A story in the May 11 issue misstated how the global economic downturn is affecting EADS’ commitment to assembling A330-based tankers in Mobile, Ala., should the company win parts or all of the U.S. Air Force KC-X tanker program. With the market for freighters hurting, Airbus is evaluating the economic implications of assembling fewer of them as part of the Mobile final assembly line. The company is not retreating from its commitment to the site.
The Pentagon’s Fiscal 2010 budget includes an increased emphasis on space protection efforts, says Gary Payton, deputy under secretary of the Air Force for space. Unclassified Air Force space spending in Fiscal 2010 is estimated at about $9 billion, Payton says, up nearly $300 million compared to the Fiscal 2009 appropriation.
NEW CARRIER: The last of the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers was delivered to the U.S. Navy on May 11 by prime contractor Northrop Grumman. The USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) is the 10th ship of the class but includes innovations such as a new vacuum marine sanitation system, propellers, jet fuel distribution system, underwater hull-coating system, and other control systems and piping materials, according to the Navy and Northrop. Just more than 1,000 feet long, it weighs 97,000 tons, can carry more than 80 combat aircraft and can sail faster than 30 knots.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER - Boeing expects NASA to issue a draft request for proposals for its exploration ground launch services (EGLS) contract sometime between May 19 and May 31. The contract “picks up where the space shuttle flights stop” says Boeing Space Exploration Constellation Transition Director David Bethay, and has not been delayed by the recent decision to conduct a “blue ribbon” panel review of NASA’s manned space programs. T
SMALL WORLD: Under a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory program to take small unmanned aircraft systems from conception to evaluation as rapidly as possible, L-3 Geneva Aerospace is to develop a concept for an airborne tube-launched expendable UAV. The company is one of several selected to bid for individual task orders under the SURE program to develop platforms, sensors and other technologies for Tier II and III small UAVs.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Launch Pad 39A in nearly perfect weather at 2:01 p.m. EDT May 11, kicking off the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Veteran astronaut Scott Altman commands the 11-day STS-125 mission, with retired U.S. Navy Capt. Gregory Johnson serving as pilot. Aboard as mission specialists are veteran astronauts John Grunsfeld — making his third trip to Hubble — and Mike Massimino, along with first-time astronauts Andrew Feustel, Michael Good and Megan McArthur.
The U.S. Coast Guard is still in the market for a tactical unmanned aerial system (UAS) to extend the surveillance reach of the new National Security Cutter fleet, the head of acquisition for the service said May 11. “We do envision some UAS flying off the flight deck of the Bertholf [the first National Security Cutter],” Rear Adm. Gary T. Blore, the Coast Guard’s Assistant Commandant for Acquisition, told a reporters’ roundtable.
The economic landscape beyond fiscal 2010 may “not be as rosy as projected,” according to Pentagon budget chief Vice Adm. Stephen Stanley, requiring belt-tightening of the nation’s defense budget.
A Monroe Doctrine for cyberspace — defining what constitutes an attack on America — may not be far off, contend some of the nation’s top officials with responsibility for network operations. But before anything else happens, the White House must define its role in network operation, which is expected to be the product of a 60-day review that is under way. “I think that is the first step,” said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency and a candidate to lead a new cyber command.
JAYHAWK EDGE: U.S. Air Force T-1A Jayhawks are to be upgraded with simulated sensors, countermeasures and weapon systems to improve navigation/electronic-warfare officer training. Two instructor stations will be added to manage the simulated combat systems. Camber will lead the upgrade program, with Stevens Aviation modifying the aircraft in Dayton, Ohio.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is seeking $19.1 million in the fiscal 2010 Homeland Security Department budget to hire more pilots, boat operators and support personnel. Included in the $11.4 billion CBP request — at 20 percent, the largest chunk of its parent department’s budget — CPB Air & Marine is seeking money to hire 68 pilots. Air & Marine says it plans to expand its capabilities across the 5,000-mile northern border as well as on, and over, coastal waters.
PHANTOM RAY: Boeing on May 8 unveiled the Phantom Ray — a version of its defunct X-45 unmanned combat air vehicle prototype. The company is using its own internal research and development funding for flight tests of the demonstrator, slated for late 2010 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The X-45 lost the Navy-led Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) program to Northrop Grumman’s X-47 in 2007. Exclusive photos of the aircraft appear in Aviation Week’s May 11 issue and more information can be found online at www.aviationweek.com.
MANTIS: BAE Systems is aiming to fly the Mantis medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle before the end of this month, says Kevin Taylor, managing director of the company’s Military Air Solutions business unit. The Mantis technology demonstrator is being jointly funded by the Defense Ministry and industry. The air vehicle is now at the Woomera range in Australia.
LOS ANGELES Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) hopes to reschedule a second launch attempt of the delayed Malaysian RazakSAT Earth resource satellite as early as next month, pending the availability of the Reagan missile test range in the Pacific Ocean and clearance of a suitable launch window.
GOING VERTICAL: XCOR Aerospace is refining the aerodynamic design of its Lynx suborbital launch vehicle and preparing for another round of wind tunnel tests following completion of initial subsonic testing at the U.S. Air Force Air Vehicle Directorate’s vertical wind tunnel at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
LONDON The British Defense Ministry is dumping a project examining sweeping consolidation of helicopter basing as a result of the potential costs of the program. Program Belvedere has been considering options such as the possible co-location of the Joint Helicopter Command’s support helicopters, with Royal Air Force Lyneham as a candidate site
STATION RESUPPLY: NASA can proceed with its effort to develop and fly commercial vehicles to resupply the International Space Station, now that an industry protest has been dismissed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). In January, Chicago-based PlanetSpace — which includes Lockheed Martin, ATK and Boeing — protested its loss of $3.5 billion in contracts under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program to rivals Orbital Sciences Corp (OSC) and SpaceX.
