The U.S. Army has developed an advanced new generation of protective ballistic plates for its soldiers to combat what it calls the “X Threat,” and according to senior Army officials, the plates are waiting in the wings in case they’re needed. The “XSAPI” plates, as opposed to the Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert (ESAPI) plates currently being used by the U.S. armed forces, have been designed to meet what is commonly considered to be a higher-velocity threat than the current 7.62mm rounds commonly used by insurgents.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Numerous international fighter and test pilots have already flown the AVIC Hongdu L15 Eagle twin-engined trainer, as China’s marketing and flight-test campaigns intensify. In its first appearance outside China, the private venture training aircraft is flying here at the Dubai Airshow daily, with the company working toward orders from Middle East and African nations.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — In a rare move for a Middle East military, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has moved to support NATO operations in Afghanistan. Although not formally part of NATO or the coalition that is operating as part of the International Security Assistance Force, the UAE is providing unmanned aerial vehicle support to allied forces.
Six NASA astronauts are reconfiguring the space shuttle Atlantis for spaceflight after an on-time launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on Nov. 16. Liftoff from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) came at 2:28 p.m. EST, as the ISS passed over the South Pacific after crossing New Zealand. The on-time launch sets up docking a little before noon EST on Nov. 18.
An unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) called Ranger could one day operate in air-deployed swarms if builder iRobot Corp. has any say in the matter, according to Joe Dyer, president of the company’s Government and Industrial Robotics Division. Dyer, a retired U.S. Navy vice admiral and former chief of Naval Air Systems Command, said iRobot has just started discussions with “technical Navy and acquisitions Navy and operators.” With a “disruptive technology,” Dyer added, “the speed of advance is typically ahead of requirements.”
The U.S. Coast Guard continues its pursuit of a vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (VTUAV) to satisfy requirements for its National Security Cutter (NSC), most recently performing test flights using a Northrop Grumman company-owned Fire Scout, aircraft P6.
NAVY Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., Monroeville, Pa., is being awarded a $110,459,702 modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-2102) for naval nuclear propulsion components. The work will be performed in Schenectady, N.Y. (86 percent) and Monroeville, Pa. (14 percent). No contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. No completion date or additional information is provided on contracts supporting the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. The contracting activity is the Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C.
SES will invest in satellite broadband startup O3b, providing further credibility to the Google-backed global high-speed Internet access project. O3b intends to employ satellites to bring broadband backbone and backhaul capacity to Internet service providers serving the hundreds of millions of people around the world who are unserved and underserved by terrestrial networks — hence its name, which stands for “the other 3 billion.”
ARMY Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., was awarded on Nov. 10, 2009, a $438,440,000 firm-fixed-price contract for 1,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All Terrain Vehicles (M-ATVs) and associated basic items of issue (BII) with an option for 400 M-ATVs and BII. 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. U.S. Army TACOM Contracting Center AMSTA-TAC-ATBC, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0111). AIR FORCE
Date: November 18, 2009 Time: 2:00 P.M. – 3:15 P.M. EDT Fee: Free With today’s technology advancements, reliable and immediate information access has become an expectation. Yet, major federal agencies, including the DoD, NASA and TSA, have all suffered major cyber-attacks. How do we prevent exposure and vulnerability to cyber-attacks and keep our critical infrastructures safe? Find out this November!
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates air force is hoping to cut its pilot training costs as much as 30 percent by the time its new training system is fielded starting around 2012, says Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Naser Al Alawi, the service’s deputy commander.
AIR FORCE Booz Allen & Hamilton Inc., of Herndon, Va., was awarded a $108,771,191 contract which will provide for the operation of a survivability/vulnerability information analysis center for a three-year option period. At this time, no money has been obligated. The contracting activity is 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., (SP0700-03-D-1380). NAVY
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. Air Force will likely make adjustments to the training for unmanned aircraft pilots, largely drawing on observations from the first two graduating classes, service chief of staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said at the Dubai Airshow. The first class of the new remotely piloted aircraft operator training system graduated in September and the students are now being qualified. They are expected to start flying combat missions early next year, Schwartz says. The second class graduates in January.
CHINA MOON: China has opened what it calls an especially important facility in its lunar exploration program. The 7,000-square-meter plant in Beijing will be used for the design of exploration systems and all critical subsystems and for in-orbit management of spacecraft and fault analysis. China is laying the groundwork to land astronauts on the moon, which would follow an ambitious lunar robotic precursor program that also could pave the way for the country’s first unmanned probe to Mars.
The Chilean government could buy up to $665 million worth of U.S. radar and missile systems under a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) deal, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced Nov. 12. DSCA notified Congress Nov. 10 of the possible sale of 6 AN/MPQ-64F1 Sentinel radar systems, 6 AN/VRC-92E Vehicular dual long-range single channel airborne and ground radio systems and associated parts and support worth approximately $65 million.
Date: November 18, 2009 Time: 2:00 P.M. – 3:15 P.M. EDT Fee: Free With today’s technology advancements, reliable and immediate information access has become an expectation. Yet, major federal agencies, including the DoD, NASA and TSA, have all suffered major cyber-attacks. How do we prevent exposure and vulnerability to cyber-attacks and keep our critical infrastructures safe? Find out this November!
CHECKING CONFLICTS: The aerospace and defense industry continues to get fired up in response to recent lawmaking that seeks to better delineate potential conflicts of interest within industry over advising and providing U.S. national security programs. Section 841(a) of the Fiscal 2009 defense authorization act requires Washington rulemakers to craft new policies and regulations to prevent personal conflicts by contractor employees performing acquisition functions closely associated with inherently governmental functions for or on behalf of a federal agency.
LEAN TIMES: Industry will be trying to figure out where the British Defense Ministry intends to trim its future defense research program. Quentin Davies, the minister for defense equipment and support, says that while there are “no plans” to cut existing contracts “the scope of future research programs in…maritime, land, air, weapons C4Istar, and ballistic missile defense will be reduced compared to previous plans.”
PLEA BARGAIN: Former NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak drew a year’s probation in a plea bargain on charges growing out of a bizarre incident in which she was arrested at Orlando (Fla.) International Airport after threatening a rival for the affections of fellow astronaut William Oefelein. The 46-year-old U.S. Navy officer pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary of a vehicle and misdemeanor battery, escaping more serious charges that including attempted kidnapping and burglary with assault. The judge sentenced her to two days in jail, with credit for time served.
TENDER SITUATION: While Australian defense officials look to replace a “number” of distributed computing and terrestrial communications contracts expiring from November 2010 to July 2011, leaders there are warning about consolidation to come. Officials last week released their Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Strategy, developed to address shortcomings in governance, planning and control frameworks for ICT (Aerospace DAILY, Nov. 11).
DETERRENCE DIFFERENCE: President Barack Obama says he hopes to work toward a world free of nuclear weapons. But U.S. Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, overseer of U.S. Strategic Command and the U.S. nuclear arsenal, sees his nukes as here to stay — at least for the next 40 years or so. While noting that his view is “not inconsistent” with that of his commander in chief, he makes the case for continuing to fund the programs needed to keep the U.S. arsenal functional and safe until mid-century.
SPENDING WISELY: A commission created to recommend how to proceed with a special bond issue intended as a stimulus to the French economy says the issue should cover initiatives to develop greener and more fuel-efficient aircraft and helicopters, as well as endeavors such as bridging the digital divide and smart-energy grids, which could favor the space industry. But it recommends against targeting traditional industries and infrastructure projects, or undertakings of an operational nature. The commission envisions an amount of around €35 billion ($52 billion).
The U.S. Navy has taken delivery of the first of five H-72A training helicopters for its Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The EADS-built H-72A is already flying for the Army (as the UH-72A Lakota), which has committed to buying 345 aircraft. The National Guard will eventually operate 210 Lakotas, 86 of which have been delivered so far (Aerospace DAILY, Oct. 6).
