NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov and space tourist Charles Simonyi landed safely in their Soyuz spacecraft in the steppes of southern Kazakhstan at 2:16 a.m. CDT April 8. The Expedition 18 crew members undocked their Russian Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft from the International Space Station at 10:55 p.m. April 7. The deorbit burn began at 1:24 a.m. April 8. The landing site was shifted south because of poor conditions at the original target site, according to NASA.
LONGBOW RADAR: The first powered flight of the Radar Electronics Unit (REU) configuration of the Longbow Fire Control Radar occurred recently aboard an AH-64D Apache Block III prototype. The advanced REU, produced by a joint venture between Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin called Longbow Limited Liability Co., improves power ratios and provides built-in processor expansion growth for new operating modes for the Block III Apache. The REU will be integrated on all Block III aircraft, and can also be retrofitted on Block I or II Apaches with some modifications.
C4I FORECAST: Consultants at Forecast International (FI) predict the global command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) market will be worth at least $67.95 billion over the next 10 years – less than once thought but still better than other defense sectors. The value of the programs covered by an FI review are seen to be dropping by 60 percent from the $10.13 billion total this year to $4.06 billion in 2018. Just more than half of the programs studied will be completed by the end of the 10-year forecast period of 2009-2018, according to FI.
Force Protection and NP Aerospace have announced a $122.6 million deal with the U.K. Defense Ministry for 97 Wolfhound heavy tactical support vehicles, which includes spares and support. Force Protection has been selling Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to the U.K. Defense Ministry since 2007, supplying 447 Cougar Mastiff 6x6s and Ridgeback 4x4s to date, while the U.K. government has also ordered 14 Buffalo route clearance vehicles.
CAN SCAN: Canada has awarded Boeing subsidiary Insitu an initial $30 million contract to provide ScanEagle small unmanned air vehicle (UAV) services in support of its forces in Afghanistan. The UAV is already operational in-country under an earlier interim deal with Boeing. The new contract is for a year, with two one-year options. Insitu personnel will launch the ScanEagles, hand them over to Canadian Forces operators, then recover the UAVs and prepare them for the next mission. Boeing is also providing ScanEagle services for Australian forces in Afghanistan.
NASA’s Kepler planet finding observatory passed one of its key setup milestones April 7 by ejecting the oval-shaped dust cover that protected its huge photometer from contamination before and after launch. Mission control at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colo., will now begin several weeks of calibration exercises before full science operations can begin. “The cover released and flew away exactly as we designed it to,” says Kepler Project Manager James Fanson at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Canadian flight simulation specialist CAE is developing an anti-brownout landing system for helicopters, with flight-tests planned for later this year. The augmented visionics system (AVS) is part of the company’s five-year, C$714 million Project Falcon research and development program, launched at the end of March. AVS builds on CAE’s development of a common data base (CDB) able to generate synthetic visual scenes and sensor imagery in real time for flight simulators.
DESERT RADAR: Lockheed Martin recently won a contract from the Kuwait Ministry of Defense to upgrade the Kuwait Air Force AN/FPS-117 long-range radar, originally delivered in 1993. The radar is used for air traffic control and strategic air surveillance. Lockheed Martin anticipates the upgrades will extend the service life of the radar for 15 to 20 years. The contract also provides for maintenance services and training for both the existing radar as well as the Preliminary Early Warning System, which combines multiple sensors to assist with air surveillance in the region.
As North Korea keeps the world’s militaries worried with what it claims was a satellite-launch attempt, South Korea is quietly preparing its first satellite mission for a July launch date. Lee Joo-jin, president of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, told a Washington audience late last week that the first Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV-1) is scheduled to launch a 100-kilogram (220-pound) scientific satellite into low Earth orbit in July.
UPS AND DOWNS: As the effects of the Pentagon’s newly unveiled budget plan continued to sink in, defense stocks gave back some of the big gains they made April 6. On April 7, shares in Northrop Grumman, Boeing and General Dynamics were each down 4 percent, while Raytheon and L-3 Communications declined 2 percent. Lockheed Martin bucked the trend, rising 1 percent to add to Monday’s gain of 9 percent. Defense services companies also took a hit on Tuesday, including SAIC and CACI (both down 4 percent), ManTech International (5 percent) and DynCorp (3 percent).
MOSCOW — The Russian ministry of defense is close to finalizing a contract to purchase Bird-Eye 400, I-View MK150 and Searcher Mk II unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Israel Aerospace Industries. The Russian Kommersant newspaper estimates the deal’s value at $50 million. Earlier last month, Army Gen. Nikolay Makarov, head of General Staff of the Armed Forces, said the defense ministry must acquire at least an initial batch of UAVs from abroad, since local industry is not yet ready for the job.
BENGALURU, India — Boeing launched its first Research & Technology center in Asia here on March 31, the third outside the U.S. to carry out research in aero structures, aerodynamics and electronic networks with a team of senior researchers, scientists and engineers. “Apart from our solid business base in India for both commercial and defense products, India has been a great incubator of innovation, and we believe that investing here today is a great bet on our collective future,” said Dinesh Keskar, president of Boeing India.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the current Pentagon tactical aircraft force structure “is significantly [in] excess to the requirement,” a factor leading to the decision to retire 250 of the oldest legacy fighters in its fleet in fiscal 2010 and halt F-22 production at 187 aircraft.
NASA has chosen the Avcoat ablator system, which was used to protect Apollo capsules during re-entry, as the thermal protection system for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. Made of silica fibers with an epoxy-novalic resin filled in a fiberglass-phenolic honeycomb, Avcoat was used both on Apollo and on select regions of the space shuttle in its earliest flights. It was put back into production for NASA to re-evaluate.
Switzerland is withdrawing its rotorcraft support to the European Union’s operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, noting that the fielding of new helicopters back home is putting a strain on its forces. The Swiss government says it can no longer provide the resources to sustain the operation, but says the improving security situation in the Balkan country also makes the withdrawal possible. The two Cougar helos will be gone by the end of September. The services began in May 2005.
PARIS — The European Defense Agency has kicked off a four-year, €21 million ($27 million) advanced radar program. The so-called Studies for Integrated Multifunction Compact Lightweight Airborne Radars and Systems (SIMCLAIRS) effort is supposed to pave the way technologically for multifunctional radars between 2015-2020.
COMMAND EAGLE: Boeing says it demonstrated simultaneous command and control of three ScanEagle unmanned aerial systems (UAS) from a Royal Australian Air Force Wedgetail 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft flying over Washington state on March 16. Using the company’s UAS battle-management software, airborne operators issued NATO-standard sensor and air vehicle commands via a UHF satellite communication link and ground-station relay. Boeing will conduct a follow-on demonstration for the Australian government in early May.
The U.S. director of national intelligence (DNI) plans to sign a contract within months for the purchase of more than one classified electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) imaging satellite that will extend the life of the government’s existing overhead collection architecture, according to senior intelligence officials. “We are not taking years to kick this thing off,” one official said April 7.
NEW DELHI — EADS has been awarded a consultancy project for India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) by the Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA). The contract was signed two weeks ago in Bangalore. Bids for design and development work on the flight-testing stage of the LCA were solicited from EADS, Saab, Dassault, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and MiG Corporation. The consulting project, according to media reports, is worth about $20 million.
The U.S. Defense Department still needs to make changes to its acquisition policy, according to the congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO), starting with establishing realistic baselines. GAO’s April 1 testimony before the House Armed Services Committee’s panel on defense acquisition rested on a premise the Pentagon contests.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — BAE Systems is developing a new radar warning receiver (RWR) for use on satellites as part of the U.S. Air Force’s strategy to improve space situational awareness. Under the $6.3 million contract, BAE will be expected to deliver a prototype flightworthy RWR within three years. It is supposed to then have at least two years of in-orbit life. The intent is to allow satellites to know when they are being “painted” by radar energy, according to Eric Rhodes, business development manager for BAE.
The Pentagon’s forthcoming budget is expected to overhaul spending in the coming years on missile defense and Pentagon space programs. The Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) budget is expected to be reduced by $1.4 billion over what was anticipated in fiscal 2010.
