RADAR PROTOTYPE: The prototype radar for Lockheed Martin’s Enhanced AN/TPQ-36 counter-fire target acquisition (EQ-36) radar has completed performance testing in 360-degree counter-fire mode against mortars and rockets at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona, the company announced April 9. The prototype was developed by Syracuse Research Corporation. During the testing, which was conducted in November and December, the prototype located the firing positions of both rocket and mortar launchers in 360-degree mode.
The Russian commander and engineer for the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 17 crew, accompanied by South Korea’s first astronaut, will dock their Soyuz transport to the ISS April 10 after a flawless launch April 8 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The Defense Department comes up short when it comes to following the money and effectiveness of programs funded by Congressional earmarks, a recent DOD Inspector General (IG) report says. “We determined that the DOD does not have criteria for centralized tracking of funding execution of Congressional earmarks at the DoD level,” the March 31 IG report says. The report does not make any recommendations or say what the lack of oversight means.
Aerojet and Orbital Sciences have conducted the first static test firing at Aerojet’s Sacramento, Calif., facility of the jettison motor for the Orion Launch Abort System (LAS) built by Orbital. The March 27 ground test firing lasted less than 2 seconds to meet program criteria for the motor, which weighs less than 500 lb. and uses four nozzles. The test sets up the LAS for the first full-scale pad abort test at the Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico this fall.
TOKYO - The Japanese Wideband InterNetworking engineering test and Demonstration Satellite (WINDS) has successfully tested a 155Mbps connection with a 45-centimeter (1.5-foot) ground antenna. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) says it is the world’s fastest internet connection between a satellite and an antenna of such size.
The Iraqi government plans to spend billions of dollars more on equipment and increase the size of its forces, the U.S. commander in Iraq told Congress early April 8. Army Gen. David Petraeus’ comment comes as Iraqi leaders are increasingly being criticized on Capitol Hill for letting the U.S. shoulder the bulk of its security needs.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Apache AH-64 Block III upgrade aircraft is slated to perform its first flight on July 9, ushering in what the U.S. Army views as a quantum leap in capability for its most versatile attack helicopter. At a late afternoon brief at the Army Aviation Association of America (Quad A) symposium April 7, senior Army officials talked up an ongoing Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment (JEFX08) aimed at developing key networking capabilities for the Block III aircraft.
VENESAT: China is nearing launch of a Long March 3B heavy booster carrying a communications satellite designed and built by China for Venezuela and Uruguay under a $241 million contract. The mission is set for liftoff from the Xichang Space Center between September and November. The satellite will be designated Venesat 1, since 90 percent of the funding was provided by Venezuela. It is to have a service life of 15 years in geosynchronous orbit.
Advanced flight control software from Lockheed Martin Space Systems for the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) passed an April 2 integrated design review (IDR) by nearly 80 representatives of the U.S. Air Force, Aerospace Corp and the Defense Dept.
The Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, usually plagued by accusations of cost overruns, was on the list of six U.S. Army programs noted for significant Selected Acquisition Reports (SAR) cost changes, this time for decreases in the FCS bottom line.
DAGR STRIKE: Lockheed Martin’s Direct Attack Guided Rocket (DAGR) semi-active laser guidance kit for 2.75-inch/70mm rockets successfully completed a series of tests demonstrating its lock-on-before launch capability. The tests, conducted March 29 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., also demonstrated DAGR’s ability to deliver precision-strike accuracy from 10 degrees off boresight.
PETERSON AFB, COLO. – The Pentagon’s first official estimate for the Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) Block 10 satellite is $823.9 million, and the Air Force expects to launch it by early 2009. The Pentagon released the cost as the first baseline for the program, which was included in a larger list of acquisition program pricing sent to Capitol Hill April 7.
B-2 CONCERNS: A center-of-gravity problem could have caused the B-2 crash in Guam, says a U.S. Air Force general who flew the bomber and watched over its development Air Combat Command’s commander has said the bomber rotated prematurely, lifted off too early and stalled, which caused the aircraft’s destruction (Aerospace DAILY, March 28). “The fly-by-wire flight control system in the bomber is supposed to compensate for shifts in the center of gravity [CG],” says the former B-2 pilot.
The answer to finding and killing stealthy, next-generation cruise missiles from the air may be about to takeoff, although the journey so far has been a little bumpy.
THIRD BIRD: SES Americom and Orbital Sciences Corporation announced April 8 the order of a third spacecraft under the multi-satellite contract both companies announced in May 2007. The first and second satellites ordered under the contract were AMC-5R and a ground spare. The spare will now become AMC-1R, and a new ground spare will be produced for future use. Planned for launch in the second half of 2009, AMC-1R will reside in geosynchronous Earth orbit at 103 degrees West longitude.
The two most recent government reports on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) could hardly paint two more different pictures of the same program. The Pentagon’s Selection Acquisition Reports (SARs), released April 7, describes a program with a 3 percent cost decrease – to about $298 billion – with relatively “stable” unit costs compared to original estimates.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. of Littleton, Colo., is being awarded a modified firm fixed price contract for $124,100,000. This modification is issued to purchase launch services from Lockheed Martin Co. under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program and Atlas medium-plus rocket (Atlas 5510 to launch the Mobile Users Objective System (MUOS)-1 Satellite. At this time $124,100,000 has been obligated. El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8816-06-C-0004, Modification Number P00002). NAVY
INTERNATIONAL TRAINING: Northrop Grumman is creating a base of international second source suppliers for F-35 Lightning II aircraft components, offering training to Danish and Turkish manufacturing specialists in April and May. In 2006, Northrop Grumman helped DOD and F-35 prime Lockheed Martin secure commitments from eight countries to purchase approximately 25 percent of the more than 3,000 projected F-35 aircraft sales.
LESS IS LESS: DOD is trimming the overall cost of its major weapons acquisitions in its latest wrap-up report from more than $1.7 trillion to about $1.64 trillion. But the headline cut is coming from reduced production plans and changes to budgeting, while additional hardware and software engineering changes and a net increase in program cost estimates have continued to push up total estimates.
PARIS — EADS Astrium will acquire Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) in a move expected to bolster Astrium’s small satellite know-how and reinforce Britain’s position as a space systems manufacturer. Astrium announced Monday morning that it had concluded an agreement to acquire an approximately 80 percent stake in SSTL from the University of Surrey, subject to regulatory approval. With at least one other major European smallsat supplier, OHB System, available to customers, regulators are not likely to raise any objections.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – With the May 19 proposal deadline for the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) program on the horizon, industry competitors are jockeying for position Raytheon announced April 7 that it is teaming up with Boeing to pursue the program, which will provide a replacement for the Hellfire and Maverick missiles on unmanned aerial vehicles, rotary and fixed-wing platforms by 2016.
