Lightsquared’s bid to become the first U.S. hybrid mobile satellite service to enter operation has passed a key milestone with launch of its first satellite.
TOKYO—Resolution of structural faults has cleared the way for the beginning of series production of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries XC-2 airlifter next fiscal year after a delay of more than two years caused mainly by a need to reinforce the fuselage structure.
Bengaluru—India’s Kemrock Industries and Exports Ltd. (KIEL), which makes reinforced polymer composites, signed a partnership with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) on Nov. 16 for a joint venture. The new firm will develop, manufacture and market aerospace-grade carbon fiber pre-pegs, along with its associated pre-pegs for defense and aerospace programs in India.
Zhuhai, China—Chinese rocket manufacturer CALT will boost production of its Long March 3 launcher following an order for 20 units from sibling company China Great Wall Industry Corp. A separate order for eight DFH-4 satellite buses will support the current production rate for that spacecraft by manufacturer CAST, also a corporate sibling of China Great Wall. All three companies belong to national space contractor CASC, so the two deals, together worth 15 billion yuan ($2.26 billion) and announced at Airshow China, are internal group transactions.
TOKYO—Japan is expected to soon issue a long-awaited request for proposals for its F-X fighter competition, despite a media report that the country has settled on the Lockheed Martin F-35 as a future combat aircraft. In a rare piece of recent good news for the Joint Strike Fighter program, the Mainichi newspaper reported on Nov. 8 that the ministry planned to request “procurement costs” for the F-35 in its Fiscal 2012 budget request, covering the period from April 1, 2012.
A collection of seven nano-to-micro-sized satellites is set for liftoff Nov. 19 on a mission dedicated, in part, to determining what is practical in faster/cheaper research. Under study are such novelties as having one satellite be the launch platform for another, deploying sails to induce drag for timed re-entries to free low-Earth orbit (LEO) of space debris and the practicalities of using upper stages to achieve dual-orbits.
HOUSTON—NASA has selected DB Consulting Group Inc., of Silver Spring, Md., for a potential $251.5-million, five-year contract to provide a variety of information technology, multimedia, information management and external relations support services to Johnson Space Center in Houston. The $150.5-million, three-year base period begins Jan. 18, 2011, and includes provisions for a pair of one-year extensions.
NAVY Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding—Newport News, Newport News, Va., is being awarded a $48,881,988 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to contract (N62793-07-C-0001) for continuation of Fiscal 2011 advance planning and continuous maintenance efforts to prepare and make ready for the defueling and inactivation of the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) and its reactor plants. This effort will provide for all advanced planning, ship checks, design, documentation, engineering, procurement, fabrication, repair and preliminary shipyard or support facility work.
Tata Advanced Systems and Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. have unveiled the first Sikorsky S-92 helicopter cabin made in the south Indian city of Hyderabad. The cabin will be shipped to Sikorsky’s U.S. plant. A joint venture agreement between Tata and Sikorsky was formed last year to manufacture the S-92 cabins. Tata also announced that it is making Hyderabad its hub for all aerospace activities.
BENGALURU—The Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has developed an Integrated Life Support System (ILSS) for fighter aircraft pilots, potentially adding India to a group of nations owning such technology. DRDO’s Bengaluru-based Defense Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory (Debel), which developed the ILSS, delivered the documents to Tejas program chief P.S. Subramanyam recently for fit and further trials.
HOUSTON—Cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Skripochka attached an external work platform and retrieved and installed science experiments outside the International Space Station during a 6-hr. spacewalk on Nov. 15. Though off to a late start, the two men worked quickly enough outside the station’s Russian segment to finish their activities just after 4 p.m. EDT, only slightly behind schedule.
Bengaluru—The Indian and British governments appear to be exploring a stronger partnership in aerospace activities. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) sources tell Aviation Week that British Universities and Science Minister David Willets visited the Satellite Center in Bengaluru on Nov. 15. However, no time frame has been given for when the Indian-British space ties would take shape.
PARIS—A long-expected reshuffling of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s cabinet could reinforce efforts to modernize the military and boost attempts to deploy a territorial missile defense system and build closer ties to Great Britain. Virtually all the cabinet members except Prime Minister Francois Fillon were moved to new positions or dismissed.
TEL AVIV—Hezbollah’s efforts to field an effective, multi-faceted military force are evolving with upgrades emerging in its air defense and aerial attack capabilities.
AIR FORCE United Technologies Corp., East Hartford, Conn., was awarded a $100,738,400 contract modification which is an increase in the undefinitized contract for the acquisition of eight additional priority initial spare F119 engines, for a total of 33 engines. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. ASC/WWUK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FAFA8611-08-C-2896; P00044) .
ARMY Boeing Co., Mesa, Ariz., was awarded on Oct. 29 a $141,701,518 firm-fixed-price contract for advanced procurement for the manufacture of 31 AH-64D model aircraft and two fixed-site Longbow crew trainers matching the Taiwan AH-640 aircraft configuration. The work is to be performed in Mesa, with an estimated completion date of July 30, 2015. One bid was solicited with one bid received. AMCOM Contracting Center is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-09-G-0147). AIR FORCE
SINGAPORE—Indonesia has decided to acquire the Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano light-attack aircraft. The country plans to order eight aircraft for the Indonesian air force, which is replacing its Rockwell OV-10 Broncos, according to Embraer. The Broncos were built in the 1960s and most are no longer operational.
MRAP OPTION: EG&G Technical Services Inc. of Stafford, Va., has been awarded a $22,090,818 modification to a previously awarded time-and-material contract to exercise option year one for the procurement of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle contract support services, the Defense Department announced Nov. 15. The contract will support the MRAP program in the following areas: program management, acquisition, systems engineering, test and evaluation, logistics, safety, quality, and administrative support.
NUCLEAR STICK: After months of criticism by U.S. skeptics of the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia, proponents of the deal are sounding their own warnings: if critics stop Senate ratification, then the Obama administration does not have to make promised investments in nuclear facilities. While some conservatives outright oppose New Start, others see ratification as a lever to force long-sought funding and high-level attention to nuclear research labs, pits, workforce, weapons designs and other infrastructure.
