The end appears to be nearing for Brazil’s FX-2 fighter competition. During an interview with Brazilian television that aired a few weeks ago, (but which only now has been transcribed by the ministry), Defense Minister Nelson Jobim predicted the process will wrap up late this month or in early April. Jobim highlighted technology transfer and price among the big considerations in the competition. The battle pits the Boeing F/A-18E/F, the Dassault Rafale, and Saab Gripen against each other.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., was awarded a $41,898,184 contract which will provide for the purchase and contractor logistic support of sniper advanced targeting pods to support a foreign military sale customer, Saudi Arabia. At this time, $20,949,092 has been obligated. 448 PKHCB, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8522-10-C-0003). NAVY
NO GO: United Aircraft Corp. on March 22 called U.S. news media reports of a potential bid by the Russian company in the USAF KC-X program, or any relationship with a California lawyer asserting as much, to be “inaccurate,” according to a statement on its web site. “UAC is not planning to take part in the tanker tender or set up a joint venture,” the company said. The lawyer, John Kirkland, apparently informed several newspapers late last week that he was working on behalf of UAC in regard to a KC-X bid based on the Il-96 airlifter.
NEW DELHI — India plans to test numerous missiles this year, including the Agni, Advanced Air Defense (AAD), Prithvi Air Defense (PAD) anti-ballistic missile and the indigenously developed Shaurya missile, Aviation Week has learned. These follow a successful March 22 test of the Brahmos missile from a vertical launcher fitted on the moving warship INS Ranvir off the Orissa coast in Eastern India.
LONDON — The British Defense Ministry signed a letter of offer and acceptance with Washington March 19 covering the acquisition of three RC-135 Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft to replace its Nimrod R1s.
Scaled Composites has begun captive-carry flight testing of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) beneath the wing of the White Knight Two (WK2) launch aircraft with a flight out of Mojave, Calif., on March 22.
A key U.S. hypersonic wind tunnel is back online following a major refurbishment, and its first occupant is a model of vehicle that is about to make its first flight — the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s HTV-2 hypersonic glider, the last vestige of its once-ambitious Falcon program.
LONDON — The U.K. Defense Ministry has picked General Dynamics UK to meet its Future Rapid Effect System Specialist Vehicle (FRES SV) requirement for the British Army — a decision that is a body blow to BAE Systems.
Boeing officials are preparing the Airborne Laser (ABL) prototype aircraft for its next series of tests, which will feature a ballistic missile target shootdown at twice the range of the last trial, according to Michael Rinn, Boeing’s ABL vice president. There are now windows on the test range in April and May, he says.
Europe’s MBDA aims to make significant headway this year in its plan to secure a beachhead in the U.S. missile business. The European missile maker has been seeking for some time to establish a U.S. presence as part of a strategy of boosting its export activities. It recently hired a new team of American defense specialists, headed by Jerry Agee, to revive the stalled effort.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) has completed two ground tests of a full-scale attitude control motor (ACM) for the launch abort system planned for NASA’s Orion crew exploration vehicle. The second test, conducted March 17 at ATK’s facility in Elkton, Md., evaluated environment extremes and ignition system robustness and confirmed motor performance, according to ATK. The first test took place Dec. 15.
FORWARD MOVEMENT: The Canadian government is coming closer to finalizing its strategy to replace its DHC-5 Buffalo search-and-rescue aircraft. The Buffalos will reach the end of their service lives in 2015. This month, the National Research Council submitted a government-requested independent rmeview into the fixed-wing search-and-rescue statement of requirements.
EADS North America officials have requested an extra 90 days to potentially assemble a prime bid for the U.S. Air Force’s KC-X aerial refueling tanker replacement contract, valued at up to $35 billion for 179 aircraft. Pentagon officials are “seriously considering” the request, according to Geoff Morrell, Pentagon spokesman. “A reasonable extension, were it granted, would certainly be in keeping with past practice,” he said.
OFFER REJECTED: The bondholders of Mexican telecom satellite operator Satmex have rejected an offer from EchoStar to buy the company. EchoStar on Feb. 26 offered to acquire Satmex for $374 million in cash, subject to the purchase of all oustanding senior secured notes. However, a group of noteholders refused to back the deal. Subequent efforts to negotiate a settlement proved fruitless. Satmex is in precarious financial health and has been unable to finance a new satellite.
The U.S. Coast Guard is in the midst of negotiating a firm, fixed-price contract for its fourth National Security Cutter (NSC) as the last vestiges of Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS), the former industry team lead systems integrator on the Deepwater program, fade away.
ICEBRIDGE: NASA is kicking off the second year of its Operation IceBridge, the largest airborne survey of Earth’s polar ice, with a study in Greenland this week. The survey is conducted from NASA’s DC-8 flying science laboratory. It was scheduled to depart from NASA’s Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., on March 21 for Thule, Greenland. Scientists will conduct 10-12 missions over the Arctic during a five-week period, focused on Arctic sea ice, which reaches its maximum extent in March and early April.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has picked Thales Alenia Space and Germany’s OHB to begin exclusive negotiations for supply of the space segment of Europe’s Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) geostationary weather satellite system.
JSF SCORECARD: Congressional auditors are recommending that U.S. lawmakers consider requiring the Defense Department to establish a “management tool” to help them better measure the Joint Strike Fighter’s (JSF) maturation, especially in cost estimating, testing and manufacturing. The March 19 recommendation came in the latest of a flurry of JSF reports and inquiries on Capitol Hill as the program gets restructured (Aerospace DAILY, March 17). Called a “system maturity matrix” by the U.S.
HERON HICCUP: The German air force has damaged a Heron-1 unmanned aircraft operating in Afghanistan at the end of the UAV’s first operational mission from Mazar-e-Sharif. The reconnaissance aircraft had landed and was returned to its parking stand when it collided with another parked aircraft. Both aircraft were damaged, and one person was slightly injured. German military officials are investigating the accident, which occurred March 17.
HYPER ACTIVE: A slew of advanced vehicle test flights are lining up. The first attempt to fly the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory/Defense Advanced Projects Agency (Darpa) Boeing X-51A Waverider scramjet demonstrator is imminent, with the vehicle expected to reach Mach 6 after release from its B-52 mothership over the Pacific. The Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office has scheduled launch of the Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle unmanned reusable spaceplane demonstrator for April 19, by an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
LONDON — Technical issues with two types of Royal Air Force (RAF) intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft lowered availability at the beginning of this year. Of the five Sentinel R1 airborne stand-off radar aircraft the air force now operates, only one was available for operations in January on average. Similarly an issue with the E-3D Sentry fleet that emerged at the end of 2009 meant only two of the five aircraft in the in-service fleet were available.
