As the demand for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) grows, companies are positioning themselves to take advantage of the burgeoning market, and BAE is no exception.
NASA has tapped the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics to develop the off-again/on-again Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS) for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).
SHOOTING DAGRs: Lockheed Martin recently launched DAGR rockets from an airborne Boeing AH-6 Little Bird helicopter and hit the target in two separate trials. The company also fired DAGR rockets from the AH-64D Apache helicopter in March. Engineers mounted the DAGR four-pack launch canister on the outboard rail of a modified XM299 launcher carried by the AH-6 Mission Enhanced Little Bird test platform.
GLASS ACTION: Hawker Beechcraft has flown a T-6A turboprop trainer with upgraded cockpit and avionics. FAA certification and first deliveries to the U.S. Navy are planned for this month, with initial operational capability and the start of student training on the T-6B scheduled for April 2010. The Navy is expected to acquire more than 260 aircraft. The upgrade is based on CMC Electronics’ Cockpit 4000 integrated avionics and includes three multifunction displays and an upfront controller in each cockpit, driven by dual avionics computers.
NUCLEAR BLOODHOUND: Techniques to detect nuclear materials at standoff ranges are being sought by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The goal is to locate containers of plutonium or enriched uranium at distances of 5 kilometers (3 miles) or more using a sensor payload on an aircraft or satellite. As primary radiation signatures can be shielded by containment, DARPA is looking for ways to detect secondary effects from neutron and gamma ray emission, such as ultraviolet radiation emitted by gamma-induced ionization of ambient nitrogen.
Weather concerns scrubbed two attempts to launch space shuttle Endeavour on July 11 and July 12, delaying its mission to carry new supplies and complete the Japanese Kibo laboratory aboard the International Space Station (ISS). On July 11, managers decided to forego a launch attempt to give engineers more time to check systems for damage from a violent thunderstorm Friday that produced seven lightning strikes on the catenary wire protection system at Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Sunnyvale, Calif., was awarded a $262,500,000 contract for the long lead parts and material procurement for the 4th Space Based Infrared Systems Geosynchronous Earth Orbit Satellite and the 4th Highly Elliptical Orit Payload. At this time, $137,125,000 has been obligated. Space Based Infrared Systems Wing, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8810-08-C-0002). ARMY
REDELIVERY, POST-OVERHAUL: Northrop Grumman redelivered the nuclear-powered USS Carl Vinson to the U.S. Navy July 11 following the completion of a three-and-a-half-year refueling and complex overhaul. Sea trials were also conducted prior to redelivery, during which systems, components and operations were demonstrated at sea.
The top leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), backed by a White House veto threat, are urging their colleagues to vote against continuing F-22 Raptor procurement.
The most prominent lobbying association for U.S. aerospace and defense firms is advocating for industrial base considerations to be included in the Pentagon’s forthcoming Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), which will outline a strategic framework for the Defense Department for the next four years.
UNMANNED RESPONSE: Armed with a waiver from FAA to fly an unmanned aircraft over a mock disaster-struck city for search-and-rescue training, Kansas State University says it will soon be ready to request emergency authorization to fly the UAV elsewhere in the state in response to real-life disasters. K-State’s certificate of authorization allows an Aerosonde UAV operated by Flint Hills Solutions to be flown over the Crisis City training center under construction near Salina.
RAPTOR REDUX: “Several” U.S. senators plan to oppose a move on Capitol Hill to prolong the F-22 Raptor program during debate on that chamber’s fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill, antiwar lobbyists claim. The Friends Committee on National Legislation, a vocal Quaker lobby group that campaigned against U.S. involvement in Iraq, has since turned to defending many of the budget decisions proffered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates this year — such as ending the Raptor program as planned at 187 aircraft. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (Mich.) and Sen.
ROLL OUT: ThalesRaytheonSystems’ NATO Air Command and Control System Level of Operational Capability 1 (ACCS LOC 1) program will soon roll out to eight additional sites across Europe. The company received approval for the replication of eight sites on top of five currently deployed across Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
NASA is sending the space shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station for a delayed 16-day mission that will see representatives from all of the station partners in space together for the first time. With six crew members already on board, the arrival of Endeavour will bring the orbital population to 13 for the duration of the STS-127 mission. The primary goal of Endeavour’s crew will be to finish assembly of Japan’s Kibo laboratory module by attaching its porchlike exposed facility and installing the first experiments there.
New reports out of Russia contend that Russian forces lost eight or more aircraft — some of them to their own weapons — during the war with Georgia last year, despite repeated official claims that only four were lost. These shootdowns all occurred on the first day of the battle, Aug. 8, 2008. Two Russian airmen were captured and exchanged. Another five were killed, one by fratricide. Officially, Russia acknowledges losing only three Su-25 Frogfoot attack aircraft and a supersonic Tu-22M3 Backfire from the Black Sea Fleet.
Australia’s latest defense capability plan (DCP), which sets out expenditures expected over the next four years, confirms its intent to buy at least 72 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters but slips initial operational capability (IOC) by up to five years, to 2017-19. The previous DCP, in 2006, set the planned in-service date at 2012-14, and as recently as March the Royal Australian Air Force was still expecting to take delivery of its first F-35s in 2013, but Canberra’s recent defense white paper signaled a delay.
HAVOC DESCENDS: A Russian defense ministry special commission is believed to be investigating the emergency landing of a Mil Mi-28N Havoc attack helicopter, likely as the result of hot gas ingestion during weapon firing. The incident is thought to have occurred June 19, but as of last week there had been no official comment. Russian business daily newspaper Kommersant revealed the crash, in which both of the crew were uninjured. The Mi-28N was being flown using the Gorokhovets firing range.
The U.S. Air Force has established a senior-level panel designed to manage future basing decisions including what locations should house new aircraft — such as the Joint Strike Fighter and new intelligence and cargo aircraft — that are entering service in the coming years.
PAVEWAY PATH: Activity is ramping up on the U.K.’s Paveway IV dual-mode guided bomb with clearance trials underway on the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Royal Navy’s strike wing deploying with the weapon on board HMS Illustrious. The U.K.’s Instrumented Production Aircraft (IPA) 1 is being used for Raytheon Paveway IV jettison tests covering a variety of stores configurations. A total of 15 drops are planned, with three carried out to date.
DEEPER RED: The cost of the U.S. Coast Guard’s embattled Deepwater recapitalization program may grow 10 percent just from its 2007 estimate, according to congressional auditors. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that the Coast Guard acknowledged that some of the assets it is procuring may cost more than anticipated. GAO first reported in April that the total cost of the program may grow by $2.1 billion, from the previous $24.2 billion estimate (Aerospace DAILY, July 8).
