Questions over the need for the U.S. Marine Corps Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle continue to spark concerns, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). “The Navy and the Marines envision that future conflicts will require a ‘persistent presence in littoral areas’ characterized by land-based anti-ship cruise missiles, mines, and small, fast suicide boats,” the CRS notes in its September report.
PARIS — Lightsquared, the U.S. mobile satellite service operator that plans to roll out a coast-to-coast hybrid wireless network in partnership with Nokia Siemens, has announced the slate of suppliers that will work with Nokia to build the terrestrial segment. Lightsquared is controlled by Harbinger Capital Partners.
ARMY AAI Corp., Hunt Valley, Md., was awarded on Sept. 24 a $70,715,213 contract for the purchase of 142 laser designator payloads and 61 bore sight tools in support of the Shadow unmanned aircraft system. The work is to be performed in Hunt Valley, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2010. One bid was solicited with one bid received. AMCOM Contracting Center, CCAM-AR-A, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-08-C-0023). AIR FORCE
MOSCOW — Sukhoi says it will deliver the first Su-35S multirole fighter to the Russian air force by the end of the year. Last year the Russian military ordered a batch of 48 fighters with the deliveries to be completed by 2015. On Oct. 11, Sukhoi reported that the first production Su-35S is already in final assembly at the KnAAPO facility in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, with preparations underway for flight testing.
SMART LAUNCHER: Japan’s next-generation launch vehicle for scientific payloads will be designed to launch five days after stacking, using the latest in intelligent avionics for autonomous checkout with oversight from controllers using laptop computers. According to information presented at the 61st International Astronautical Congress in Prague, the planned Epsilon rocket will have only two-thirds of the lift capacity of the M-V launcher it will replace, but will be able to orbit its 1,200-kg. (2,640-lb.) payloads for about a third the cost of the M-V.
NEW DELHI — India is looking at fitting its Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters with Russian Phazotron Zhuk-AE active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radars. The X-band radar can track 30 aerial targets in the track-while-scan mode and engage six targets simultaneously in attack mode. By 2018, the Indian air force inventory is expected to comprise around 300 Su-30MKIs.
BEIJING — Australia will make urgent repairs to its two main amphibious ships with funds left over from an under-budget modification to a fleet tanker. A winning quotation from Singaporean ship builder ST Marine to convert the tanker HMAS Success to a double-hull configuration was less than the funds set aside for the work, releasing money for “priority repair” of HMA Kanimbla and Manoora, two assault ships that have been idle since late September.
MOSCOW — The 13th test launch of the R-30 Bulava (SS-NX-30) solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile has been declared a success, after several failed attempts in previous years. The missile was launched Oct. 7 from the Dmitry Donskoi submarine (Project 941 Akula), which was submerged in the White Sea, and hit the target 6,000 km. (3,700 mi.) away in Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, according to Russian defense ministry reports.
A Senate Armed Service Committee report charges that “the Department of Defense has little insight into the operations of private security providers hired as subcontractors by DOD prime contractors” in Afghanistan. In addition, “the files kept by U.S. contracting authorities “contain little or no information about contractors’ past performance and whether or how they vetted and trained their personnel,” the Oct. 7 report says. “Further, most of those contract files contained no information about how those security contractors actually performed on the job.”
DEFENSE RULES: Industry consultants at Washington-area Input predict that defense procurements will dominate major U.S. federal contracts next year, a reversal of fortune from 2010. Analysts there said Oct. 6 that more than 80% of the roughly $142 billion in total contract value identified for 2011 will be associated with defense efforts, such as the U.S. Army’s Enhanced Army Global Logistics Enterprise (Eagle) program, expected to be about $50 billion.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) OCT. 13 — Aerospace Components Manufacturers Tradeshow, Airport Marriott Hotel, Hartford/Windsor Conn. For more information go to www.aerospacecomponents.org OCT. 10 - 14 — 58th International Congress of Aviation and Space Medicine, Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore. For more information go to www.icasm2010.com
In an Oct. 6 speech in suburban Washington, Deputy U.S. Defense Secretary William J. Lynn outlined the tough reality faced by the Pentagon and its contractors. While the Defense Department projects it needs 2-3% real growth each year in its warfighting accounts — modernization, force structure, training — the reality is it is likely to get only 1%.
PARIS — Astrium is acquiring the space business of Jenoptik, expanding its German footprint and boosting its know-how in electro-optic hardware used in Earth-observation systems. Known as Jena-Optronik, the unit would help Astrium build up its optical imaging capabilities, particularly in Germany, which is looking to invest in a domestic 50-cm. optical imaging system known as Hiros. Jena-Optronik also supplies attitude sensors and laser guidance systems, notably the guidance system for Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle.
India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) had the opportunity to listen to the Akash missile system users at a recent high-profile meeting in New Delhi. A senior defense ministry official tells AVIATION WEEK that the deputy chiefs of the Indian army and air force, industry partners, representatives from Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) and Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (BDL) all shared their concerns and expectations with DRDO on the missile system. BEL and BDL are the principal integrators for the Akash.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Workers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center have begun removing pieces of the space shuttle’s Rotating Service Structure at Launch Pad 39B as part of an ongoing demolition project aimed at creating a clean, multi-use pad for future government and commercial vehicles.
PARIS — Space managers in Europe say improvements contemplated for the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) and the International Space Station (ISS) would sharply increase its cargo volume while offering a more realistic cost comparison with a proposed Advanced Reentry Vehicle (ARV) derivative.
ST. DIZIER, France — France has stood up a squadron of Rafale F3 multirole fighters at its big fighter base at St. Dizier, in Eastern France, to train pilots transitioning to the new combat aircraft.
LONDON — Although the U.K. defense industry is still bracing for significant program cuts when the government’s strategic and spending review is revealed next week, there are growing indications the calamitous reductions once feared will not materialize. At one point, defense industry representatives were bracing for cuts in defense spending well above 20% of current outlays, but recent indications are that the figure will be less severe. A cut in spending of 10% or less is now expected, several industry officials say.
GENOA, Italy — Finmeccanica’s efforts to stave off a forced wedding with Fincantieri appear to be failing, with Rome increasingly intent on finding a home for the troubled state-owned shipbuilder.
BEIJING — Chinese mission controllers have braked the Chang’e 2 lunar probe to bring it into an initial orbit around the Moon, with the aim of reducing its velocity twice more to place the spacecraft on its operational track. One of the chief aims of the mission is to achieve an orbit of 100 km. (60 mi.) with a period of 118 min. The initial orbit lasts 12 hr.
BENGALURU, India — India is developing a satellite-based detection radar system to track vessels as part of the country’s effort to beef up coastal security. The Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) is developing the radar for coastal security. These measures are now being initiated following the 2008 terrorist attacks in which terrorists entered Mumbai through the sea route.
