So far there are no clues in the Fiscal 2010 defense budget about the F-22 program, says a senior U.S. Air Force official. Planning is afoot but Obama faces a dilemma, the official says. “He’s under pressure to retain high-tech manufacturing jobs, but he also needs to cancel high-cost programs to get Pentagon spending under control.” The Air Force chief of staff wants 60 more F-22s [see editorial]. He can live with a total of 243 Raptors if the F-35 ramps up to high rate production [of 110 per year].
ATK will ship the four solid-fuel rocket segments that will make up the business end of NASA’s planned Ares I-X flight test vehicle to its Florida launch site early this month, as the first version of the next U.S. crew launch vehicle begins taking shape. Transporters moved the segments through the snow to their pre-ship hangar at ATK’s Promontory, Utah, facility.
Aerojet engineers are evaluating results from a hot-fire test series of the roll control thruster it is developing for NASA’s planned Ares I crew launch vehicle. NASA awarded Aerojet the contract two years ago for a development based on the company’s MR-80 600-lb.-thrust monopropellant rocket, which used its throttling capability of more than 70:1 to ease the two landers onto the surface of Mars.
With all the rhetoric on which rotorcraft to pick for the next combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) helicopter, you would think it will be easy. And it is: If the AW101 is good enough to pick up the U.S. president, it should be good enough to pick up a downed aviator!
NASA may try to launch the space shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station on Mar. 12, pending progress on an evaluation of suspect gaseous hydrogen valves in each of the orbiter’s three main engines. If it looks like the work won’t be finished, the shuttle would need to wait on the pad while Russia delivers fresh crewmembers on a Soyuz vehicle. In that case, Discovery’s launch would slip to Apr. 6 to avoid having two vehicles docked to the station at once. Managers will meet again Mar.
Eclipse Aviation is expected to cease operations after its directors supported a move by major creditors to convert the struggling very-light-jet manufacturer’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to Chapter 7 liquidation. The move was prompted by majority shareholder ETIRC Aviation’s inability to raise the financing to close its proposed $188-million buyout of the company’s assets. Eclipse has laid off its 800 employees.
Two key command-and-control systems being developed by the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force still need polishing, according to the annual report by the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E). The Marines’ Common Aviation Command and Control System—meant to be the primary air operations planning and command-and-control tool for the Marine Aircraft Wing—“performed poorly” during its operational assessment in the past fiscal year, the report states. The Air Force’s Battle Control System-Fixed also has developmental problems, says the DOT&E.
Workers at EADS Astrium in Bremen, Germany, and elsewhere are hard at work preparing the second Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) for its launch to the International Space Station in mid-2010. Now the vehicle has a name—the Johannes Kepler. The German astronomer, born in 1571, is best known for working out laws of planetary motion. “The next ATV mission will be the confirmation of Europe’s commitment to and interest in the ISS for the years to come as the first step in a global space exploration effort,” says Simonetta Di Pippo, director of human spaceflight at ESA.
Spacecraft named for two more European scientists are in place for an Apr. 16 launch to the L2 Sun-Earth Lagrange Point, with the arrival Feb. 18 of ESA’s Planck observatory at the European launch center near Kourou, French Guiana. Named for Max Planck, the German physicist who helped found quantum theory, the 1,900-kg. (4,189-lb.) spacecraft will use a six-step cooling system and a 1.5-meter (4.9-ft.) primary mirror to measure variations in the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation left over after the Big Bang.
Military and intelligence officials are keeping an eye on Mexico and not just because the violence of its warring narcotics cartels is slopping over the border. Officials at the Marine Corps Combat Development Command have added Mexico to potential trouble spots that could pose national security problems between 2014-25. The drug violence, population growth and proximity to the U.S. could prompt massive migration north with accompanying instability, Col. Steve Zotti tells visiting reporters and editors from the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism.
Carbon-fiber main rotor blades are being developed and flight tested by Olympia, Wash.,-based Northwest Helicopters for the Bell UH-1H, 205 and 212. The blades, made up of a Nomex honeycomb core, carbon-fiber reinforced composite spar and a stainless steel leading edge abrasion strip, weigh 185 lb. each, 30 lb. less than the existing metal blades, and have a swept tip for lower drag. The units are designed to improve hot-and-high performance as well as to provide greater endurance, and are expected to be approved for military and commercial use on the UH-1H in July.
French engine maker Turbomeca made a record 1,313 turboshafts in 2008 and topped the billion Euro revenue mark for the first time, hitting €1.103 ($1.39 billion). Although girding itself for challenges in 2009, it remains committed to spending up to 9% of sales on research and development for long-term development. Plans remain firm to double staff to 180 by 2011-12 at the new manufacturing site in Monroe, N.C., where it makes Arriel engines for the U.S. Army and commercial customers.
The Obama White House has opted to retain another senior political appointee at the Pentagon, along with Defense Secretary Robert Gates who was held over from the Bush days. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley will stay on board overseeing the service, which is beset with acquisition problems and nuclear weapon management issues.
Funding for the second phase of a broad-ranging U.K. research program into operation of unmanned aerial vehicles in nonrestricted airspace is now expected to come online in April, several months later than originally planned.
Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport is handling barely half the freight volumes of a few years ago, as the economic crisis accelerates Taiwan’s decline as a manufacturing exporter. In January, the airport handled only 72,213 metric tons of freight, compared with the average of 142,000 tons a month in 2005. The lunar new year holiday in January contributed to the fall, but monthly throughput has been well below 100,000 tons in recent months. Taiwanese manufacturing has steadily moved to China during this decade.
Rockwell Collins and L-3 Integrated Systems have handed over the first modernized Block 1 E-6B Mercury. The upgrade corrects deficiencies identified during operational testing of the E-6B, a modification of the Navy’s Boeing E-6A submarine-communications aircraft to take on the Air Force’s airborne command post mission. Block 1 addresses operator workload sharing and mission system obsolescence while providing an open systems architecture and multi-level network security.
Where the Joint Strike Fighter is headed remains to be seen. This Lockheed Martin photo of BF-1, a test aircraft for the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant, was taken while the aircraft was in conventional flight—without the Stovl lift system engaged. Whether the massive fighter program achieves true Stovl capability will become clearer in coming months, as will many other issues in the complicated JSF world (coverage begins on p. 42).
Canada’s Field Aviation has received a follow-on contract from the Japan Coast Guard for three more Bombardier Dash 8 Q300 maritime surveillance aircraft, taking the total to eight, to be delivered by January 2011. Toronto-based Field modifies the Q300 with search radar, electro-optical sensor, mission avionics, observation windows and air-operable rear cargo door and fuselage drop hatch.
The U.S. Army plans a quick demonstration of multiple small munitions on the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed scout helicopter, with flight tests planned by September. The Aviation Applied Technology Directorate plans discussions with Alliant Techsystems for GATR, BAE Systems for APKWS and Lockheed Martin for DAGR—all laser-guided 2.75-in. rockets—as well as Raytheon for the Griffin mini-missile and Textron for Sharp Shooter.
The future of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter hinges on decisions to be made in the course of the next several months. Debates are raging over budget, purchasing, capability and technology. Some nations are looking to become new customers while a few existing partners are reconsidering their approach. Testing progresses, although significant milestones have yet to be achieved, while the impact of leadership changes in Washington is too new to be fully understood.
The long debate about whether non-U.S. users can modify or replace the classified software that runs the electronic warfare (EW) detection, identification, self-defense and attack systems of the F-35 is over. The answer is “no,” says U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles Davis, program executive officer for the Joint Strike Fighter.
The U.S. Air Force estimates an unidentified foreign government has “stolen” 10-20 terabytes of information from unclassified military networks, says Linda Mills, president of Northrop Grumman’s information systems sector. Speaking last month at the 2009 Armed Forces Communications and Electronics West Conference, Mills called for increased government spending and attention for what she termed “cyberintelligence.” In particular, she suggests more development of so-called cyber ranges for testing.
The British government needs to consider whether it could face having to walk away from the Airbus Military A400M airlifter, while one of the project’s export customers also is voicing concern over mounting program delays.
Australia shows no sign of relaxing its specification for Boeing 737 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft. “We have made no concessions to Boeing,” says project manager Air Vice Marshall Chris Deeble. “Neither have they sought any concessions to a reduction in the performance.” Boeing says testing in April and May will reveal whether the aircraft meets the contract. The program is running more than three years late.
The British Defense Ministry last week published its Defense Technology Plan (DTP) for the first time, intended to provide industry with a guide to where the ministry plans to focus its future R&T spending. The publicly available—and therefore unclassified—version of the plan includes top level R&D objectives for air platforms and weapons systems, including development of manned and unmanned systems. It also identifies broad interest in research into high-endurance long-range UAVs, and strike UAV concepts.
