PARIS — Zodiac has flatly rejected a preliminary merger offer from Safran, forcing the French-based aero-engine and aircraft equipment maker to look elsewhere for external growth.
AIR FORCE Integral Systems Inc., Columbia, Md., was awarded a contract modification of $13,417,469 which will extend the contract for the command and control system-consolidated program from Sept. 30, 2011 to Sept. 30, 2012, to accommodate launch delays on the Advanced Extremely High Frequency Space Vehicles 1, 2 and 3. At this time, no money has been obligated. Space & Missiles System Center, Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., is the contracting activity (F04701-01-C-0012; P00170).
NEW DELHI — India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV– C15) launched the Cartosat–2B advanced remote sensing satellite from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on July 12. The flight marks the 16th consecutive successful flight of the PSLV.
General Dynamics Land Systems has received a $30 million award from the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Command’s Lifecycle Management Command to begin production of a double V-shaped hull for the workhorse Stryker infantry combat vehicle.
Directed-energy weapons and advanced sensors in next-generation combat aircraft will demand power and cooling beyond the capabilities of today’s technology and could prompt a fundamental change in the design of aircraft systems. Keen to avoid the thermal-management “nightmares” that confronted developers of the stealthy fifth-generation F-22 and F-35, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is launching the Energy-Optimized Aircraft program to demonstrate a new approach to generating, storing, consuming and dissipating energy on aircraft.
PRIVATE EYE: Boeing plans to unveil its Phantom Eye liquid hydrogen-powered unmanned aerial vehicle July 12 to company officials only. The company is developing the demonstrator with a hope of eventually building a vehicle capable of 10 days of high-altitude endurance with a 1,000-lb. payload, and in an effort to reinvigorate the company’s sluggish attempt to get an unmanned systems business off the ground. Officials will also try with Phantom Eye to beat the endurance record set by the Boeing Condor by flying 96-100 hr.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) JULY 13 - 15 — CAE Flightscape 2010 Users Conference, Hilton Lac Leamy, Gatineau, Quebec. For more information call +1 (613) 225-0070, fax +1 (613) 225-0098 or go to www.flightscape.com/about/conferences.php
NEW DELHI — Boeing Network & Space Systems is adding to its command, cyber-security and intelligence network portfolio with its second acquisition in as many weeks. For an undisclosed sum, the company is to acquire privately held Narus, a Sunnyvale, Calif., specialist in real-time network traffic and analytics software to help it expand into commercial network accounts, such as in telecoms and energy, while continuing to build its government networks and cyber-security portfolio.
HEADING GLENN: Ramon (Ray) Lugo III will be the next director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center, a position he has held on an acting basis since March. Lugo, who joined NASA as a cooperative education student at Kennedy Space Center in 1975, was named deputy director of the Cleveland field center in November 2007, transferring from his post as deputy manager of the launch services program at KSC. He replaces Woodrow Whitlow Jr., who is now associate administrator for mission support at agency headquarters.
MISSILE FLEX: A U.S. Navy team led by the NATO SeaSparrow Project Office (NSPO), a cooperative weapons development project, has created a method of consolidating missile test equipment that the service says will result in $8 million in cost savings annually. The new, flexible facility concept allows Navy surface-to-air missiles to be processed using a standard set of test equipment similar to equipment found at intermediate-level maintenance facilities.
PARIS — Sagem and French armaments agency DGA have carried out the first firing of a laser-guided AASM standoff weapon. The firing, carried out at medium altitude from a Rafale multirole fighter, struck a fixed target 25 km. (16 mi.) away illuminated by a DHY-307 ground designator. Though the target’s GPS coordinates were voluntarily shifted by about 100 meters, the weapon hit the target within one meter of the intended strike zone.
CUTTER MEETINGS: The U.S. Coast Guard will hold meetings in Washington in mid-August to discuss its Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC). The Coast Guard says it is continuing to conduct market research for the OPC and has invited U.S.
LONDON — The third Airbus Military A400M development aircraft, MSN3, took off for the first time at 13:57 (11:57 GMT) July 9 from the Seville manufacturing site in Spain. The same day Airbus Military clocked up its 100th test flight on the A400M, with the aircraft now having reached the 400-flight-hour mark. The third A400M was flown by Tony Flynn, supported by François Barre. Both are test pilots with Airbus. Five aircraft eventually will be involved in the flight test program, which is due to total 3,700 hr.
HURRICANE WATCH: For the first time since 2001, NASA will fly a six-week field campaign to gather data on how tropical storms form and develop into major hurricanes. Beginning Aug. 15, the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) mission will use the agency’s DC-8 research aircraft operating out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (Fla.) International Airport, a WB-57 flying from Ellington Field in Houston and a Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in California.
Industry and government must join forces to come up with solutions for the growing issue of cybersecurity, according to officials speaking at the the AFCEA Cybersecurity Symposium held in Washington July 8.
NEW DELHI — A failure review panel has pinpointed the untimely stopping of a Fuel Booster Turbo Pump (FBTP) as the major cause of the April failure of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) formed a multidisciplinary panel of experts to review the mishap, which destroyed the GSAT-4 experimental satellite (Aerospace DAILY, April 16).
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The state of Florida has been awarded a license from FAA to operate Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 46 for commercial use. The license, effective July 1, will clear the way for Space Florida, the state’s space development arm, to formally pursue customers, including a Lockheed Martin-Alliant Techsystems (ATK) partnership that in March announced plans to return Athena II launch vehicles to the market.
VIRGINIA CLASS: The U.S. Navy’s newest Virginia-class submarine, PCU Missouri, will be commissioned in Groton, Conn., July 31. The ship recently returned from its Alpha sea trials, during which the crew evaluated the ship’s capabilities through different test scenarios, including diving to test depth, conducting an emergency surfacing and testing the submarine’s propulsion plant. On July 5, the ship set sail again for Bravo sea trials. The Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey trials will commence later in this month, just prior to commissioning.
BIDS IN: Source selection for the latest iteration of the U.S. Air Force’s long-running quest for a KC-X aerial tanker is underway after EADS North America and Boeing submitted proposals of more than 8,000 pages last week. The KC-135 replacement contract is worth at least $35 billion. Proposals were due July 9 at 2 p.m., and a winner is expected to be announced Nov. 12. Each company must meet 372 mandatory requirements to compete. A small, California-based firm, U.S.
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DELAYED DEBUT: Nearly a year after launch, two Northrop Grumman Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) satellites are beginning to execute their mission of tracking ballistic missiles in flight. Launched in September, the STSS satellites had problems transmitting data, but the use of the spacecraft in a June 6 tracking mission during a Missile Defense Agency (MDA) test is a step forward. The test was a flight of the first two-stage Boeing Ground-Based Interceptor, which was designed for defunct plans to base the system in Europe.
