The U.S. Air Force is still confident a design will be selected as planned this fall for the armed service’s controversial rescue helicopter replacement program, even though forthcoming draft findings of a Defense Department inspector general (IG) investigation could slow the process of announcing a winner.
When shuttle Discovery blasts off on STS-119 next year, three of the astronauts’ chairs will have instruments installed to gather data for the Ares/Orion programs on the intensity of vibrations during ascent. Slated for no earlier than Feb. 12, 2009, STS-119 will install the final truss element and final set of solar arrays on the International Space Station. The mission will lift off with three mission specialist seats equipped with triaxial accelerometers that will be removed and stowed after the shuttle reaches orbit.
The U.S. Army released a revised schedule to competitors Aug. 19 for its Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program, with an October date given for the announcement of three contract awards. Teams were anticipating a decision on JLTV from DOD in June, but the Army pushed that decision back until fall, when a 27-month Technology Development phase will be awarded on the $40 billion program (Aerospace DAILY, July 7).
ITT AWARD: ITT Corporation was awarded a five-year Foreign Military sales (FMS) contract by the U.S. Army Communications Electronics Command (CECOM) to deliver communications and electronics equipment and services with a potential value of $490 million. The contract contains an option for a sixth year, and affords foreign clients the opportunity to order products and services directly from ITT. “The contract smooths the process,” ITT spokesperson Tim White said.
After facing strenuous protestations on the Hill over the halting of the U.S. Navy’s DDG-1000 destroyer procurement, Navy Secretary Donald Winter now says he will pursue funding for a third DDG-1000. The House Appropriations defense subcommittee redistributed Navy funds, trimming $2.5 billion for the third DDG-1000 (DAILY, Aug. 4). But Winter told Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) Aug. 18 he would seek funding for the third ship, to be built at Bath Iron Works (BIW), as well as reprogrammed funds to potentially restart the DDG-51.
SPACE MARKETS: Forecast International is projecting that over the next decade, launch vehicle providers around the world will produce 636 expendable launch vehicles worth approximately $48 billion, driven by an anticipated resurgence in demand for satellite communications. Governments should continue to be the prevailing customer, having accounted for 66 percent of total global launches in 2007. Meanwhile, over the same decade defense departments worldwide will invest some $30.6 billion on approximately 95 military satellites, Forecast says.
The U.S. Army took another step closer to having a mobile solid-state laser weapon system as the two competing teams announced milestones in their development programs.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Tropical Storm Fay forced the closure of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Aug. 19, delaying a key milestone in the preparation of the orbiter Atlantis for launch on its Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission planned for Oct. 8.
Demonstration testing of a 50-50 blend of synthetic fuel with petroleum-based JP-8 in F-15 and F-22 aircraft is starting this week, and the first in-flight refueling using the blend in an F-22 and a KC-135 tanker is scheduled for late next month. Ground tests of an F-22 were scheduled to start Aug. 19 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., with a flight demonstration later in the week. Ground tests were underway Aug. 19 on an F-15 at Robins Air Force Base, Ga.
PARIS – A pledge by European Union ministers to place the EU at the center of space policymaking, coupled with European Space Agency (ESA) efforts to broaden support among its members, could boost Europe’s chances of carving out a key role in international exploration and other big-ticket space endeavors.
September 23, 2008 Madrid, Spain Don’t miss the second annual AVIATION WEEK Management Forum dedicated to green initiatives in the airline industry, including: emissions treading; carbon offsets; and air traffic management improvement. Learn more at www.aviationweek.com/forums or call +1.212.904.3195.
AIR FORCE L-3 Communications of Pittsburgh, Penn., is being awarded a contract for $6,128,869. This action will provide design and development of two, 1 meter primary, on axis Cassegrain, azimuth/elevation mount telescopes for use in laser propagation and turbulence sensing experiments at the Starfire Optical Range at Kirtland AFB, N.M. At this time $1,500,000 has been obligated. Kirtland AFB, N.M., is the contracting activity (FA9451-08-C-0262).
Ares I engineers are scheduled to present their final recommendation this week on fixing a potentially dangerous thrust oscillation on the new crew launch vehicle. “Conservative” analysis last year predicted potentially dangerous vibrations in the Orion cabin triggered by harmonic vibrations across the stack in the final few seconds that the solid-fuel first stage is burning.
NEW DELHI – India’s Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal FH Major, will be on an official visit to Malaysia Aug. 18-20 to meet the Malaysian Defense Minister and the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) chief to have discussions on a range of bilateral issues. RMAF bases Major will visit include Gong Kedak Air Base in North-East Malaysia, home to an Indian Air Force (IAF) Training Team.
In a recent issue brief, Lexington Institute defense analyst Loren Thompson takes the Bush administration to task for its inability to make Pentagon purchases properly. “The area where failure seems most pronounced is weapons acquisition,” Thompson writes in his Aug. 18 brief. That’s particularly true of helicopters, he writes.
NASA’s inspector general has found a conflict of interest among members of the outside panel set up to review its Constellation Space Suit System (CSSS) development.
The U.S. Defense Department in claiming a reduction in the overall costs of major acquisitions in its newly released Selected Acquisition Report (SARs), due primarily to cuts in major programs like the C-5 Reliability Enhancement and Re-engineering Program (RERP).
LONDON – While the latest design iteration of MBDA’s Future Air-to-Surface Guided Weapon (FASGW) shows the missile with an imaging infrared seeker, the European company is still considering alternative guidance packages for the weapon. Company officials say that while the present preference is to use an uncooled infrared seeker, MBDA will “continue to de-risk the RF [radio frequency]-seeker option.”
Northrop Grumman has tapped George Guerra as the company’s new vice president of High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) systems, giving him responsibility for the RQ-4 Global Hawk. Calling Guerra one of the “pioneers” of the Global Hawk program, Duke Dufresne, sector vice president for the company’s Integrated Systems Western Region, said in a statement he “brings a wealth of expertise and leadership to HALE Systems, and this promotion is a testament to his years of contributions and commitment to the company.”
