Lawmakers have requested additional information about the acquisition of the U.S. Air Force replacement fleet for its combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter, service officials acknowledged May 24. The Air Force said it could not comply with a DAILY request for information related to a key performance parameter (KPP) change made during a crucial time in the CSAR-X acquisition because members of Congress had requested additional information of the same nature. McCain's interest
U.S. diplomatic and military officials remain perplexed and unsatisfied with China's nonexplanatory responses to international protests regarding the Asian giant's January anti-satellite (ASAT) ballistic missile test. But they appear to be pushing Congress to support increased situational awareness efforts for U.S. space assets first over developing offensive, defensive or even so-called operationally responsive space capabilities, according to several remarks made May 23 on Capitol Hill.
Both Russian members of Expedition 15 to the International Space Station (ISS) will venture outside twice in the next three weeks to install aluminum panels designed to protect the Zvezda service module from micrometeorite and orbital debris (MMOD) strikes.
Air forces worldwide are skimping on the equipment needed to train aircrews in electronic warfare (EW), according to Daniel Novick, director of business development for EW at DRS Technologies.
Aurora Flight Sciences' GoldenEye 50 has received an Experimental Airworthiness Certificate (EAC) from FAA that will allow the company to fly the ducted-fan unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the national airspace. GoldenEye is the 11th UAV to receive an EAC from FAA, according to Aurora. The company received the certificate after performing a demonstration flight for FAA officials at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport in Columbus, Miss.
The name of Kent Statler, executive vice president of Rockwell Collins Services, was misspelled in the May 23 story "Rockwell Collins eyes commercial simulator market." Aerospace Daily regrets the error.
INTERCEPT TEST: The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) plans to conduct an intercept test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system on May 24. Originally scheduled for late last year, the test was delayed to allow for modifications to the interceptor and software upgrades. The Pave Paws radar at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., will be the primary engagement radar, although the Sea-based X-band radar also will participate.
WHAT'S IN A NAME: Lockheed Martin is trumpeting an apparent Turkish Patent Institute decision supporting the company's assertion that the term "paveway" is a generic name used in describing laser technology in laser-guided bombs. Raytheon in 2005 filed an application to register the term "paveway" as a trademark. The institute last March declined the application, following a similar default judgment favoring Lockheed Martin in Oman. Late last year the companies sparred over who, literally, was a paveway provider to U.S. armed services (DAILY, Dec. 5, 2006).
U.S. Air Force Space Command's (AFSPC) plan to upgrade all 500 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and then sideline 50 of them should provide "ample time" for U.S. officials to mull over a potential Minuteman IV replacement, or whatever other nuclear deterrence options may be considered in coming decades, according to Gen. Kevin Chilton, AFSPC commander.
MBDA conducted the first live test firing in the U.K. of the six-nation Meteor air dominance missile on May 22. The event happened on the QinetiQ-managed U.K. Ministry of Defence's (MoD) Hebrides missile firing range.
All of the Defense Department's fighter aircraft replacement plans are being rocked by a host of internal and external forces, a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report says.
China probably will order 10 to 20 Tupolev 22M supersonic bombers as soon as this year and may build them under license, a Japanese newspaper has reported. The move will bolster Beijing's efforts to deter U.S. intervention in any Chinese attempt to forcibly recover Taiwan. Russia used the Tu-22M Backfire as a naval strike aircraft primarily designed to attack U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups.
Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), the chairman and ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), have asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a comprehensive review of individual body armor systems. "We are convinced that the Department of Defense must definitively and officially determine the facts regarding the protective qualities of the body armor we are currently providing our troops and that of any other commercially available comparable and competing system," the SASC leaders told the secretary May 22.
PATUXENT RIVER, Md. - The CH-53E Super Stallions will be getting satellite communication (SATCOM) capabilities for missions in the Horn of Africa, said U.S. Navy Capt. Rick Muldoon, program manager for H-53 Heavy Lift Helicopters. Joint force operations require SATCOMs in the region because other communication networks are not as robust as in other areas, Muldoon said. The Super Stallions will be getting ARC-210 radios to make the SATCOM links, Muldoon said during a May 18 interview. Installation is scheduled to begin in the fall.
The Pentagon's fiscal 2008 budget request poses several key affordability and spending balance questions for lawmakers, according to a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report. "Several aspects of the Department's FY2008 budget request and its projected budgets through FY2013 raise questions about the affordability of DOD's plan as a whole and about the balance of spending among major elements of the defense budget," said the May 11 report. CRS' concerns Specifically, CRS cited the following:
EUROSLOTS: Eutelsat is opening a new spacecraft "neighborhood" at 9 degrees east longitude to expand direct TV broadcasting capacity to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The slot is being served by Hot Bird 2, renamed Eurobird 9. This is the third spacecraft to be redeployed following the launch of Hot Bird 7A and 8 to Eutelsat's primary neighborhood at 13 degrees east longitude last year.
A patch of Martian soil analyzed by NASA's rover Spirit is so rich in silica that it provides strong new evidence that Spirit's landing area was wet and possibly habitable by Martian microbial life in the ancient past. The processes that could have produced such a concentrated deposit of silica require the long-term presence of water. The rover's German-built alpha particle X-ray spectrometer measured a composition of about 90 percent pure silica for this soil.
MPA DELAYED: The U.S. Coast Guard now expects its third HC-144A Maritime Patrol Aircraft, made by EADS CASA in Europe, to be handed over in June, according to Capt. Michael Anderson, program manager for the service's Deepwater recapitalization program. The new-production aircraft once was expected in March, Deepwater officials had said. The second MPA arrived in Elizabeth City, N.C., on Feb. 19. The first one was delivered last December. After delivery, MPAs get "missionized" with various C4ISR technologies before being operationally deployed.
Lockheed Martin Corp. and the Boeing Company were the leading U.S. defense companies for 2006 by total dollar amount in contracts and contract modifications, according to a DAILY computer analysis of contracting data. Sandwiched between the two defense giants were a catch-all group of contractors called Miscellaneous Foreign Contractors, the analysis showed.
