SUKHOI CONTRACT: Sukhoi is awaiting a five-year contract from the defense ministry that will significantly increase the production of the Su-34 strike aircraft. Novosibirsk so far has built a handful of Su-34s at a rate of roughly two per year. Russian newspaper Vedomosti quotes Mikhail Pogosyan, the head of Sukhoi, saying the company is anticipating a contract for “several dozens” of the type to be produced for the Russian air force over a five-year period.
U.S. Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) is planning to accelerate upgrade work for the Haystack Ultra-wideband Satellite Imaging Radar, providing the Pentagon the ability to characterize microsatellites earlier than previously planned.
EUROPEAN DEFENSE: French defense minister Herve Morin says the government will push a string of measures to facilitate the creation of a functioning European defense industry during its six-month stint at the head of the European Union presidency. The measures include launching new defense initiatives through the European Defense Agency (EDA); consolidating the defense industry base, particularly in the fragmented naval and ground-systems sectors; and establishing new regulatory mechanisms.
PARIS – A report by the working group on an International Mars Architecture for the Return of Samples (iMARS) concludes that a mission to bring back a soil and rock sample from Mars would be scientifically justified and technically feasible. However, a number of enabling technologies would have to be developed, and delicate science-engineering tradeoffs resolved, before a program could be launched.
TURRET TESTING: The U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems program will begin strenuous turret testing on the program’s Manned Ground Vehicle (MGV) Mounted Combat System (MCS). The evaluations at the Army Tank, Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) near Detroit will be followed by a second phase of testing at Aberdeen Test Center in Maryland in late 2008. The MCS turret is completely automated, with a lightweight 120-mm cannon, advanced stability controls and an automatic loader.
PLEASE HOLD: Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and several of his Congressional colleagues have requested a full review and analysis from the U.S. Navy regarding the service’s recent decision to cancel procurement beyond the first two DDG-1000 destroyers (Aerospace DAILY, July 24). A letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, signed by Kennedy and others July 24, requests a “detailed, documented” estimate of costs for both the DDG-51 and DDG-1000 “to assess the extent to which each ship can meet the validated warfighting requirements for which the DDG-1000 was intended.”
CSAR-X DEMO: Lockheed Martin will demonstrate the capabilities of its proposed Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter on July 31 at its Center for Innovation in Suffolk, Va. The demonstration will be tied in to labs across the company to simulate how a Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), A-10 Warthog, HH-71 CSAR helicopter and a C-130J aircraft would coordinate a rescue mission. Lockheed Martin said it is working to improve the timeline it takes to rescued a downed airman.
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NEW DELHI – Boeing will deliver the first of its three Business Jets to the Indian air force next month, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Senior Vice President Dinesh Keskar told Aerospace DAILY.
HARTFORD, Conn. – Boeing and ATK have joined the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works team bidding to build the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Blackswift hypersonic technology demonstrator. Northrop Grumman is understood not to have bid, making it likely a contract will be awarded to Lockheed by September. The unmanned, reusable turbojet/scramjet-powered Blackswift is planned to fly in 2012.
TDL TOUCHDOWN: The U.S. Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a potential five-year, $218 million contract to develop the Next Generation Command and Control Processor (NGC2P), a tactical data link (TDL) communication processor that is supposed to provide warfighters with critical real-time information about friendly and enemy activity during combat operations. The program will upgrade fielded systems with additional TDL capabilities. NGC2P will be installed on Navy and allied ships. Northrop Grumman said it has received $3.3 million to begin work.
Launch of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), the first robotic precursor mission under President Bush’s plan for moving human space exploration beyond Earth orbit, will be delayed until after Bush leaves office. Also delayed until late February or early March 2009 is the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), a piggyback payload added by Ames Research Center when LRO was upgraded to an Atlas V-class mission.
INTERNATIONAL JDAM: Boeing has signed a contract with Germany for the production of Laser Joint Direct Attack Munitions (LJDAM) and integration support on Tornado aircraft, marking the first international sale of the LJDAM weapon system. Delivery of the kits is expected to begin in mid-2009, and the order includes options for additional kits that year.
NUCLEAR BRAINS: Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) said it was awarded the Nuclear Matters Professional Services contract by the Office of the Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters. Under the potentially five-year, $26 million deal, SAIC will complete a variety of nuclear-related technical assessments and deliver a series of recommendations that outline changes necessary for the office to continue supporting top Defense Department leaders and other federal officials.
NAP TIME: A reported violation of procedures for handling classified material at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota turned out to be a case of sleepy airmen. The U.S. Air Force reported that a crew fell asleep at a missile alert facility (MAF) while watching the components at the MAF on July 12. An investigation by the Air Force revealed the codes had remained secured in containers using locks for which the combinations were known only to the napping crew. The codes were not compromised, according to the Air Force.
The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) has been favoring contractors during audits and bullying those within the agency who try to speak out, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed in a July report. The DCAA is charged with contractor oversight, providing auditing, accounting and financial advisory services on DOD and federal agency contracts and subcontracts. DCAA is required to adhere to a set of generally accepted government auditing standards, or GAGAS.
NEW DELHI – India’s government, which was in danger of being overthrown as a result of the controversial U.S.-India civil nuclear cooperation deal, has survived a vote of confidence in parliament. It is expected now that the government will move ahead full throttle on the agreement (Aerospace DAILY, July 9). The U.S. is hopeful that the issue will be wrapped up before time runs out for the U.S. Congress to ratify the pact. It is also trying to mobilize support in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
Cost and weight issues have forced NASA back to a metal nozzle for the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne J-2X rocket engine that will power the upper stage of the Ares I crew launch vehicle and Earth Departure Stage of the heavy-lift Ares V. In its original configuration, the 8 ft.-long, 10 ft.-diameter nozzle extension was metal – an alloy known as Haynes 230 – but weight and thermal issues led to a change to a composite nozzle extension that was lighter and had more thermal margin.
The Pentagon is planning this fiscal year to buy one C-27 for quick modification as a prototype gunship to augment U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command’s (AFSOC) existing AC-130 fleet.
U.S. European Command Headquarters (EUCOM) improperly used – or managed the use of – government purchase cards (GPCs), the Pentagon Inspector General (IG) says in a recent report. EUCOM personnel misused the cards for such purchases as computer equipment and commemorative coins that were eventually given away as gifts or sold at local snack bars, according to the IG report, released late last month. Irregularities
AHEAD OF SKED: Lockheed Martin delivered the core propulsion module for the third space vehicle (SV-3) of its Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications system six months ahead of the planned schedule, the company announced July 24. The core propulsion module contains the integrated propulsion system as well as panels and other components that serve as the structural foundation of the satellite.
The U.S. Defense Department is allowing misperceptions about future warfare needs to color its view of the importance of F-22 Raptors to U.S. military strategy, Lexington Institute analyst Loren Thompson says in a recent brief. The DOD and next presidential administration need to bolster the production plan for the jet fighter, according to Thompson.
