AWARENESS AWARD: A U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) contract with Intelligent Software Solutions to study the impact of threats to U.S. space assets will review the application of “various reasoning approaches” and suggest a design and implementation plan for a “full-featured” capability to be proposed later this fiscal year. The company said March 24 that the Space Threat Object and Resource Management, or “Storm,” program will monitor potential hostile actions against U.S. space assets and develop optimal plans to counter them.
ANOTHER TRY: United Launch Alliance is targeting March 31 for its next attempt to launch the U.S. Air Force’s second Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) satellite aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla. An attempt last week had to be scrubbed and the vehicle rolled back to its integration facility following the discovery of a leaky oxidizer valve on the rocket’s Centaur upper stage that has since been replaced.
TIGER REPLACEMENT: The Swiss parliament has pushed out a decision on the European country’s plan to replace some of its F-5 Tiger fleet. Legislators have ordered the Swiss defense ministry to present a report on the country’s security policy in December. Only afterward will a decision be made on the Tiger replacement. Three competitors — Dassault with the Rafale, Saab with its Gripen, and Eurofighter with the Typhoon — have been eagerly awaiting the decision. All three aircraft have undergone flight campaigns in Switzerland.
The U.S. Navy has nearly completed inspections of its V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, following the grounding of the entire fleet due to a loose bolt problem. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) ordered all 84 Navy and Air Force V-22s grounded after discovering loose bolts had fallen out of a swash plate trunnion, a device that helps control the aircraft’s prop rotor. “We took the action we did simply as a precautionary measure,” NAVAIR spokesperson Mike Welding said. “Safety is our paramount concern.”
The Iraqi navy is starting to field a new series of vessels to grow its force, and planning also has begun within the country’s defense establishment on how to handle maritime aviation.
The Japanese Air Force is set to announce having achieved initial operational capability with its Boeing KC-767 tanker next month, after testing the aircraft for almost one year. The air force so far has taken delivery of three of the four aircraft on contract “on time and on schedule,” according to Dave Bowman, Boeing Tanker Program vice president.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced several border security initiatives to crack down on Mexican drug cartel violence. “This issue requires immediate action,” DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said March 24. With violence escalating across the border, Napolitano, a former Arizona governor, will increase DHS personnel and improve screening technology to help Mexico target illegal guns, drugs and cash.
The U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is facing a battle before it even proves itself at sea, with Congress nipping at the program’s heels even as the latest award is announced.
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Houston The space shuttle Discovery backed away from the International Space Station (ISS) at 3:53 p.m. EDT March 25, ending almost eight days of docked operations that added the fourth and final solar array wing to the main station truss. The station lost its Ku-band link a few minutes later, depriving controllers here of a live video feed as Discovery pilot Tony Antonelli flew the orbiter up, over and under the newly symmetrical station for engineering photography by its crew.
RIGHT FLANK: House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Republicans are slamming congressional budget plans, saying Democrats’ and President Barack Obama’s moves will force “painful” cancellations of weapons systems and other “needed” equipment. In particular, Obama administration plans to shift off-book supplemental appropriations to within the regular budget, while trimming the same amount starting next fiscal year, will amplify alleged defense “reductions” of $11.4 billion from 2009 levels.
PALO ALTO, Calif. The man who helped privatize the Mir space station and lined up millionaire Dennis Tito as the first space tourist has some new ideas about how to engage public interest in space. Why not games in space? asks Jeffrey Manber, the former president of MirCorp. His idea for making games the payload for cubesats with 4-inch sides was certainly the most unusual proposal put before a Stanford University Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference here this week devoted to “Emerging Commercial Applications for Small Satellites.”
The U.S. Air Force has confirmed an F-22A Raptor crashed about 10 a.m. March 25 around 35 miles northeast of Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., where it was based. The condition of the pilot was unknown, USAF said. A program source tells Aviation Week that the reason the pilot’s fate was unknown is because the F-22 was separated from the chase plane at the time of the accident and the chase pilot did not see what happened.
Senate appropriators on March 25 offered sympathy and support for the U.S. Air National Guard in its effort to gain new tactical aircraft, be they F-22 Raptors or modernized legacy fighters. “We’ll do our very best to make sure replacements for your fighters are in the budget,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) assured Lt Gen. Harry Wyatt III, director of the Air National Guard.
HOT SPOT: Boeing plans to test its Laser Avenger air-defense system as a “superdesignator” for kinetic-energy weapons. The high-power laser, mounted on the Avenger turret alongside a gun and Stinger missiles, has already been tested against ground targets and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The next step is to use the laser to warm a UAV’s airframe so it can be acquired by the Stinger’s infrared seeker at greater range. This superdesignation capability will be demonstrated later this year, Boeing says.
NEW DELHI Bidders in the Indian air force’s effort to replace its Mi-35s with 22 new attack helicopters were informed last week that the buy is off, but no reason was given. The decision is thought likely to delay deliveries two years from the air force’s 2010 target. Contenders included Eurocopter’s Tiger, AgustaWestland’s AW-129, Kamov’s Ka-50 and Mil’s Mi-28. Boeing’s Apache AH-64D and Bell’s AH-1Z Cobra already had withdrawn from the competition, citing insufficient time to submit the required offset proposals.
AUSSIE NET: Boeing says it has demonstrated the ability to deliver streaming video over a mobile, ad hoc tactical network from a UAV to a Chinook helicopter and ground troops. The demonstration took place March 16-18 at Boeing’s Systems Analysis Laboratory in Brisbane, Australia, where personnel from Australia’s army, navy and air force viewed the network’s capabilities on actual flight hardware.
CLAWS OUT: Textron is promoting its Clean Lightweight Area Weapon cluster bomb’s potential to Wall Street. CLAW is set for international sales in 2018, but there is a bill moving through Congress that would allow international sales as early as next year, according to Macquarie Research Equities. Textron claims the 64-pound, 31-inch-long CLAW has the same combat effect as a 1,000-pound bomb against human targets — but still leaves a “clean” battlefield free of unexploded ordnance.
Boeing has demonstrated the deployment of a containerized solid-state laser weapon system to reduce risk for the U.S. Army’s truck-mounted High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD). The Redeployable High-Energy Laser System (RHELS) is a company-funded initiative to demonstrate the maturity and utility of directed-energy weapons. The solid-state laser, thermal management, beam control and operator station are packaged in a 40-foot cargo container than can be transported on a semi-trailer.
LONDON The British Defense Ministry is beginning the acquisition process for a 1,300-vehicle element of its Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) program, the FRES Specialist Vehicles (SV), with an invitation to tender expected in September. The first FRES SV is expected to have an initial operational capability in 2014, with the introduction of the Block 1 vehicle. This covers a scout vehicle with a medium-caliber cannon, as well as various reconnaissance support configurations. A tracked vehicle is preferred for the FRES SV, versus a wheeled vehicle.
Bollinger Shipyard is still on the hook for shoddy conversions of U.S. Coast Guard 111-foot patrol boats to 123-foot boats. Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) wanted answers from the Coast Guard’s acquisitions chief, Rear Adm. Gary Blore, during a hearing March 24. The ships — since abandoned by the armed service — left Bollinger and were then sent to other shipyards for modifications after issues were discovered, despite the fact that the 123’s were under warranty at Bollinger.
Lawmakers have drafted legislation that codifies the reforms the U.S. Coast Guard has been making ever since the establishment of the armed service’s acquisition directorate in 2007.
The U.S. Air Force’s latest Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite was delivered to orbit early March 24 by a United Launch Alliance Delta II from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Liftoff took place at 4:34 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 17A. One hour and eight minutes later, the rocket deployed GPS IIR-20, the seventh of eight modernized spacecraft in the GPS Block IIR-M series built by Lockheed Martin.
