The U.S. Air Force has selected a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV to boost the fourth Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) into orbit. The likely launch date for the Boeing-built satellite is between December 2011 and February 2012, according to ULA. The Delta IV is a legacy Boeing design that is now managed by ULA, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Astronomers expect significant science to emerge from the deluge of data being returned from NASA’s Kepler planet-finder, now that researchers have had time to verify some of the first findings from the orbiting space telescope.
ARMY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., was awarded on Dec. 22, 2009, a $171,055,147 firm-fixed-price contract to produce 14 UH-60M aircraft and convert them to the unique configuration for the United Arab Emirates. The work is to be performed in Stratford, Conn., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. U.S. Army Contracting Command, AMCOM Contracting Center, CCAM-BH-A, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-08-C-0003).
GLOBAL OBSERVER: AeroVironment has delivered the first Global Observer hydrogen-fueled long-endurance unmanned aircraft to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., for ground tests. First flight is planned by the end of April. The company is building three GO-1 air vehicles for a DOD joint capability technology demonstration. The aircraft is designed to fly at 65,000 feet for up to a week carrying a 400-pound payload, using an internal-combustion engine burning liquid-hydrogen fuel to power electric motors driving four propellers.
Southern California is losing the headquarters of another major aerospace company to the Washington, D.C., region. Northrop Grumman announced Jan. 4 that it will move its corporate headquarters out of Los Angeles by the summer of 2011.
U.S. Air Force officials are crafting plans for a 2011 demonstration of a Global Positioning System-based tracking system for ascending rockets as part of a slow but comprehensive transformation of the Pentagon’s launch ranges.
PARIS — The French government has exercised an option with Eurocopter to upgrade five more Cougar transport helicopters to keep them in service another 20 years. The deal is part of a 27-helicopter upgrade package the government signed in 2008. With this deal, upgrades for 10 of the total are now financed.
Virginia Sen. Jim Webb (D), a former U.S. Navy secretary and Marine combat veteran, is raising new objections over the Navy’s proposal to home port a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Mayport, Fla. Webb, a rising member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), has long opposed the move because it would leak prestige and economic power from Norfolk, home of the Navy’s Atlantic operations.
PARIS — The full series of flight trials of the Airbus Military A400M military airlifter is due to begin in earnest in 2010 after a stutter-step kickoff.
Astronaut John M. Grunsfeld, who has visited the Hubble Space Telescope three times in orbit to make upgrades and repairs, will help guide its observations as the new deputy director of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore. An astronomer, Grunsfeld also will help prepare the institute for operations with NASA’s planned James Webb Space Telescope. The STScI manages science operations for the Hubble.
If China’s 15 percent military spending increase from 2009 is sustained in 2010, the officially acknowledged spending for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could surpass $80 billion. China will announce its annual military spending plans in March, but as the country has never published a detailed defense budget, Western estimates of the amount vary. One Pentagon estimate put spending in 2009 at more than $215 billion — second only to the U.S. Whatever the true amount, China is funding a multitude of programs.
The U.S. Defense Department has taken steps to bolster contractor management in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it could be years before those efforts bear fruit, according to a recent report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Meanwhile, contractor issues remain a concern for Congress, CRS reports, as contractor costs — and alleged abuses of prisoners or other local residents — have raised flags.
The 2010 defense budget crafted by the recently elected Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is being scrutinized carefully by a waste-cutting panel chaired by Yukio Hatoyama, the new prime minister. Especially vulnerable is the Patriot PAC-3 ballistic missile interceptor, for which ¥94 billion ($1 billion) is requested. Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and the Social Democratic Party, a pacifist coalition partner of the DPJ, oppose it, while the People’s New Party, another coalition partner, supports it.
Tel Aviv — Israel has approved another 1.5 billion shekels ($397 million) for defense to address the threat from Iran, on top of a historically high 2010 defense budget of 53.2 billion shekels. Israel will need every shekel to fund procurement needs and commitments, as it faces hostile neighbors and saber rattling from Iran. Some projects have been pending for more than two years and will require decisions. Defense also must compete with pressing social issues, which could become political flashpoints.
RAVEN UPGRADE: The U.S. Army and Marine Corps awarded AeroVironment a $23.9 million contract modification for Raven UAV upgrade kits. The contract covers an upgrade for existing analog Raven systems to a digital data link. Full funding for the contract modification was provided by a DOD supplemental funding bill and has a potential value of $66.6 million. Of that, $42.7 million has not been funded yet, but has been added to the maximum potential value of the contract supporting this program.
A new direction for missile defense will continue to evolve in 2010, as what was once regarded as the stuff of fantasy becomes accepted as an essential component of defense and security.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Jan. 4 - 7, 2010 — 48th Annual American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Including the New Horizons Forums and Aerospace Exposition, World Center Marriott, Orlando, Fla. For more information go to www.aiaa.org
TIGHTER REINS: U.S. federal agencies have identified more than $19 billion of “savings” in Fiscal 2010 and are on track to meet a $40 billion target outlined by President Barack Obama, the White House has asserted. In addition to their savings plans, agencies also have identified ways to cut 10 percent of contracting spending by slashing new non-competitive, cost-reimbursement, or time-and-materials/labor-hour contracts. Moreover, each agency has identified at least one pilot initiative where potential overreliance on contractors may be affecting performance.
PARIS — In its second flight Dec. 22, the A400M cleared its normal flight envelope and also wrapped up flight test activity for 2009. The flight, from the EADS facility in Seville, Spain, was delayed several days by weather, and that in turn delayed plans to shift flight operations to Toulouse, France. The aircraft reached 30,000 feet in its 3-hour-10-minute flight. Having now reached maximum operating speed of 330 knots and 0.72 Mach, its maximum Mach number.
