As the Pentagon zeroes in on cutting program costs and reducing development risks—and the military services focus on trying to extend the life of their existing equipment—contractors are finding more opportunity in providing logistics support.
Lockheed Martin is refocusing on its core competencies and is de-emphasizing adjacent markets, CEO Robert Stevens told analysts this week during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. Stevens noted that a concentrated solar energy project in Arizona was explored, along with several smaller, similar projects in other parts of the U.S., but market conditions and local governments’ tight budgets prevented those initiatives from getting off the ground. The company will still consider adjacent markets, but it is likely to focus on its core businesses.
BENGALURU, India – The first homegrown multi-functional display (MFD) system under series production (SP) from Samtel-HAL Display Systems (SHDS) of India is nearly completed. The homegrown MFDs are being manufactured for the Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter under SHDS, a joint venture firm. Samtel has a 60% stake in the joint venture, formed in 2006, while HAL holds 40%.
HOUSTON — The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Envisat spacecraft has demonstrated techniques for the prediction of volcanic activity using regular radar surveillance of crustal stressing, according to researchers in the U.K., U.S. and Ethiopia.
HUMAN FACTORS: NASA is establishing a global forum for members to collaborate on human health and performance innovations for spaceflight, aviation and “any challenging environment” on Earth. Members of the Human Health and Performance Center will include NASA centers and partners, industry, academic institutions, government agencies and nonprofit organizations. NHHPC’s first event will be a workshop entitled “Collaborative Innovation: Strategies and Best Practices,” scheduled for Jan. 19 in Houston.
Nov. 30 - Dec. 1, 2010 Munich, Germany Gain cost-effective best practices and strategies for engine MRO planning, new technology implementation, navigating maintenance contracts, green processes and compliance issues. Register now - http://www.aviationweek.com/events/current/mroeng/index.htm
Sikorsky is to build two prototypes of a high-speed, coaxial-rotor light tactical helicopter on company funds to ensure the technology is considered by the U.S. Army for its Armed Aerial Scout requirement to replace the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior. The S-97 X2 Raider prototypes will incorporate technology from Sikorsky’s X2 Technology demonstrator, which in September exceeded 250 kt. in level flight. The first aircraft is scheduled to fly in 48 months, and will be instrumented for experimental test flights.
Engineers and a former astronaut have started human-in-the-loop testing of the environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) for Bigelow Aerospace’s Sundancer inflatable orbital module, using a 90-cu.-meter chamber at the Orbitech facility in Madison, Wis.
A plan being pushed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to kill the post of assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration (ASD-NII) and disperse functions of the Joint Staff’s J-6 office is a flawed concept, a former senior Pentagon civilian says.
U.S. State and Defense department officials are detailing a long-expected foreign military sale to Saudi Arabia, including 84 new Boeing F-15SA “Saudi Advanced” fighters with APG-63(v)3 active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, as well as upgrades to 70 existing F-15s.
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force is gearing up to field a raft of new air defense equipment and address longstanding concerns about the existing inventory. New Delhi has long worried about gaps, and in areas where it has fielded air defense systems, the equipment is often out of date.
Boeing’s defense unit reported a 23% decline in third-quarter operating profit as a strong performance by its global services and support business was not enough to offset the whiplash from Pentagon budget cuts. Operating earnings in the company’s Defense, Space & Security sector declined to $684 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30, from $885 million a year earlier, as profits fell 35% in the military aircraft business and 40% in network and space systems. Total revenues in the defense unit were down 6%, to $8.2 billion.
SUBSONIC PROJECT: NASA’s Subsonic Fixed Wing Project is seeking research proposals that develop improved prediction methods and technologies for lower noise, lower emissions, and higher performance for subsonic aircraft. The agency says the aim is to develop the enabling technology to meet specific long-term goals to reduce noise and emissions, improve aircraft fuel burn efficiency, and allow for the use of shorter runways at smaller airfields. Proposals are due Nov. 30. More information can be found at http://nspires.nasaprs.com.
A new U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report criticizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for failing to effectively monitor Boeing’s work on the stalled SBInet program, and missing cost and schedule targets.
Six new Globalstar satellites are in orbit following launch on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1:10 p.m. EDT. Managed by Arianespace affiliate Starsem, the mission deployed the spacecraft in a 920-km. (570-mi.) circular phasing orbit inclined 52 deg. in a two-step process from a specially built dispenser (Aerospace DAILY, Feb. 25).
NEW DELHI — After years of vacillation and wrangling, India is now set to sign a $2-billion deal with Dassault to upgrade 51 aging Mirage 2000 fighters to the 2000-5 standard. The deal is expected to be signed Dec. 6 when French President Nicolas Sarkozy visits India. Ahead of Sarkozy’s trip, Adm. Edouard Guillaud, French chief of defense staff, will be in India on Oct. 23 to discuss bilateral defense cooperation.
LONDON — The U.S. Air Force expects to commence follow-on operational test and evaluation of the F-22 with the Increment 3.1 upgrade package in January, with the goal of fielding new features such as synthetic aperture radar, electronic attack and the GBU-39 Small-Diameter Bomb (SDB) next year. The test phase will take place at Nellis AFB, Nev., says USAF Maj. James Akers, Air Combat Command’s F-22 requirements officer.
PARIS — NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says he hopes the tripartite German-French-Russian summit that started Oct. 18 in Deauville, France, will help convince the Russians to join with NATO in establishing a ballistic missile defense (BMD) initiative. He also suggests that other nations, including China, should be brought into the security partnership dialogue.
LONDON — Even before the British government unveiled the findings of its Strategic Defense and Security Review, Qinetiq says a major training program is being scrapped. Qinetiq is a stakeholder in the Metrix consortium that was named preferred bidder in 2007. It says that with the cancellation, it now faces a ₤37 million ($59 million) charge on costs already incurred. The Defense Training Review Package 1 program was to create a single vocational training center for all three armed services and run the facility over 30 years.
HOUSTON — The seals on a leaky fuel line flange in Discovery’s Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) will be replaced, without an immediate affect on the scheduled Nov. 1 liftoff, NASA managers decided Oct. 19. The small leak of toxic hydrazine stopped during an overnight torque test of a half-dozen bolts in the cross-feed flange area within the orbiter’s aft fuselage.
LONDON — The full impact on industry of Britain’s Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR) and the associated 8% budget reduction may take some time to emerge, although industry appears at least to be relieved the long period of uncertainty is over.
BENGALURU, India – American defense buyers, suppliers in India and aerospace companies will rub shoulders at a high-level, one-day meeting in Bangalore on Oct. 20. Hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in India (AMCHAM), the meeting will discuss various challenges that suppliers and buyers are facing in the wake of opening up the defense and aerospace sectors in India.
