NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will visit Japan next week to continue a round of discussions with NASA’s international partners about possible future joint ventures in space.
GENOA, Italy — The Alenia Aermacchi M-346 advanced jet trainer has finally bagged a first firm order: the Italian air force has signed a 220 million euro ($330 million) contract for an initial six aircraft and ground simulators. The first two aircraft are to be delivered by the end of next year, followed by the other four before the end of 2011. The aircraft has received the official designation of T-346A.
DOD Presolicitations DOD Presolicitations Date of Posting Response Date Authority Opportunity Segment Procurement office Contact E-mail 6-Nov-09 23-Nov-09 Navy Cargo hold deck repairs on USNS Shepard & USNS Byrd Ship and marine equ
LINED UP: A $100 million-plus subcontract from Northrop Grumman to KUKA Systems North America for installation of an integrated assembly line for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is “believed to be the first time a major aerospace manufacturer has contracted with a vendor to supply and install a complete assembly line,” KUKA executives claimed Nov. 10.
NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a statement of intent (SOI) for the Mars Exploration Joint Initiative (MEJI), a proposed string of cooperative Martian lander and orbiter missions intended to prepare the way for a sample return. ESA Science Director David Southwood says the SOI — which follows a preliminary letter of intent inked at the end of June — marks joint acceptance of the architecture for the first two MEJI missions, planned under ESA’s ExoMars initiative.
A new study looking at the U.S. military’s dependence on fossil fuels lays out some jarring numbers concerning the amount of fuel being burned and the human cost of transporting it to combat zones. Tracking the U.S. military’s energy use in conflicts from World War II to the current fights in Iraq and Afghanistan, global consultancy Deloitte LLP found that there has been a whopping 175 percent increase in gallons of fuel consumed per soldier per day just since the Vietnam War.
PARIS — Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg says the Ottawa-based operator has decided not to exercise an option to fund a Canadian payload on ViaSat-1, a high-speed Internet satellite to be orbited in early 2011, although it will continue studying other potential contributions, such as gateways.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Ga., was awarded a $143,212,054 contract which will provide C-5 Avionics Modernization Program sustainment support. At this time, no money has been obligated. The contracting activity is 330 SW, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., (FA8525-06-D-0001, P00013).
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) hopes next year to begin full-scale development of its three-stage Advanced Solid Rocket (ASR), with a first launch to follow in 2012 or 2013. To be built by IHI Aerospace, the ASR is Japan’s proposed future launcher for medium scientific payloads.
LAUNCH DELAY: The U.S. Air Force’s launch of Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) spacecraft No. 3 from Cape Canaveral has slipped from its intended Nov. 8-9 slot due to high winds, according to a service statement. The Boeing WGS spacecraft are replacing the Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) constellation now in orbit, and each WGS satellite is said to add ten times the capacity of the entire DSCS system. The spacecraft’s batteries are now being recharged at the Astrotech satellite processing facility. A new launch date hasn’t yet been set.
A pair of private equity firms will pay $1.65 billion to acquire a Northrop Grumman consulting business, signaling renewed private interest in the aerospace and defense sector. General Atlantic LLC and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP reached an agreement with Northrop on Nov. 8 to acquire TASC Inc., a 5,000-employee operation that provides system engineering and advisory services to the U.S. Defense Dept. and other national security agencies.
MOSCOW — Russia’s Pacific Fleet has lost a Tupolev Tu-142 M3 anti-submarine turboprop plane, which crashed on its approach to Khabarovsk air base on Nov. 6, killing all 11 crewmembers onboard. The aircraft with call sign 55 was on its return from a training flight and disappeared from radars on its third turn some 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the airfield over the ocean while descending from 1,200 meters (3,600 ft.) to 700 meters. No malfunction reports were received from the aircraft.
LONDON — The British Defense Ministry is effectively ruling out the Nimrod MRA4 as the basis of a Nimrod R1 electronic intelligence aircraft replacement, unless BAE Systems revises the proposed timescale of its offer. Quentin Davies, the minister for defense equipment and support, wrote recently to the company confirming that there would be little reason for it to continue preparing a full proposal.
LaserMotive, a startup based in the Seattle suburb of Kent, Wash., took home $900,000 in prize money for sending a laser-powered climber 1 kilometer (3,280 feet) up a cable in NASA’s Power Beaming Challenge. The contest at Dryden Flight Research Center, Calif., pitted three teams in a Centennial Challenge competition designed to seed development of power-transmission technology that in theory could power a space elevator.
Boeing is preparing to make the much-delayed delivery of the first pair of Australian 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft for Project Wedgetail later this month, after completing tests of the countermeasures dispenser system (CMDS).
NEW DELHI — India’s ministries of defense and civil aviation are showing a keen interest in partnering with small- and medium-sized U.S. aerospace suppliers, according to U.S. Deputy Assistant Commerce Secretary Karen Zens. Many of these companies are tier one and two suppliers to major U.S. primes including Boeing, GE, Honeywell and Lockheed Martin. Forecasts predict the world aerospace industry will grow $3 billion to $4 billion a year for the next 10 years, with a significant part of the growth coming from India.
BEIJING — A Chinese fighter of nominally the same technology generation as the Lockheed Martin F-22 will soon enter flight testing, while a jet airlifter larger than the Airbus A400M should be unveiled by the end of this year, officials said. The new fighter “is currently under development,” says deputy air force chief Gen. He Weirong, adding that it “may soon undertake its first flight, quickly enter flight testing and then quickly equip the forces.
NEW DELHI — Swedish Trade Minister Ewa Bjorling led a high-level defense delegation to India Nov. 6 to participate in a seminar on defense partnerships and alliances organized by the federation of Indian chambers of commerce. The trip was fueled by an amendment to India’s defense procurement policy, effective as of Nov. 1, that now allows the issuance of requests for proposals (RFPs) to foreign vendors for so-called “Buy and Make” programs, in which Indian industries undertake the manufacture.
