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.
CUTTER COMING: The U.S. Coast Guard’s second National Security Cutter, the Waesche (WMSL 751), is almost two-thirds complete and will be christened in Pascagoula, Miss., on July 26. In preparation for its July 12 launch, the ship was painted and the MK 110 57mm gun was installed. Command-and-control equipment also was loaded onto the ship and is currently being hooked-up in preparation for electronics light-off later this year.
LOCKED OUT: Congressional auditors are siding with the U.S. Army against L-3 Communications over a contract protest after the armed service rejected L-3’s bid for optical sights with mounts on M16A2 rifles, M16A4 rifles and M4 carbines. In a July 14 bid protest decision, the Government Accountability Office decided it was L-3 that failed to identify how its locking nut was to be tightened — and not Army Materiel Command’s (AMC) error — that led to poor results during live-fire testing.
ITALIAN OFFER: The Italian air force is offering up the possibility of Singapore using its main training base at Lecce in southern Italy, should the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) select the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 for its advanced trainer program. The Singaporean air force is now down to two contenders, with the BAE Systems Hawk failing to make the final cut. The Korean Aerospace Industries T-50 is the other remaining contender. Singapore wants to procure an integrated training capability, including up to 20 aircraft, simulators, and support.
HORNET BODY: Northrop Grumman said July 18 that the first Boeing F/A‑18F Super Hornet shipset for the Royal Australian Air Force will be delivered in April 2009 for final assembly at Boeing’s facility in St. Louis, Mo. A subcontractor to Boeing, Northrop is responsible for design and production of the two-seat F/A‑18E/F’s center/aft fuselage section and twin vertical tails. In the first international procurement of the Super Hornet, Australia is purchasing 24 F/A-18Fs to replace its 40-year-old F-111s by 2010 as precision-bombing aircraft.
FULL PLATE: In the second half of 2008, Orbital Sciences Corp. expects to carry out approximately 15 space missions and missile launches, including the orbiting of three commercial communications satellites, two missions with Pegasus and Minotaur rockets, the launch of an Orbital Boost Vehicle (OBV) missile interceptor for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, the deployment of a scientific satellite for NASA, and the launches of “numerous” target vehicles.
NEW FACE: After a management shakeup late last week at Boeing’s beleaguered aerial refueling tanker team (Aerospace DAILY, July 15), the new program manager says he’s “standing by” the company’s 767-200LRF solution for the next competitive round. Dave Bowman, the former C-17 program manager, says that the Pentagon’s operational concept for using the new refuelers hasn’t changed and will still drive operators to the smaller Boeing solution.
WEAPONS GANG: ATK, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are forming a team to pursue the creation of dual-role weapons capable of striking aerial and ground targets. Executives from the companies said they do not yet know how the work will be distributed. The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has contracted with Boeing for basic technologies like a warhead and control systems for the Joint Dual-Role Air Dominance Missile. And the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is said to be starting a program in this area that may become classified.
ROCKETING AWARDS: Raytheon said it received a $156 million U.S. Army award for Patriot Configuration-3 radar upgrade kits and related engineering and technical services for Kuwait, and another $38.5 million contract to upgrade Patriot missiles for South Korea. The first contract funds upgrades for 64 Korean Patriot Advanced Capability-2 missiles to Guidance Enhanced Missile-Tactical, or GEM-T, configuration, providing better capability against ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft and remotely piloted vehicles.
The White House and Democratic-led lawmakers are battling over legislators’ attempts to broaden oversight over intelligence community (IC) contractors, including banning use of private sector interrogators, regular reports on IC outsourcing and requiring ongoing cost assessments and congressional reporting.
PARIS – The five partner agencies that jointly operate the International Space Station (ISS) say they are eager to use the facility as a stepping stone for lunar and Martian exploration, but they first must find a way to sustain operations beyond the present partnership agreement.
FARNBOROUGH – BAE Systems has revised its medium-term ambition to downsize to two main air systems sites in the U.K., and instead will aim to sustain a “two-and-a half” site structure. The company has been considering its long-term industrial footprint in the U.K., given the shrinking workload – an issue recognized by the government in its 2005 Defense Industrial Strategy policy document. Mike Turner, BAE Systems CEO, said at the time that the medium-term aim was to reduce to two sites. These most likely would have been Warton and Salmesbury.
LAB DEFENSE: Embattled defense research center Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), N.M., came through a congressional audit “well,” according to a major Washington proponent, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.). “Clearly, the change in management structure has made security a top management priority,” he asserted.
FARNBOROUGH – Boeing and Raytheon have agreed to team for the U.S. Navy’s forthcoming EP-3 replacement competition for about 20 aircraft. Raytheon will handle the payload and its integration onto the 737-800 P-8 configuration, which incorporates a 737-900 wing. Argon ST is providing the low-band communications intelligence collection systems for the aircraft.
LOW TECH: The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) says the presumptive Democratic and Republican presidential nominees’ relatively scant attention toward technology specific issues so far has led the trade group to give both Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) an “incomplete” grade on their overall focus on and vision for technology-driven innovation. “Americans deserve to hear the candidates’ visions for how America will maintain its position as the world’s innovation headquarters,” said ITAA President and CEO Phil Bond.
DESTROYER SCOUT: The first-ever demonstration of an MQ-8B Fire Scout aboard a U.S. Navy destroyer has taken place, prime contractor Northrop Grumman announced July 15. The demonstration, conducted in late February aboard the USS Stethem at Yokosuka Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan, also marked the first appearance of a new production MQ-8B outside the U.S. The UAV was lifted onto the ship and maneuvered aboard, demonstrating shipboard handling. The Fire Scout operational evaluation will be conducted aboard an FFG-7 Oliver Hazard Perry-class ship in 2009.
The California National Guard (CNG) is ramping up its aerial deployment – and outreach – to fight a spate of early season wildfires. There are currently 22 rotary-wing aircraft supporting the firefighting effort, including 14 CNG helicopters and eight helicopters from Utah, Nebraska, Washington state, Arizona and Oregon, according to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office. Already, these rotary-wing aircraft have dropped nearly 3 million gallons of water.
