Telescopes across the western U.S. and Hawaii will focus on the Cabeus A crater at the moon’s south pole early Oct. 9 to analyze debris kicked up by NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) when it slams the Centaur Atlas V upper stage that sent it to the moon into a hydrogen-rich zone on the crater’s floor.
NUCLEAR WORRIES: Iran, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ staff, believes that having a nuclear capability will bring the current regime more security. Instead it is making neighboring Gulf States nervous enough to start beefing up their military forces. In fact, a new U.S. intelligence analysis contends that in a rush program, Iran could accumulate enough enriched uranium for a bomb within a year.
LONDON The British Defense Ministry faces several near-term hurdles if it is to adhere to the latest timetable for its long-running Future Rapid Effects System (FRES) vehicle program. Not only does it have to hit a contract date of March 2010 for the Block 1 element of its FRES Specialist Vehicle (SV) project, but it likely needs to follow up the acquisition process for Block 2 and Block 3 within 24 months to maintain target dates, industry executives suggest.
The fate of the F136 alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be the central issue of debate when House and Senate negotiators meet in conference late this month or early in October to finalize the fiscal 2010 U.S. defense budget. The Senate appropriations committee set the stage for the showdown on Sept. 10 when it approved the defense subcommittee’s mark-up of the bill, which omits money for the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 engine but fully funds F-35 procurement.
MANNED PREDATOR: U.S. Army and Marine Corps personnel preparing to work with Air Force unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Afghanistan and Iraq will train using a Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Cessna 182 converted into a “Surrogate Predator” because no MQ-1 Predators or MQ-9 Reapers can be spared to take part in pre-deployment exercises such as Green Flag. The surrogate Predator has the UAV’s electro-optical/infrared sensor ball mounted under the wing. Mission training for CAP pilots begins this month.
A mid-year update of Aviation Week’s Top-Performing Companies (TPC) rankings confirms the global economic downturn is affecting the aerospace and defense industry’s operating results — and its profits.
BUDGET LESSONS: Sen. Dan Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate Appropriations’ defense subcommittee, appears concerned about the Senate’s fiscal 2010 defense spending bill. The $636.3 billion measure is $3.9 billion less than requested, via cuts to “unneeded” weapons programs.
AT LAST: The production standard BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4 was flown for the first time Sept. 10, from the company’s production site at Woodford, England. The Royal Air Force is presently due to receive nine of the type. Three development aircraft have been used in the flight trials program. The type is due to enter service with the air force at the end of 2010, with the delivery of the first four production aircraft. Originally 21 were to be purchased when the type was selected in 1996, but that number has been repeatedly reduced.
PARIS The payload module for Europe’s second Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), Johannes Kepler, has been completed and is ready for shipment to Bremen, Germany, for integration and testing. The 4.6-meter diameter, 4-meter long module, which weighs 4 metric tons, was produced at the Turin plant of Thales Alenia Space. It will be integrated with the ATV propulsion and avionics bays at the Bremen site of EADS Astrium. It is to be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in mid-2010.
BAD NEWS: The Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee heads to Capitol Hill this week, where panel chair Norman Augustine will outline why the group finds NASA’s human-exploration program untenable. But panel members aren’t any happier with that conclusion than the civil servants and contractor employees working on the Ares I crew launch vehicle, Altair lunar lander and other projects likely to bite the dust as a result.
DESTINATION DOHA: Boeing delivered the Qatar Emiri Air Force’s second C-17, and the first to be painted in a non-military livery, from Long Beach, Calif., on Sep 10. Brig. Gen. Ahmed Al-Malki, head of Qatar’s airlift selection committee, explained that the unusual markings (which are the same as those of the national airline) are intended to build awareness of Qatar’s participation in operations around the world. The aircraft will be based at Al Udeid Air Base, near Doha, and becomes the 17th C-17 to be delivered to an international customer.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Sept. 14 - 16 — Air & Space Conference and TEchnology Exposition 2009, Gaylord National Hotel, Washington, D.C.. For more information go to www.afa.org Sept. 22 - 24 — AVIATION WEEK MRO Europe 2009 Conference & Exhibition, Hamburg Messe und Congress, Hamburg, Germany. For more information go to http://www.aviationweek.com/conferences
NAVAL GAZING: While the British Royal Navy’s next-generation carrier program is liable to remain the a focus of attention — not least of all over the elasticity of the in-service date of the second ship — another key program is about to enter a crucial stage. The navy’s Future Surface Combatant (FSC) project may be considered by the Defense Ministry’s Investment Appraisal Board (IAB) in October, according to industry executives, with the initial gate approval to follow by year’s end.
TURKISH DELIGHT: Turkish weapons company Roketsan is planning a first-quarter 2010 introduction into service of its Cirit semi-active laser-guided missile. The rotorcraft-launched weapon has been integrated on the AH-1 attack helicopter with the basic development program now complete. Work also continues on the company’s two imaging infrared-guided anti-armor missiles. The medium-range system, called Omtas in Turkish, has an engagement range of up to four kilometers (2.5 miles) The long-range missile, known as Umtas, has a fly-out of up to eight kilometers.
COMING CLEAN: Equipment for the nuclear bomb programs in Pakistan, Libya and Iran was purchased from the same companies in Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Abu Dhabi and Singapore, according to the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan. “Be it Libya, Iran or Pakistan, the same suppliers were responsible for providing the material through the same third party in Dubai” — a company run by Sri Lankan Muslims, “ he says. Another company in Dubai manufactured parts for Libya.
STRUCTURAL CHANGE: Saab management has laid out a new corporate structure that will take effect Jan. 1. The company hopes it will have a better connection with its core markets by setting itself up in five units: Aeronautics, Dynamics, Electronic Defense Systems, Security and Defense Solutions, and Support and Services. The company also is creating the post of chief marketing officer.
PARIS — France will undertake a new-generation laser designator technology program, modernize its Rafale simulators and acquire additional helicopter cannons under the country’s ambitious fiscal stimulus plan.
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NOZZLE REPAIRS: Chromalloy has won a $3.3 million contract award to provide high-pressure turbine nozzle repairs for the F108 gas turbine engines that power the U.S. Air Force KC-135R fleet of more than 400 tanker aircraft, deployed from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. Work under the contract will take place over about six months, Chromalloy says. It is the third award for F108 engine nozzle repairs the company has received.
A U.S. Joint Forces Command report prompted by Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ recent cancellation of the U.S. Air Force’s $15 billion combat, search and rescue (CSAR) replacement helicopter fleet argues the utility and need for such aircraft. “Effective CSAR is conducted by a dedicated force,” says the final draft of the “Assessment of Combat Search and Rescue Requirements in a Joint Context,” dated Aug. 13. “A USAF force structure of 171 CSAR helicopters is recommended.”
Thailand’s Royal Thai Air Force has received the first of four VIP ATR 72-500s under a contract signed in 2007. The aircraft is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW 127M engines and equipped with ATR’s optional front passenger door. The remaining three ATR 72-500s will be delivered before the end of the year. This first ATR features a state-of-the-art VIP cabin interior and will be dedicated to the transport of the Thai royal family, as well as government and military officials.
The Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A) had trouble accounting for equipment purchased with the Afghan Security Forces Fund — and other equipment transfers — to support the Afghanistan National Army (ANA), a recent Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report says.
PARIS — Thales Alenia Space, manufacturer of the Indonesian Palapa D1 satellite left stranded by a Long March 3B failure on Aug. 30, says the mishap will have less effect on the mission than first suspected.
