The Navy formally has decided to stick with the Flight 0 ship variant of the Littoral Combat Ship through fiscal 2009, according to Allison Stiller, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for ships. Previously, Flight 1 -- with additional, LCS-designed capability and refreshed technology -- was to begin construction in FY '08. The Navy's latest five-year shipbuilding plan includes two LCSs in FY '07, three in FY '08, and then six annually in FY '09, '10 and '11.
AIR FORCE CUTS: The Air Force is looking to cut 30 general-officer billets, including "some" three-stars, according to top Air Force officials. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne says the reorganization would focus generals around warfighting headquarters, to support combatant commanders, and away from administrative work. The move, spearheaded by Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley, is part of an Air Force personnel reduction targeting roughly 40,000 full-time equivalents by fiscal 2011.
CROWDED SKIES: FAA Administrator Marion Blakely says civil airspace will soon be "filling up very, very rapidly" with more commercial aircraft of all sizes, including unmanned aerial vehicles. The FAA has issued its first airworthiness certificate for a nongovernment UAV, she says, and "you're going to see more and more applications for it." The agency has issued a temporary flight restriction (TFR) in Arizona, where a Homeland Security Department Predator B patrols at night. But general aviation pilots fear security demands will shrink the airspace open to them.
Lockheed Martin Corp. and Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. on March 31 delivered the first new-production MH-60R helicopter to the U.S. Navy. "Delivery of this helicopter fulfills the Navy's Master Helicopter Plan to reduce six helicopter types to two multimission aircraft, the MH-60S and now the MH-60R," said Capt. Paul Grosklags, current manager of the Naval Air Systems Command's multimission helicopter program office.
SPACE RACE: Powerful members of Congress are pressing NASA Administrator Michael Griffin over China's human spaceflight ambitions, warning that the totalitarian nation could get to the moon before the U.S. human exploration program does. "I don't trust China," says Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that sets NASA funding.
SHIFTING WORK: Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), chairman of the House Armed Services projection forces subcommittee, continues to push the Navy to consider making far more of its ships nuclear-powered. Bartlett, who has tried to call attention to future pressures caused by dwindling oil supplies, notes the cost benefits to refueling an unconventional aircraft carrier or submarine every few decades. "I would like our Navy to go as nuclear as possible," he said, including transport and other ships.
Michael A. DeCesare and Mark Holder have been named corporate vice presidents. DeCesare will lead the Information Dominance Division within the Land Forces Group (LFG). Holder will serve as LFG chief technology officer.
TEST GEAR: Belgium-based Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems (AMOS) has signed a contract with Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO's) Space Application Center in Ahmedabad for production of a one-meter diameter collimator to test cameras flown in Indian remote-sensing satellites. AMOS will design, manufacture, test and supply the collimator according to ISRO specifications. AMOS, which has already supplied two collimators to the Indian center, is also involved in the design, manufacturing and installation of a space simulator for ISRO in Bangalore.
The March 30 article "Tanker RFI 'very, very near,' Air Force leaders say" contained incorrect information. The Air Force does not want to retire 35 C-5 aircraft even though they are flight restricted and legislatively restricted from retirement. "Our preference for those aircraft is to modernize them," a Pentagon representative told The DAILY.
The Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition, a trade group for companies building and supplying the Navy's largest capital ships, is pushing Congress to go ahead and authorize CVN-21-class flattops in fiscal 2008, 2012 and 2016. The advanced authorization, a little unusual, would further prove to industry that the Defense Department and Congress were committed to a predictable, reliable shipbuilding plan, coalition officials told The DAILY.
The U.S. Air Force is studying the alternative of performing a service life extension program (SLEP) on already-built Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft that have yet to launch. The study is part of the Nunn-McCurdy review process on the overbudget National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).
LOS ANGELES -- Space Exploration Technologies had a rough start with the loss of its first Falcon 1 rocket on March 24, but its future customers are hanging in for now with the low-cost launch company, says SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. SpaceX engineers believe they know the cause of the accident, and Musk hopes to make the second flight by September or October.
Aviation Week & Space Technology on April 7 will hold its 49th annual Laureate Awards, honoring the accomplishments of individuals and teams in aviation, aerospace and defense at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles Airport. For more information, visit http://www.aviationnow.com/conferences/laumain.htm.
Barry Johnson has been named vice president of quality assurance and supplier management. James Judd has been appointed vice president of production, integration and test.
Full release of scientific data from Europe's Smart-1 lunar-orbiter mission will begin over the coming weeks, following validation by the European Space Agency's scientific team. Additional data will be posted on ESA's Smart-1 Web site for months. The Smart-1 probe started orbiting the moon on Nov. 15, 2004, after a yearlong journey using ion propulsion. It is expected to continue sending data until it crashes on the surface in August after an 18-month scientific campaign.
Progress is being made in protecting U.S. satellites from the dangerous aftereffects of nuclear detonations, according to James Tegnelia, director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). When a nuclear weapon goes off above Earth's atmosphere, high-energy electrons become trapped in the Earth's magnetic belts and can remain in orbit for up to a year. As satellites in low-Earth orbit pass through this environment, they receive repeated high doses of radiation that can overwhelm their systems.
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne's says he's looking for a long-range strike aircraft with the speed of an SR-71, the loitering ability of a B-2, and the carrying capacity of a B-52. Industry "kind of knows the plan form because there aren't very many plan forms that can do all this stuff we're talking about," so industry is waiting for details of the inside requirements "and those are being worked together," Wynne said March 30 at an aerospace gathering on Capitol Hill.
John Blanton, David Dolling, Philip Hattis, David Jensen, Paul Nielsen, David Riley, Merri Sanchez, Bruce Wilson and Susan Ying have been named to the board of directors. Blanton, of GE Aircraft Engines, will serve as Region 3 director. Dolling, of the University of Texas at Austin, will serve as director at large. Hattis, of Draper Laboratory, will serve as vice president-elect of public policy. Jensen, of Brigham Young University, will serve as technical director of structures design and test. Nielsen, of Carnegie Mellon University, will serve as president-elect.
David R. Apt has been named director of communications for technical services. Christopher D. Kastner has been named vice president for contracts and risk management.
