SWEET HOME ALABAMA: The White House says it opposes language in the House Appropriations Committee’s version of the fiscal 2010 defense spending bill that demands that any non-developmental tanker aircraft have its final assembly in the United States. Under the previous KC-X procurement, four developmental aircraft would be built; Northrop Grumman/EADS said the sixth aircraft, the second production version, would roll off a new final assembly line on Mobile, Ala., with earlier airframes sent from Toulouse.
SOLAR ARMY: The U.S. Army will take on the Air Force to compete for which service has the largest solar array when the Army’s 500-megwatt solar power project gets up and running at Ft. Irwin, Calif. The goal is to eventually generate 1,000 megawatts of power using a combination of solar thermal technology and photovoltaic panels.
The President will serve as chief spokesperson of the organization. In this role, the President will provide leadership and direction in the development of the organization’s statement of vision, mission, and goals and the corresponding strategies to achieve them.
The space shuttle Endeavour landed safely at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Friday morning following a 16-day mission to service and continue assembly of the International Space Station (ISS). “You are a steely-eyed hero,” radioed STS-127 Commander Mark Polansky as fellow astronaut Alan Poindexter radioed the go for a deorbit burn from Mission Control Center-Houston.
Despite the success of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Iraq and Afghanistan, DOD is mismanaging 10 particular programs to the tune of a $3.3 billion increase in cumulative development costs. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed eight aircraft and two payload programs in its July 30 report. The U.S. Air Force’s Global Hawk program was to blame for $2.7 billion of the cost growth overall — a stunning 284 percent increase between the program’s initial and current cost estimates. (See charts p. 7.)
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) successfully intercepted a subscale short-range ballistic missile target with an Aegis destroyer-launched SM-3 Block IA during a flight test July 30. The target missile was launched at 11:40 p.m. EDT at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. Two minutes later, the USS Hopper fired the interceptor, which collided with the target about 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean, according to MDA officials.
U.S. experts with insight into unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs unofficially confirm that a stealthy-looking, tailless, flying wing-type turbojet-powered UAV has at least been periodically operated from Kandahar, Afghanistan, during the last two years. The UAV was seen being rolled into a UAV facility at Kandahar not quite two years ago. “It was there in the fall of 2007,” said a UAV specialist. “I don’t know who produced it or owns it or what it does.”
The pilot of an F-22 Raptor that crashed during a test flight on March 25 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., almost lost consciousness during a high-g maneuver and failed to pull the aircraft out of a steep, high-speed dive in time to recover. Lockheed Martin test pilot David Cooley was killed immediately by windblast forces when he ejected from the F-22 at 765 knots equivalent airspeed, roughly 150 knots above the Aces II ejection seat’s design limits, U.S. Air Force accident investigators say.
CREATIVE FINANCING: Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt, the director of the U.S. Air National Guard, says that the Depts. of Defense and Homeland Security should re-examine the funding sources for the National Guard. Currently, National Guard forces are funded through the Air Force and Army. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is conducting a review of the U.S. homeland security strategy. As part of that, the department should consider whether to supply some funding for the Air National Guard, which provides air support to homeland defense missions, Wyatt says.
INTERIM NO MORE: After awarding Northrop Grumman a $276 million contract for the rapid fielding of airborne communications nodes, the U.S. Air Force is cancelling a planned competition for the Interim Gateway initial operational capability, citing reprioritizing of funding. A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) demonstrator is already in Afghanistan on a Global Express business jet. Northrop is now building four more – two for additional Global Expresses to fill the gap until BACN-equipped Global Hawk unmanned aircraft can be deployed.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Aug. 3 - 6 — 2009 Pacific Operational Science & Technology Conference & Exhibition, “Making S&T Relevant to Operational Leadership,” Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii. For more information go to www.ndia.org/meetings/9540
The outside panel examining NASA’s human spaceflight plans has heard analysis suggesting the U.S. could be out of the human-spaceflight game until 2019, a nine-year gap after the shuttle retires at the end of next year. That is based on NASA’s current plan and budget profile, says Gary Pulliam, Aerospace Corp. vice president for civil and commercial operations, who presented the findings at an Augustine panel hearing last week in Huntsville, Ala.
FEEL THE BURN: NASA’s Ames Research Center is seeking information from industry on possible future thermal protection system (TPS) materials for missions to Mars. “The Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) Technology Development Project is actively pursuing design development and maturation of thermal protection system materials capable of withstanding the severe thermal heating loads associated with aerocapture and entry into the Mars environment,” NASA says in its request for information (RFI).
ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: After three years of validating various requirements, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet can now operate at a certified flight ceiling of 41,000 feet, up from 29,000, according to officials at Naval Air Systems Command. These altitudes are usually reserved by FAA for commercial airliners as Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum airspace. All Super Hornets in Lots 22 and beyond, about 340 aircraft, were qualified. The aircraft will be able to conserve fuel at the higher flight levels at a rate of about $250,000 per year per squadron.
Twentieth Air Force, which oversees the U.S. nuclear-tipped Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile fleet, still needs a new helicopter, but plans appear again to be languishing.
CYBERCENTER OPENS: Northrop Grumman’s Cyber Security Operations Center is up and running in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. It is described as a cyber threat detection and response center to protect the company and its customers from attack or compromise. The center also assures secure links to its networks. In addition to defending against and responding to cyber attack, the system can “proactively identify cyber security vulnerabilities [and] determine if events are random or not,” the company says.
SURION ROLLOUT: Korea Aerospace Industries has rolled out the first prototype of its Korean Utility Helicopter, now renamed Surion, marking the country’s entry into rotary-wing military aircraft following such earlier projects as the T-50 supersonic trainer. A first flight in March is due to follow ground testing, with first deliveries to the South Korean army in 2012. The South Korean armed forces require 245 of the utility helicopters for such roles as troop transport, but Korea Aerospace holds hopes of selling more to the military and other government customers.
PARIS — Safran expects its acquisition of 80 percent of General Electric’s homeland protection business to close in September following completion of the review process by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.
CYBERTHREATS: Cybersecurity — already a $17 billion industry in the U.S. — is likely to grow at 7-11 percent per year for the foreseeable future. Those figures come from the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative led by White House cyber adviser Melissa Hathaway, Northrop Grumman officials report.
The U.S. Navy has awarded a multi-year contract to Raytheon Company for development of the Advanced Airborne Sensor (AAS), the follow-on to the conventional, mechanically scanned Littoral Surveillance Radar System (LSRS) that the first P-8A Poseidons will carry.
NEW DELHI — With the Indian army looking to upgrade its old systems, the role of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is being recognized by the defense sector more than ever. The Indian military faces challenges such as obsolescence risk and coordination between design agencies as it changes from preventive maintenance to reliability maintenance of its assets. A leader in 3D and PLM solutions, Dassault Systemes provides a 3D vision of the entire lifecycle of products from conception to sustainment.
November 3 - 4, 2009 Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa Phoenix, AZ - AVIATION WEEK launches A&D Supply Chain Conference- THE event for senior defense supply chain and supplier management executives. Come together with prime contractors and sub-contractors and experience AVIATION WEEK’S interactive model. Register today for best rates! www.aviationweek.com/events
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Navy expected to confirm a contract July 30 with Boeing for three additional P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, which will be used for the operational test and evaluation phase of the program. The aircraft are the first incremental addition to the baseline contract which covered five airframes – three flying and two ground test – for the P-8A development phase.
