LASER ON: The U.S. Navy’s Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) will enter final developmental testing in early Fiscal 2011, according to Naval Sea Systems Command. Operational evaluation is expected by summer 2011, and initial operational capability should come in the first quarter of Fiscal 2012. Program officials completed the first updated systems flight test June 8 at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City, Fla.
SAFETY DRIVE: An improved lift-fan driveshaft for the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing F-35B Joint Strike Fighter has passed its critical design review and will be ready for Lot 4 production deliveries in 2012, but whether it will be needed has not been determined, Lockheed Martin says. The redesigned shaft accommodates more relative motion and thermal growth and will be delivered for flight testing late this year, but the current shaft will be monitored in flight tests to see if the additional stretch/compression capability will be required.
ST. LOUIS — Boeing hopes to shift the Phantom Eye long-endurance unmanned aircraft demonstrator to the NASA Dryden test facility in California in August or September, although a potential strike at its St. Louis facility could slow the effort. The goal is to begin taxi tests of the 150 ft.-wingspan, 52 ft.-long air vehicle in January, with first flight due later that month. The initial flight will be 4-8 hours, says Andrew Mallow, director of advanced operations and prototyping at Boeing Phantom Works.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — New antenna designs, freed from the confines of radomes, will grow dramatically in size, range and resolution while dropping in weight and providing advanced surveillance capabilities for even small, lightweight unmanned aircraft that have been limited until now to carrying small, low-resolution electro-optical and infrared sensors.
Israel’s newest reconnaissance satellite is seen as boosting the country’s intelligence capabilities against Iran. With the observation satellite Ofeq-9 placed in low Earth orbit June 22, Israel now has six operational remote sensing satellites in space: the Ofeq-5 and 7 military observation satellites; ImageSat’s commercial/military EROS-A and EROS-B1, and Israel Aerospace Industries’ (AIA) TechSAR day/night all-weather synthetic aperture radar satellite, now designated Ofeq-8.
Having bowed out of the Swiss fighter competition for the partial F-5 Tiger replacement program, Boeing is now looking to see if the program changes in such a way that it can get back in the running. There have been indications the Swiss fighter competition — now involving the Saab Gripen, Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon — is changing its focus away from a mere F-5 replacement to a more high-end requirement to replace F/A-18s. When Boeing pulled the F/A-18E/F out, it did so saying the simple F-5 program did not warrant a Super Hornet offering.
A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) bribery investigation of Allied Defense has driven Chemring to scale back its acquisition plans for the business. On Jan. 19, Chemring announced the planned $59 million acquisition of all of Allied Defense. But owing to legal turmoil, it now says it will buy only the two principal operating businesses — the Mecar operation in Nivelles, Belgium, and the Marshall, Texas-based unit. The price of the transaction remains the same.
ST. LOUIS — The Pentagon has signed off on low-rate initial production of the C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP), kicking off the installation of the first 20 kits.
U.S. Naval Air Systems Command introduced about 30 people from 12 nations to the V-22 Osprey at a recent embassy day, Marine Corps Col. Greg Masiello, V-22 program manager, tells AVIATION WEEK. Visiting nations hosted at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., were provided with program briefs, a fleet operating perspective by a V-22 pilot and a flight demonstration. It was “a resounding success,” Masiello says. “We’ve had a surge in queries now and I expect more interest and discussions.”
PARIS — Arianespace has delayed the launch of Korea’s COMS-1 and Arabsat 5A because of an unspecified launcher subsystem anomaly. The launch, which had been set for June 23, is expected to be rescheduled for overnight on June 24-25. Getting the mission, Arianespace’s second of the year, off on time is critical to get the launch provider’s seven-launch 2010 manifest back on track.
ON THE RADAR: Eurofighter partner nations could advance the development of an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for the Typhoon as early as the start of July. A full-scale development program would aim to have an AESA radar available for the fighter in 2015. The partner-nation effort would run in parallel to a U.K. technology demonstrator.
BENGALURU, India — India is setting up its first shore-based test facility (SBTF) to flight test the naval version of its homegrown Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
ST. LOUIS — Boeing expects to begin test trials of its Phantom Ray unmanned combat aircraft demonstrator soon. On June 24 or 25 the company planned F404-GE-102D engine runs on the company-funded effort that builds on X-45C residual hardware, said Darryl Davis, Phantom Works president. First flight would take place in December. The company plans to complete up to 10 flights in the first six months of testing.
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ST. LOUIS — As Boeing explores design concepts for a potential future U.S. Navy fighter, the company is looking at a single configuration that could offer variable levels of agility depending on whether the aircraft is manned or unmanned.
U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (Navair) signed a contract June 18 for the first two Marine Corps new-build AH-1Z, or Zulu, Cobra helicopters, while continuing to manage integration of new systems aboard the legacy AH-1W, or Whiskey.
There are concerns that other recession-hit countries could follow Denmark’s lead in withdrawing from NATO’s 15-nation, $1.7 billion Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) program to buy eight radar-equipped Northrop Grumman Global Hawk unmanned aircraft.
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Boeing projects the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet production line will remain open past 2020, even though a planned third U.S. Navy multi-year production program would conclude before then. Still uncertain is what the production rate will be during the next multi-year buy; current plans call for a purchase of 124 F/A-18E/Fs over four years, but the number of aircraft and the timeline could still change, says Mike Gibbons, the company’s program manager. He expects the multi-year buy would yield $500 million in savings over annual lot buys.
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“Game-changing” technology for future space exploration should include nuclear-fusion propulsion that could enable trips to Mars in the two weeks NASA’s space shuttles normally spend in space, according to a panel of longtime space science experts.
