MOSCOW The head of Sukhoi’s holding company, Mikhail Pogosyan, has taken the general director’s chair of rival fighter manufacturer MiG Corp. with an aim to integrate the latter company into United Aircraft Corp.’s (UAC) combat aircraft division.
PARIS — EADS is in talks with Turkey to find a role for the country and its industry in the advanced unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program. Ankara has expressed interest in joining the research and development endeavor, although it hasn’t specified exactly what work it wants to be doing, according to Stefan Zoller, CEO of EADS Defense & Security. Talks are still in their early stage, Zoller says.
Funding has not yet been secured for a plan to help four Central American nations buy new aircraft, including airlift and interdiction assets, according to Lt. Gen. Norman Seip, commander of U.S. Air Force assets in Central South America.
Oshkosh announced Jan. 12 that it submitted a proposal for the U.S. Army’s fast-tracked MRAP All Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV) program, a new program borne of U.S. counterinsurgency experience and ahead of an expected surge of ground forces to Afghanistan. The company says its submission is “based on the combat-proven Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) chassis, which has been successfully operating off-road in Afghanistan as well as around the world for several years.”
CRITICAL REVIEW: Boeing has completed the system-wide Critical Design Review (CDR) for its Family of Advanced Beyond line-of-sight Terminals (FAB-T) satellite communications program. The CDR was conducted Oct. 28-30 for senior military, government and industry officials. The Boeing Terminal Test team established log on, downlink and uplink connections with a Milstar 6 satellite – a first step toward implementing Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite Extended Data Rate (XDR) capability.
The administration and Congress should review and revamp export controls currently restricting the nation’s ability to conduct business with its allies, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) is advising, or risk losing U.S. global competitiveness. Presidential directives issued on export control in 2008 were “a significant accomplishment” AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey said. “However, you still have fundamental issues,” including whether the overall list of technologies is still relevant.
WORK FORCE UNIVERSITY: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has joined the nationwide push to interest a new generation in aeronautics, launching its new Center for Aviation and Aerospace Leadership.
BEIJING – China’s newly formed helicopter company will be based in Tianjin, where the city government will take 31 percent of the capital in a first step toward separating the rotary-wing business from national aircraft-making conglomerate Avic. Tianjin also will host a new production line with which the company will build light civilian helicopters, part of a range of initiatives that are turning the city, a big port close to Beijing, into a globally important aerospace center.
NEW DELHI – The Indian navy has issued a request for proposals (RFPs) for six so-called medium-range maritime reconnaissance (MRMR) aircraft. The move comes following India’s choice of Boeing’s future P-8I multimission aircraft to replace the country’s eight aging TU-142s (Aerospace DAILY, Jan. 6). The Indian coast guard also is looking for six MRMRs, but without an Airborne Early Warning system.
AIR FORCE The Air Force is awarding a cost plus fixed fee, indefinite delivery, requirements contract with Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Herndon, Va., for $9,656,256. The contract action will provide HQ AMC/A5Q requirements for improved survivability in combat operations. At this time $200,000 has been obligated. 55 CONS/LGCD, Offut Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-03-D-1380). ARMY
Bipartisan legislation introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would make it harder for lawmakers to slip funding for pet projects into appropriations bills at the last minute with little public oversight.
NAVY American Science and Engineering Inc., Billerica, Mass., is being awarded a $67,391,360 firm fixed priced contract for the manufacturing and production of 66 AS&E Z-Backscatter (ZBV) Military Trailers. The work will be performed within the continental United States and is expected to be completed by the end of January 2010. Contract fund will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was sole sourced procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity (M67854-09-C-5017).
AIR FORCE The Air Force is awarding a cost plus award fee contract with Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, San Diego, Calif., for $13,474,949. The contract is for engineering, manufacturing and development activities in support of the Global Hawk Program. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 303 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-01-C-4600, P00288). NAVY
Navistar Defense has inked its first Canadian military contract for 1,300 so-called military commercial off-the-shelf (MILCOTS) vehicles. About 600 vehicles will be delivered during fiscal 2009, with the remaining units to be delivered in FY ’10 under the $231 million deal.
STOOD UP: The U.S. Air Force officially stood up a provisional Global Strike Command (AFGSC) at Bolling Air Force Base Jan. 12. The command will be temporarily located at the Washington, D.C., base, and headed by a provisional commander: Brig. Gen. James Kowalski. Kowalski will be responsible for helping identify a final location for the command and identifying manpower and resource requirements.
The U.S. Air Force has once again gone on the offensive to retain the combat, search and rescue (CSAR) mission following recent comments by Pentagon acquisition chief John Young that sparked further questions by the House Armed Services Committee (HASC).
ORLANDO, Fla. – NASA is planning wind tunnel tests of low-noise hybrid wing/body configurations as it pushes to enable the introduction of a new generation of highly fuel-efficient large aircraft as early as 2020. Boeing has been studying blended wing/body (BWB) aircraft for years, in the belief they could burn 20-30 percent less fuel than conventional tube-and-wing airliners because of the aerodynamic and structural efficiency of the flying-wing design (Aerospace DAILY, July 7).
FUTURE SHOCK: Directed-energy warfare may be taking another step toward operational status. DE Technologies was awarded a $6.9-million Navy contract to continue development of an offensive directed-energy warhead for the service’s compact rapid-attack weapon. Part of the project involves investigating technologies used for small-diameter shaped-charge warheads and will conclude with delivery of a shaped-charge design and liners for a full warhead development model.
PRODUCTION STARTS: Korea Aerospace Industries has begun final assembly of the first unit in the KUH helicopter program it is undertaking with Eurocopter. Rollout is scheduled for August.
SECOND GUESSING: Modus Operandi, a software and IT company, will furnish the U.S. Army with an information analysis system to help intelligence specialists predict enemy behavior on the battlefield. Identification of patterns in behavior is considered the key to disrupting operations. Data involving military events will be automatically extracted from native language texts. That is expected to significantly reduce manual processing of intelligence that slows military response time.
ORLANDO, Fla. Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) hopes to recover the spent first stage of its Falcon 1 launcher as early as the upcoming fifth test flight, says CEO and chief technical officer Elon Musk. The successful recovery of the used first stage is an important milestone for SpaceX, which is determined to reduce the cost of access to space in part by increasing the re-usability of rocket sections. The second stage also is designed to be recovered, though this is a more serious technical challenge, Musk says.
