U.S. Army aviation incidents and accidents have started to get deadlier and costlier since the beginning of this decade, an exclusive Aerospace DAILY analysis of service mishap data shows. The number of fatalities spiked 875 percent, from 8 in 2000 to 78 in 2001, when the Bush administration’s so-called global war on terror started, the analysis shows. After that, fatalities for the remainder of the decade hovered near or at the top of the list of deadliest years since 1986.
GATES AGAIN?: With Defense Secretary Robert Gates looking at a job extension of at least a year into the Obama administration, his opinions on the future of controversial programs may carry more weight than they did a couple of weeks ago. His staffmembers, including acquisition chief John Young, have pushed cutting F-22 and accelerating F-35. Young says he advocates cutting programs in preference to slipping their schedules. “You have to pay your personnel ... and for your operations and maintenance,” he says.
PALLET-ABLE: The U.S. Coast Guard has awarded a $150.5 million contract to Integrated Coast Guard Systems to purchase three HC-144A Ocean Sentry Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) plus five Mission System Pallets (MSPs) for aircraft four through eight. These MPAs are the ninth, 10th and 11th HC-144As for the Coast Guard, with delivery dates scheduled for April, August and November 2010. The MSPs will be delivered in May, July, August and September 2010.
EADS will be late with the delivery of its first KC-30B multirole tanker transport aircraft to the lead customer, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), according to the Australian defense department. In reviewing current and future acquisition programs, Greg Combet, Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary for Defense Procurement, says that “we are expecting a slight delay on their delivery.” Combet hasn’t provided details, but notes that “we will continue to closely monitor [the KC-30’s] progress in the coming year.”
A new study released by the House Armed Services oversight and investigations subcommittee has concluded it is unclear how well the Pentagon’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) is accomplishing its mission.
THE HAGUE — The European Space Agency (ESA) completed the first day of its two-day triennial ministerial summit on a positive note Nov. 25, but tough discussions remain before the proposed 10.5 billion euro ($13 billion) three-year spending plan can be adopted. Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain said the members had OK’d two issues — funding of the Kourou launch center and streamlining ESA’s decision-making procedure and industrial/procurement policy to prevent gridlock as the agency expands in the coming years.
A new study outlining U.S. strategic airlift needs due by next spring will almost certainly change the planned mix of aircraft, yet defense officials and congressional auditors apparently still disagree on the underlying approach. The Defense Department has not identified specific metrics it will use to make strategic airlift decisions, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) — something DOD had supposedly agreed to do based on previous GAO recommendations.
President-elect Barack Obama wasn’t specific Nov. 25 about what programs he intends to cut from the federal budget to finance middle-class tax cuts and a massive jobs creation program, but he made clear that cuts are coming. “We cannot sustain a system that bleeds billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that have outlived their usefulness, or exist because of the power of a politician, lobbyist or interest group,” Obama told a Chicago news conference where he presented his White House budget team.
GAS POWERED: In December the U.S. Army will equip its first National Guard unit with a Future Combat Systems (FCS) component — the gasoline-powered Micro Air Vehicle (gMAV) — prior to the unit’s January deployment to Iraq. The gMAV is the precursor to the FCS program’s Class I Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that will be fielded to Infantry Brigade Combat Teams starting in 2011. The gMAV is man-packable and provides a hover-and-stare capability not currently available in either Army or Air Force UAV inventories. Its sensor platform can take still and video imagery.
SUBMARINE WARFARE: L-3 Communications has signed an agreement to acquire Chesapeake Sciences Corp., a Millersville, Md.-based company that develops and manufactures anti-submarine warfare systems. Financial terms were not disclosed. L-3 said Chesapeake Sciences’ expertise in toward sonar arrays for use onboard submarine and surface ship combatants will complement its products and expand its capabilities in anti-submarine warfare. Chesapeake Sciences will add about $70 million to L-3’s annual sales.
In observance of the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report will not publish on Nov. 27 and 28. The next issue will be dated Dec. 1.
AUSSIE JDAM: Boeing’s Joint Direct Attack Munition Extended Range (JDAM ER) weapon system completed testing with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in August, the company announced Nov. 25. The tests were led by the Australian Department of Defence with support from Boeing and its subsidiary, Hawker de Havilland, developer of the wing kits for the 500-pound JDAM ER. The company said it expects the tests to lead to low-rate initial production in 2010.
FLEET SUPPORT: The U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command has awarded ITT Corp. a $160 million contract for engineering support services. Under the five-year contract (one base year and four one-year options), ITT will provide services to the Navy’s Fleet Systems Engineering Team, a division that provides command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) support to Navy afloat Strike Groups and shore-based commands worldwide.
A U.S. Air Force Boeing F-15D crashed during a Red Flag exercise in July after the pilot exceeded maneuver limits and the aircraft entered a spin, according to the accident investigation board (AIB) report. Operating as an aggressor aircraft, the two-seat fighter crashed on a Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., training range July 30. The pilot was killed. A U.K. Royal Air Force exchange pilot in the rear seat sustained minor injuries.
PARIS — The European Space Agency (ESA) has contracted with OHB System of Germany to build and validate the Small Geo bus, and with Hispasat of Spain to launch and operate an initial demonstration mission utilizing the new platform.
Early results from a test of the big rotary joint that spins solar arrays at one end of the International Space Station (ISS) truss suggest it may not be necessary to replace the unit’s moving surface after all, according to NASA’s ISS program manager. Mike Suffredini told reporters Nov. 25 the cleaning, lubrication and repairs carried out by spacewalkers from the space shuttle Endeavour on the starboard solar alpha rotary joint (SARJ) over the past week may have been enough to keep it turning smoothly with periodic follow-up lube jobs.
LONDON — Continuing development problems with the propulsion system for the Airbus Military A400M airlifter are pushing first flight into the second half of 2009. Ongoing concerns with the software for the full authority digital engine control (FADEC) unit for the Europrop International TP400-D6 powerplant are hampering the program.
BRACE YOURSELF: President-elect Barack Obama will speak Nov. 25 about the “meaningful cuts and sacrifices” he hopes to start making in the federal budget to better address a worsening U.S. economy. In a Chicago press conference Nov. 24, Obama introduced his economic team and reiterated that his administration will perform a “line-by-line” review of the federal budget as promised during his campaign.
ARMY Raytheon Co., Andover, Mass., was awarded on Nov. 20, 2008, a $77,378,819 firm fixed fee price contract. The acquisition is for the continuous technology refreshment of 166 each, Patriot PAC2 Forebodies to Guidance Enhanced Missile Plus (GEM) Frequency Generator Upgrade. The work will be performed in Andover, Mass., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 30, 2011. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (DAAH01-00-D-004).
ARMY General Dynamics Land Systems Division, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on Nov. 18, 2008, a $63,658,800 firm fixed fee price contract to exercise an option for contract funding for the labor to reset 180 Abrams M1A2 System Enhanced Package (SEP) v1 to M1A2 SEP v2 tanks. The work will be performed in Tallahassee, Fla., Anniston, Ala., Scranton, Pa., and Sterling Heights, Mich., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2010. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-06-G-0006).
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is lining up to become the future digital warfare aircraft for the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps, although the tasking mission is far from worked out. After years of questions, but only vague answers about the future of tactical, airborne electronic attack (EA) for both services, officials are increasingly commenting on the JSF’s EA future.
