The German defense ministry is competing a requirement for new, single-engine basic training helicopters for use by the country’s Army Air Corps School in Bueckeburg. The nine helicopters would be used for basic training before pilots migrate to use of the 14 Eurocopter EC135s in use at the school since 2000. In addition to the new production rotorcraft, the Germany defense armaments agency, the BWB, says the deal will come with a 10-year logistics support arrangement.
Astronaut/Astronomer John Grunsfeld will get a little observation time on the Hubble Space Telescope after his upcoming space shuttle mission to repair and upgrade the orbiting observatory. Grunsfeld will lead the extravehicular activity (EVA) team on the STS-125 mission, tentatively scheduled for late September or early October, that will install two new instruments on Hubble and give it a final servicing before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.
Raytheon and Emirates Advanced Investments of Abu Dhabi have reached an agreement to cooperatively develop and eventually produce a Laser Guided Rocket (LGR) system in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The 70mm LGR system will first be qualified for the UAE’s military, and the U.S. Army and Marine Corps are likely to buy the system later for multiple platforms.
WIGGLE ROOM: Senators drafting a new NASA authorization bill are considering giving the agency a little more time to finish the International Space Station. Instead of a hard September 2010 deadline for grounding the space shuttle fleet, per President Bush’s plan, some lawmakers want to allow the shuttles to keep flying until the 10 remaining flights to the station are completed. Sen. David Vitter (La.), the top Republican on the Senate space subcommittee, says the idea is still in the “discussion” stage.
Boeing is looking for a buyer for the 767-400ER airframe originally intended as the prototype for the now cancelled E-10 Multi-Sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A), but in the meantime is using the platform for some flight deck upgrade test work.
MOBILE LAUNCHER: Hensel Phelps Construction Co. will build the mobile launcher for NASA’s planned Ares I crew launch vehicle under a contract worth as much as $263.7 million. Based on one of the mobile platforms originally built for the Saturn V moon rocket in the 1960s and currently used for space shuttle launches, the Ares I launcher will stand about 390 feet tall. Power, communications, conditioned air and water will be provided for the mobile ground facility.
ABSENCE EXPLAINED: EADS North America CEO Ralph Crosby says the pace of the A400M transport now in development in Europe prevented it from being available for the U.S. Air Force’s HC\MC-130 program. That left the Lockheed Martin C-130J as the only option. Recently Pentagon acquisition chief John Young approved a sole-source deal with Lockheed for up to 68 of the J’s for the HC/MC-130 replacement.
QUIET BOOM: NASA is continuing its pursuit of a next-generation quiet supersonic aircraft by conducting joint research on sonic boom modeling with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Japan is planning to fly the Silent Supersonic Technology Demonstrator (S³TD, or “S-Cube”) around 2012 to achieve a 3dB reduction in take-off noise through airframe shielding and a 50 percent reduction in sonic boom intensity through airframe shaping, as well as lower weight and drag compared to Concorde.
Defense electronics contractor DRS Technologies confirmed today that it is engaged in talks about a possible “strategic transaction.” The Parsippany, N.J.-based company confirmed the discussions in a brief statement after the Wall Street Journal reported that it was in advanced negotiations to be acquired by Finmeccanica. The Italian company has long been scouting for an acquisition to bolster its position in the large U.S. defense market. It has been particularly interested in the defense electronics sector.
The man responsible for providing power to General Dynamics’ corporate headquarters has now been chosen to run the company. Jay L. Johnson, CEO of Dominion Virginia Power and former Chief of Naval Operations, will succeed longtime CEO Nick Chabraja when he steps down from the top executive post at the Falls Church, Va.-based contractor on June 30, 2009. Johnson will join General Dynamics in September as vice chairman. Chabraja, who had earlier announced his plans to retire as CEO, will remain chairman until May 2010, the company said May 7.
AFGHAN AIR: U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has responded to a direct request from Afghanistan’s president and minister of defense for Antonov AN-32 aircraft. The Navy’s International Program Office communicated the request to NAVAIR’s Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft Program Office, which was directed to buy four AN-32s for the Afghan National Army Air Corps (ANAAC) through the Foreign Military Sales program. The aircraft were bought from commercial sources through an accelerated acquisition strategy.
LONDON – The British government May 8 finally confirmed its selection of the General Dynamics Piranha 5 to meet the utility vehicle element of its multibillion dollar Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) program. General Dynamics was competing with Nexter and Artec. The French government and industrialists have in recent weeks pushed to persuade the U.K. to drop its preference for the Piranha and opt for a VBCI-based design.
NEW CUTTER: The U.S. Coast Guard took preliminary acceptance of the National Security Cutter (NSC) Bertholf during a ceremony at Pascagoula, Miss., May 8. Capt. Pat Stadt hopes to take the ship and its crew to sea in about 10 days and stay under way for a week, performing damage control drills. The 418-foot ship will be in and out of the shipyard until June 13, and eventually be commissioned by the Coast Guard at Alameda, Calif., on Aug. 4.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) postponed the planned markup of the war supplemental spending bill May 8 because procedural and political disputes have delayed action on a similar bill in the House. Byrd said he “very reluctantly” agreed to delay the markup for a week at the request of House and Senate leaders. The Senate markup was rescheduled for May 15. Both measures are expected to exceed the $173 billion the Bush administration is seeking to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin announced May 7 that Ed Weiler will remain in place as NASA’s associate administrator for science. Formerly the director of Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., Weiler was made interim chief of the science directorate on March 26 following the departure of Alan Stern (Aerospace DAILY, March 27). Weiler has led NASA science before, serving as associate administrator from 1998 to 2004. He also served as chief scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope from 1979 until 1998.
J-2X TEST: Test engineers at Stennis Space Center will spend the next two years getting ready for a second round of hot-fire testing of NASA’s J-2X human-rated upper stage rocket engine for future missions to low Earth orbit and the moon. The last of nine tests of heritage J2 powerpack hardware ran for 400.45 sec. on May 8, finishing a series designed to establish starting-point data for the design of the uprated J-2X turbomachinery.
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has signed a contract to build 18 new satellites for Orbcomm Inc., with an option to buy up to 30 more to upgrade Orbcomm’s current constellation. Serving as prime contractor, SNC has lined up a team including Boeing Intelligence & Security Systems, ITT Space Systems and SNC subsidiary MicroSat Systems. SNC, Boeing and ITT will provide oversight, systems engineering, technical management, integration and mission assurance, while MicroSat will perform integration and testing.
The first shipborne deployment of the U.S. Navy’s MQ-8B Fire Scout vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicle (VTUAV) is planned for October 2009 on counter-narcotics missions in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. This follows the decision to conduct operational evaluation (opeval) of the Northrop Grumman unmanned helicopter on a Perry-class frigate because of delays with the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
FUNDRAISING: The Greater Washington Aviation Open (GWAO), an aviation and aerospace charity event held in Washington, raised a record $140,000 during its annual golf and tennis tournament May 5. The total amount donated by the group since its inception in 1989 to the Corporate Angel Network is now about $1.4 million. The charity assists cancer patients with transportation to treatment facilities by using empty seats on business aircraft donated by companies. Thousands of aviation, aerospace and defense professionals have participated in past tournaments.
BEIJING – An upcoming advanced Chinese Fengyun polar orbit weather satellite will be operated with an advanced U.S. supercomputer like those used at research facilities such as Los Alamos National Laboratories. The satellite will be used heavily by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), navy and air force, as well as civilian weather outlets. The first mission for the new Fengyun 3 second-generation design is set for launch as early as late May.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is looking to partner with Indian companies on network-centric warfare initiatives and further expand its presence in the country. Such moves could make Boeing’s bid for India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) more attractive, by tempting the Indian defense ministry with visions of the company’s platforms performing together against adversaries. Boeing is offering the F/A-18E/F, and submitted its bid on April 28. Competing platforms include the Gripen, F-16, MiG-35, Eurofighter and Rafale.
Naval defense authorizers in the U.S. House are moving legislation to pause the DDG-1000 destroyer program at the two lead ships, restart the DDG-51 production effort, secure the 10th LPD-17 and secure funding for the remaining two planned Lewis and Clark dry-cargo ammunition (T-AKE) ships.
House Armed Services Committee (HASC) leaders are proposing Congress provide an additional $3.9 billion for 15 C-17 airlifters in fiscal 2009 budget-making, as well as $523 million above the Pentagon’s request for F-22 advance procurement for 20 aircraft in fiscal 2010. The HASC air and land forces subcommittee’s efforts, eyed for full-HASC consideration next week, also include a suggestion for an additional $246 million for the counter-rocket, artillery and mortar system.
The second test satellite for Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system has begun transmitting signals. Unlike signals sent by the first test satellite, launched in December 2006, those transmitted by Giove B conform to the MBOC (multiplexed binary offset carrier) common format agreed to in July 2007 by the U.S. and the European Union (EU) for the Global Positioning System and Galileo system. This will make it possible to design and test receiver equipment to the actual operational signal configuration.
