LONDON – The U.K. Defense Ministry and EADS subsidiary Eurocopter are in the final stages of trying to negotiate a deal covering a service life extension program for 30 Royal Air Force (RAF) Puma helicopters. The program is intended to allow the Puma to remain in service until 2024, rather than be withdrawn from service in 2012. Eurocopter is already working on the assessment phase of the proposed service life extension.
LONDON – The United Kingdom will acquire three General Atomics Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during 2009. The Royal Air Force (RAF) is currently operating two Reapers in support of combat operations in Afghanistan, with the UAVs based at Kandahar. A third Predator will be delivered in January 2009 to replace one the RAF was forced to destroy following a crash landing as a result of an engine problem.
A jury has convicted a University of Tennessee professor of unlawfully passing technical data on plasma actuators used on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to two postgraduate students, one from China and another from Iran, while he worked on a U.S. Air Force contract.
MISSION CAPABLE: The U.S. Coast Guard has awarded a contract to Integrated Coast Guard Systems to missionize the fourth HC-130J Long Range Surveillance (LRS) aircraft at Lockheed Martin in Greenville, S.C. The C-130Js replace the legacy HC-130H aircraft in the Coast Guard fleet. The new Hercules is based on the standard C-130 airframe, but with beefier engines, propellers, avionics and cargo-handling equipment. The missionized C-130J boasts a 20 percent increase in speed, 40 percent increase in range and 40 percent higher cruising altitude than its predecessor.
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate needs to improve the integrity of its project selection process to avoid the appearance of bias, according to the DHS Inspector General (IG).
Industry’s progress in demonstrating high-power, solid-state laser technology is focusing service interest in weapon applications, according to Northrop Grumman. U.S. Army interest is in a counter-rocket/artillery weapon, while the Air Force focus is precision strike, but the Navy could be first to use technology from the Joint High Power Solid State Laser (JHPSSL) program, says Dan Wildt, vice president of directed energy systems for Northrop Grumman’s Space Technology sector.
INTELLIGENT DESIGN: Lockheed Martin announced Sept. 3 it demonstrated its Intelligent Control and Autonomous Replanning of Unmanned Systems (ICARUS) suite of technologies as part of an exercise conducted Aug. 12-14. During the Edge Command and Control/Hybrid Operations (ECC/HO) exercises, a Tactical Operations Center operator worked in conjunction with a mobile Command and Control (C2) unit and soldiers on the ground.
International Space Station (ISS) crewmates have been making lots of trips to the dump this week, transferring trash and junk into two automated cargo capsules to burn up during re-entry over the Pacific. Russia’s Progress M-64/29P undocked from the nadir port of the Zarya module on Sept. 1, and Europe’s Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is scheduled to follow on Sept. 5. Both vehicles will remain in orbit for a time before being commanded to re-enter.
Pacific-realm activity, Iranian behavior, resurgent major powers like China and the prevalence of low-intensity conflict (LIC) will drive U.S. Navy investments in the region, according to Marshall Billingslea, deputy under secretary of the Navy.
NORTHERN COMFORT: Two Canadian C-130 aircraft were deployed by Canada Command to Pensacola, Fla., to support search and rescue efforts in the U.S. Gulf region for Hurricane Gustav. Previously, Canada Command deployed a CC-177 Globemaster aircraft from Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario, to Lakefront Airport in New Orleans to conduct evacuation operations ahead of the hurricane. This is the first time that U.S.
PROWLER RECOVERY: The U.S. Navy’s deep-diving Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) “Deep Drone” performed an aircraft search and recovery of an EA-6B Prowler on Aug. 17-20 near Guam. Based off the USNS Salvor (T-ARS 52), the operation was carried out to help the crash investigation in determining the accident cause and possible implication on the rest of the EA-6B inventory. The EA-6B crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 6,500 feet of water Feb. 12 while conducting night landing qualifications. Both engines and assorted other components were recovered.
MATURED TEST: U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) declared Sept. 2 that the High Speed Anti-radiation Demonstration (HSAD) Project successfully showed the “maturity” of an integral rocket ramjet propulsion system. The Aug. 15 test incorporated nozzleless booster and variable-flow, ducted rocket ramjet technologies in a controlled test vehicle (CTV) that was air-launched from an QF-4 drone at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. “Initial data analysis and post-test visual inspection of the hardware indicates that the vehicle’s systems performed as designed,” NAVAIR said.
Hurricane Hanna’s expected arrival off the east coast of Florida is delaying the planned launch of the GeoEye-1 remote sensing spacecraft from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., until no earlier than Sept. 7.
WE SEA YOU: The U.S. Navy this month will deploy its Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) strategy to its newly established Caribbean-based 4th Fleet. The Navy achieved initial operating capability (IOC) of its MDA strategy Aug. 28 after nearly two years of work and extensive investment, Deputy Navy Undersecretary Marshall Billingslea told a group at ComDef 2008 Sept. 3. Billingslea said the service now has the ability to track hundreds of vessel types and properly apportion response to data streaming from the ships. The system is in use in U.S.
USAF BUSINESS: The U.S. Air Force’s recent internal turmoil could provide business opportunities to federal information technology vendors, according to consultancy Input. For vendors, it means a return to an emphasis on strong business processes, and a commitment to provide systems that will create future cost savings for the armed service. Input says to look for business process opportunities in supply chain management, supply rationalization and stategic sourcing, logistics management business process engineering, asset tracking and visibility and overall cost savings.
The Defense Department Inspector General (IG) says the Army has misstated its military equipment baseline values by several billion dollars. The IG assessed the effectiveness of the Property and Equipment Policy Office and Army internal controls over the valuation, rights and obligations, and the completeness of military equipment programs contained in the Army military equipment baseline. (See charts pp. 6-8.)
Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles said Sept. 2 that the United States has filed a civil lawsuit against Boeing alleging that the giant defense contractor unlawfully inflated the price it charged the U.S. Air Force to manufacture the Towed Decoy System for the B-1 bomber.
The company that developed and produced the multipurpose 88mm (anti-aircraft and anti-tank) gun during World War II is now working on a multifunctional gun to equip armored vehicles operating in urban environments. But Rheinmetall cannot fund the gun entirely on its own and is seeking partners to develop it.
AIR FORCE The Air Force is modifying a contract with SRI International of Menlo Park, Calif. This action will provide Desert Owl Phase Two. The contractor will complete a turn-key effort to deploy the PenRad 7 radar systems and modified King Air 200T aircraft for a 90-day deployment. The location of performance is Iraq. The contract modification is not to exceed $6,999,875. At this time, $3,429,939 has been obligated. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-08-C-3008).
LONDON – Following its signing of the “Cluster Munitions Convention” earlier this year, the United Kingdom is now looking for someone to dispose of 56,000 Extended Range Bomblet Shells (ERBS). The ERBS L20A1 shells were purchased for use primarily with the AS90 self-propelled howitzer, with a number of orders placed with Israel Military Industries since 1992. A total of 59,364 were purchased. The aim is for disposal to be carried out over a two-year period.
Discussions are under way to ensure the Spanish navy’s new S-80 submarine will be able to fire Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles. U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, which manages the Tomahawk program, is in talks with Lockheed Martin to perform a requirements study to ensure nothing is designed into the S-80 to stop it from using the Raytheon cruise missile. Lockheed Martin is the supplier of the combat management system for the S-80.
Space shuttle program managers have postponed the rollout of Atlantis to Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida as they eye Tropical Storm Hanna. The move had been scheduled for Sept. 2. KSC is under Hurricane Condition Four, the lowest hurricane alert level. Atlantis could be rolled to the pad as early as Sept. 4, depending on the path and strength of Hanna. NASA and U.S. Air Force weather officials also are watching Tropical Storm Ike. Hubble mission
U.S. Coast Guard has unveiled its Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Information Technology (C4&IT) strategic plan for 2008 through 2012, which the service acknowledged “charts an ambitious course.”
Rheinmetall Land Systeme (RLS) and Krauss Maffei-Wegmann (KMW) have formed the Armored Multi Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) consortium to develop a vehicle in the 4-to-9.5 ton class. The 50-50 joint venture was formed following the failure of RLS’ 5.3-ton Gavial and 6-to-8 ton Caracal and KMW’s 5.3-5.4 ton Mungo to meet the requirements of the German Bundeswehr’s 5-to-10 ton Geschützte Führungsund Funktionsfahrzeuge Two (GFF-2) multipurpose vehicle program, won by General Dynamics’ Mowag’s Eagle IV, which weighs up to 9 tons.
