LONDON — Eurocopter is testing a new hybrid helicopter demonstrator that aims to reach 220 kt. forward speed. The twin-turboshaft-powered helicopter uses two propellers on a short wing for forward flight, with a five-blade main rotor. Eurocopter at one point explored a tiltrotor design but later rejected that idea. The company says the X3, or H3 – for high-speed, long-range hybrid helicopter – could be used for military, search-and-rescue and other applications, including intercity transport.
Roughly 8,000 soldiers from the U.S. Army Evaluation Task Force are camped out in the New Mexico desert taking part in a training and technology experiment that pits soldiers armed with the latest surveillance gear against a “Red Team” of soldiers playing the part of Taliban fighters.
PORT BLAIR, India — The Indian navy soon will add one more floating dock to repair and refit warships at sea. The request for information (RFI) for the second Floating Dock Navy (FDN) facility was issued to shipbuilders worldwide in March. The new facility will be smaller than the existing one and will be ready by 2014. It could lift up to 8,000 tons once fully operational and is expected to cost around Rs 250-300 crore ($55-66 million).
Alenia Aermacchi and its business partner Boeing have won a contract that involves providing 12 Alenia Aermacchi advanced jet trainer aircraft, as well as associated spares and training, to the Singapore air force. Singapore government-linked company ST Aerospace will be purchasing the 12 M346 jet trainers on behalf of the air force, says ST Aerospace, which estimates the aircraft, along with associated spare parts and ground-based training system, will cost S$543 million (U.S. $413 million).
LONDON — The German defense armaments office, the BWB, has formally cleared the German air force to start operating its new tanker fleet. The move gives the Luftwaffe its first strategic refueling capability. The program dates back to 2000, when a decision was made to modify four Airbus A310 multi-role transports into multi-role tanker transports.
Final checkout of Canada’s robotic special purpose dexterous manipulator (SPDM) is expected next spring or summer, once engineers complete analysis of the force needed to remove a failed power controller on the International Space Station. The two-armed SPDM, known as Dextre, was not able to pull the unit during a July rehearsal because the engineering analysis was based on low-fidelity hardware to save money, according to Sarmad Aziz, a robotics flight controller at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
PARIS — European Space Agency officials are reasonably sure they can meet a late February docking window for the second Automated Transfer Vehicle, which is needed for an International Space Station (ISS) reboost mission. The next reboost is needed by mid-2011 to prevent the ISS from descending too low and risking atmospheric re-entry. The space shuttle and Progress resupply ship, as well as the station itself, can perform reboost maneuvers, but the ATV can move it much higher, significantly reducing drag and improving operating efficiencies.
PORT BLAIR, India — India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has decided to keep the Mysore-based Defense Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) within its stable, despite speculation that it and other life sciences facilities would be moved elsewhere. DFRL supplies ready-to-eat rations to soldiers deployed in extreme and hostile conditions like Siachen, Rajasthan and during the Antarctica expedition. All its food-processing technologies have been passed on to Indian industries under transfer of technology.
HORNET BUZZ: The U.S. Navy awarded Boeing a long-awaited $5.3 billion contract Sept. 28 for the third multi-year buy of Super Hornet twin-engine fighters and Growler electronic attack aircraft. The deal includes 46 F/A-18Es, 20 F/A-18Fs and 58 EA-18Gs, and these purchases will supply the remaining aircraft in the Navy’s planned total buy of 513 Super Hornets and 114 Growlers. The work is expected to be complete in May 2015.
LOS ANGELES — General Electric and Rolls-Royce are focusing on manufacturing records as they investigate the causes of an incident that forced the shutdown of an F136 development engine on Sept. 23. The shutdown was triggered when the F136 endurance engine, 008, “experienced an anomaly at near-maximum fan speed,” the GE-Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team says. “Initial inspection revealed damage to airfoils in the front fan and compressor area. The engine is currently being disassembled for a thorough investigation,” it adds.
AAI has received a $3.05 million contract for Phase 1 of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Transformer Vehicle (TX) program to demonstrate a “fly-drive” tactical vehicle. Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works is also expected to receive a contract. AAI is teamed with flying-car developer Terrafugia, sister companies Bell Helicopter and Textron Marine & Land Systems, and its design is based on slowed-rotor/compound (SR/C) helicopter technology being developed jointly with Carter Aviation Technologies.
ITT Corp. has completed another round of tests with its first laser missile jammer as industry awaits release of the delayed request for proposals for the U.S. Army-led Common Infrared Countermeasures (Circm) program, now expected in October. Several companies will likely bid to equip thousands of U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force rotorcraft with lightweight laser jammers, including the existing suppliers of directed infrared countermeasures equipment, BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman.
AIR FORCE United Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney, East Hartford, Conn., was awarded a contract modification not-to-exceed $279,703,743 for the acquisition for 22 priority initial spare F-119-PW-100 engines. At this time, $279,703,743 has been obligated. ASC/WWUK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8611-08-C-2896; P00040). NAVY
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In a last-ditch effort to pass a new authorization bill for NASA, the House has agreed to consider the Senate-passed NASA authorization this week, having abandoned hopes for arriving at a compromise bill between the two chambers before the current fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
PARIS — Gazprom Space Systems has finalized $731 million in financing and guarantees for the Yamal 400 program, enabling the two-satellite undertaking to enter full development and production.
PRAGUE — Plans are well along for NASA Administrator Charles Bolden to make a delayed trip to Beijing for what may be the opening round of talks leading to closer international cooperation in human spaceflight. NASA officials stressed that there has been no final invitation for Bolden to visit China at a specific time. However, officials in Beijing already are preparing for the visit, amid suggestions at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here that it could come in October.
The next significant air-launched weapons battle is about to heat up with the U.S. Army’s forthcoming solicitation for a single Hellfire, Javelin and TOW missile replacement called the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM). JAGM could be worth billions of dollars, and will be integrated onto six platforms – including fixed and rotary wing – for the Army and Navy : the Boeing F/A-18E/F and Apache Block III, Bell AH-1Z and OH-58D, Sikorsky MH-60R/S and General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle .
After three years of negotiations within two White House administrations and two full sessions of Congress, a key Senate committee has forwarded groundbreaking export licensing treaties with Australia and the U.K. for full Senate ratification. But new hurdles are emerging for the treaties, which would obviate licenses across pre-ordained, transocean communities of governments and companies.
HELO OUTLOOK: Forecast International says while the nearer-term future of the light military rotorcraft market looks good, cloudy conditions are on the horizon. In data announced Sept. 27, Forecast projects that 1,941 light military rotorcraft will be built by 2019, with annual output growing to 220 units in 2014. After that, the market is expected to descend to 181 units per year by 2019. “Current acquisition programs will run their course, and few new major procurements of light military helicopters are in the works,” Forecast says.
TEXAN TOTALED: U.S. Air Force accident investigators are examining the wreckage of a T-6A Texan II trainer that crashed near Spofford, Texas, on Sept. 24. The aircraft, whose crew ejected safely, was based at Laughlin AFB and assigned to the 47th Flying Training Wing when it crashed on a ranch between Bracketville and Spofford. Local reports suggest a possible engine failure is being investigated in the loss of the 1,100 hp. Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-68-powered trainer.
