LONDON — Four European countries will begin operations of an integrated European Air Transport Command (EATC) to gain efficiencies in the use of tactical and strategic airlift starting Sept. 1. The EATC will formally commence its duties at Eindhoven air base in the Netherlands, where Belgian, Dutch, French and German officials will work together. The command was created through a defense ministerial agreement in February.
PRECISION AWARD: Raytheon said the U.S. Army’s $23 million award to finalize design of the 155-mm. precision-guided Excalibur Ib came after proving “unwavering reliability and robust capability.” The company was set up to defend its Excalibur incumbency against Alliant Techsystems after numerous problems emerged in recent years, and officials once expected to make a decision by last March (Aerospace DAILY, April 14). Raytheon said Aug. 30 that its program met the Army’s cost reduction goals and increased its reliability by using fewer parts and simpler manufacturing.
When Lt. Gen. William Caldwell took over as commander of the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan and Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan more than half a year ago, he thought his job would be straightforward: train the Afghan security forces. What he did not realize is just how basic that training would be.
Specially fitted cargo trucks are now carrying the U.S. military logistics load in Afghanistan. Designed to be stronger and more survivable than earlier designs, Oshkosh Defense’s Palletized Load Systems (PLS) vehicles have become a mainstay for the rough and rugged terrain in the country’s remotest regions. “It has become [the] backbone of over-the-road logistics for Afghanistan,” says Mike Ivy, Oshkosh vice president and general manager for Army programs.
The government’s potential liability for the Small Diameter Bomb II program, if an overrun exceeding 130% occurs, would be $510 million. An article published in the Aug. 26 DAILY quoted a Raytheon official saying this figure is $470 million. Col. Brian Buell, SDB II program manager for the Air Force, says the government would continue to pay declining profit in the event of an overrun until reaching a ceiling price of $510 million.
President Barack Obama is detailing a new “approach” to export controls policy that ranks U.S. exports by tiers, end-uses and end-users, and which the White House claims will “end most, if not all, jurisdictional disputes and ambiguities that have come to define our current system.” The U.S. Munitions List (USML) and the Commerce Control List (CCL) will be structured as “positive lists,” using objective criteria, such as horsepower, rather than subjective, catch-all lists designed around intent-based criteria.
BEIJING — A Japanese advisory panel has renewed the push for the country to drop its ban on arms exports, a move that would open the way for it to participate in international weapons development. Adoption of the recommendations would greatly improve the economics of Japanese industry developing improved versions of the Eurofighter Typhoon or Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-15E Eagle family for the country’s F-X fighter requirement, since the resulting aircraft could also be sold to close allies.
AIR FORCE DTS Aviation Services, Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $42,265,329 contract modification which will provide maintenance of T-38C, T-6 and T1A aircraft at Columbus Air Force Base, Miss. At this time, no funds have been obligated. 14 CONS/LGC, Columbus Air Force Base, is the contracting activity (FA3002-05-C-0016).
BENGALURU, India — Next year, Russian space agency Roscomos plans to test the lander that will be part of India’s second Moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, Roscosmos Deputy Head Anatoly Shilov says. Scheduled to be lofted in 2013, Chandrayaan-2 will have an orbiter, a lander and a rover. It is slated to fly on a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle from Satish Dhawan Space Center on Sriharikota Island. While the lander will be provided by Russia, the orbiter and the rover are being built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
SIGN UP: Odd-couple Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas) — who made news in early July by announcing a joint effort to roll back defense spending — now are asking their congressional colleagues to sign a letter to President Barack Obama’s deficit commission to make sure defense spending is considered in the bipartisan panel’s recommendations for federal cuts. The letter will be open for signatures until mid-September, according to the anti-war Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL).
The U.S. Air Force’s newest protected satellite communications spacecraft will likely reach operational status 7-8 months later than planned, after a liquid apogee engine designed for orbit raising was deemed useless after two failed burn attempts.
MARITIME EYES: Sentient, an Australian imagery analysis software developer, says it has the technology to make unmanned maritime patrol aircraft more effective at spotting small objects in the water — from submarine periscopes to sailors washed overboard. Sentient’s Kestrel Maritime, which automatically analyzes electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) imagery in real time, can spot moving objects below a patrolling UAV and alert its operator to them by highlighting the image of the object of interest in a red outline box.
BENGALURU, India — The final certification process for Tejas, India’s Light Combat Aircraft, has begun ahead of its crucial initial operational clearance (IOC), program official P.S. Subramanyam tells AVIATION WEEK.
CYBER SCARE: The biggest scare out of the admission last week by Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn III that the U.S. military was the victim of a serious cyberattack two years ago is the fact that the same vulnerability pervades much of the rest of the federal system, according to Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), a senior member of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and avid cybersecurity lawmaker.
NAVY Eagle Industries Unlimited Inc., Fenton, Mo., is being awarded a maximum $18,496,842 firm-fixed-price contract for enhanced small arms protective inserts plate carrier spares. The work will be performed in Puerto Rico, and is expected to be completed by August 2011. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is being awarded on a sole-source basis. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity (M67854-10-C-3034).
NEW TRAJECTORY: Under an organizational restructuring announced last week, the undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force will become the “focal point” for space within the service’s headquarters, with responsibility for coordinating functions and activities across the Air Force space enterprise. The armed service also announced the realignment of space acquisition responsibility from the undersecretary’s office to the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition.
MLP AWAY: The U.S. Navy’s new Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) ship program will be based on an existing design, the Alaska-class crude oil carrier. Four of these ships were built by General Dynamics Nassco for what is now BP, the oil company, and Naval Sea Systems Command officials announced Aug. 26 that they awarded Nassco a $115 million advanced design and long-lead time material contract Aug. 13.
DENVER — Aurora Flight Sciences and Lockheed Martin have both submitted proposals for an emerging joint capability technology demonstration (JCTD) known as Medium Altitude Global ISR and Communications (Magic). With the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory as the technical manager and U.S. Central Command as the operational manager and sponsor, Magic has not yet been launched, but Aurora and Lockheed executives see growing backing for the project.
Over the next few weeks, the U.S. Air Force plans to use one of two thruster systems still functioning on a protected military communications satellite built by Lockheed Martin to reach an intermediate orbit after failure of a liquid apogee engine on the spacecraft.
DENVER — With production of Raytheon’s 33-lb. guided Griffin weapon under way for U.S. Special Operations Command (Socom), the company is eyeing unmanned aerial systems (UAS) as potential host platforms. Socom has ordered 640 units for use on its “Dragon Spear” gunship kit for the MC-130W, says Everett Tackett, Raytheon’s Griffin business development director. The company developed the system for ground launch but modified it for use on aircraft after Socom expressed interest in the weapon.
