AIR COMMANDERS: The U.S. Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC) and Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) are slated to get new commanders. President Bush has asked the Senate to confirm Lt. Gen. Ronald Keys, now the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for air and space operations, to succeed Gen. Hal Hornburg as head of ACC, which operates more than 1,200 aircraft. Hornburg is retiring Jan. 1. Bush also nominated Lt. Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the 8th Air Force, to replace Gen. Gregory Martin at the helm of AFMC, the weapon system development organization.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Nanosolar Inc. a $10.3 million research and development contract to promote advances in the manufacture, device design and performance of solar electricity cells, the company said.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The top intelligence official at U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command here says his job is to tailor the information he sees for the chief of the two commands, currently Gen. Ralph E. "Ed" Eberhart (USAF). "There are a lot of intelligence people in Washington, and you could say, well, they could do all the jobs that our people do here," said the official, who, for security reasons, can be identified only as Mike.
MOSCOW - Russia's primary focus on the Russian segment of the International Space Station will be delivering the Multi-Task Laboratory Module (MLM) no later than 2007, according to an Aug. 27 memorandum from the space agency Roscosmos. The module will be based on an upgraded backup to the station's FGB module, which has been stored at Khrunichev Center since 1998. The module will be docked to the station's Zarya nadir docking berth to provide additional crew and storage space, as well as docking and pitch control capability for the station.
India's navy plans to induct the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile in 2005, according to the Indian defense ministry. Defence Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee, in a written response to parliament, said the missile has proven its performance against ship targets in a series of successful flight trials from ships and land.
CERTIFIED: The German government has approved type certification for the UH-Tiger combat helicopter variant, Tiger maker Eurocopter announced last week. The governmental executive organization of the Tiger program also approved qualification of the helicopter. Type certification and qualification are considered the end of Tiger aircraft and weapon system development. They also were a prerequisite for delivering the first French and German Tigers to the Tiger pilot school in southern France, beginning in October.
PHOENIX FADING: The aging AIM-54 Phoenix missile will soon leave the U.S. Navy's inventory. The Navy says it has "very few" AIM-54s left in its inventory and expects to fire the remaining ones in training exercises by Sept. 30. The Navy began deploying the Raytheon-built air-to-air missile in 1974. The F-14 Tomcats that have carried the Phoenix still will have Raytheon's AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles for air-to-air combat.
In tapping BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman to continue work on protecting U.S. commercial airliners from shoulder-fired missiles, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has opted to continue work on laser-jamming systems instead of decoys, which were offered by another competitor. BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman are developing laser jamming systems. A team led by United Airlines, which was not chosen to go forward, had offered expendable decoys (DAILY, June 23).
NASA has fine-tuned its space shuttle return-to-flight window next year to between March 16 and April 18, aerospace agency officials said Aug. 26. Speaking on the first anniversary of the release of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) report, William Readdy, the space operations associate administrator, and Bill Parsons, the space shuttle program manager, said NASA is on track to meet the CAIB's requirements for launch.
The Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) test bed, which recently destroyed mortar rounds for the first time (DAILY, Aug. 25), may undergo more anti-mortar testing later this year, U.S. Army officials said Aug. 26. The chemical-laser test bed shot down seven medium-caliber mortar rounds during an Aug. 24 test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. Three of the rounds were airborne at the same time before being engaged by the test bed. The Army is considering conducting tests against other mortar threats in September or October.
A Bell-Boeing team plans to offer the CV-22 Osprey in the U.S. Air Force's (USAF) Personnel Recovery Vehicle (PRV) competition, an industry source said Aug. 26. The CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft is expected to join at least three helicopters in bidding for the PRV, which would replace the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter for combat search and rescue.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.'s plans to acquire Schweizer Aircraft Corp., a privately owned U.S. company specializing in light helicopter, reconnaissance aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), would be a good move in positioning Sikorsky in the UAV market, according to two aerospace and defense analysts. Schweizer manufactures three proprietary helicopters, including the unmanned Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing tactical UAV and the Argus 300, a multipurpose unmanned utility helicopter.
Engineers are trying to determine why the Arrow missile defense system missed its target during its latest flight test. The Aug. 26 event, conducted at the Point Mugu Sea Range in California, began about 10:02 a.m. Pacific time when a short-range, air-launched target was dropped from the back of a C-17 aircraft. Six minutes later, the land-based Arrow interceptor missile was launched from San Nicholas Island.
MICHIGAN AEROSPACE CORP., Ann Arbor, Mich. Michael Dehring has been promoted to manager of Light Detection & Ranging Systems. NASA HEADQUARTERS, Washington John "Row" Rogacki has been named director of the University of Florida Graduate Engineering and Research Center in Shalimar, Fla. Rogacki was director of the space transportation technology division in NASA Headquarters' old Office of Aerospace Technology. NASA MARSHALL SPACEFLIGHT CENTER, Huntsville, Ala.
The U.S. Air Force has awarded the Boeing Co. a $54 million contract to launch four Global Positioning System (GPS) IIR satellites, the Defense Department announced Aug. 26. Although Boeing remains under suspension for ethical violations in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, the Air Force said national security needs forced it to award the contract.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Officials at U.S. Northern Command here are gathering information on the loss of two Russian airliners Aug. 24, and, if it's discovered that terrorism was involved, will match that knowledge with airliner security practices in the United States, according to Gen. Ed Eberhart, commander of NORTHCOM. The two planes crashed separately just minutes apart after leaving Moscow's Domodedovo Airport. More than 80 people were killed.
The Predator B, a successor to the U.S. Air Force's combat-proven Predator remotely piloted aircraft, is a single-engine, long-endurance, high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle designed for a variety of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, targeting, weapons delivery and scientific and commercial research.
DEPLOYMENT: The United Kingdom has decided to deploy six Royal Air Force Harrier GR7 aircraft to Kandahar, Afghanistan, for an initial period of nine months, said Geoff Hoon, the U.K. defense secretary. It is the first time in the current Afghanistan campaign that the U.K. has deployed combat aircraft. The Harriers will provide reconnaissance and close air support to coalition forces and the International Security Assistance Force.
The National Security Committee of the Australian cabinet has approved government acquisition of long-range, stealthy, self-guided land-attack cruise missiles for the Royal Australian Air Force's F/A-18 fighters and its P-3 Orion maritime surveillance aircraft.
Lockheed Martin has awarded DRS Technologies a $9.6 million contract to provide Launch Control Electronics for the MK 41 Vertical Launching System, DRS said Aug. 26. The VLS is on board the ships of allied navies and the U.S. Navy's Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers.
The U.S. Defense Department plans to take steps to make key satellites less vulnerable to various threats, including radiation from a high-altitude nuclear blast.
The market for basic and advanced lead-in trainer aircraft could be worth $42 billion from 2004-2025, spurred by the sales of fourth- and fifth-generation fighter aircraft, according to a new study by consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.
Senate leaders this week appointed a working group to examine how to reform the Senate's oversight of homeland security and intelligence as recommended by the 9/11 Commission. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Minority Leader Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) appointed the working group Aug. 24.
NASA is planning to use U.S. Navy radars to monitor space launches after data gathered in a recent launch showed they could be useful when the shuttle returns to flight. A pair of radars on loan from the USNS Pathfinder, an instrumentation ship, were used to track the launch of NASA's MEcury Surface, Space, ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) earlier this month (DAILY, Aug. 5) from Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
