacement. Potential U.S. partners haven’t yet been chosen; though the Air Force is soliciting information, it is unclear if and when a competition will come.
An independent study of an alternative ejection seat for U.S. Air Force F-35As has been sanctioned by the Joint Strike Fighter Program Office. The study will assess the costs and benefits of Goodrich’s Aces 5 seat as an alternative to the Martin-Baker US16E design now standard on all three JSF variants. Air Combat Command has been pushing for consideration of the Aces 5 because its commonality with the Aces 2 seats in its F-15s and F-22s, as well as A-10s and F-16s, could reduce Air Force support costs.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) SEPT. 21 - 25 — Technology Training Corp’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems East Conference, Holiday Inn, Alexandria, Va. For more information call (310) 563-1223 or go to http://www.ttcus.com SEPT. 21-25 — Africa Aerospace and Defence 2010, Air Force Base Ysterplaat, Cape Town, South Africa. For more information call (301) 965-2700, or go to www.aadexpo.co.za
One would hope the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry has learned its lesson from the across-the-board layoffs of the last downturn. U.S. contractors cut about 40% of their employees between 1990-95 and stopped hiring. The result was a loss of technical skills and knowledge that was felt for years — and a dearth of new talent that would now be filling middle management posts.
KC-390 SHARE: Aero Vodochody expects to complete talks with Embraer over its workshare on the KC-390 in the fourth quarter. Aero Vodochody has become a program partner owing to the Czech government’s decision to buy two of the tanker transports (Aerospace DAILY, Sept. 14).
The U.S. Navy is scrutinizing Northrop Grumman’s entire stable of shipbuilding holdings to make sure none of those assets will be harmed in a way that would endanger the nation’s defense needs, should the company decide to get out of military shipbuilding, says Sean Stackley, assistant Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition.
HELO GROWTH: India’s small fleet of 254 helicopters flown by 98 operators could double in five years once infrastructure and regulatory issues holding back the growth of the helicopter industry are addressed, says the Rotor Wing Society of India, which comprises more than 1,000 members.
SOLID ALLIANCE: The Pentagon has not yet notified Congress of all the details of a major new arms sale to Saudi Arabia, but “it is clear” to Center for Strategic & International Studies analyst Anthony Cordesman that this sale could have a direct value of $50 billion to $60 billion and mean maintaining a de facto military partnership with Saudi Arabia for at least the next decade. “In fact, it means the Saudi Air Force will remain critically dependent on U.S. military and contractor support,” he says.
BAD BLOOD: The ongoing impasse over the next steps in human spaceflight is not likely to be resolved this year. Backroom talks aimed at resolving differences in the House and Senate authorization bills for NASA remain stalled, with neither side willing to yield ground in advance of the toss-up midterm elections in November. Meanwhile, NASA staffers are due to spend the next three months setting requirements and technology priorities as part of round two of the Human Exploration Framework Team (HEFT).
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has thrown out some of the complaints made by would-be KC-X bidder U.S. Aerospace, though others are still being investigated. In a Sept. 16 decision, the government auditors found that “to the extent [the company’s] initial and supplemental protests allege bad faith or intentional agency misconduct, the protests are dismissed,” according to an official familiar with the decision.
PARIS — German startup RapidEye is seeking a new investor to help keep it going until its mostly privately funded remote-sensing system demonstrates its commercial viability. Brandenburg-based RapidEye was founded in 1998 to provide geo-information services and products directly to agriculture, forestry, energy, mapping, environmental and emergency users. It was formed with no government pre-sales commitments.
LONDON — Development problems are expected to cause a slight delay in the delivery of the next batch of Dutch CH-47 Chinooks. The country’s defense minister, Eimert von Middelkoop, disclosed the slip in a letter to parliament covering a range of modernization issues. The minister notes that problems linked to the helicopter’s hardware and software means delivery of the six rotorcraft will not take place as expected in mid-2011, but in the last quarter of that year.
HOUSTON — The impasse in Washington over the future of the nation’s human space exploration strategy and budget is becoming a worrisome “morale issue” at Johnson Space Center, which serves as the agency’s lead installation for the Constellation, space shuttle and International Space Station programs, Center Director Mike Coats told members of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) last week.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has completed a year-long mapping mission to scout landing spots for future robotic probes and piloted spacecraft and begun a new two-year science initiative to learn more about the Moon’s history and evolution.
KA-BAND TESTBED: Astrium Services and Avanti Communications will build a ground testbed to enable engineers to work with prospective government and defense customers to test and refine future military Ka-band broadband satellite system requirements, including unmanned aerial systems, real-time surveillance data streaming and communications-on-the-move.
Andrew Mellon Auditorium Washington, D.C. March 8, 2011 AVIATION WEEK is proud to introduce the “call for nominations” for the 2011 Laureates Awards. The AVIATION WEEK Laureate Awards recognize individuals and teams for their extraordinary accomplishments. Submit your nominations by October 4, 2010. www.aviationweek.com/events
LONDON — The first of the U.K.’s future aerial refueling aircraft completed its first flight Sept. 16 at Airbus Military’s facility outside Madrid. The Rolls-Royce Trent 700-powered aircraft took off from Getafe, Spain, at 9:41 a.m. local time and landed at 1:37 p.m. Tim Butler, the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) chief test pilot, was at the controls along with Chief Test Pilot Eduardo Cuadrado. Airbus says members of the engineering team were Test Flight Engineer Santiago Manso and Flight Test Engineers Jorge Fuentes and Alfonso Sopena.
