KOREAN AEGIS: South Korea put its first Aegis-equipped ship into service Dec. 22. It is the fifth nation to join the worldwide Aegis fleet. DDG 991, Sejong the Great, the first of Korea’s three Aegis-equipped KDX-III destroyers, was built and tested at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, Korea and commissioned in Pusan. The ship completed the test of its combat system test program ahead of schedule and was accepted by the South Korean Navy on Nov. 7. The second ship of the class, Yulgok Yi I, was launched Nov. 15. Lockheed Martin manufactures the Aegis Combat System.
TWO CLIPPERS: U.S. Naval Air Systems Command’s Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft program office has finalized a $136.1 million contract with Boeing to buy two more C-40A Clippers to provide long-range, high-priority logistical airlift. The aircraft will support humanitarian relief operations in the U.S. and globally. The C-40As are equipped with glass cockpits, fuel-efficient engines and fuel-saving blended winglets. The new aircraft are expected to be delivered by the first or second quarter of fiscal 2011.
A major new U.S. Navy production contract for eight more Virginia-class submarines marks the most successful year yet for the high-profile submarine, as well as the importance of its Washington and New England advocate communities. The U.S. Navy has signed a five-year, $14 billion contract with Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics Electric Boat for eight Virginia-class submarines (Aerospace DAILY, Dec. 23). In official statements late Dec. 22 and a teleconference call with reporters early Dec. 23, executives and lawmakers were ebullient with the milestone.
Saab has received the formal go-ahead to start series production of an electronic warfare suite for the Indian Dhruv light helicopter. The contract is valued at around $24 million. Saab is the incumbent on the program and was already involved with the development and low-rate production phases. That contract was awarded in April.
The AIA Year-End Forecast table on p. 7 of the Dec. 23 Aerospace Daily & Defense Report misidentified the data. The table represents civil aircraft shipments.
LOS ANGELES – Taking advantage of a spell of clear weather before the expected arrival of another low pressure system in southern California, Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic successfully flew the SpaceShipTwo mothership WhiteKnightTwo on its first flight from Mojave, Calif., on Dec 21. The unusually configured aircraft made a 59-minute flight, taking off from Mojave at 08:16 local time and reaching a maximum altitude of 16,000 feet.
ARMY Lockheed Martin Electronics and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., was awarded on Dec 12, 2008, an $89,587,943 firm fixed price contract for repairs and maintenance of line Replacement Units and Line Replaceable Modules to support the Apache Helicopter’s Sensors flying hours program for 2009. The work will be performed in Redstone Arsenal, Ala., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2009. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-07-C-0058).
In observance of the year-end holiday season, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report will not publish issues from Dec. 24 through Jan. 4. The next issue will be dated Jan. 5. During the interim, check www.aviationweek.com and www.aviationweek.com/awin for more news.
Kongsberg has signed a deal with the Brazilian government for the sale of Penguin anti-ship missiles. The deal is valued at 140 million Norwegian kronor ($19.9 million) and includes an unspecified number of missiles. The weapons are to be used by the Brazilian navy on its helicopters. Brazil is expected to embark on a defense spending spree, with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva having unveiled plans to modernize the armed forces (Aerospace DAILY, Aug. 27).
The availability of Canada’s CH-149 Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopters is improving after manufacturer AgustaWestland took action to improve spares provisioning, and inspection requirements were changed. Earlier this year, an official report revealed availability of the 14 helicopters was less than 50 percent, well below the 75 percent expected when Canada purchased the EH101-based Cormorants in 1998.
An expiring $478 million U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) contract will be split in two when it is rebid to generate more competition to support the command’s experimentation efforts.
Northrop Grumman began flight-testing the first E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) aircraft to be re-engined with Pratt & Whitney JT8D-219 turbofans on Dec. 20. The aircraft is scheduled to complete a military airworthiness certification test program in the spring. The engines, nacelles and pylons were previously flown on a Boeing 707 modified by Seven Q Seven (SQS) to obtain FAA supplemental type certification.
After a Critical Design Review (CDR) Dec. 16, data on the U.S. Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) is being reviewed by an Overarching Integrated Product Team (IOPT) in preparation for the program’s early January evaluation by a Defense Acquisition Board (DAB). The DAB is expected to finalize its report the first week of January to “clear the way for seven new EFV prototypes to be built in Lima, Ohio, beginning in January 2009,” according to Dave Branham, spokesman for Marine Corps Land Systems. Vehicle goals
The Israeli Defense Force’s (IDF) Artillery Corps is integrating a new radar system that will help locate and destroy rocket launchers more rapidly than ever before, Chief IDF Artillery Officer Brig. Gen. Michel Ben-Baruch has announced. The new radar developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Elta Systems will be able to provide artillery cannons with a 360-degree view of a battlefield and detect the exact location of rocket launchers.
Saab has secured a long-term contract from the Swedish government to operate and maintain the Swedish air force’s Saab 105 (designated the SK 60) trainer aircraft in a deal that represents a new fee-for-service model for the country.
Eutelsat engineers are checking out a pair of new communications satellites – one of them built on an Indian spacecraft bus – following their tandem launch Dec. 20 on an Ariane 5 ECA. Hot Bird 9 and W2M reached their geostationary transfer orbits after launch from the European launch facility near Kourou, French Guiana, at 5:35 p.m. EST. Arianespace and Eutelsat reported the double launch a success.
SUB AWARD: The U.S. Navy said late Dec. 22 it signed a five-year, $14 billion multiyear contract for eight Virginia-class submarines with Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics. The Block III contract calls for one ship annually in fiscal 2009 and 2010, then two per year in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The Navy asserted that the deal meets a mandate to cut acquisition costs by about 20 percent for the FY 2012 ships.
SHIPPING KEPLER: NASA’s Kepler planet-finding spacecraft has completed environmental testing and its “pre-ship review” at Ball Aerospace and is ready for shipment by a convoy in early January to Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., for pre-launch preparation. The mission is set for a March 5 liftoff from Cape Canaveral on a Delta II. Kepler will monitor 100,000 stars for signatures of planets that lie within a star’s “habitable zone” and thus might support life, according to Principal Investigator William Borucki of NASA’s Ames Research Center.
