GOSAT A GO: Japan’s GOSAT, renamed Ibuki now that it’s in orbit, has passed its initial imaging tests as the Japanese space agency JAXA marches through a three-month checkout period following the spacecraft’s launch Jan. 23. Initially named the Greenhouse gases Observing Satellite, Ibuki is measuring methane and sources of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to support climate change studies (Aerospace DAILY, Jan. 26).
FOREVER YOUNG: Pentagon acquisition chief John Young has dubbed the U.S. Navy’s expected next guided missile destroyer the Future Surface Combatant (FSC). In a recent memo, Young says that until a decision is made on which hull will be the baseline for future DDGs (the now-truncated DDG-1000 or the DDG-51), the ship will be referred to as the FSC. Funding for the FSC appears under the DDG-51 program procurement line, but will be moved to the DDG-1000 funding line. The decision on FSC is expected in fiscal 2009.
SERVICE RESTORED: Eumetsat says the Advanced High Resolution Picture Transmission subsystem on its first polar-orbiting satellite, Metop-A, is operational again following a two-month trial to correct an anomaly on a power transistor that shut down the system in July 2007. The system will not be activated over the polar regions and the South Atlantic, because of the heavy ion radiation that caused the outage.
CAE TAPPED: The Canadian government has awarded a C$329.5 million ($266.5 million) contract to CAE to provide aircrew training equipment and services for Canada’s fleet of 17C-130J transports. The contract’s industry team includes Xwave of St. Johns, Newfoundland: Bombardier, Saint-Laurent, Quebec; Atlantis Systems International, Brampton, Ontario; and Cascade Aerospace, Abbotsford, British Columbia.
EXPRESS DELIVERY: An Office of Naval Research request for information (RFI) on cargo unmanned aircraft systems will draw at least one response. Sikorsky confirms it will offer up a concept based on its X2 Technology high-speed coaxial-rotor helicopter. The X2 is designed to cruise at 250 knots, the speed specified in the RFI, while retaining the low-speed agility of a helicopter. Other ideas likely to be proposed include compound helicopters and tiltrotors.
YOUNG GETS OLD: John Young, the Pentagon’s increasingly unpopular acquisition chief, is becoming a big liability for Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Critics say the recruitment machinery is churning to find a replacement before even more enmity is created between the Pentagon’s top military and civilian managers. With debate over the Quadrennial Defense Review beginning this month, the Obama administration needs to move quickly.
The first short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35 Joint Strike Fighter could begin powered-lift testing on the hover pit at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas, plant as early as this week. This will begin perhaps the most critical phase of testing for the F-35 program. About a month of hover-pit testing is planned before the first F-35B, aircraft BF-1, returns to the air to begin STOVL flight testing, says J.D. McFarlan, F-35 air vehicle development team lead.
NEW BIRD: SES has selected Space Systems/Loral to build QuetzSat-1, a telecom satellite intended for the joint venture, QuetzSat, it has established in Mexico with local investors. The Ku-band satellite, which is precontracted entirely to EchoStar for use by its Dish Mexico affiliate, will be launched in 2011 to 77 deg. W. Long.
ON TRACKS: The U.S. Army is researching a lighter weight linked track for its tracked vehicles. The Marine Corps has been donating investment dollars to the effort, hoping to save a potential 800 pounds on its Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV). “We’ve been giving money to the Army to answer concerns particular to our design process,” says Col. Keith Moore, EFV program manager. A prototype track should be ready in the next year to 18 months, Moore says, at which point the Marines will begin durability tests on the new design.
LAUNCH READINESS: The European Space Agency (ESA) says the Herschel and Planck orbital telescopes have completed testing and are ready to be integrated at the Arianespace payload facility in Kourou, French Guiana, for a scheduled twin launch on April 16. Separately, ESA said it will fund continued operation of its Mars Express, Venus Express and Cluster solar missions until Dec. 31.
The Pentagon continues to struggle with poor weapon systems acquisition at both strategic and program levels, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) testified to the House Appropriations defense subcommittee Feb. 11.
BANGALORE, India – AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, and Tata Sons have signed a memorandum of understanding at the Aero India air show to form an Indian joint venture company to establish a final assembly line for the AW119 helicopter in India. The joint venture company will be responsible for AW119 final assembly, completion and delivery to customers worldwide while AgustaWestland will retain responsibility for worldwide marketing and sales. The agreement was signed by AgustaWestland CEO Giuseppe Orsi and Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata.
In observance of the U.S. President’s Day holiday, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report will not publish an issue on Monday, Feb. 16. The next issue will be dated Feb. 17.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The U.S. Air Force is hunting for a sophisticated Russian-made S-300PMU2 (SA-20) air defense missile system to beef up the simulated threat training environment in the Nevada test ranges, but cannot find a seller.
The days of a single U.S. aircraft “kicking down the door” in a military attack appear to be history and not even the largest defense acquisition ever planned is looking to take on the responsibility, according to the top two generals in charge of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
The field of debris from the recent collision of a defunct Russian government satellite with an Iridium spacecraft should stabilize within about a month, at which point its behavior should be fairly predictable, according to U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Without concrete numbers from the Defense Department, predictions regarding the Pentagon budget are merely informed speculation at this point, according to analyst Andrew Krepinevich of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). “Even before the financial crisis, the defense budget was running out of gas,” Krepinevich said Feb. 12. “In the near term, [defense] spending in general will be protected, but further out, things really do become grim.”
With progressive and conservative think tanks in Washington all calling on President Barack Obama and Congress to toss some of the stimulus package money at the military to help create jobs, an odd alliance seems to be growing to back the idea. But commenters note the extra federal funds likely will be accompanied by new scrutiny.
The U.S. Air Force has failed to develop air sovereignty alert (ASA) operations as it is supposed to, a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says. GAO’s questions about ASA operations come on the heels of a recently reported Air Force Audit Agency investigation skewering the service for its procurement and development of a system meant to marry NORAD and FAA radars to help prevent terrorist attacks (Aerospace DAILY, Feb. 11).
DROPPING IN: The French government and Sagem have jointly carried out the first test drop of a 125-kilogram (275-pound) version of the AASM air-to-ground bomb. The test involved a Mirage 2000N flying at the French defense ministry’s Biscarosse test range. The drop, from high altitude against a target located “several tens of kilometers away,” involved only inertial navigation system-guidance and met accuracy projections, according to the contractor.
AUTO NAV: General Dynamics Robotic Systems has selected Northrop Grumman to supply the navigation system for the Phase II Global Positioning System (GPS)/Inertial Navigation System (INS), a major component of the Autonomous Navigation System (ANS) for the U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems program. Under the $10.7 million contract, Northrop’s system will provide inputs for the ANS. The company was awarded a system development and demonstration contract for nine LN-270 units, and it was also awarded a future, limited-rate-initial-production contract by General Dynamics.
Topline numbers for the U.S. military services in the forthcoming fiscal 2010 budget request could be issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as soon as next week. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is meeting with the military service chiefs by Feb. 12 to discuss potential program cuts in preparation for final issuance of these service topline allocations.
