The Bush administration’s plan for a Europe-based missile defense system to detect and destroy an Iranian missile attack won’t work because the radar is too weak and the interceptors are too few, according to a pair of U.S. scientists.
Poor coordination among the departments of State, Commerce and other federal agencies involved in technology export controls has created “vulnerabilities” in the system charged with keeping sensitive U.S. technologies out of enemy hands, a congressional report says.
The threat of terrorists making common cause with pirates to raise money and menace new targets is “a very, very real issue,” a former top official of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security says. Adm. James Loy (ret.), former Coast Guard commandant and Transportation Security Administration chief, says there’s no doubt that criminals in such pirate haunts as the seas off the Horn of Africa would cooperate with terrorists if given the chance.
TRAINED DELIVERY: Hawker Beechcraft Corp. said it was awarded two follow-on U.S. Air Force Materiel Command contracts for 137 more T-6A Texan II military trainer aircraft worth $550 million total. The awards fall under the Air Force and Navy’s Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) program, which calls for 768 aircraft and 105 aircrew training devices through early 2016. Logistic support plans stretch beyond 2050. The U.S.
With the U.S. Navy choosing a variant of Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk as its Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) aircraft, program officials are planning to enhance the stalwart unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with three packages of futuristic communications and sensors.
ESPOUSING EXPORTS: Soaring exports of aerospace products in the fourth quarter of 2007 helped the aerospace industry’s trade balance into record territory last year, totaling $60.4 billion, according to the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). AIA chief Marion Blakey reiterated a common AIA argument that the industry’s trade surplus track record helps offset the otherwise “chronic” overall U.S. trade deficit. AIA said industry exports rose to almost $97 billion in 2007, a nearly 14 percent increase over the $85 billion worth of aerospace products exported in 2006.
ROYAL TRAINING: A new F-15E Mission Training Center (MTC) has opened at Royal Air Force Lakenheath in the U.K. This is the third such center built by Boeing, and will provide F-15E aircrews with high-fidelity, simulator-based training without the material, personnel and environmental costs associated with training on operational aircraft. The training center provides two dual-cockpit F-15E simulators with a 360-degree visual system, a synthetic environment and instructor/operator and brief/debrief stations.
U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, will be nominated to lead U.S. Central Command, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced April 23. If confirmed by the Senate, Petraeus would replace Adm. William Fallon, who resigned as CENTCOM chief in March following press coverage that portrayed a schism between him and the White House (Aerospace DAILY, March 13).
SUB BOOM: The to-be USS New Mexico, the sixth Virginia-class submarine, is on track to be delivered in August 2009, eight months earlier than its contract delivery date, according to U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). Recent keel laying for the sub, built by Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding and General Dynamics Electric Boat, is the first of four ship-oriented milestones being promoted this year by the Navy. The fourth in class, North Carolina, will be commissioned May 3.
A Boeing/Ball Aerospace Team has completed testing of the payload electronics and high-speed gimbal for the Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) Block 10 satellite’s sensor. With the completion of the gimbal tests, about 85 percent of the system’s flight hardware is complete. The two-axis gimbal will be used to slew the sensor quickly from target to target in space, allowing operators to track targets as they are launched and boosted into orbit.
Senate defense appropriators from both political parties offered a favorable reception to the fiscal 2009 missile defense requests from the Defense Department at a Capitol Hill hearing April 23, with panel leaders lining up a future closed-door session to help educate other lawmakers on subsequent efforts like the so-called Third Site in Europe.
LAIRCM OPTICS: Rockwell Collins announced April 23 it has been selected by Northrop Grumman to provide optical assemblies for the Miniature Pointer Tracker (MPT) used on Northrop’s Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) system. The MPT will be used to defend aircraft from infrared missile attack by automatically detecting a missile launch, determining if it is a threat and activating a high-intensity system of pulsed lasers to track and defeat the threat by confusing the guidance head. The contract is valued at up to $66 million and goes through 2010.
Delays in 787 production and its disputed loss of the U.S. Air Force KC-45 tanker competition have not dimmed the outlook for Boeing in 2008 or hurt its first quarter performance, the company said April 23.
SEVILLE, Spain – EADS is still holding out for an early summer first flight for its A400M military transport aircraft, but officials admit it will be tough going. The first prototype is fully assembled, except for the four TP400 turboprops, and is undergoing systems tests at the final assembly plant here. CEO Carlos Suarez said in briefings April 22 that the aircraft is to roll out on June 26 and make its first flight in “early summer.”
TURKISH DEFENSE: Boeing and a leading Turkish software and systems company, Havelsan, have announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to continue pursuing regional and global ballistic missile defense systems. The MOU extends an agreement signed in 2003 under which the two companies jointly evaluate and develop opportunities in missile defense. Boeing and Havelsan previously worked together to study integrating missile defense assets into NATO systems that could be used to defend Turkey, the U.S. and other NATO countries.
UNDUE LOBBYING: The Pentagon chief has said top U.S. military officers should not unduly lobby friendly civilian authorities over major acquisitions. “Senior officers have from time to time been tempted to use these ties to do end runs around the civilian leadership, particularly during disputes over purchase of large major weapons systems,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged late April 21. “This temptation should and must be resisted,” the presidential cabinet member added. Gates’ speech to future Army officers at the U.S.
MINNEAPOLIS – The U.S. Army is counting on its Manned Ground Vehicles (MGVs) to generate their own power via lightweight, fuel-efficient, hybrid electric drive engines.
SENSITIVE GBOSS: In-house technical experts for the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy are looking into adding a new suite of unmanned aerial vehicle sensors, an unmanned ground vehicle and a large touch-screen display to the Marines’ Ground-Based Operational Surveillance System (GBOSS). A developmental test is planned for late April at the Marine base in Twentynine Palms, Calif., Naval Sea Systems Command said April 17.
The U.S. military’s need for ground equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan and strong global demand for business aircraft have helped General Dynamics achieve better-than-expected first quarter earnings. The company reported April 23 that its Combat Systems unit had sales of $2 billion in the quarter ended March 31, a 27 percent increase from the same period of 2007. The unit’s operating profit was up 49 percent to $259 million.
The U.S. Navy has selected Northrop Grumman to design and build its new surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The $1.16 billion development contract for two Navy owned test aircraft was announced late April 22 at the Pentagon. Another development-phase aircraft will be provided to the program, but Northrop Grumman will retain ownership.
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Developers are touting the breech-loading system on the Non-Line-of-Sight Mortar (NLOS-M) for U.S. Army Future Combat Systems (FCS) manned ground vehicles (MGVs) as one of the few major innovations in mortar launcher technology in the past 200 years. An NLOS-M mounted on a common MGV chassis fired its first round April 21 at Camp Ripley, Minn., and will go on to fire another 950 over the next several weeks in preparation for its deployment to the Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz., this summer.
WORLD VIEW: Boeing’s commercial launch business has been awarded a contract to launch DigitalGlobe’s second WorldView Earth-imaging satellite on a Delta II launch vehicle. The first WorldView was launched by Boeing at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on Sept. 18, 2007. A Delta II expendable launch vehicle will carry the WorldView-2 spacecraft into orbit from Vandenberg in mid-2009. The vehicle is being purchased, along with related support services, from United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture.
Lockheed Martin expects to double its production of C-130 transport aircraft by 2010, the company’s chief financial officer told analysts April 22. Bruce Tanner, Lockheed executive vice president and CFO, said in a teleconference with analysts that growing U.S. and international demand was expected to lead to greater build-rates on the C-130 within a couple of years. The company manufactures 12 per year now, according to Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. analysts.
The U.S. Air Force believes it has surpassed 1 million missions flown by Air Force aircraft in global operations since Sept. 11, 2001. The announcement came late last week as service officials continue to highlight their armed service in light of increasing budget battles within Washington.
