A U.S. Special Operations Command (Socom) A160T Hummingbird crashed Sept. 4 at Central Farm airfield in Belize during a demonstration of the unmanned rotorcraft’s ability to handle the Forester foliage penetration radar. This is the second Hummingbird to crash this summer; one crashed in California in July during envelope expansion testing (Aerospace DAILY, July 30). Findings of that accident have not yet been released.
PARIS — The looming shortfall in military broadband capacity is encouraging the U.S. Defense Dept. to sharply expand the Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) network and to further blend commercial know-how and other enhancements into its design. At the end of August, the Defense Department signed a $182 million contract with Boeing to supply long-lead items for a new WGS satellite to complement six already in orbit or on order. A production award is expected to be inked by year’s end, says Craig Cooning, chairman/CEO of Boeing Satellite Systems International.
LONDON — Saab has secured the contract to fully integrate the MBDA Meteor ramjet-powered air-to-air missile on the Gripen fighter. The 312 million Swedish kronor ($43 million) deal covers a four-year period, Saab says. Gripen has been serving as the launch platform for all Meteor test flights. Those trials were not undertaken with a full integration into the Gripen weapon systems, however. The new contract is to rectify that, and assure the Meteor is fully functioning with the Gripen radar, displays, planning systems and other tools.
LONDON — The U.K. government has asked industry if there are options for stepping back from the plan to buy two new aircraft carriers, BAE Systems CEO Ian King tells Parliament’s defense select committee. In recent days, industry was asked to offer alternatives, which include buying one carrier, or even none. The latter would be coupled with the launch of another program to sustain industrial capabilities, King says. The U.K. already has begun building the first carrier.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Rollover of shuttle Discovery to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) was delayed Sept. 8 when Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station were shut down to all but mission-essential personnel due to a water main break. Discovery’s move to the VAB had been scheduled for 6:30 a.m., but shortly before it was to begin the quarter-mile trek, the center lost pressure in its potable water lines. Both KSC and CCAFS receive water from the City of Cocoa, which had no additional information about the break.
Boeing is planning to reorganize elements in its defense unit and reduce jobs by about 400 in an effort to streamline its business and reduce cost to the customer. The shifts come amid demands from U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates for reductions in the price of weapon systems and for improvements in contractor performance on government contracts.
Three ranking Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) have sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates demanding documents, analyses and opinions supporting the Pentagon’s decision to close down U.S. Joint Forces Command (Jfcom) in Norfolk, Va.
LOS ANGELES — Recent experiments in Chile could provide hope that living microbes may yet exist on Mars, despite data collected by NASA’s Viking landers in 1976 that have generally been interpreted as showing no evidence of life. The new studies, conducted by Rafael Navarro-Gonzalez and a geophysical team from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), suggest that the Viking data have been misinterpreted and that carbon-rich organic molecules may be present on Mars after all.
LONDON — The U.K. defense industry is worried that the government’s ongoing Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR) will result in decisions that may have unintended long-term implications for the defense industrial base. Although London plans to follow the SDSR with a Defense Industrial and Technology Roadmap, the gap between the two efforts is causing concern. “You can’t really do it in sequence,” says Ian Godden, head of the Aerospace, Defense and Security industrial lobby group in the U.K.
CYBER M&A: Both Lockheed Martin and Boeing are interested in pursuing cybersecurity mergers and acquisitions, executives said Sept. 7. But Lockheed is not interested in Northrop Grumman’s shipbuilding unit, Lockheed CEO Robert Stevens says. He and Dennis Muilenburg, head of Boeing’s defense unit, spoke at the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington. Separately, another Boeing defense executive detailed job cuts and a reorganization there to AVIATION WEEK. (See p. 1.)
LONDON — Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has successfully completed flight tests for the Colombian air force’s Boeing 767-200 multi-mission tanker/transport (MMTT). The move comes just days after Colombia inked its partnership in Embraer’s KC-390 tanker/transport development program. The latter will take several years to emerge, however. Designed to support the Colombian fleet of 24 upgraded Israeli-built Kfir C.10 and C.12 fighters, the new 767-MMTT conducted aerial refueling of a Colombian C.10 during the trials.
TEL AVIV — Israel’s upcoming operational introduction of the advanced Arrow 3 interceptor missile and the Stunner interceptor for the David’s Sling system may open the door to a period of rapid development for air-launched weapons that can catch enemy ballistic missiles during the vulnerable few minutes after they launch. The Stunner, designed and built by Rafael in a cooperative program with Raytheon, is a low-cost design that targets threats including cruise missiles, medium- and long-range artillery rockets and short-range ballistic missiles.
Nov. 30 - Dec. 1, 2010 Munich, Germany MRO ENGINES FORUM 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
U.S. AIR FORCE Honeywell Technology Solutions of Colorado Springs, Colo. was awarded a $219,400,000 contract modification which will provide systems and maintenance engineering, network support integration, on site and off site depot level maintenance and software maintenance of the Air Force Satellite Control Network. At this time no funds have been obligated. SMC SLG/PK, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. is the contracting activity (P04701-02-D-0006, PO0065). U.S. NAVY
U.S. AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Ga., was awarded a $315,587,530 contract modification for the procurement of three fiscal 2008 Overseas Contingency Operations C-130J aircraft; one fiscal 2008 Overseas Contingency Operations KC-130J aircraft; and one fiscal 2010 HC-130J aircraft. At this time, $250,745,584 has been obligated. 657 AESS, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8625-06-C-6456; PO0178).
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says his staff estimates that an alliance-wide territorial missile defense system would cost about €200 million ($245 million) over the next 10 years. This is above the €800 million ($1.2 billion) investment already required to field theater missile defenses designed to protect deployed troops. Rasmussen says the funding required is a “modest additional cost to achieve so much.” He spoke with U.S. press during a Defense Writers Group breakfast Sept. 7 in Washington.
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Sweden’s Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) are studying joint development of a spacecraft using miniaturized Space Plug-and-Play (SPA) electronics and micro-components. The move, if sanctioned, is expected to lead to a significant expansion of a three-year agreement signed in August 2009 between AFRL and Forsvarets Materielverk, under which technologies are being developed for electronic standardization and miniaturization for airborne and space vehicle applications.
NEW DELHI — India test-fired its surface-to-surface BrahMos Block II supersonic cruise missile on Sept. 5 from a mobile launcher 200 km. (125 mi.) to the northeast of Bhubaneswar in the state of Orissa. The launch took place from the Integrated Test Range of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The test met all of its objectives, according to a DRDO official. The flight follows a test in March.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) SEPT. 10 — AVIATION WEEK Webinar: Strengthening Warfighter Protection and Response To Irregular Warfare, 2 p.m. EDT. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events
