Top U.S. military officials increasingly play down the preeminence of new technology development—in contrast to the previous administration. “There was some wrong-headed thinking when we dismissed the unchanging nature of war,” says the head of the Joint Forces Command, Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis.
General Dynamics has agreed to pay $643 million in cash to acquire Axsys Technologies, a Connecticut-based supplier of electro-optical and infrared sensors and multi-axis stabilized cameras. The deal, expected to close in the third quarter, would give General Dynamics an entree to the growing government infrared market and put it in competition with FLIR Systems, BAE Systems, Raytheon and Finmeccanica’s DRS Technologies. Axsys has 1,000 employees and projected sales of $280 million this year.
Capt. Peter Larsen has been named director of flight operations for Dubai-based Silver Air . Other new appointees are: Tim Lee, commercial director; Paulo Rodrigues, director of ground operations; and Capt. Lars Sondergaard, director of training and standards.
A report that could presage considerable changes in how London acquires defense equipment is expected to be made public in the next month or shortly thereafter. The work is being led by Bernard Gray, a former special adviser to the U.K. Defense Ministry. John Hutton, secretary of state for defense, says: “I have to be satisfied that the current program of change is sufficient to meet the challenges of the new combat environment that we now face.” Hutton adds: “Bernard Gray has conducted a thorough and wide-ranging analysis.
Planetary scientists are awaiting the first transmission of science data from NASA’s Kepler mission to arrive on June 18, after more than a month of staring at this stretch of sky seeking tiny variations in the light reaching its 1.4-meter (4.6-ft.) Schmidt telescope. Science data collection started May 12, after a 60-day checkout period. Researchers are pleased with the calibration data collected, which revealed “hundreds” of variable stars and binary stars eclipsing each other.
China Eastern Airlines and Air Macau will benefit from the latest cash injections in the seemingly endless funds flowing into Chinese airlines from the government and state companies.
What is the cost to procure 1,000 F-22s versus 1,000 F-35s (ignoring sunk costs)? I’m guessing USAF could get a great price on the F-22s as it is a known quantity—let’s say $130 million each ($130 billion). The cost of 1,000 F-35s is anybody’s guess but the February 2008 Defense Dept. estimate is $100 million each ($100 billion). But as historic Defense procurement shows, that estimate is based on unrealistic procurement rates and will likely double. The F-35 will be much more expensive than envisioned, not to mention less capable than the F-22.
The International Space Station will resemble a busy construction site during the upcoming visit of the space shuttle Endeavour, with 13 astronauts and cosmonauts overseeing a packed assembly schedule that will give a thorough workout to all three robotic arms available to them.
Obituary Paul Haney, a NASA mission commentator who explained Gemini and Apollo missions to the public as the voice of mission control from 1965-1969, died May 28 in Alamogordo, N.M., of melanoma. He was 80. Haney joined NASA in 1958, and was named director of public affairs at the Manned Spaceflight Center (now Johnson Space Center) in Houston in 1963. In that capacity he provided mission commentary through the Gemini flights and up to Apollo 9, when he left the agency to provide spaceflight commentary for Independent Television News in London.
The House of Representatives has passed the first-ever authorization bill for the Transportation Security Administration. Among its provisions, the bill would authorize the TSA to institute training in danger-detection and self-defense techniques for airline flight attendants. It would also allow it to spend $10 million for a new grant program to enhance perimeter, airfield and terminal security at general aviation facilities.
Hindustan Aeronautics and CAE have broken ground on the Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying in Bengaluru (Bangalore), India’s first Level-D simulator for pilots and maintenance personnel. The facility, due to open in mid-2010, is to have a capacity to train 400 pilots annually. Initial training will concentrate on military and civil versions of HAL’s Dhruv, the Bell 412 and Eurocopter Dauphin.
The outcome of two fighter competitions could dump two of the contenders out of the export market, reshaping the combat aircraft world. Large-scale purchases in Brazil and India are viewed as being of strategic importance among some of the players, and the impact of a loss in both could have far-reaching consequences.
The German civil aviation authority (LBA) has granted an air operators certificate to AeroLogic, the freight joint venture between Lufthansa Cargo and DHL Express that is to start commercial operations June 29. AeroLogic is based in Leipzig/Halle and will use a fleet of Boeing 777F freighters—the first 777s registered in Germany, according to the LBA. Eight 777Fs are on order through Deucalion Capital. Boeing delivered the first of them last month. The second is to arrive in July, with two more to follow in December.
President Hu Jintao has urged the Chinese air force “to constantly improve its ability to win local wars as well as accomplish diversified military tasks.” China should have “a powerful air force to meet the demands of the People’s Liberation Army for missions in the 21st century,” he adds. There was no detail on how that would be achieved.
The U.S. Air Force has finished testing of two threshold modes for its future ground surveillance radar, a milestone for the Northrop Grumman/Raytheon Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP).
Barry Smutny, head of EADS Astrium affiliate Tesat-Spacecom, has been appointed head of Germany-based OHB System . He succeeds Manfred Fuchs, who now chairs the supervisory board.
Chinese engineers are evaluating the possibility of a manned Moon landing between 2025 and 2030, says the designer of the country’s first lunar probe. There is still no formal government backing for a manned lunar landing, but Ye Peijian says the focus for one will be the five years after 2025. Next year China will launch its second lunar probe—Chang’e 2—which will survey Earth’s natural satellite in preparation for a robotic soft landing with Chang’e 3 by 2013, says Ye in remarks carried by the state news agency Xinhua. Chang’e 2 will orbit 100 km.
Bernhard Gerwert has become chairman of the supervisory board and Enzo Casolini (see photo) CEO of Germany-based Eurofighter GmbH . Gerwert is CEO of EADS Military Air Systems. Casolini was senior vice president of EADS Military Air Systems.
The second underground nuclear explosion, a ballistic missile test and a series of tactical missile launches by North Korea are certain signs of more trouble to come, say top U.S. military officials stationed in South Korea. But a major military event—either civil war or a major strike into the south—is considered remote.
EADS says it has wrapped up the risk-reduction phase for the advanced unmanned aircraft. The medium-altitude UAV study was supported by Germany, France and Spain. EADS is trying to convince governments to take the concept for the twinjet unmanned aircraft forward, but it is meeting opposition. Dassault, Thales and Indra have teamed to offer a system based on the Israel Aerospace Industries’ Heron-TP, arguing money should be spent on the system and sensors, not a new airframe. EADS counters that European countries need to sustain their air vehicle design expertise.
Remember the group of retired admirals and generals that issued a report warning climate change was becoming a national security concern? Now they’re urging the integration of national security and energy policies. The 12-member Military Advisory Board (MAB) says both dependence on fossil fuels and the nation’s fragile electrical grid pose threats to the country as a whole and the military in particular.
British government officials confirm that BAE Systems is being given a second opportunity to propose a Nimrod MRA4-based design as a replacement for the Royal Air Force’s Nimrod R1 communications and electronic intelligence aircraft. An initial BAE proposal was submitted in 2007 but was rejected on cost and risk grounds. High-ranking RAF officials have recently confirmed they continue to prefer the U.S.-built RC-135 Rivet Joint as a successor to the R1.
