FORT WORTH – Former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin is proposing a fundamental rethinking of approaches to systems engineering, a process which is coming in for increased criticism in the wake of a long list of abandoned, delayed and underperforming aerospace programs.
Boeing is pushing back first flights of its two premier unmanned aerial system (UAS) demonstrators, the Phantom Ray combat aircraft and the high-flying Phantom Eye hydrogen-powered system.
LONDON — Chemring has launched an investigation into the cause of a Sept. 14 industrial incident at its Kilgore Flares facility that occurred less than a week after a fire at its Mecar facility. Three employees sustained “flash burns” and two more were treated for stress-related conditions , the company said in disclosing the incident at the Toone, Tenn.-based facility where MJU-7 expendables are assembled.
As Defense Secretary Robert Gates continues his call for efficiencies in Pentagon spending, Gen. Norton Schwartz, U.S. Air Force chief of staff, is asking industry to take the “long view” on profit and not focus merely on short-term gains. In his speech to the annual Air Force Association conference Sept. 14, Schwartz cited an ancient parable.
LONDON — The French navy now projects the NFH90 maritime helicopter will reach its operational capability in the fall of 2011. The expectation comes after having recently taken delivery of its second of the type. The helo will undergo trials at the Hyeres naval air station. The first operational base will be at Lanveoc. The service plans to take delivery of 27 NFH90s through 2021 to replace its Super Frelons and the Lynx helicopter.
AWAITING LAUNCH: The Boeing/Ball Space-Based Space Surveillance satellite and its Orbital Sciences Minotaur IV launcher have moved to space launch complex 8 at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., for final preparations prior to its Sept. 25 night launch. The satellite mating was completed last week. The launch was expected July 8, but a software sequencing issue arose on the Minotaur that forced a rewrite and verification tests of the code.
LONDON — British lawmakers are concerned that the government’s Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR) may jeopardize the industrial base and overemphasize short-term needs. In a report issued in advance of the document’s completion, Parliament’s defense select committee notes that the speed with which the review is being conducted “could end up with only short-term priorities, misaligned resources, a barely reformed acquisition process, and a structure short of manpower to deliver good performance and improperly configured for tasks.”
NEW DELHI — The Indian government is in a dilemma over whether to suspend the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in some areas in Kashmir. Under the act, all security forces are given unrestricted power to carry out their operations once an area is declared disturbed. Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik said Sept. 14 that for soldiers to perform their duties efficiently, they deserve “all the legal protection” they can get.
NATIONAL AEROSPACE WEEK Sept. 12-18, 2010 From Takeoff To Liftoff and Beyond, The Aerospace and Defense Industry is powered by people. Aerospace And Defense: The Strength Of Lift America. www.NationalAerospaceWeek.org Aerospace Industries Association Click here to view the pdf
BENGALURU, India – The India Innovation Growth Program (IIGP) generated cumulative revenue of Rs 350 crore ($76 million) from 2007-2010, and is expected to generate close to Rs 500 crore ($108 million) in 2011. The IIGP is a joint effort by Lockheed Martin and India’s Department of Science and Technology that competitively funds innovative Indian technology projects. Lockheed Martin extended its commitment to IIGP through 2012 at the Chennai Tech Expo last week.
HOT TOPICS: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Sept. 14 that he has scheduled the chamber’s version of the 2011 defense authorization bill to be considered this month — but it will include controversial Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and so-called Dream Act immigrant education provisions. The move is expected to ignite a heated debate over non-combat policies that nonetheless could endanger near-term passage of 2011 defense policymaking legislation.
LONDON — The World Trade Organization has issued its first ruling on the European Union’s case against the U.S. over alleged subsidies provided to Boeing.
LONDON — A U.K. parliamentary committee is raising concerns regarding the defense ministry’s £10.5 billion ($16.4 billion) Future Strategic Tanker public-finance initiative (PFI). In a new report, the Committee of Public Accounts raises further questions about a deal that has come under criticism before. “Using PFI to procure the £10.5 billion Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) project was inappropriate and, in the view of this committee, has not secured value for money,” Margaret Hodge, committee chairman, says.
HOUSTON — For a commercial space transportation system to ferry crew to and from the International Space Station, NASA’s astronaut corps prefers a rental-car model rather than a taxi model, says Chief Astronaut Peggy Whitson.
HOUSTON — NASA space operations chief Bill Gerstenmaier says that by January NASA will have made a final decision on whether shuttle Atlantis will fly an extra mission in June 2011. Late Sept. 14, the agency announced that veteran commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim will train as the crew for STS-335, the “launch-on-need” (i.e., rescue) mission for STS-134.
JOINT UAVS: Elbit and Safran will pool efforts to try to sell unmanned aerial vehicles in France and some international markets. The joint venture would have a product portfolio including existing systems, with Elbit potentially contributing the Hermes 450 and Hermes 900 and Sagem contributing its Patroller system. The focus is on tactical unmanned aircraft. The joint venture, which is to become operational early next year, would be based in Eragny and Montlucon, France. Both companies will contribute assets, the firms say in a joint announcement.
ON STATION: Boeing received a $1.24 billion contract extension from NASA on Sept. 14 for sustaining engineering of the International Space Station through Sept. 30, 2015. The extension brings the value of the contract initially awarded in 1995 and most recently modified in 2008 to a total of $16.2 billion.
BENGALURU, India — India’s intercontinental ballistic missile, the Agni-V, will be test-fired in 2011, the Defense Research and Development Organization’s chief says. V.K. Saraswat tells AVIATION WEEK that the missile will be launched “anytime next year,” and that “our missile programs have reached high levels of maturity in the last 15 years with the successful launches of Prithvi, Agni and BrahMos.”
Inadequate oversight of dozens of “undefinitized” contracts has put more than $2.8 billion at risk for some of the U.S. Air Force’s most important procurement programs, according to a recent Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report. The undefinitized contractual actions (UCAs) are a tool used by procurement officers to get a company on contract for specific tasks while saving detailed negotiations until later, and are typically considered appropriate for use in areas such as urgent needs for commanders fighting a war.
LONDON — Flight and firing trials of a new weapon system designed for light and medium helicopters wrapped up recently in a joint effort between Eurocopter and Advanced Technologies & Engineering (ATE) to provide an armaments upgrade to rotorcraft. The test activities, using a Eurocopter EC635 and the Stand-Alone Weapon System (SAWS), were conducted at the Murray Hill Test Range near Pretoria. Eurocopter and South Africa’s ATE are developing the system, which includes various sensor options and a mission-and-fire-control computer.
BENGALURU, India — India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) says its homegrown Airborne Early Warning & Control System (AEW&CS), integrated on a modified Brazilian Embraer EMB-145, will fly by the end of 2011. Dr. Prahlada, head of DRDO, tells AVIATION WEEK the first EMB-145 will land in India by January 2011, and the integration work is set to begin by the middle of next year.
BENGALURU, India — A new test range for India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) will be built in the Chitradurga district of Karnataka state. Dr. Prahlada, chief of DRDO, tells AVIATION WEEK that a new facility also will be constructed in Hyderabad for DRDO to flight-test aircraft. The Chitradurga facility will focus on flight tests of unmanned aerial vehicles, air-to-ground weapons, parachutes and electronic warfare systems.
NEW DELHI — Taking another step toward Network-Centric Warfare (NCW) operations, Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony has launched the $229 million AFNET (Air Force Network). AFNET will be a critical link for the air force between its command and control center and sensors such as the Airborne Early Warning and Control System, combat jets and missile squadrons. Interception of simulated enemy targets in the western center by a pair of MiG-29 fighters from an advanced airbase in the Punjab sector was played live on screens at the launch.
NATIONAL AEROSPACE WEEK Sept. 12-18, 2010 From Takeoff To Liftoff and Beyond, The Aerospace and Defense Industry is powered by people. Aerospace And Defense: The Strength Of Lift America. www.NationalAerospaceWeek.org Aerospace Industries Association Click here to view the pdf
