NEW DELHI — India’s Defense Research & Development Organization (DRDO) is increasingly looking at technology partners for various projects to give its homeland security-related development work some thrust, and is talking with Saab and EADS for assistance.
LOS ANGELES — The third Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft, T3, is being prepared for transfer to U.S. Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., following the completion of its first flight in Seattle on July 29.
ARMY Longbow LLC, Orlando, Fla., was awarded on July 22 a $39,509,964 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the award of engineering services for the Hellfire and Longbow missile requirements. The work is to be performed in Orlando (50%); Baltimore (25%); United Arab Emirates (10%); and Taiwan (15%), with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, AMSAM-AC-TM-H, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-10-C-0256). NAVY
NASA has selected Raytheon Technical Services Co. for a potential $119.9 million, five-year contract to operate, maintain and provide sustaining engineering for the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory and Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The third and final attempt to flight test the Boeing HyFly hypersonic missile demonstrator has failed. The booster did not ignite and the missile fell into the Pacific Ocean after release from an F-15E on July 29. HyFly is a U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) program to demonstrate technology for a tactical missile with a cruise speed exceeding Mach 6 and a range of 400 nm. from an air launch and 600 nm. from a surface launch.
HOUSTON — Around-the-clock preparations were underway in NASA’s Mission Control on Aug. 2 for the first of two spacewalks over the next week to replace the International Space Station’s external cooling loop pump module that shut down over the weekend, triggering a power-down of two control moment gyroscopes and other space station subsystems. Station flight engineers Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson are scheduled to float from the U.S. airlock on Thursday, Aug. 5, just before 7 a.m. EDT, to begin the repairs.
To smooth the way for the Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) to field F-16 fighters, the U.S. and Iraqi government have signed an agreement to provide training for the first batch of IqAF F-16 pilots. A deal for the purchase of 18 Block 52 F-16s has not yet been finalized, but the two sides nevertheless have decided to assure the IqAF will have personnel trained and ready to operate the fighter. Under the terms of the agreement, 10 pilots will undergo 12-17 months of training, depending on their skill level.
AIR FORCE CAE USA Inc., Tampa, Fla., was awarded a $10,643,648.00 contract to purchase seven C-5 avionics modernization program training devices and five reliability enhancement re-engining program training devices for the C-5 aircrew training system for the following users: Air Material Command, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve Command. At this time, $10,643,648.00 has been obligated. GHMKA, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (F8223-10-R-3000/2). NAVY
NEW DELHI — The Indian Air Force is looking to modernize 27 base repair depots and equipment depots located all over India, and has invited industry to express interest in bidding.
TEL AVIV and JERUSALEM—Non-state groups have ballistic missiles, distant neighbors are refining weapons-grade uranium, long-range rockets can now hit anywhere in Israel and there are few governments that can be held responsible for any act of war or terror in the Middle East. With that kind of environment, planning a defense budget takes on nightmarish qualities since any misplaced priority can have effects that stretch for years.
Ultimate procurement numbers for the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (Stuas) will depend on whether the Insitu Integrator can operate from cruisers and destroyers now equipped with the Boeing subsidiary’s smaller ScanEagle unmanned aircraft.
The U.S. Air Force will consolidate its fifth-generation F-22 fighter force in Alaska, Virginia, Nevada and Florida, deactivating a squadron at Holloman AFB, N.M., along the way, according to one of many basing decisions announced July 30. One squadron at Holloman will be split up to equip other F-22 units, with six more of the Lockheed Martin aircraft in turn going to Elmendorf AFB, six to Langley AFB, two to Nellis AFB, and one additional squadron to Tyndall AFB.
NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s mission is to penetrate the threat ring of the world’s best anti-aircraft defenses and survive, but its formula will work only if the right improvements and upgrades are in place, including the Next Generation Jammer (NGJ).
QUICKER UNDERWAY: A continuous series of production and process improvements has enabled General Dynamics Electric Boat to deliver the to-be Missouri, the fifth and latest Virginia-class submarine, nine months ahead of schedule and 21 months ahead of the lead ship of the class, the company claims. On July 29, Electric Boat delivered the nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN-780) to the U.S. Navy in a record 65 months and 8% under target cost.
A NASA Advisory Council (NAC) subcommittee is echoing frustrated members of Congress in asking the U.S. space agency to provide more detail and justification for its plan to substitute commercial space taxis for the Orion crew exploration vehicle and its Ares I launcher as a route to the International Space Station (ISS) for astronauts. The subcommittee met July 29th to preare its findings and recommendations for a meeting of the full NAC at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Aug. 5-6.
FARNBOROUGH — The permanent location of the U.K.’s Military Aviation Authority (MAA) should be decided by the third or fourth quarter of this year, as options continue to be narrowed down . The MAA was established in 2009 by the government following the Haddon-Cave report on the loss of a Nimrod MR2 with all crew over Afghanistan in 2006. The intent was to create a regulatory body to more effectively “audit and assure” military aviation.
ASTRONOMICAL GROWTH: The worldwide satellite machine-to-machine (M2M) communications market is experiencing “exponential” growth, according to consultancy Frost & Sullivan, as companies seek to boost productivity while cutting costs. The market earned revenue of $726 million last year and the consultancy estimates it will reach $1.9 billion annually by 2016.
TIME IS MONEY: U.S. defense officials should require dual competition in all production programs, and set a limit of 5-7 years for the delivery of any program, according to one of the chairmen of the blue-ribbon commission reviewing the Pentagon’s latest Quadrennial Defense Review.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) AUG. 16 - 19 — National Defense Industrial Association’s 13th Annual Space and Missile Defense Conference and Exhibition, Huntsville, Ala. For more information call (256) 382-5823, or go to www.smdconf.org Aug. 24 - 27 — AUVSI’S Unmanned Systems North America 2010, Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Colo. For more information go to www.auvsi.org
NO MESSAGES: NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit remains silent as controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory wonder whether it survived the tough Martian winter. On July 26, mission managers began paging the rover, which was last heard from on March 22, when it is thought to have entered a low-power hibernation mode. During the winter, which runs from May through November, low sunlight angles limit the energy the rover can get from its solar panels. The rover is likely weathering temperatures of -55C (-67F).
