The U.S. Army’s apparent preference for a certain helicopter and the service’s rush to get its Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) program off the ground set up a series of missteps that doomed the acquisition from the beginning, according to the Army Audit Agency (AAA). “Although management processes and controls were in place, they weren’t fully effective to result in a successful ARH program,” the AAA says in its after action report on the cancellation of the program, which was obtained by Aerospace DAILY.
WHAT TO DO: AgustaWestland on April 28 finished delivery of the so called “Increment 1” of the U.S. Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program, with the last of nine VH-71s now bound for completion with Lockheed Martin. Irrespective of the program facing the axe, AgustaWestland CEO Giuseppe Orsi said at a ceremony to mark completion: “The delivery of the final aircraft today has been achieved just over four years after the contract was awarded in 2005. All the aircraft delivered are completely compliant to the specifications required by the U.S.
Two years after they failed to reach a business agreement and parted company, Northrop Grumman has acquired the KillerBee line of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Swift Engineering. Renamed the Bat, the blended wing-body UAV will be offered in wingspans ranging from 6.5 feet to 33.2 feet. Swift already has teamed with Raytheon to offer the KillerBee for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps’ Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS)/Tier II program. Northrop Grumman says it has licensed Raytheon to offer the Bat for STUAS and other programs.
Tracked and wheeled vehicles programs are being hit particularly hard in the new Pentagon budget proposal, James McAleese of McAleese and Associates said at the recent National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) 34th Atlanta Executive Seminar. Such a move would mean a screeching stop and sudden reverse for those programs, which have been rising in importance and funding throughout the decade thanks to need for them in Iraq (Aerospace DAILY, Feb. 25, March 5).
EXPLOSIVE RELATIONSHIP: The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security recently signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) covering a variety of projects. The JIEDDO hopes the MOA will increase its access to the nation’s industrial base, and perhaps help identify high-potential, near-ready technologies to conquer IEDs.
Pilatus has secured a €22.5 million order to sell six PC-12NG aircraft to the Finnish air force. The deal is the first for the PC-12 to a European air force. The single-engine turboprop business aircraft is to serve as a liaison aircraft. Deliveries are slated for the end of 2010. It will replace Piper PA-31-350 Chieftains, which have been in service in the Finnish military since 1983. Pilatus says it prevailed in a year-long competition, with flight trials in Switzerland and Canada.
G/ATOR MILESTONE: The U.S. Marine Corps’ Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) concluded its formal Critical Design Review (CDR) recently. The CDR verified that the G/ATOR system’s design and development are proceeding, the detailed hardware and software designs are mature and the system meets Marine Corps requirements, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Space Tracking and Surveillance System Advanced Technology Risk Reduction (STSS ATRR) mission is set for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on March 5. Liftoff is slated for a launch window of 1:24 p.m. to 1:52 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II 7920-10C rocket from Space Launch Complex-2 West.
PARIS — Europe’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, intended to measure concentrations of moisture in soil and salt in the oceans, has been scheduled for a September 9 launch aboard a Rockot booster. The mission — the second in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth Explorer series — had been expected to lift off in July, but the slot was apparently needed for an unidentified Russian government launch.
Lockheed Martin will build the prototype of a high-flying radar-equipped airship for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Air Force under a contract valued at almost $400 million. Northrop Grumman was the losing bidder on the program. Scheduled to be flown in fiscal 2013 under DARPA’s Integrated Sensor Is Structure (ISIS) program, the unmanned airship will have Raytheon-developed X- and UHF-band active electronically scanned arrays (AESA) built into its structure.
Despite a growing drumbeat from some lawmakers to split the $35 billion U.S. Air Force replacement refueling tanker contract between Boeing and Northrop Grumman/EADS, three key senators are not persuaded so far. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and E. Benjamin Nelson (D-Neb.) said they were not taking a position on the idea raised by two powerful subcommittee chairmen in the House.
NEW DELHI — Lockheed Martin is in talks with public and private sector companies about partnering on manufacturing in India. The company expects to announce a partnership “in the near future,” an otherwise tight-lipped Richard Kirkland, Lockheed Martin Global’s president for South Asia, told Aerospace DAILY here. The project may be part of an offset commitment and the production would be “program specific,” Kirkland added.
AIR FORCE The Air Force is awarding an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract to BAE Systems of Herndon, Va., for a maximum of $49,900,000. This action will provide systems engineering and evaluation, systems analysis for Worldwide five. This work will provide life cycle software development engineering to the Department of Defense Intelligence Information System and the US Intelligence Community worldwide. At this time, $120,000 has been obligated. AFRL/RIKF, Rome, New York is the contracting activity (FA8750-09-D-0214).
At a gathering April 27 discussing the U.S./Saudi strategic relationship and the geopolitics of the Middle East, a variety of speakers all drove home the same point: that politics, economics, and security are intimately connected. The the realm of international politics currently finds itself at a particularly critical moment, the speakers said.
SWINE FLU: While the Department of Health and Human Services leads the U.S. response to the swine flu outbreak, the Defense Department is focusing on force protection. The military is posturing itself to respond if required, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said April 27. “We obviously have plans and take measures to ensure that we can preserve the fighting strength of the military in the event that there should be a greater crisis with respect to a health situation like this,” Whitman said.
MOSCOW — The third prototype of Sukhoi Su-35 multirole fighter intended for flight trials — side number 904 — was lost during taxi tests prior to first flight April 26. Test pilot Evgeny Frolov ejected safely. The aircraft was lost in a fire, industry sources said. The accident occurred at the airfield of the Sukhoi’s Komsomolsk-on-Amur manufacturing facility. The reason for the accident was not yet clear. An official statement of the investigation body was expected to follow.
President Obama told the nation’s scientists April 27 that the Cold War space race offers a model for meeting his goals of developing sustainable energy sources while minimizing the effect on global climate.
AIR FORCE The Air Force is awarding a firm fixed price contract to Pratt & Whitney Military Aftermarket Services of San Antonio, Texas for $22,915,389. This action will provide Overhaul of Core Module applicable to the F100 and F220 engines of F-15 and F-16 aircraft. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 448 SCMB/PKBB, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is the contracting activity. (FA8104-04-D-0004-0136) NAVY
