PRICE HIKE: Russian Space Agency Roscosmos plans to charge NASA $51 million a seat for rides to the International Space Station after the current contract expires in the spring of 2012. That would be an increase over the $47 million negotiated last year in the first contract extension. Anatoly Permanov, the head of Roscosmos, told Russian reporters in Moscow the increase would be driven by inflation. A NASA official said negotiations are still ongoing for the contract, which will allow U.S.
PARIS — The European Commission (EC) has selected Inmarsat Ventures Ltd. and Solaris Mobile Ltd. to provide hybrid mobile satellite services (MSS) across the European Union (EU) The selection completes a process begun in August 2008 that culminated in the short-listing of four candidates in December. However, operating licenses for specific radio frequencies for the 18-year period of the approval still must be granted by individual EU nation states. The EC has given the two suppliers 24 months to begin commercial service.
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Houston — Astronauts Mike Good and Mike Massimino accomplished the top-priority task of the STS-125 mission to the Hubble Space Telescope May 15, but only after a virtuoso display of persistence and planning.
HARVEST HAWK: By the end of this year, the U.S. Marine Corps hopes to fly its own C-130J gunship-equivalents. The Harvest Hawk program will provide the service with what Commandant Gen. James Conway calls “long-loiter capability.” A roll-on/off package will give the aircraft intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability, while firepower will come from a 30-mm cannon and Hellfire missiles.
EADS EARNINGS: In reporting first-quarter results, EADS once again has had to take a charge on the A400M military transport and warns more are likely. Last quarter’s earnings after the €120 million ($163 million) A400M charge and exchange rate adjustments came in at €232 million, with net income of €170 million (a 40 percent decline from last year’s first-quarter results). EADS notes it remains cash-rich, with €8.7 billion on hand, although that is €500 million less than at year’s end.
EURO ASTRONAUTS: The European Space Agency will name four new additions to its astronaut corps on May 20 in Paris. The astronauts, intended to help meet crew requirements for the International Space Station after it transitions to a full six-person crew this summer, will complete their training in 2011.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — The X-51A scramjet demonstrator is being readied for ground vibration tests at Boeing’s Huntington Beach, Calif., facility, having successfully passed a major U.S. Air Force program review last week.
Missile defense advocates in Congress will likely consider trimming military personnel spending as a way to restore funding for programs, like the Airborne Laser (ABL), cut by the Obama administration, a key member of the House Missile Defense Caucus says.
HERCULEAN LUCK: The U.S. Air Force is likely to augment its AC-130H/U fleet with a MC-130W-based gunship, a move that will diminish the likelihood of fielding a C-27J-based Stinger II gunship. U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz says the “optimum path” forward may require Air Force Special Operations Command to pull some of its C-130s out of the fleet and outfit them with armaments. The command operates 12 MC-130Ws, which have specialized navigation and defensive systems, and pods suitable for refueling the CV-22.
RIVETING DISCUSSIONS: British Politicians will have the chance to consider the future of the Nimrod MRA4 program during a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament May 20. The Defense Ministry has yet to formally decide on acquiring the RC-135 Rivet Joint or using the Nimrod MRA4 as the basis for a replacement for the Nimrod R1 electronic intelligence aircraft. While senior personnel within the Royal Air Force (RAF) continue to express a preference for the Rivet Joint, there is political and industrial pressure in favor of the MRA4.
ARH OFFERING: Boeing continues to finalize a stretched AH-6 to offer for the U.S. Army’s gaping Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter requirement (Aerospace DAILY, Jan. 12). The helicopter will use a new six-bladed metallic main rotor and a more powerful engine to meet the 6,000-foot, 95-degree Fahrenheit out-of-ground-effect operational requirement. Boeing says discussions are underway with Rolls-Royce about up-rating with a version of the 250-C30 turboshaft, rather than looking at all-new engines such as the Honeywell HTS900.
Pentagon officials have not yet decided whether an upcoming KC-X competition between Boeing and a Northrop Grumman/EADS North America team to build new aerial refueling tankers will be managed by the U.S. Air Force or the Defense Department’s acquisition chief, according to David Van Buren, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition.
QUADRENNIAL REVIEW: The U.S. Marine Corps will be on the hook to prove the viability of its amphibious capability when the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) rolls around, possibly as early as this summer. Commandant Gen. James Conway says the question is not how much is enough, as Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked, but “how much is too little.” Conway is concerned there is too much focus on the so-called high-end of amphibious capability, or forcible entry, when there is equal demand for amphibious ships in “security cooperation and theater engagement.”
HELP WANTED: Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford, military deputy to the U.S. Air Force acquisition czar, says the service is taking measures to improve its acquisition workforce. The service is spending money on an expedited strategy to hire acquisition experts to fill an unusually high 15 percent job vacancy rate. Also, 2,062 new positions have been funded — ranging from intern level to positions that demand the highest qualifications. These jobs will be filled over the next three years, Shackelford says.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The military needs to completely rethink and retool its training programs if it hopes to stay on top of emerging threats, several senior officers said at the Joint Warfighting Conference here last week. Marine Gen. James Mattis, commander of Joint Forces Command and Supreme Allied Commander - Transformation for NATO, called for the United States and its allies to form a new “grand strategy” for the post-Cold War world, adding that “any analysis shows that we have that need” to update outdated concepts that linger from the Cold War.
INDIAN CRASH: India said May 15 that a Mig-27 Indian Air Force fighter crashed near Luni, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Jodhpur, around 8:20 a.m. local time. The aircraft launched from the Jodhpur air base and was on a routine training sortie. The pilot, Squadron Leader P. Dhawan, ejected safely. An inquiry has been ordered to investigate the reasons of the accident, according to the official announcement.
LONDON — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown May 14 nearly — but not quite — confirmed that the U.K. will go ahead with a further purchase of the Eurofighter Typhoon if agreement can be reached on cost. London has been stalling on committing to at least an element of its notional Tranche 3 off-take of aircraft. The government’s finance department has been blocking the funding required to support a Tranche 3 purchase.
U.S. Navy and Marine Corps leaders faced the House Armed Services Committee May 14 to justify their fiscal 2010 budget request, the day after a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report detailed how the Navy’s approach to shipbuilding lacks the efficiencies that make the commercial process work well.
Congressional scorekeepers in Washington have issued their latest list of alternative plans for the U.S. military to meet tactical aircraft needs, from accelerating purchases to fill threatened “fighter gaps,” to letting inventories shrink and replacing lost capabilities with bombers and unmanned combat aircraft.
TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Having made six acquisitions in 2008, Boeing’s defense business continues to be on the lookout for fresh opportunities, both in the United States and internationally.
LONDON — A “lack of realism” continues to hinder British Defense Ministry procurement, according to the Parliamentary Accounts Committee. Its report into procurement performance in 2007-08, being released in London May 15, continues to be critical of how the ministry purchases defense equipment. The committee flags what it sees as a failure to learn from “previously identified” errors.
