Thomas J. Cassidy, Jr., a veteran fighter pilot and rear admiral who battled a skeptical U.S. Air Force to win acceptance for unmanned aerial vehicles, is retiring as president of the Aircraft Systems Group at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) effective March 15.
Lockheed Martin officials say the U.S. Air Force has declared the newly re-engined C-5, the C-5M, is “effective, suitable and mission capable,” following a series of operational tests. This rating would be a step toward clearing the aircraft for operational use. Air Force officials declined to discuss their initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) findings because they haven’t yet been briefed to Congress.
Speaking last week at a conference in Ottawa, Canada, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, head of Central Command, was cautious when talking about the July 2011 drawdown date for U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Speaking at the Conference Defense Association meeting, Petraeus warned that “one needs to be very careful in interpreting” what President Barack Obama has said.
The average per unit cost of the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has substantially increased, from $50 million to up to $95 million, Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter told senators March 11 on Capitol Hill. In today’s dollars, the per unit cost is estimated to be $112 million per unit.
President Barack Obama revealed two eagerly awaited reforms to U.S. export control regulations on March 11 and hinted that more reforms will be unveiled by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates in the coming weeks.
A leaner, more confident U.S. Coast Guard faced the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee March 11 to outline its acquisition and recapitalization plan for the next few years. “We’ve gotten great support in terms of appropriations, resources to hire acquisition professionals and revamped processes,” said Rear Adm. Ron Rabago, the Coast Guard’s acquisitions chief. “We’re not done yet and we don’t have it perfect. There’s plenty more work to do.”
U.S. Navy Dept. officials told senators March 10 that their Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) has now slipped to a first launch in December 2011. The officials and a congressional auditor from the U.S. Government Accountability Office all attributed the delay to further development problems in the Lockheed Martin-led effort. Overall, the UHF communications satellite program — once expected to be operational this month — now estimates a 21-month delay in delivery of capability from the first satellite (Aerospace DAILY, Jan. 25). Four are planned.
An openly frustrated Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) chair Carl Levin (D-Mich.) opened a critical hearing on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter on Capitol Hill March 11 by recalling the optimism expressed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates back in August. “It’s a bit frustrating to hear the Secretary tell us that everything is OK,” McCain said, “and then read in media reports that it’s not.”
The International Space Station (ISS) partners agree there are no technical constraints that would preclude extending operations at least through 2020, and say they are taking steps to certify station elements through 2028. The Obama administration’s Fiscal 2011 NASA budget request extends station operations from their current baseline cutoff date of 2015 out to 2020, in line with recommendations from the Augustine human spaceflight commission.
As the U.S. Navy approaches the decision point on a sea frame for its Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment (CSBA) is evaluating possible concepts of operation for the ship once it enters the fleet. Martin Murphy, author of the LCS study, posits that the Navy never really understood how the ships were intended to be used operationally because the designs never passed through the normal requirements process.
DOD Presolicitations DOD Presolicitations Date of Posting Response Date Opportunity Segment Procurement Office Solicitation Code Contact E-mail 09-Mar-10 08-Apr-10 Engineering technical services and systems development Professional, administrative, and
NEAL AWARD: The Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) has won the 2010 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for the best Web site in its revenue category. In presenting the award March 11 at an American Business Media luncheon in New York, the judges found AWIN broad and “very well organized” across airlines, defense, space, business aviation and maintenance, repair and overhaul.
Cyber- and electronic warfare specialists contend that there is a yawning chasm between strategic network operations and electronic attack from tactical aircraft even though they are often described in similar terms. “There is a lot of contractor hype,” says a longtime U.S. Air Force airborne electronic attack specialist. “Most of what is described as combining jamming and cyber is nothing more then the subtleties of smart jamming.
PRE-OWNED: The Peruvian government has entered an agreement with the Netherlands to buy two Fokker 60 maritime patrol aircraft (MPA). The Dutch defense ministry in 2004 already decided to try to dispose of four of the MPAs. As part of the package, the Peruvian government also will buy some spares equipment, as well as training of both pilots and maintenance personnel. At the request of the Peruvian government, the Dutch defense ministry is not disclosing the financial terms of the deal.
MILSAT READY: The second satellite for Germany’s Satcom BW Stage 2 military communications satellite network — Comsat Bw-2 — has entered integration for a March 24 Ariane 5 ECA launch. The mission — the second of the year for the Ariane 5 — also will send aloft the Astra 3B commercial telecom spacecraft. Comsat BW-1, Germany’s first dedicated military telecom satellite, was orbited on Oct. 1.
Intelsat has reported record revenues of $2.5 billion in 2009 (up 6 percent over the year before), and a 7 percent boost in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), to $2 billion.
LONDON — The British Labour Government will review its 2005 Defense Industrial Strategy as an integral element of a full-blown strategic review, due to be launched immediately after a general election. Paul Drayson, minister for defense acquisition reform, said the second iteration of the defense industrial strategy (DIS2) “will be fully integrated with the Strategic Defense Review (SDR). The starting point has to be the top-level decisions about future roles for the armed forces, before considering how to deliver associated capabilities.”
Mobile satellite service (MSS) leader Inmarsat posted strong results again last year, showing that it will remain a force to be reckoned with as new players enter the fast-growing MSS market. In 2009 results posted March 9, the London-based company disclosed a 4.2 percent increase in revenues, to $1.04 billion, and an 11 percent improvement in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, to $594.2 million. Free cash flow shot up 54 percent, to $349 million.
NEW DELHI — The prototype of the naval variant of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) being built for India’s aircraft carrier has lagged behind schedule due to various development requirements, Defense Minister A.K. Antony said in parliament March 10.
Engineers at Space Exploration Technologies Inc. (SpaceX) are reviewing data after an automatic abort of its nine-engine Falcon 9 launch vehicle on the pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on March 9. The engines did not ignite for a planned 3.5-second static test, although flames appeared briefly beneath the rocket on the pad at Launch Complex 40, and a cloud of black smoke drifted away from the kerosene-fueled launch vehicle.
EADS North America Chief Executive Officer Sean O’Keefe says that while his company has built up its capacity to manage its first Pentagon prime contract — the UH-72A helicopter — its abilities are not mature enough to justify going it alone on a bid for the massive U.S. Air Force KC-X tanker contract.
The Swedish defense procurement agency FMV has awarded Saab another 2 billion Swedish kronor ($280 million) contract for further work on Gripen upgrades, including the integration of the Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) on the fighter. The contract is just the latest in a series of upgrades that FMV has ordered to meet the Swedish air force’s needs. Although the program will unfold over a roughly four-year period, as in previous instances the capabilities will be rolled out to the fleet as they become available.
LOS ANGELES — The responsive space initiative to develop affordable, lower-cost space missions may be in danger of failing unless progress speeds up, according to industry delegates at the 2010 Responsive Space (RS) conference here.
