COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A space wargame being held this week at Schriever Air Force Base here will help the Army generate space-related requirements, according to Brig. Gen. Richard V. Geraci, deputy commanding general of Army Space Command. "You start talking and you start generating requirements," Geraci said in an interview last week as the week-long game began. "You say, 'You know, if our satellites had this capability and they could perform this way, we may be able to minimize casualties, be able to execute a mission in more rapid manner.'"
The Defense Department is trying to find promising technologies that could quadruple the military's deployable electric power supply within 10 years, a senior DOD official said Feb. 25. "Our power needs are insatiable," said Al Shaffer, director of plans and programs for Defense Research and Engineering. The military's electrical supply crunch was a key theme of his speech at the Non-Lethal Weapons conference in Alexandria, Va., which was sponsored by the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement.
U.S. Central Command and Air Force officials plan to launch a massive humanitarian aid effort in tandem with a possible conflict in Iraq, according to a top Air Force official. "... There are task forces and organizations laid in specifically to deal with this problem should it emerge," Air Combat Command chief Gen. Hal Hornburg told reporters Feb. 14 at the Air Force Association Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla.
PRAGUE - An investigation is underway after a Czech Air Force L-159 light combat aircraft crashed Feb. 24 in central Bohemia. The incident, in which the pilot was killed, took place at the military training zone near Jince. A defense official told The DAILY that the pilot was one of the most experienced in the air force. Shortly after the crash, defense minister Jaroslav Tvrdik flew to the scene accompanied by chief of staff Pavel Stefka and air force commander Jan Vachek.
COLLIER WINNER: Sikorsky's S-92 helicopter has been named the winner of the 2002 Robert J. Collier Trophy, the National Aeronautic Association said Feb. 24. The helicopter was selected because it incorporates multiple improvements in safety, operating cost and traveling comfort, the NAA said. The S-92 is the fifth rotorcraft to win the trophy, according to the NAA.
DELIVERY: Rolls-Royce has delivered its 500th AE 2100D turboprop engine, the sole powerplant for the Lockheed Martin C-130J and Lockheed/Alenia C-27J tactical airlifters, the company said Feb. 24. The AE 2100 is a turboprop derivative of the AE 1107 turboshaft engine, the company said.
Northrop Grumman's X-47A Pegasus unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had its long-awaited first flight Feb. 24 at the Naval Air Warfare Center - Weapons Division at China Lake, Calif., remaining aloft for 12 minutes and reaching a maximum altitude of 3,000 feet. A largely company-funded effort, the Pegasus is intended to demonstrate technologies associated with the Navy's Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV-N) program, which is developing an aircraft carrier-based UAV capable of strike and reconnaissance missions.
TEAMING UP: General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems will work with TDA Armaments SAS, a joint venture of Thales and EADS Deutschland, to pursue business opportunities for 120mm rifled mortar systems with the U.S. military, the company said Feb. 24. Under the agreement, General Dynamics will become the sole U.S. licensee for the loading, manufacture and production of seven types of 120mm rifled mortar ammunition rounds for use in TDA's 120mm rifled mortar guns.
Boeing's 777-300 ER (extended range) completed its first flight on Feb. 24, the Boeing Co. said. The three-hour flight begins a 1,600-hour flight-test program that's expected to bring U.S. government certification by early next year, the company said. The 777-300ER took off from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., and landed at Seattle's Boeing Field a little over three hours later. During the flight, it reached an altitude of 15,000 feet and an air speed of 0.50 Mach, or about 370 miles per hour, Boeing said.
Improving quality control at Boeing Satellite Systems will have to be a top priority if the unit's new director is to overcome a perception that its satellites are unreliable, according to a leading U.S. space analyst. Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) also will have to find a way to build cheaper satellites to attract new customers, according to Marco Caceres, space analyst with the Teal Group.
The head of United Kingdom defense procurement on Feb. 24 expressed deep frustration with the pace of transatlantic trade reforms sought by the U.S. government. "We do feel we have a long way to go for this to be characterized as defense cooperation," Lord Willy Bach said at a U.K.-U.S. defense industry seminar organized by defense industry advocacy groups from both countries. Bach hailed heavy British participation in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, but he said more progress is necessary.
The U.S. Coast Guard is assessing the way ahead for its Deepwater program after congressional appropriators made key changes to the service's plans for two types of aircraft, a Coast Guard spokesman said Feb. 24. The recently enacted fiscal 2003 transportation appropriations act provides $147 million for two maritime patrol aircraft (MPA). The Coast Guard originally planned to buy the aircraft in FY '03 but later proposed holding off due to future funding constraints (DAILY, Feb. 18).
Launching the next phase of an export control review process, the U.S. Department of Defense is seeking weapon programs as candidates for international participation. A group of 20-25 U.S. weapon contracts will be chosen, said Lisa Bronson, deputy undersecretary of defense for technology, security policy and counterproliferation.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will cooperate with unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to autonomously detect mines in a demonstration scheduled to take place in May at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. According to David Knichel, robotics technology systems analyst at the U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center at Fort Leonard Wood, countermine operations in the Objective Force will have to be automated because of the relatively small number of personnel in the basic brigade, or Unit of Action. A Unit of Action is expected to include between 1,800 and 2,400 personnel.
Two members of the House Armed Services Committee are forming a bipartisan Defense Study Group to allow lawmakers to converse with leading defense thinkers. In a Jan. 29 letter urging House members to join the caucus, Reps. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Vic Snyder (D-Ark.) wrote that they are creating the group because national security issues are receiving increasing attention.
Following the lead of Standard & Poor's, credit analysts with Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Services lowered the ratings for BAE Systems PLC due to concerns about the company's debt and cash flow. Moody's downgraded BAE Systems' long-term debt rating from "A2" to "Baa1" and the company's short-term debt rating from "prime 1" to "prime 2." The rating outlook is negative.
NEW DELHI - Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir, the head of Pakistan's air force, died in a plane crash Feb. 20 en route to inspect the Kohat air base. Mir, his wife, and 16 others, including senior air force officials, died when their Fokker 27 went down over mountainous terrain near the border with Afghanistan.
PRAGUE - The Czech Republic has decided to postpone a decision on the protection of its airspace for three months, according to defense minister Jaroslav Tvrdik. Tvrdik had been expected to present options on air defense to the Czech cabinet next month. But he told journalists in Prague Feb. 20 that the coalition government has decided to hold off from a final decision until May because of ongoing Czech presidential elections and "foreign political crises."
FIRST FLIGHT: The first flight of Boeing's new 777-300ER (extended range) aircraft tentatively is planned for Feb. 24, the company says. The aircraft underwent taxi tests at Paine Field in Everett, Wash., on Feb. 20, which included several low- and high-speed runs, building to a top speed of about 140 miles per hour, Boeing says.
The U.S. Air Force has authorized International Launch Services (ILS) to begin work on the company's first military launch on an Atlas V evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV), ILS announced Feb. 21. The Atlas V will launch the Wideband Gapfiller Satellite-2 (WGS-2) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., no earlier than December 2004. The Air Force authorized ILS this month to begin integrating the Atlas V with the WGS-2.
