BOMBS AWAY: The U.S. Air Force has once again slipped the award date for the 250-lb. Small Diameter Bomb II, this time to August. Service officials offer little detail on why, but say it was necessary to gain approval for entry into development from Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter. Raytheon and a Boeing/Lockheed Martin team are vying to develop the small, precision-guided weapon, which must be able to attack targets that are on the move through weather.
VTOL UAV: Honeywell believes its RQ-16 T-Hawk ducted-fan micro air vehicle (MAV) will fare better in limited user tests now under way for Increment 1 of the U.S. Army’s Brigade Combat Team Modernization (BCTM) program. The tests are using the latest Block 3 version of the “hover-and-stare” T-Hawk, with fuel-injected engine, gimbaled camera and digital data link. Previous tests used refurbished Block 0 air vehicles, which had reliability problems, the manufacturer says.
FLIGHT HITCH: Lockheed Martin was thwarted in plans to fly the first F-35C carrier variant in the first week of June after a “minor” wiring installation problem was discovered. The aircraft, CF-1, has completed high-speed taxi trials, the last step before flying. Lockheed says the fix is “straightforward.” The first mission-system test aircraft, BF-4, has completed its endurance test flight, meanwhile, clearing the way for the short takeoff and vertical landing aircraft to be ferried to the NAS Patuxent River, Md., test center to join the first three F-35Bs.
GFO COMPONENT: Thales Alenia Space will supply a bi-frequency altimeter for the U.S. Navy’s Geosat Follow-on (GFO) mission, intended to characterize the global ocean and tactical battlespace and complement data from the U.S.-European Jason altimetry satellites. GFO-2 will be built by Ball Aerospace and launched in 2014. The altimeter will be derived from the Poseidon instruments used on Jason, which Thales Alenia supplies. The present phase covers definition, design and system compatibility; the final contract is expected to be signed toward the end of the year.
HIGH ORBIT: The highest-paying U.S. space industry jobs are in the Washington area, according to a new report from the Space Foundation. In 2008, there were 1,185 workers in federal space research and technology jobs listed under the district with an average annual salary of $114,642 — 62% higher than the local average private-sector wage. The next five highest-paying states for space workers were Colorado at $109,616, Maryland at $106,637, Massachusetts at $106,111, Virginia at $102,890 and finally California at $101,948.
HEATING UP: The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has launched an effort to identify potential F-35 Joint Strike Fighter subsystem improvements that would provide additional power and cooling to handle expected active-array radar growth in future blocks of the aircraft. The 18-month study is an “off ramp” from Spiral 1 of the lab’s Integrated Vehicle Energy Technology (Invent) program to develop improved electric power, thermal management and electromechanical actuation systems.
HATCHES CLOSED: A 520-day simulated mission to Mars is underway in Moscow, where six men will remain isolated in a mock spacecraft at the Institute of Biomedical Problems for the time it would take to reach the red planet and return. Three Russians, two Europeans and a Chinese will pretend to spend 250 days flying to Mars, a month exploring an imitation Martian surface in modified Russian Orlan spacesuits, and another 230 days returning to Earth for a “landing” in November 2011. Hatches closed at 5:49 a.m. EDT June 3.
Japan’s government may have lost a prime minister, but it has gained a stellar reputation for political theater. “Someone had to lose face,” says a veteran U.S. analyst of Japan’s defense programs. “The prime minister had to go against the popular [desire to get the Marines out of Okinawa]. He went with the U.S., [in a reversal of a campaign promise] and then he had to resign.”
BENGALURU, India — The overhaul of India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has been well received by many in the defense and aerospace community, but some still have reservations. Aviation Week spoke to a number of current and retired senior DRDO officials after the May 13 announcement (Aerospace DAILY, May 14). A majority hailed India Defense Minister A.K. Antony for finally charting a course correction for DRDO. The defense organization has often been criticized for its escalating costs and inability to deliver systems on time.
ANOTHER TRY: South Korea plans to make a second attempt at launching a satellite on June 9, almost 10 months after its first launch failed. The rocket is again a KSLV-1, and it should be the last launch of that model, which has been a technology demonstrator. A larger rocket, the KSLV-2, is planned. The KSLV-1 uses a Russian first stage and a South Korean upper stage. The KSLV-2 should have much greater South Korean technology content and be able to place 1.5 tons in low Earth orbit.
Thales Alenia Space has agreed that Ball Aerospace will integrate the space segment of the Iridium NEXT low-Earth-orbit satellite communications constellation so Iridium Communications Inc. will have a better chance to sell hosted payloads to the U.S. government.
HELO CARRIERS: French press reports speculate that a contract with Russia for four Mistral-class helicopter carriers could be announced during a visit by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on June 11 to Paris, where he is to open a big Russian trade fair. However, Viktor Khristenko, the Russian Minister of Industry and Trade, told reporters on May 31 that “he [was] not aware of any such announcement plans.” French President Nicolas Sarkozy indicated in March that he had approved negotiations for the vessels, which double as command, landing and hospital ships.
HOUSTON — NASA’s lifelike Robonaut 2 is ready for its actions to do the talking. Expectations are running high as the space agency and its commercial partner, General Motors, ready the muscular humanoid for an open-ended mission to the International Space Station. Scheduled to launch aboard the next-to-last shuttle mission, Robonaut 2 will assume a perch in the station’s U.S. laboratory. There, astronauts will carry out a series of engineering tests to determine whether it is compatible with humans.
BEIJING — A Long March 3C rocket launched the fourth satellite in China’s Compass positioning system on June 2. When complete, the system should have 35 satellites, 10 of which were due to be launched in 2009 and 2010. A Long March 3C was also used in January to launch the third Compass satellite, one of five to be placed in geostationary orbit. Low Earth orbit Compass satellites have been launched by Long March 3As. The first was sent up in 2007, though two experimental spacecraft were put into orbit in 2000.
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
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) received clearance from the 45th Space Wing Range Safety Office on June 3 to proceed with a launch attempt of the first Falcon 9 rocket, scheduled for 11 a.m. EDT June 4 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 40. If successful, the Falcon 9 will place a mockup Dragon capsule into a 250-km. (160-mi.) circular orbit, inclined 34.5 deg. relative to the equator.
LONDON — Delays in the A400M military transport and operational experiences in Afghanistan are starting to shape German air force modernization ambitions. Because Germany’s Transall C-160s have more airframe life remaining than France’s, the delay of the A400M is placing less strain on the country’s existing transports, but that does not mean the service can stand still.
LONDON — The Royal Air Force’s (RAF) second most senior officer, Air Chief Marshal Chris Moran, died suddenly on May 26. He was 54. Moran collapsed while taking part in a triathalon at RAF Brize Norton. The cause of death has yet to be made public. Moran was the Air Command commander-in-chief. His background was as a Harrier pilot, including an exchange tour with the U.S. Marine Corps in the mid-1980s when he was based at Cherry Point, N.C.
HYLAS-1: EADS Astrium has completed testing of Hylas-1, an advanced broadband satellite intended to bring high-speed Internet services to rural areas across Europe. Avanti Communications, which owns the spacecraft, says Hylas-1 is to be launched in the third quarter by Arianespace, probably on an Ariane 5. The unit was initially slated to be orbited by a Soyuz 2.1 launcher from its new pad in Kourou, French Guiana, but the pad is not expected to be ready until the fourth quarter.
Preparations to test the James Webb Space Telescope’s flight hardware are prompting an extensive remake of the giant thermal vacuum chamber that was so important during the Apollo era that it is now registered as a national landmark.
Orbital Sciences Corp. (OSC) has finalized a contract to supply a telecom satellite to Azerbaijan — the second deal in less than a month for U.S. contractors in the developing world following a Vietnamese satellite award to Lockheed Martin.
BENGALURU, India — The fourth limited series production (LSP-4) model of India’s light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas had its successful first flight at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s military airport here in Bengaluru on June 2. The flight, piloted by Group Capt. Suneet Krishna of the National Flight Test Center (NFTC), lasted 40 min. The pilot went supersonic and later recovered the full flight envelope, exhibiting confidence in the system.
