Invective over the competition to power F-35 Joint Strike Fighters is rising as the U.S. House of Representatives nears a floor vote on whether to strike funding for the F136 second engine from a key committee’s mark-up of the Fiscal 2011 defense budget. The General Electric/Rolls-Royce team is accusing opponents of the F136 of spreading “misinformation” about the engine as it faces the 11th-hour task of getting its arguments in favor of competition across to the full 435-member House.
By backpedaling on a campaign promise to move a U.S. Marine Corps airbase from Okinawa, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama may have nonetheless secured additional airborne cruise missile and tactical ballistic missile defenses for Japan.
Langley AFB, Va. – USAF Air Combat Command chief Gen. William Fraser says he does not agree with the Navy’s projections that the F-35 will cost more to maintain than previously expected.
India’s Vice President Hamid Ansari, chief of naval staff and other officials have welcomed back the Indian Naval Sailing Ship (INSV) Mhadei after its historic 277-day world tour. Mhadei returned to Mumbai harbor on May 22 after completing the first solo circumnavigation by an Indian Navy officer. Mhadei left the naval dockyard on Aug. 19, 2009, and during the circumnavigation, the ship made only four stops: Fremantle (Australia) Christchurch (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falkland Islands) and Cape Town (South Africa). Cmdr.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $325,485,969 contract which will provide for the development, integration and delivery of 35 midlife upgrade kits for the Foreign Military Sales Pakistan Block 15 F-16A/B aircraft, and 18 retrofit kits for the Block 52 F-16C/D aircraft. At this time, $121,209,418 has been obligated. 312 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8615-07-C-6032). NAVY
AEHF DELIVERY: After years of delays and multibillion-dollar cost overruns, the first Lockheed Martin Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) communications satellite has been delivered to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., in preparation for a July 30 launch on an Atlas V rocket. AEHF will eventually replace the Milstar constellation in providing high-speed, jam-proof communications for commanders; this is the system that provides connectivity between the president and strategic forces in the event of a nuclear attack.
JOINT CHIEF: President Obama has nominated U.S. Army Gen. Raymond Odierno, currently head of U.S. and allied forces in Iraq since September 2008, to head the U.S. Joint Forces Command, which often serves to voice counterpoints to institutional thinking in the armed services. As one of the key architects of the U.S. military and diplomatic surge there, Odierno carried out counterinsurgency strategy that helped lead to a substantial decrease in violence in Iraq in 2007 and 2008.
Imagine trying to stage an entire U.S. Marine Corps expeditionary brigade from a country that does not want it there. Consider the logistical and security issues associated with operating, maintaining and protecting all the equipment and forces. Now imagine taking the whole operation offshore.
AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Integrated Systems Air Combat Systems, San Diego, Calif., was awarded a $303,337,052 contract which will provide production of two Global Hawk Block 30 air vehicles, two Global Hawk Block 40 air vehicles, and related program sustaining support efforts. At this time, $17,681,554 has been obligated. 303 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-09-C-4001 P0004).
Harris Corp. has unveiled a so-called mission module concept to its Falcon III AN/PRC-117G manpack radios, designed to provide increased capability without a large increase in weight.
ARMY Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., was awarded on May 17 a $72,686,593 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 1,460 rocket propelled grenade kits, 45 prescribed loads lists and eight deprocessing spares for the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicles. The work is to be performed in Oshkosh, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2012. Five bids were solicited with five bids received. TACOM, AMSCC-TAC-ADCA, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0111).
The official first flight of India’s Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) went ahead as planned at the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) airport in Bengaluru on May 23. But the event was a low-key affair – as a mark of respect to those killed in the Air India Express crash at Mangalore – and India’s Defense Minister, A.K. Antony, his deputy and the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief all skipped the event due to the airliner tragedy.
U.S. Air Force officials planned once again to attempt to launch the first Boeing GPS IIF satellite into orbit late May 24 after repeated scrubs. The launch window was 11:13 p.m.-11:31 p.m. EDT, according to Air Force officials. During the final minutes of a launch attempt May 21 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., officials discovered that the telemetry signal between the satellite and ground support equipment was lost. Because the signal could not be fixed during the launch window, the Delta IV launch was canceled at the last minute.
The Atlantis astronauts scanned the heat shielding of their spacecraft for orbital debris impact damage on May 24, finding nothing of obvious concern as the six fliers prepared to end their 12-day assembly mission to the International Space Station. Atlantis is scheduled to land at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 26 at 8:48 a.m, EDT, ending a 32-flight career for the 25-year-old orbiter.
Controllers in Luxembourg and Germany are checking out a new SES Astra commercial communications satellite and a second spacecraft designed to link German commanders with deployed military forces after a twice-delayed Ariane 5 ECA orbited them in tandem May 21. It was the 50th Ariane 5 flight.
BRIBE BAR: The legacy of quasi-military services provider Blackwater in Iraq is spawning another potential acquisition reform measure in Congress. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who helped push the so-called “Close The Contractor Fraud Loophole” provision two years ago, said May 24 that he introduced legislation to ban individuals and companies convicted of bribing foreign officials from contracting with the federal government. His new Overseas Contractor Reform Bill (H.R.
Demonstrating that patience is a key survival skill in Washington, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has finally announced that U.S. Army Gen. Keith Alexander is officially the first chief of U.S. Cyber Command, pinning on a fourth star at Fort Meade, Md. The Senate approved Alexander on April 7th after a six-month delay during which Congress tried to sort out what the policy for cyberwarfare is and who can approve it (Aerospace DAILY, April 16). Alexander already runs the National Security Agency.
HOUSTON — Two spacewalking astronauts from the shuttle Atlantis ventured outside the International Space Station for a third and final time on May 21 to complete an exchange of power storage batteries on the orbiting laboratory’s oldest solar module. The outing by astronauts Garrett Reisman and Mike Good stretched to nearly 7 hr., enough time for the two men to take on several additional tasks.
U.K. COUGAR: The U.K. is looking to purchase 102 Mastiff/Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Cougar Category II modified vehicles from the U.S. for $122 million. The Foreign Military Sale was requested May 19 and includes the vehicles, tools and test equipment, spares and repair parts and other related elements of logistics support. The U.K. has troops deployed in Afghanistan, where they are using Cougar-based MRAPs. The vehicles are built by Force Protection Industries in South Carolina.
LESS BANG: The U.S. Navy plans to buy a limited quantity of Scalpel low-collateral-damage laser-guided bombs from Lockheed Martin, even as a congressional committee adds funds to the Fiscal 2011 defense budget to develop the Very Low Collateral Damage Precision Air Drop Weapon to meet urgent Air Force and Navy requirements in Afghanistan. The 100-lb. Scalpel is based on Lockheed’s Enhanced Laser-Guided Training Round, already carried by Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. The U.S. already has low-collateral-damage “focused lethality” versions of the 250-lb.
SWEDISH SURVEILLANCE: The Swedish defense ministry is looking to field the AAI Shadow 200 unmanned aircraft by the end of 2011. AAI will serve as a supplier to Saab, which is acting as the prime contractor on the 500 million Swedish kronor ($64 million) deal. The contract calls for Saab to deliver two full tactical UAV systems, including the aircraft, ground stations and other equipment. Saab would operate the system for the Swedish military as part of the company’s ambitions to grow its services activities.
