TOKYO — The Japanese asteroid sample return probe Hayabusa made its final scheduled trajectory maneuver June 9 to further pinpoint its June 13 landing within the southeast portion of the Woomera Prohibited Area in Australia. The spacecraft is scheduled to release a recovery capsule that may contain samples from the asteroid Itokawa, then burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. The capsule retrieval area — incorporating the effects of wind — is now officially set within an area a few tens of kilometers wide and a couple of hundred kilometers long.
After years of neglect, U.S. rotorcraft technology is to get a boost from a Pentagon research program that aims to fly a shape-changing rotor offering substantially more payload and range with significantly less noise and vibration. Three teams have been awarded contracts for the initial phase of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Mission Adaptive Rotor (MAR). Program managers plan to fly an adaptive rotor by 2018 to ready the technology for the next U.S. military rotorcraft program.
By the end of July, the U.S. Army may finally be ready to release its formal request for proposals (RFP) for the Common Infrared Countermeasures (Circm) system, a process that has been in a holding pattern for months. What had been announced as a mid-March release date for the RFP was delayed until the end of July, according to an announcement made by the Army at an industry day in late May. The draft RFP has been released already and competitors are preparing their offerings.
The tough economy and its effect on U.S. Navy programs extends beyond the boundaries of the U.S., Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said June 9 in an address at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. “Our excellence in all areas of combat and operational capacity, in our presence and our partnerships, comes at a cost,” Mabus said. “And the costs keep rising.” Ensuring affordability is not a new goal for the Secretary of the Navy, he noted, but the difference now is that the economic environment “confronts not just our own country, but every country across the globe.”
September 29-30, 2010 ExCeL • London, UK Learn to maintain military assets longer; sustain aircraft beyond forecast; recover from budget cuts, delays and program cancellations, and develop new strategies required to deliver and support equipment. Learn more at www.aviationweek.com/events
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healey, a state-of-the-art icebreaker, departs Dutch Harbor, Alaska, June 15 for a five-week Arctic Ocean cruise to provide in-situ data that will improve the accuracy of NASA satellite measurements of the delicate polar region. Some 40 scientists will take part in the mission, which will be NASA’s first dedicated oceanographic field campaign. It is designed to help researchers better characterize the effects of global warming on the Arctic Ocean, and how changes in the Arctic Ocean affect its ability to absorb atmospheric carbon.
NEW DELHI — European missile manufacturer MBDA says it will transfer all the “sensitive” technology India requires to produce the Maitri short-range, surface-to-air-missile, such as the seeker and thrust vector control system. India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) will be prime on the project, with Bharat Dynamics Ltd. as the production partner. The choice of radar will be an Indian one.
BUDGET KNIVES: The fight over whether the military should contribute to reining in U.S. deficits is entering another round. A task force commissioned by House Financial Services Committee Chair Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), a vocal Pentagon budget critic, and backed by progressives and watchdogs will unveil a slew of proposed defense spending cuts June 11 on Capitol Hill. “Leaders from the left, right and center agree on two major policy changes: the U.S.
JOB ONE: U.S. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) says having two engines jockeying for the single-engine F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is about fleet reliability — and also about providing jobs. In what amounted to a blunt acknowledgement by a lawmaker defending an earmark against White House and Pentagon wishes, Skelton explained to defense reporters June 8 that maintaining both the Pratt & Whitney F135 and General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 efforts meant more people would be employed.
BERLIN — Sikorsky wants to leverage work on the CH-148 Cyclone in Canada to pursue Germany’s requirement for a new maritime helo and to address the Luftwaffe’s demand for a combat search and rescue (CSAR) helicopter.
THREADING NEEDLE: With Senate Intelligence Committee leaders proverbially up in arms over President Barack Obama’s nomination of Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence James Clapper to be director of national intelligence, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) issued a statement June 8 appearing to offer support to both sides. “With his distinguished record of service, it is clear why [retired USAF] Gen. James Clapper has been nominated by President Obama to meet these challenges,” Reid said.
Xcor Aerospace has demonstrated that its piston pump technology can be used with liquid hydrogen, opening up potential applications for upper-stage engines, on-orbit propellant transfer and other uses.
BERLIN — The protracted process to put NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance system on contract is now in its final phase, with a go-ahead targeted by the time alliance leaders meet in Lisbon in November. The makeup of the AGS program has changed multiple times; at one point the U.S. tried to convince NATO simply to buy E-8C Joint STARS aircraft, then the alliance considered a mixed fleet of manned and unmanned aircraft before finally settling on an all-UAV fleet based around the U.S. Air Force’s Global Hawk Block 40.
The chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee is touting non-nuclear electric-powered submarines and backing a HASC subcommittee leader’s push for the U.S. Navy to reconsider future boomers as one way to build up the naval fleet and meet global deterrence demands.
OPEN DIALOGUE: Future nuclear arms reduction treaties likely will entail verifying non-deployed assets — versus only deployed weapons, as has been the case with U.S.-Russian and Soviet deals. In turn, that will require countries to figure how to monitor each others’ discreet facilities, according to a leading U.S. negotiator.
GREEK OFFSETS: The U.S. Aerospace Industries Association says the Greek ministry of defense (MOD) has started to re-evaluate allegations to industry over defaulting on certain offset agreements. “Having senior leadership within the MOD recognize the benefits of seeking an amicable solution is an important first step,” says AIA’s June newsletter. “U.S.
While the U.S. House Armed Services Committee tied its authorization for Fiscal 2011 funding for the F-35 to achieving some pretty specific development milestones, counterparts on the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) have been more general in their language. But the message is the same — make progress and you’ll get the money.
REVVED UP: The Center for Public Integrity, an independent Washington watchdog group, says 13 different lobbying firms plus each contractor’s in-house lobbyists are engaging U.S. lawmakers on the Joint Strike Fighter engine battle between Pratt & Whitney and a General Electric/Rolls-Royce team. This year, there are 75 lobbyists working on defense issues at the firms engaged in the engine debate, of whom at least 56 — or 75 percent — are former congressional staffers or executive branch officials.
ARMY Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., was awarded on May 24 a $66,915,870 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 22 engineering change proposals to incorporate into 421 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicles. The work is to be performed in Oshkosh, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2012. Five bids were solicited with five bids received. TACOM, CCTA-ADC-A, Warren, Wis., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0111).
TOKYO — The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) says its Hayabusa asteroid sample return spacecraft will now definitely land in Woomera in South Australia around midnight June 13, following a third trajectory correction maneuver on June 5. The return will cap off the seven-year mission, which launched on an M-V rocket in May 2003.
FLOWN: The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said it successfully conducted a flight test of a two-stage Ground-Based Interceptor once eyed for European deployment, launching from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., at 3:25 p.m. PDT on June 6. No target missile was launched for an intercept test in this exercise. “After performing flyout maneuvers, the two-stage booster delivered an exoatmospheric kill vehicle to a designated point in space,” MDA said in a brief statement. “Initial indications are that all components performed as designed.”
Bengaluru, India — The Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has successfully test-fired the anti-tank guided missile Nag at the Indian Army’s firing range in Shamirpet, near Hyderabad. Dr. Prahlada, the chief controller for research and development of aeronautical and services interaction, told AVIATION WEEK that the June 6 test was conducted as part of a user requirement.
