GREEN AVIATION FORUM • 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.
LONDON – Disruptive technologies such as directed energy weapons and the use of electro-magnetic pulse are being identified as “emerging issues” for space security in a key U.K. industry report.
NEW DELHI – India has held flight trials of its first indigenously developed beyond-visual range air-to-air missile, called Astra. The weapons was test fired at the Balasore Integrated Test Range in the East Indian state of Orissa for the second time in two days on Sept. 14. The tests are part of the second phase of missile development flight trials, according to the Defense Research Development Organization (DRDO). The missiles were fired from a ground launcher.
FUEL PROBE: The U.S. Air Force has awarded Sikorsky Aerospace Services a $2 million contract to supply 13 aerial refueling assemblies for H-60 helicopters. The fuel probe assembly is an aftermarket option for the H-60, provided by the aftermarket division of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp.
SAUDI RADAR: Boeing has been awarded a contract for the initial phase of upgrading the radar on Saudi Arabia’s fleet of five E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. The foreign military sale, not to exceed $42 million, is a first phase contract which includes a study to determine which parts are obsolete, and then the location of replacement parts for testing and modification. The next phase involves production and installation of Northrop Grumman-built Radar System Improvement Program (RSIP) kits, software integration and testing and crew training.
NEW DELHI – India intends to use the 20 Harpoon Block II missiles it plans to purchase from the U.S. to modernize its air force’s anti-surface warfare mission capabilities, as well as improve its naval operational flexibility. The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of the sale of the missiles and associated equipment and services on Sept. 9. It was one in a multibillion dollar batch of 15 proposed Foreign Military Sales, mostly to customers in the Middle East (Aerospace DAILY, Sept. 11).
HEAVY TOPIC: The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Advisory Committee will meet Sept. 16 to receive classified briefings by Missile Defense Agency senior staff, program managers, senior Defense Department leaders and representatives from industry and the armed services on developing and deploying space-based sensors and interceptors, according to a Sept. 11 notice in the Federal Register.
STALL SUCCESS: The Boeing/NASA X-48B remotely piloted blended-wing research aircraft was successfully stalled at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Calif., for the first time on Sept. 4, going 2 degrees beyond the maximum coefficient of lift and recovering without difficulty, Phantom Works project manager Mike Kisska says. Stall testing is a key milestone for the unconventional, tailless vehicle, which made its initial stall with fixed leading-edge slats, a forward center of gravity and 23-degree angle of attack.
A low-budget test earlier this year demonstrated long-range electric power transmission at frequencies and distances that could be used in an operational space solar power (SSP) system. Longtime SSP advocate John Mankins used less than $1 million put up by Discovery Communications Inc., plus a lot of volunteer labor by students from Texas A&M and Japan’s Kobe University, to collect solar energy at high elevation on the Hawaiian island of Maui and beam it as microwaves to a receiver 148 kilometers (92 miles) away on the island of Hawaii.
SERVICING MISSIONS: Large-scale space science missions are likely to benefit from the experience NASA has gained sending humans to service the Hubble Space Telescope, and that it expects to gain servicing the International Space Station (ISS) with its new Canadian robot. NASA foresees additional human servicing missions to large space observatories after 2025, provided the planned Orion spacecraft is sufficiently capable.
NEW DELHI — The Indian navy’s recent request for proposal (RFP) for 16 multi-role helicopters may be the step toward commonality in the fleet that it has been yearning for.
SIDELINED SENATORS: U.S. Sens. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) are urging defense appropriators to back a proposal to split off and give a new intelligence subcommittee some spending oversight. They focused their comments on alleged stonewalling from intelligence officials over a “major overhead technology demonstration.” Bond at a Sept. 10 defense appropriations mark-up said it was time to put the intelligence community on a path to a “responsible” purchase of this system.
ILL OMENS: The scrapping of the U.S. Air Force’s latest attempt to replace its aging fleet of KC-135 aerial refueling tankers could presage the fate of other contentious procurements in the twilight of the Bush administration — including the Air Force’s next highest acquisition priority, the Combat, Search and Rescue replacement (CSAR-X) helicopter. Like the tanker, the CSAR-X has endured bitter protests and delays, and the Air Force is scrambling to make an award by the fall, despite a looming Pentagon inspector general report.
REPLACEMENT ORDER: Hughes Network Services (HNS) says it is on the verge of ordering a new spacecraft to replace Spaceway 3, a broadband satellite brought into service in April that already has 40,000 subscribers. HNS officials predict hot consumer demand in rural areas and the fringes of cities in the U.S., coupled with the gradual migration of the company’s 370,000 other subscribers to the new spacecraft, will exhaust its capacity within three years.
PARIS — The German government no longer believes the Airbus Military assumption that the A400M is six months late with another six-month delay possible. Instead, a senior defense ministry official says at least a nine-month delay is already assured.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicated new calendar listing.) Sept. 16 - 19 — ION GNSS 2008, “Meet the Worlds Leading Authorities on Global Navigation Satellite Systems,” Savannah Convention Center, Savannah, Ga. For more information go to www.ion.org
ONE VOICE: Directors of AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association) and the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) are in discussions to merge the trade associations’ memberships and programs. If carried through, the roll-up would be just the latest in a slew of lobbying organizations merging so industry can have a stronger voice in Washington (Aerospace DAILY, Dec. 17, 2007). “Together we would be ‘the’ national technology association, unrivaled in size and clout,” claimed ITAA Chairman Hank Steininger.
AUSTRALIAN BUILDUP: Australia must respond to rising Asian military spending by further developing key capabilities, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says. The country needs enhanced naval capabilities to protect sea lines of communication and support soldiers ashore, he says, while calling for an air force that can deter and defeat. Industry executives expect Australia to enlarge its submarine force.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has unveiled an “aggressive” program to demonstrate economical and environmentally friendly conversion of coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuels.
Russian controllers agreed to delay docking a Progress cargo carrier launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on Sept. 10 until Mission Control Center-Houston returns to full capability following Hurricane Ike. The docking, originally set for Sept. 12, will now take place on Sept. 17.
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