LUNAR PREP: NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) completed thermal vacuum testing at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., NASA announced Dec. 22. The testing simulated the extreme hot, cold and airless conditions of space, and concludes the orbiter’s environmental test program. LRO will be shipped to Kennedy Space Center in Florida in early 2009 to be prepared for its April 24 launch aboard an Atlas V.
Brazil has signed contracts worth $12 billion with France covering coproduction of 50 Eurocopter EC725 Caracal helicopters and four Scorpene conventionally powered submarines. The contracts were formally signed Dec. 23 in Rio de Janeiro by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and visiting French President Nicholas Sarkozy. A key part of the deal is the transfer of French technology to Brazil. The defense cooperation agreement includes French assistance with development of a nuclear-powered submarine.
MINERVA AWARDS: Under its new Minerva Research Initiative, DOD announced plans Dec. 22 to make awards to academic institutions to perform scholarly research in the social sciences. The initiative is a DOD-sponsored, university-based social science basic research program focusing on areas of strategic importance to U.S. national security policy. The Minerva program seeks to increase DOD’s intellectual capital in the social sciences, improve its ability to address future challenges and build bridges between DOD and the social science community.
Raytheon says it has received confirmation from NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) that a water-detecting sensor system aboard the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter has been activated and is fully functional. Raytheon provided the antenna, transmitter, analog receiver and software for the Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR), which Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory integrated onto the spacecraft. Raytheon also supplied system engineering, integration and test support.
NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Expedition 18 commander on the International Space Station (ISS), and Flight Engineer Yuri Lonchakov ventured outside the orbiting facility late Dec. 22 and installed a probe that will measure environmental conditions that may have caused two returning Soyuz vehicles to fall into a perilous “ballistic” reentry.
UNIFIED COMMAND: DOD announced it has updated its Unified Command Plan (UCP), a strategic document that establishes the missions, responsibilities and geographic areas of responsibility for commanders of combatant commands. The 2008 UCP, signed by President Bush Dec. 17, codifies U.S. Africa Command and assigns several new missions to the combatant commanders. Other changes include updating cyberspace operations responsibilities to U.S. Strategic Command and the realignment of certain U.S. Northern and Southern Command areas of responsibility.
The revision of the U.S. Army’s field training manual, or FM 7-0, emphasizes the importance of training across the spectrum of conflict and takes advantage of a now combat-seasoned force, according to Army training chief Lt. Gen. James Thurman.
BUILD A BRIDGE: Oshkosh Defense has been awarded a $5 million contract modification from U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) to recap approximately 30 Common Bridge Transporter (CBT) variants of the Oshkosh Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT). Under the modification, Oshkosh will tear down the 10-year-old A0 configuration CBT HEMTTs and recapitalize them into Oshkosh’s current HEMTT A2 Load Handling System (LHS) models.
NO REWARD: The U.S. Air Force officially declared Dec. 23 that it will close the existing Transformational Satellite Communications (TSAT) program solicitation without awarding a contract. A new draft request for proposals is expected as soon as this week to include Internet Protocol routing but not laser communications. The formality follows a move by Pentagon acquisition chief John Young who already ordered the service to restructure the program and pursue a version that lacks laser crosslinks for shuttling data quickly through space (Aerospace DAILY, Dec. 9).
RACAL NABBED: Esterline Technologies has reached a deal to acquire Racal Acoustics, a London-based provider of combat communications equipment, for 115 million pounds ($169.3 million). Racal manufactures communications systems ranging from lightweight noise-reducing headsets to advanced battlefield secure telephone networks. The company, which has nearly 200 employees, was sold off by France’s Thales in 2004 and is currently owned by ECI Partners, a U.K. private equity firm. Esterline says it expects to close the deal within 45 days. Jefferies & Co.
KOREAN AEGIS: South Korea put its first Aegis-equipped ship into service Dec. 22. It is the fifth nation to join the worldwide Aegis fleet. DDG 991, Sejong the Great, the first of Korea’s three Aegis-equipped KDX-III destroyers, was built and tested at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, Korea and commissioned in Pusan. The ship completed the test of its combat system test program ahead of schedule and was accepted by the South Korean Navy on Nov. 7. The second ship of the class, Yulgok Yi I, was launched Nov. 15. Lockheed Martin manufactures the Aegis Combat System.
TWO CLIPPERS: U.S. Naval Air Systems Command’s Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft program office has finalized a $136.1 million contract with Boeing to buy two more C-40A Clippers to provide long-range, high-priority logistical airlift. The aircraft will support humanitarian relief operations in the U.S. and globally. The C-40As are equipped with glass cockpits, fuel-efficient engines and fuel-saving blended winglets. The new aircraft are expected to be delivered by the first or second quarter of fiscal 2011.
A major new U.S. Navy production contract for eight more Virginia-class submarines marks the most successful year yet for the high-profile submarine, as well as the importance of its Washington and New England advocate communities. The U.S. Navy has signed a five-year, $14 billion contract with Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics Electric Boat for eight Virginia-class submarines (Aerospace DAILY, Dec. 23). In official statements late Dec. 22 and a teleconference call with reporters early Dec. 23, executives and lawmakers were ebullient with the milestone.
Saab has received the formal go-ahead to start series production of an electronic warfare suite for the Indian Dhruv light helicopter. The contract is valued at around $24 million. Saab is the incumbent on the program and was already involved with the development and low-rate production phases. That contract was awarded in April.
The AIA Year-End Forecast table on p. 7 of the Dec. 23 Aerospace Daily & Defense Report misidentified the data. The table represents civil aircraft shipments.
LOS ANGELES – Taking advantage of a spell of clear weather before the expected arrival of another low pressure system in southern California, Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic successfully flew the SpaceShipTwo mothership WhiteKnightTwo on its first flight from Mojave, Calif., on Dec 21. The unusually configured aircraft made a 59-minute flight, taking off from Mojave at 08:16 local time and reaching a maximum altitude of 16,000 feet.
ARMY Lockheed Martin Electronics and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., was awarded on Dec 12, 2008, an $89,587,943 firm fixed price contract for repairs and maintenance of line Replacement Units and Line Replaceable Modules to support the Apache Helicopter’s Sensors flying hours program for 2009. The work will be performed in Redstone Arsenal, Ala., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2009. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-07-C-0058).
In observance of the year-end holiday season, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report will not publish issues from Dec. 24 through Jan. 4. The next issue will be dated Jan. 5. During the interim, check www.aviationweek.com and www.aviationweek.com/awin for more news.
Kongsberg has signed a deal with the Brazilian government for the sale of Penguin anti-ship missiles. The deal is valued at 140 million Norwegian kronor ($19.9 million) and includes an unspecified number of missiles. The weapons are to be used by the Brazilian navy on its helicopters. Brazil is expected to embark on a defense spending spree, with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva having unveiled plans to modernize the armed forces (Aerospace DAILY, Aug. 27).
The availability of Canada’s CH-149 Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopters is improving after manufacturer AgustaWestland took action to improve spares provisioning, and inspection requirements were changed. Earlier this year, an official report revealed availability of the 14 helicopters was less than 50 percent, well below the 75 percent expected when Canada purchased the EH101-based Cormorants in 1998.
An expiring $478 million U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) contract will be split in two when it is rebid to generate more competition to support the command’s experimentation efforts.
