FRENCH CARRIER: France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, is preparing to power up for a return to service following completion of a 15-month, 300-million euro overhaul. The overhaul, performed by naval systems specialist DCNS, included a command, control and communications system upgrade, as well as modifications to allow the carrier to handle new Rafale F3 multirole fighters, ASMP-A nuclear strike missiles and Scalp cruise missiles due to be integrated next year.
NO GAP FLAP: Gary Payton, deputy under secretary of the U.S. Air Force for space programs, says the U.S. missile warning satellite constellation is “nice and healthy and it is doing its job.” Despite reports that the most recent addition to the Defense Support Program fleet, DSP-23 launched late last year, has been faltering in orbit since September (Aerospace DAILY, Dec. 1), Payton says, “There are no gaps.” DSP is responsible for signaling officials on the ground when a ballistic missile is launched.
RAPTOR RUCKUS: Regarding additional F-22 Raptor production, “John [Young, Pentagon acquisition chief] and Gordon [England, current deputy defense secretary] are still in sync with each other, but maybe no one else” in Congress or in the Pentagon, a senior Air Force acquisition official says. Gates could be distancing himself from opposition to more Raptors above the 183 cap that his office — namely England and Young — previously set.
Heavy turbulence thwarted the second attempt to fly the first General Atomics Predator B unmanned air vehicle (UAV) to Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., Dec. 5 for duty patrolling the U.S.-Canadian border. The 64-foot wingspan UAV turned back before noon because of rough air about 300 miles north of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Air & Marine’s UAV base in Sierra Vista, Ariz., said Juan Munoz Torres, a CBP spokesman. Better weather conditions were forecast for a third attempt on Dec. 6, he said.
CSAR RFP: U.S. Air Force officials have sent out the new request for proposals (RFP) — technically Amendment 7 to the original RFP — for the $15 billion Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter replacement program. The amendment contains minor changes intended to further clarify how the Air Force will make its award decision, the service said. The contract is expected in the spring, but an exact date has not been established. The Air Force initially awarded the contract to Boeing for a Chinook variant, but the award was halted by sustained bid protests.
BANGALORE, India — India is planning a lunar sample return mission in 2015, and is seeking international partners to help develop it. Designated Chandrayaan-3, the proposed new mission for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be a follow-on to the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter and the Chandrayaan-2 mission set for launch in 2012.
BRITISH UNION: The Defense Manufacturers Association on Dec. 3 followed its prospective British lobby group partner in approving a membership ballot on the proposed merger with the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC). The SBAC gave the go-ahead for a ballot of its members at the end of November. The ballots are expected to be acted on early in 2009. Some trade groups around Washington similarly have been merging as industry looks to bolster its voice in governments facing economic and budgetary pressures (Aerospace DAILY, Dec. 27, 2007).
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicated new calendar listing.) Dec. 8 - 10 — Military Vehicle Maintenance Summit, “Closing the Loop for the Entire Family of Military Vehicles.” For more information go to www.idga.org/us/vehiclemaintenance Dec. 8 - 10 — 8th Annual NGMD ‘08 - Next Generation Materials for Defense, Hilton Arlington, Arlington, Va. For more information go to www.idga.org/us/NGMD
Northrop Grumman will modify the second X-47B naval unmanned combat air system demonstrator (UCAS-D) to allow autonomous aerial refuelling (AAR) using both U.S. Navy probe-and-drogue and U.S. Air Force boom-and-receptacle methods. The U.S. Navy has announced plans to award the company a sole-source contract to support the demonstration of AAR capability by 2013, saying the X-47B is the only carrier-suitable unmanned aircraft capable of the task.
PICKING OUT: Superconductivity could be coming to aerospace. The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory plans to award Mountain View, Calif.-based Out of the Fog Research a contract to build a prototype low-noise, ultra-fast tunable filter that would allow signals-intelligence and communications receivers to pick out weak emissions within a dense radio-frequency background. The receivers will use cryogenically-cooled high-temperature superconductor filters than can be tuned in less than a millisecond.
Flying the space shuttle three times a year through fiscal 2015 to “close the gap” in U.S. human access to space would cost $13 billion above what NASA already plans for human spaceflight, the agency says.
A400M CONCERNS: The French Senate’s Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee says it will review the financial and industrial conditions governing the Airbus A400M in light of new delays in the airlifter program. France has said it may be necessary to reconsider penalty payments in return for a firm commitment to a new delivery schedule, while other nations, notably Britain, are balking and looking at possible alternatives. The Committee also will take a new look at Ministry of Defense plans to build a massive new headquarters complex.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are prompting simulator manufacturers to exploit a range of technological advances to give U.S. and Canadian army helicopter pilots the capability to train and rehearse missions as realistically as possible. With the U.S. military being forced to rely more heavily on simulation for training, helicopter simulation is a growing area of business for Rockwell Collins Simulation & Training Solutions in Binghamton, N.Y., and Canada’s CAE.
DOD INFO: The Defense Department has awarded BAE Systems a five-year contract valued up to $78.5 million for Information Operations Family of Systems (IOFoS). The system is based on the company’s Diamond open software architecture and will be a family of systems that provides full capability while minimizing the number of fielded units. Deliveries under the contract are scheduled to begin in 2009 and continue through 2013. BAE Systems will provide analysis, research and development, field support and sustainment for DOD, as well as production of the IOFoS units.
TAKING AIM: Release of a U.S. Navy request for proposals for a new subsonic aerial target (SSAT), which was planned in early December, is awaiting approval of the final capabilities development document, now expected by year’s end or early next year. The Navy expects to award a $15 million - $25 million contract for a 24-30-month program to modify an existing target to meet its requirements to simulate subsonic sea-skimming cruise missiles and aircraft. Requirements include the ability to fly at Mach 0.9-0.95, 10 feet or less above the water, maneuvering at 6-8 g.
WINTER HEAT: Much of the current buzz in Washington has to do with a supposed silence surrounding Richard Danzig, an advisor on defense issues to President-elect Barack Obama during the campaign. Danzig had been eyed as a possible Pentagon chief until Obama decided to retain Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Now, silence from Obama’s transition team about appointing Danzig as a defense secretary-in-waiting or even deputy defense secretary is sparking some practical considerations.
GOT IT: The U.S. Ground-based Missile Defense system conducted a successful intercept Dec. 5. The long-range ballistic-missile target was launched from Kodiak, Alaska, and the interceptor from Vandenberg, Calif., simulating the geometry of an attack from North Korea, The Missile Defense Agency says the exoatmospheric kill vehicle discriminated the target from countermeasures and intercepted the warhead. The test marked the first time an operational crew at Ft. Greely, Alaska remotely launched an interceptor from Vandenberg.
CSAR RFP: U.S. Air Force officials have sent out the new request for proposals (RFP) — technically Amendment 7 to the original RFP — for the $15 billion Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter replacement program. The amendment contains minor changes intended to further clarify how the Air Force will make its award decision, the service said. The contract is expected in the spring, but an exact date has not been established. The Air Force initially awarded the contract to Boeing for a Chinook variant, but the award was halted by sustained bid protests.
Flying the space shuttle three times a year through fiscal 2015 to “close the gap” in U.S. human access to space would cost $13 billion above what NASA already plans for human spaceflight, the agency says.
DOD INFO: The Defense Department has awarded BAE Systems a five-year contract valued up to $78.5 million for Information Operations Family of Systems (IOFoS). The system is based on the company’s Diamond open software architecture and will be a family of systems that provides full capability while minimizing the number of fielded units. Deliveries under the contract are scheduled to begin in 2009 and continue through 2013. BAE Systems will provide analysis, research and development, field support and sustainment for DOD, as well as production of the IOFoS units.
Northrop Grumman will modify the second X-47B naval unmanned combat air system demonstrator (UCAS-D) to allow autonomous aerial refuelling (AAR) using both U.S. Navy probe-and-drogue and U.S. Air Force boom-and-receptacle methods. The U.S. Navy has announced plans to award the company a sole-source contract to support the demonstration of AAR capability by 2013, saying the X-47B is the only carrier-suitable unmanned aircraft capable of the task.
