The U.S. Army is finding that the cost of aviation accidents can really add up, having incurred about $4.08 billion in accident costs as a result of 387,000 accidents since the early 1970s, according to an Aerospace Daily analysis of Army-provided service aviation data. To put that in perspective, that’s more money than the Army budgeted to buy or rebuild 22 CH-47 Chinooks in fiscal years 2008-09 and to procure 63 UH-60 Black Hawks in the coming fiscal year.
A war of words over what war to build for continues to simmer inside Washington, with watchdogs at the Center for Defense Information’s (CDI) Straus Military Reform Project questioning FCS in yet another report.
SOFTWARE NEEDS: DOD should boost its sponsorship of software research to support the management of engineering risk in large systems, software quality assurance, and cutting down requirements-related risk in unprecedented systems without sacrificing capability, according to a new report from federally funded researchers. The Committee on Advancing Software-Intensive Systems Producibility was appointed by the National Research Council to assess national investments in software research – and specifically, where industry’s inherent trends may not meet the Pentagon’s needs.
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.
With the majority of U.S. Army personnel accidents occurring during off-duty hours, Brig. Gen. William Forrester, commander of the service’s Combat Readiness/Safety Center, is calling for a more personal touch. The statistics show the 65 percent of fiscal 2008 accidental fatalities are due to incidents in privately owned vehicles. Nearly a third of those involve motorcycles. He wants families to get involved and he’s looking for soldiers to seek better company. In a letter this month to Army personnel, Forrester highlights the program.
It’s time to take climate data off the research project shelf and start delivering it 24/7 like weather news, says the head of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “We don’t have a single authoritative service for climate information. We have research science information,” NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher told a House Aerospace Caucus luncheon last week. “There should be a national climate service that provides basic information,” the retired Navy vice admiral said.
LONDON – Brazil is re-starting competition for a long-running multi-role fighter requirement that could see up to 120 of the selected type procured by the mid-2020s. The country’s F-X2 program calls for initial delivery of the first batch of 36 aircraft starting in 2014. The request for information (RFI) released earlier this month is limited to the Boeing F/A-18E/F, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab Gripen NG, and Sukhoi Su-35 variant of the basic Su-27 Flanker.
Delivery of the Japanese Kibo module to the International Space Station and the safe return of Discovery and its STS-124 crew June 14 opens the way for the final 10 missions of the shuttle program, including the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope set for launch Oct. 8. STS-124 Commander Navy Cdr. Mark E. Kelly and mission pilot Ken Ham piloted Discovery through her 35th reentry and landing and the 70th landing of an orbiter at Kennedy Space Center since the 1981 inception of the program.
INSTRUCTING INSTRUCTORS: Iraq’s young air force has established a schoolhouse for the fundamentals of flight instruction at Kirkuk Regional Air Base. Seven of the country’s most experienced pilots are enrolled. A U.S.-led team is implementing the program, which is modeled after the U.S. Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command model for developing flight instructors.
The Eurofighter is helping to provide security over Austria during an ongoing European soccer tournament, a Eurofighter spokesman says. “The Ministry of Defense in Austria has tasked the Austrian Air Force to survey and control the airspace, especially in the area of the soccer stadiums, during the European soccer championship ‘EURO 2008,’” Eurofighter spokesman Theodor Benien told Aerospace DAILY.
ECASS COMING: The U.S. Navy expects a request for proposals for new Electronic Consolidated Automated Support System benches in early 2009, according to Capt. Mike Belcher, aviation support equipment program manager (PMA 260). The system design and development phase with engineering development models will last until around 2012. Then the Navy will build some low-rate-initial-production stations and enter full-rate production in 2014, he said. Full capable eCASS units should arrive in the fleet by 2015.
The U.K.’s third Skynet 5 new-generation military communications satellite has been launched from Kourou, French Guiana atop an Ariane 5 ECA rocket. The 4.7 metric ton Skynet 5C, financed, built and operated by EADS Astrium Services’ Paradigm unit, will provide highly protected UHF/SHF coverage for forward forces around the globe from its perch at 17.8 deg. W. Long.
INFO LINK: In December 2009, work will be complete on an $18.7 million contract awarded by the U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) to Rockwell Collins-BAE joint-venture company Data Link Solutions (DLS) for two types of Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Low Volume Terminals (MIDS-LVT) for U.S. and coalition forces. Under the contract, DLS will provide the MIDS LVT-2/11 and LVT-1 terminals. The MIDS LVT-2/11 is specifically designed for U.S.
FURIOUS HERTI: BAE Systems and Thales are working on an armed derivative of BAE’s Herti unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), dubbed Fury. Trials are underway to fit the UAV with the Thales Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM) now in development. Captive-carry trials of the LMM store have been conducted as has a static live fire test. BAE and Thales have yet to conduct a guided airborne launch of a live weapon. These trials will be used to show safe separation and that the vehicle’s systems are capable of guiding the weapon to target.
The space shuttle Discovery’s STS-124 crew is ready to complete their Japanese Kibo module delivery mission with a landing at Kennedy Center June 14, weather permitting. “Tomorrow’s entry is looking very good,” Entry Flight Director Richard Jones said during a briefing June 13. The latest weather forecasts show favorable conditions, he said.
SLOT APPLICATION: EchoStar Corp. reportedly has filed an application to build and fly a C-band satellite at 84.9 deg. W. Long. A satellite manufacturer has yet to be named. EchoStar Corp., which was spun off from Dish Corp. earlier this year to develop its fixed satellite service business, currently offers capacity on three FSS spacecraft, all in Ku-/Ka band. The units, two of which are owned by SES Americom, are located at 85, 105 and 121 deg. W.
GLASS HALF FULL: The blank glass mirror, a key component for GeoEye’s next-generation Earth imaging satellite, has been delivered to ITT for polishing and grinding later this summer. GeoEye-2 is expected to launch by 2012, and ITT is handling development of the satellite’s camera. Selection of satellite builder is expected later this year. A resolution requirement hasn’t yet been set for the system. Although GeoEye has an operating license for 0.25-meter resolution, this would limit use of the products to the U.S. government.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicated new calendar listing.) June 17 - 19 — Joint Warfighting 2008, DOD Capabilities for the 21st Century, Virginia Beach Convention Center, Va. For more information go to www.jointwarfighting.org
STATION KEEPING: NASA Administrator Mike Griffin reiterates his conviction that the U.S. will not pull out of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015, when its treaty obligations end — an endgame feared by the U.S. agency’s international partners. “It’s inconceivable that the U.S will abandon a perfectly functioning ISS just because of some arbitrary date,” Griffin tells a gathering of European space leaders at the French National Assembly. “I believe the U.S.
LIGHT FANTASTIC: Lockheed Martin is considering a balloon-borne launch for the Vulture ultra-long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) project being conducted by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The company’s Skunk Works won one of three Phase 1 development contracts in April, along with Boeing and Aurora Flight Sciences (Aerospace DAILY, April 15, 21). The Skunk Works plans a 300-foot wingspan vehicle with strut-braced wings and tail surfaces that rotate so the solar cells face the sun.
GREENBELT, Md. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is undergoing the final integration of its instruments here at Goddard Space Flight Center, with the team eyeing launch on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral between roughly Thanksgiving and the end of the year. The first official launch opportunity is November 24, although the team only has a “handful” of days of schedule margin to make that target, according to Craig Tooley, LRO project manager.
BUYING DRS: Italy’s Finmeccanica is pursuing a dual-track approach to financing the purchase of U.S. defense electronics company DRS Technologies: re-capitalization, and the flotation of its energy subsidiary. Talks are already underway with the Italian treasury, and with its private shareholders, over raising funds. DRS has a price tag of €3.4 billion euros ($5.27 billion). The Finmeccanica board approved re-capitalization proposals to raise up to €800 million in 2007, as needed when an appropriate acquisition target was identified.
