The number of C-27Js the U.S. Air Force will buy is going up, says Gen. T. Michael Moseley, service chief of staff. “I think the total number of C-27s [in the service’s road map] is about 125 airplanes,” Moseley says. “That’s a mix of Air Force special operations command, Air National Guard and maybe an active duty squadron or two.” Moreover, he sees the two-engine transport as an incredible engine for international partnering and manufacturing projects.
Bold moves by Thales Alenia Space to remain competitive in the face of the swooning dollar could put the Thales-Finmeccanica venture on a collision course with U.S. export control rules, if rival Space Systems/Loral has its way.
SIRIUS LAUNCHES: International Launch Services (ILS) has won a contract for the launch of two Sirius Satellite Radio satellites aboard Russian Proton Breeze M rockets. The first satellite, Sirius FM-6, is under construction at Space Systems/Loral and expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2010. Sirius has not yet announced plans to utilize the second launch announced, ILS says. ILS will manage the launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
GEOSPATIAL INFO: Robert Burkhardt will serve as the U.S. Army’s first Geospatial Information Officer (GIO). As GIO, Burkhardt will serve as the Army’s central manager responsible for coordinating, assessing and synchronizing all the service’s policies and standardization requirements for the geospatial information enterprise. This will help enable interoperability across the services and bring them closer to a unified common operating picture.
April 15-16, 2008 Broward County Convention Center Fort Lauderdale, FL Don’t miss this launch event featuring cutting-edge sessions that address the key issues affecting airline interiors executives, vendors, OEMs and even MRO professionals. Including: -- How new all-business class airlines are pushing the envelope in cabin design and materials!
SENTENCED: The former chief of the aviation division for the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command and a Alabama-based helicopter contractor will serve time in federal prison in connection with charges arising from participation in an honest services wire fraud scheme and a related obstruction of justice, federal prosecutors announced. Jeffrey Stayton of Spotsylvania, Va., the former chief, was sentenced by a U.S. district judge to 63 months imprisonment, three years supervised release, and a fine of $61,071.75.
TANKER PROTEST?: Following Northrop Grumman/EADS’ upset win of the U.S. Air Force’s tanker replacement program (See p. 3), all eyes are on Boeing to see if a bid protest materializes. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley and Assistant Air Force Secretary for Acquisition Sue Payton have both been counseled by former chiefs of staff and acquisition officials to start taking revenge on corporations that protest acquisition decisions and end up delaying programs and driving up cost.
HEAVY LIFT: Industry teams and design ideas competing for the proposed U.S. Army focused Joint Heavy Lift (JHL) rotorcraft program are firming up. Lockheed Martin and Karem Aircraft have signed a teaming agreement to jointly develop Karem’s Optimum Speed Tilt-Rotor (OSTR) design for JHL. The OSTR concept is one of three approaches selected by the JHL program office to receive a concept design and analysis (CDA) “extension” contract, according to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. In September 2005, 18-month-long CDAs were awarded that ran through early 2007.
LPD 17: The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are agreeing and disagreeing over how hard to press for LPD 17 and general amphibious-assault shipbuilding. The chief of naval operations and the commandant apparently have agreed on a 30-ship operational amphib assault force, which requires 33 ships total when accounting for steaming and maintenance downtime. But which ships, what mix and when they should be fielded remain critical details to be resolved, according to recent congressional testimony and comments by the four-star officials.
STUAS RFP: The draft version of the Navy-Marine Corps STUAS/Tier II request for proposals (RFP) is expected to come out in April, says Lt. Col. Christopher Patton of the Marines’ Combat Development Command. An industry day for the replacement unmanned aerial system, called Small Tactical Unmanned Aerial System (STUAS) by the Navy and Tier II by the Marine Corps, is expected in May, Patton told an Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) conference Feb. 29. Patton said the full RFP will be out in July, as previously reported in Aerospace DAILY (Aug.
NOT WORRIED: NASA is not concerned about the shuttle Endeavour hitting any possible debris left over from the Pentagon’s destruction of a failing classified satellite following the orbiter’s planned launch on STS-123 March 11. The U.S. Navy destroyed the satellite Feb. 20 using a Standard Missile-3 interceptor fired from an Aegis cruiser. “It really poses no risk to the shuttle, with where we are,” NASA Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier says.
The U.S. Air Force’s selection of a Northrop Grumman and EADS team for a $35 billion, multiyear program to build up to 179 KC-45A aerial refueling tankers bucks Boeing’s lock on the high-profile work and reflects the Air Force’s drive for multimission capabilities in its strategic fleet.
An in-house NASA design team that is sketching out a rough concept for the planned Altair lunar lander will soon be joined by some early industry partners to help with a “minimum functional” design that will be the starting point for an actual lander. To get to a working vehicle, NASA already knows it needs to trim about three metric tons from its concept, with propulsion systems the biggest opportunity for weight-saving.
TIGHT WADS: NASA is likely to get slammed by another congressional continuing resolution this year, which would keep its budget flat, rather than a formal appropriation that could boost it. Paul Carliner, a former appropriations aide to Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) says time is so tight this election year that the most Congress is likely to send to the White House for signing are a supplemental funding bill for Iraq and Afghanistan operations, funding bills for the Defense and Veterans Affairs Depts., and perhaps a Homeland Security bill.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicated new calendar listing.) March 3 - 7 — 2008 Directed Energy System Symposium, Monterey Marriott Hotel and Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. For more information go to www.deps.org March 4- 5 — Fulfilling the Warfighters Vision Conference, Grand Hyatt, Tampa, Fla. For more information go to www.afei.org/brochure/8A04/index.cfm
CLASSIFIED SATCOM: Although the Pentagon’s $7 billion Transformational Satellite program, designed to introduce Internet protocols into space-based communications and send massive data files quickly to ground commanders, is going to be delayed until about 2018 (DAILY, Feb. 27), its classified counterpart appears to be on schedule. That program, once referred to as Polar Extremely High Frequency, is moving forward, industry execs say. Payloads for Polar EHF probably would be hosted on a classified satellite with a different primary mission.
The new head of the Pentagon’s unmanned systems acquisition oversight office says there is more than $500 million for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the fiscal 2008 war supplemental, which Congress has yet to act on.
FT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Partners Northrop Grumman and OshKosh kept their Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) offering under wraps — literally — at the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) winter show here. Joe Taylor, Northrop’s vice president of ground combat systems invited Aerospace DAILY inside the tent on the show floor Feb. 29 for a glimpse of the new vehicle and a discussion of what makes the company’s proposal so unique.
NASA has approved space shuttle Endeavour to launch March 11 on STS-123, a 16-day mission that will mark the longest International Space Station (ISS) visit by the orbiter to date. The approval, which followed a day-and-a-half long meeting at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla., came just nine days after Atlantis touched down from STS-122, which Shuttle Program Manager John Shannon characterized as a testimonial to how well Atlantis performed.
AEHF TESTING: Lockheed Martin has completed acoustic testing of the first Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications satellite, the company announced Feb. 28. The spacecraft was subjected to the sound and vibration levels expected at launch during the test, which was conducted at company facilities in Sunnyvale, Calif.
While acknowledging that a recent Pentagon report raises legitimate concerns about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, officials for prime contractor Lockheed Martin say improved technology is allowing them to address those concerns while maintaining the JSF’s schedule, costs and quality.
HORNET STUNG: Under current plans, the U.S. Navy will fall short of its strike fighter requirement by 69 F-18s by around 2016, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead told senators Feb. 28. The revised shortfall - which has been known although the number has been updated – comes amid interest by Boeing F-18 proponents to upgrade and further produce the fighter in light of planned Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) development under Lockheed Martin.
FT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Lockheed Martin announced Feb. 28 the completion of three successful tests of the Direct Attack Guided Rocket (DAGR) semi-active laser guidance kit for 2.75-inch rockets. Two guided flight-tests were conducted at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Jan. 23 and 24, and a multipurpose sled test was run in December 2007. According to Lockheed officials, the tests demonstrated the system’s precision-strike accuracy, off-axis capability and delayed fuzing mode.
