The bodies of two crew members from a U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress that crashed early July 21 off the coast of Guam have been recovered, while the fate of the other four remains uncertain, according to the U.S. Air Force. The bomber was engaged in a training mission and was scheduled to perform a flyover celebrating Guam’s Liberation Day when it went down around 9:45 a.m. local time.
AESLA AWARDED: The U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research has awarded Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems a potentially $14 million-plus contract under its Active Electronically Scanned Lens Array (AESLA) program. Dual efforts under pursuit involve a high-power transmit-receive radar module enabled by gallium nitride monolithic microwave integrated circuits; as well as a low-loss, reliable phase shifter employing radio frequency micro-electro-mechanical systems technology.
A U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program to demonstrate a rotorcraft capable of flying 400 mph will proceed, despite the financial difficulties of its developer, Groen Brothers Aviation (GBA). DARPA has announced it plans to award a contract for the next phases of the Heliplane program to the Georgia Institute of Technology, which was a subcontractor to GBA in the first phase.
The U.S. Air Force is rolling out an “intensive” leadership development program for civilians new to the armed service. The Civilian Acculturation and Leadership Training program will be hosted by the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., and is modeled after Officer Training School, the course attended by new USAF officers before their commissioning. The first class runs Oct. 27 to Nov. 7.
HITS KEEP COMING: Critics at the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) in Washington have sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates questioning two programs to build supposed luxury aircraft accommodations for military and senior civilian leadership. The accommodations are called the Senior Leader In-transit Conference Capsule (SLICC) and Senior Leader In-transit Pallet (SLIP).
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Boeing-led contractors and missile defense proponents are hailing the success of a radar tracking test July 18, although the Pacific event was scaled back from a full-fledged ballistic missile interception.
FARNBOROUGH – The U.S. government says that there are still thousands of shoulder-fired missiles on the black market, and as BAE Systems modifies one of its military countermeasures systems to protect commercial airlines, one of the first beneficiaries is turning out to be the military.
CUTTING BACK: The Swedish government is expected to announce further defense cuts in December. The air force believes it may lose one base, with 2-3 facilities to be cut throughout the military. “We are really looking at every establishment to get training and infrastructure costs down,” says air force chief Maj. Gen. Anders Silwer. Meanwhile, the air force is preparing for closer cooperating with neighboring countries, particularly regarding training.
FARNBOROUGH — Boeing has selected QinetiQ, the U.K.-based defense technology company, as its key technology partner on Vulture — the ultra-long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) concept proposed by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The $3.8-million first phase of the program will see QinetiQ participating in system definition and analysis as well as a review of system requirements. The challenge? To create a large, load-carrying UAV able to remain aloft for weeks on end (Aerospace DAILY, April 21, 22).
Technicians at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will begin integrating a new descent camera into NASA’s 2009 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) within the month, after completion of avionics testing. Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) says its Mars Descent Imager (Mardi) is the first of four space-qualified cameras it will deliver to JPL for the MSL rover mission. Delivered earlier this month, the Mardi unit already has completed a contamination measurement test at JPL, with satisfactory results, according to MSSS.
Northrop Grumman is looking at other applications, including border surveillance, for its Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation Radar (VADER), now being flight tested under a U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program. VADER is a podded active electronically scanned array designed to be carried under the wing of an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) to detect and track vehicles and individuals using synthetic-aperture radar imagery and ground moving-target indication (Aerospace DAILY, July 16).
RAFALE OFFSETS: Infotech Enterprises of India has concluded a preliminary agreement with Dassault Aviation to collaborate on activities related to India’s 126 aircraft Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program. The agreement, which runs for five years and could involve engineering, defense and IT services, would be part of Dassault’s offset obligations with respect to the MMRCA, for which it is offering the Rafale fighter.
X-PLANE EXPLAINED: The U.S. Air Force has issued the designation X-54A for an experimental supersonic aircraft to gather sonic boom data, but don’t expect anything to fly soon. NASA says it supported an application by Gulfstream for an X-plane designation, but sees it as a placeholder. “NASA is not actively working with Gulfstream on this project and is not discussing cooperation,” the agency says. But it does not preclude future cooperation.
TESTING AMRAAM D: The U.S. Air Force is continuing a series of developmental flight tests of its Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) D after a recent program restructuring with Raytheon. The fourth shot is planned for this month. So far, one has gone awry due to the failure of a secondary power supply, though two have been successful against target drones, a Raytheon source says. AMRAAM D features the new electronics cards of its predecessor C7, a two-way datalink on the back end for updated targeting information and a conformal sensor on the front.
A high-level panel of top U.S. officials responsible for nuclear weapons development said the country’s related nuclear infrastructure is in “fragile” condition due to morale issues, scientific challenges and budget pressures.
FARNBOROUGH Serious discussions are underway over the potential purchase of the Eurofighter Typhoon by the Royal Air Force of Oman. The negotiations are believed to be at an advanced stage, with the aircraft being considered as a replacement for Oman’s Jaguar aircraft. It is not known whether the air force is looking at other combat aircraft types as an alternative to a Typhoon purchase.
FARNBOROUGH — The U.S. Air Force has given the nod to Raytheon to enter low rate initial production of its Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD). The deal, signed in June, includes 135-150 of the decoys, which are designed to spoof enemy air defense systems. Meanwhile, the company is continuing work on its MALD Jammer variant, which will provide close-in low-power jamming capabilities for the Air Force. Integration is funded for the USAF F-16 and B-52.
INFLUENTIAL MEETING: U.S. and European aerospace trade group leaders plan to hold an international forum on business conduct each year to mark progress over their cooperation and also plan strategy, according to a joint statement from the Farnborough air show in the U.K. They also have decided to organize an environmental summit in Paris this fall to coincide with an annual European industry conference.
ANOTHER GULFSTREAM: Israel Aerospace Industries is looking to add a third Gulfstream G550-based special mission aircraft to its inventory. Having already developed and fielded a signals intelligence and airborne early warning system, the company is now working on a ground moving target indicator version, the so-called MARS2, or Multimission Airborne Reconnaissance Sensor System. Development work is still underway, with a fielding not expected for a few more years.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says there will be a fiscal 2009 defense spending bill this year, although the appropriations process is in turmoil in the House and may lag further in the Senate.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicated new calendar listing.) July 21-23 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ 44th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit. Connecticut Convention Center, Hartford.
AASM TESTED: French armaments agency DGA has completed the third and final qualification firing of the AASM precision weapon in infrared seeker mode. The firing, from a Mirage 2000 fighter, took place at very low altitude 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the target, which was 80 meters off the coordinates transmitted before drop. The weapon was able to strike the target with metric-level precision — ten times better than the basic GPS-guided weapon currently in service — despite the small number of landmarks needed to correct the trajectory, the DGA said.
