UAE CHINOOKS: The United Arab Emirates has requested a U.S. Foreign Military Sale of 16 CH-47F Chinook helicopters, worth about $2 billion. The package includes the aircraft and communication equipment, plus 38 T55-GA-714A turbine engines, 20 AN/APX-118 transponders, 20 AN/ARC-220 Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio Systems with electronic countermeasures, 40 AN/ARC-231 receiver/transmitters, 18 simulators and related support equipment and documentation. The UAE will use the aircraft to transport troops and equipment in the region, according to the U.S.
The long wait for the critical shootdown exercise by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) 747-400F-based Airborne Laser is getting longer again. MDA officials had planned to test the ABL’s ability to shoot down two boosting ballistic missiles by the end of the year. But they now look to conduct the flight trial in January or February, according to MDA spokesman Rick Lehner.
After 30 days of data reduction, Ares I-X engineers continue to find fairly close correlation between their computer models and the flight performance of the test vehicle, which was the tallest rocket ever launched. Flight-control algorithms developed for the operational vehicle “worked extremely well,” said NASA’s Marshall Smith, systems engineering and integration (SE&I) manager for Ares I-X, and the flight data in general validated the computer models being used to design Ares I.
BATTLE COMMAND: The U.S. Army received the latest Joint Capabilities Release (JCR) of Northrop Grumman’s Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) software to begin government testing. FBCB2 provides U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq and Afghanistan situational awareness and command-and-control. Northrop Grumman completed system segment acceptance testing and delivered JCR to the Army Communications-Electronics Command in Ft. Monmouth, N.J. on Sept. 25. The current version of Blue Force Tracker (BFT) takes minutes to refresh friendly force position locations.
NEW DELHI – European aerospace giant EADS on Dec. 4 will formally open EADS Innovation Works India, part of the EADS research and development network, in Bengaluru. The center, in the city formerly known as Bangalore, is the third such Asian branch for EADS after sites in Russia and Singapore. The new center will look at developing software and also develop technology for homeland security. It will be a good fit for India and EADS, Chief Technology Officer Jean Botti told Aviation Week.
India’s navy has decided to order 29 additional MiG-29K aircraft, Adm. Nirmal Verma says. The Phase Two purchase will come under an options clause of a previous order of 16 of the aircraft that will delivered soon. That would bring the total number of MiG-29Ks ordered to 45. Aerospace Daily spoke to Verma recently during his first news conference after becoming Chief of Naval Staff.
BAHRAIN HAWK: Sikorsky Aircraft celebrated the formal delivery of the first of nine UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters to the Defense Forces of Bahrain. The delivery also marks the beginning of the first squadron of UH-60Ms to be operated by an international military organization. The Royal Bahrain Air Force will fly the aircraft for military operations that include protection of sovereign borders as well as protection and defense of U.S. and coalition strategic facilities.
An article Dec. 2 about DirecTV 12 should have indicated that while the spacecraft was shipped Nov. 25, Boeing – not DirecTV – delayed the announcement. Also, Boeing is expected to record seven launches, as well. But launcher issues have sidelined the Space Based Surveillance System and GPS-IIF – not Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite P – until next year.
LONDON – The U.K. Defense Ministry and industry are trying to identify the cause of the failure of what was planned to be the last qualification test firing of the Royal Navy’s Sea Viper air defense missile system. The Sea Viper – the Royal Navy’s name for the MBDA Principal Anti-Air Missile System – is the primary anti-air armament of the navy’s Type 45 destroyer.
SEVILLE, Spain – Airbus Military said Dec. 2 that it would resume a series of A400M taxi trials after introducing systems refinements in the run-up to the planned first flight in the second half of next week.
NEXT-GEN JAM: ITT Corporation and Boeing Aircraft company have partnered on a proposal for the Technology Maturation Phase of the U.S. Navy’s Next-Generation Jammer competition. In this phase, contractors refine their system concepts and equipment in preparation for a downselect in 2011. The Navy is expected to award two technology demonstration contracts in 2011 that will incorporate the best proposed technologies. The Next-Generation Jammer program will provide the Navy’s EA-18 Growler with new electronic attack capability.
Lockheed Martin has rolled the first Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) geosynchronous (GEO-1) satellite out of its dual-entry thermal vacuum chamber, setting up the final testing hurdle before delivery late next year. While data from the tests are analyzed, technicians will complete rework early next year on faulty spacecraft components that were identified prior to the beginning of the thermal vac tests. A Lockheed Martin official said the components are not part of GEO-1’s early warning missile detection system.
The British Royal Air Force on Dec. 1 finally received the first of eight Boeing Chinook helicopters originally intended to enter service more than a decade ago. A botched procurement program meant the Chinook Mk3s could not be accepted into service. A further two helicopters will be handed over in the next few weeks, with all eight in service by the end of 2010. The Mk3 Chinooks were originally meant to be used to support special forces operations.
Advocates of a switch from NASA’s Ares I crew launch vehicle to a human-rated commercial launcher for post-shuttle missions to the International Space Station found little comfort in testimony before a key House subcommittee Dec. 2.
U.S. Army program developers should focus earlier on lifecycle costs when making weapon systems acquisitions, a recent RAND Corp. report says. By ignoring lifecycle costs early – even when considering desired capabilities for equipment and platforms its buys – the Army is often adding more costs to the overall program, said the report, “Toward Affordable Systems Portfolio Analysis and Management for Army Science and Technology Programs,” released late last month.
NEW YORK – One day after Northrop Grumman threatened to not submit a bid for the hotly contested U.S. Air Force KC-135 replacement competition, the company’s chief financial officer is now saying it is inappropriate to publicly comment any more on Northrop’s demands.
In an article on China that ran Dec. 1, a local newspaper report was incorrectly attributed as China Daily in reference to Chinese officials’ comments on a new fighter. It was a different newspaper that cited the official People’s Daily in quoting an unnamed official referencing modified J-10 fighters.
SAN FRANCISCO – Major U.S. government initiatives are expected to level off in the coming decade, but Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Space Systems/Loral are counting on a steady stream of orders for new and replacement voice, data and broadcast satellites for the next 10 years.
MUNICH, Germany – Germany is finalizing talks for the sensor-to-shooter demonstration phase of the Agile UAV project, which has been built around the Barracuda unmanned aircraft demonstrator. The flight trials of the next phase are due to unfold in 2011.
MUNICH, Germany – French, Spanish and German government officials will convene early next year to forge an agreement on jointly pursuing a medium altitude long-endurance unmanned aircraft development program, EADS officials believe.
DUBAI, UAE – China, France and Russia are increasingly aggressive in courting customers for their military products, but it is the U.S. that is raking in the big dollars — and increasingly so. What’s more, the U.S.’s improving relationship with India could signal that record high levels of military exports are not just an aberration but are sustainable. This prospect would bring relief to U.S. defense companies, which face the possibility of shrinking modernization projects when Washington starts focusing on cutting its massive budget deficit.
