Lockheed Martin is hoping to get out ahead of the curve with its manned-optional small tactical craft (STC), sized for the new Littoral Combat Ship’s (LCS) mission packages.
Several senior Republican posts on the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittees have been rearranged with new faces — and priorities — to match an enlarged Democratic majority and reduced Republican presence for the 111th Congress.
LONDON — The British Defense Ministry is examining whether to delay the point at which it commits financially to production of some weapon systems to allow time for more risk reduction. While senior ministry officials contend that progress is being made on improving time and cost performance on procurement programs, delays and cost overruns continue to occur.
The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office made its first use of the big United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle to launch an advanced electronic eavesdropping satellite toward geosynchronous orbit Jan. 17.
In the midst of arguments over the recent U.S. Navy selection of Naval Air Station Mayport as the home of the next nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Northrop Grumman announced Jan. 15 is has received a $374 million contract for construction preparation for the carrier CVN 79.
EADS is carrying out trials to clear Australia’s A330-based KC-30B tanker to receive fuel, as well as dispense it. On Jan. 19 the company used its A310-based refueling boom flying testbed in conjunction with the first KC-30B during flight trials. The two aircraft made a series of contacts during trials off the southwest coast of Spain, according to EADS. The two aircraft are based at Getafe near Madrid, where EADS’ tanker conversion business is located.
HELO UAV: Eurocopter says it has flown a version of its EC155 in fully autonomous configuration, apparently under an unspecified government contract. The company declined to divulge further details of the demonstration, which is thought to be related to future French vertical lift unmanned aerial vehicle concepts. The French recently picked Boeing’s Unmanned Little Bird over the EADS Calibri for a naval unmanned aerial vehicle deck landing systems demonstration.
NEW DELHI — The Indian army test fired its 290-kilometer-range BrahMos missile Jan. 20 at Pokhran in Rajasthan’s desert. Defense Minister A.K. Antony denied that the test was directed at Pakistan, with whom tensions have been high since the Mumbai terror attacks last November. “The test was pre-planned and not directed against any country,” he said.
Eurocopter CEO Lutz Bertling says his company plans to bid its EC145 for the U.S. Army’s re-started Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) program. New requirements for the ARH are currently in preparation following cancellation of a contract with Bell Helicopter Textron last year in a process that is expected to continue until spring (Aerospace DAILY, Jan. 12). Boeing, Bell and AgustaWestland also are expected to compete.
SOARING SUPPORT: Even before President-elect Barack Obama takes office Jan. 20, U.S. lawmakers are making a push in letters addressed to him to secure the future of the stealthy F-22 production line in Marietta, Ga. Sens. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) sent a letter to Obama Jan. 16 requesting funding for production for the twin-engine fighter. Citing a flyaway cost reduction of 35 percent, the senators also say the end of the fighter’s production could further drain the U.S. economy in the midst of a recession.
Two Obama administration nominees for top Defense Department posts say they don’t oppose the use of multi-year procurement contracts for major weapons programs. William Lynn III, the nominee for deputy defense secretary, and Robert Hale, Obama’s pick for Pentagon comptroller, offered their opinion during a Jan. 15 confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
KOUROU SOYUZ: European Space Agency head Jean-Jacques Dordain says the first Soyuz medium-lift booster will take off from a new launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana by year’s end, following the resolution of equipment delivery problems. A 2009 launch is imperative if the agency is to orbit the first two In Orbit Validation satellites earmarked for the Galileo satellite navigation system by mid-2010, as scheduled, he says.
FIGHTER BOOST: The U.S. Air Force is planning to increase its annual purchase of F-35A Joint Strike Fighters in the upcoming fiscal 2010 budget request. The service had planned to cap its buy of the single-engine stealthy fighters at 80 per year in 2018. But funds added to the program in the new budget will drive that annual rate up to 100, says Sue Payton, the service’s acquisition czar.
The departing program executive officer for the F-35 Lightning II program, U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles Davis, is declaring proverbial clear skies ahead for the Joint Strike Fighter as he leaves for his new assignment — where he will some day receive the JSF.
ARIANE BUY: EADS CEO Louis Gallois hopes to sign off on a 35-unit follow-on Ariane 5 contract with Arianespace sometime this year, but says that nailing it down “will not be easy.” An authorization-to-proceed agreement allowing EADS to begin work on long-lead items for the deal, known as Batch PB, was inked in June 2007.
AUSTRALIAN HOOKUP: The Royal Australian Air Force is now a step closer to fielding an operational Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control (Boeing 737-700) aircraft. One of the projected fleet of six aircraft conducted the design’s first aerial refueling at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Jan. 7 and received 14,000 pounds of fuel during two connections from a KC-10 tanker. On Jan. 10, the aircraft duplicated the feat with a KC-135 tanker.
Astra says its Astra 5A satellite, positioned at 31.5 deg. E. Long., has suffered a catastrophic failure and will be removed from service. The immediate nature of the failure was not given. The spacecraft, launched in November 1997 to 5 deg. E. Long. as Sirius 2, would normally have had around three years of life remaining. The satellite operator, Swedish Space Corp., and manufacturer Thales Alenia Space are preparing to deorbit the spacecraft and attempting to determine the root cause of the incident.
European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA planners will decide in the coming days which path they will pursue in the next phase of exploration of the outer planets. For the past year, scientists have been weighing the pros and cons of two competing undertakings: Tandem, which would send the agencies back to explore the Saturn system, or Laplace, aimed at visiting Europa and other satellites of Jupiter.
