Flight tests of the Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) upgrade system are underway for use on three U.S. Army Special Operations Forces helicopter fleets. An MH-60K, MH-60L and MH47E were fitted with the system at the Bluegrass Army Depot, Ky. Two of the aircraft flew to Nashville for the Army Aviation Association of America's conference last week. Flight tests are expected to continue through the summer and the system is expected to become operational on the fleets by the end of the year.
Orbital Recovery Ltd. has approved production of its ConeXpress space tug to begin this September, in anticipation of a first launch in 2007, the company announced March 29. The primary mission of the ConeXpress Orbital Recovery System (ORS) would be to attach itself to a host satellite to maintain its proper orbit after the satellite's onboard fuel has run out. It also could be used to rescue spacecraft stranded in the wrong orbit, according to the company.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Although the U.S. Army has not yet finished requirements for the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter it plans to acquire, there is no doubt it will want an aircraft that has a high degree of survivability, transportability and connectivity with other forces, according to a service official.
MOSCOW - Gregory Olsen, CEO of New Jersey-based Sensors Unlimited Inc., plans to become the latest "space tourist" to fly to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz vehicle. Olsen is scheduled to fly to the station in April 2005, according to Space Adventures of Arlington, Va., which brokered the deal and also organized the space flights of the previous private station visitors, Dennis Tito and Mark Shuttleworth.
The global undersea warfare market is projected to increase 13.1 percent from 2004 to 2013 compared with a prediction made just last year, according to research group Forecast International (FI). The projected increase is due to advances in weapons and sensor technologies for submarines, FI senior naval analyst Stuart Slade says in the March 29 report. The projection issued last year covered the period 2003 to 2012.
JCM TESTS: Lockheed Martin and EDO Corp. successfully conducted additional Joint Common Missile (JCM) launcher and missile integration tests on F/A-18 E/F and C/D aircraft earlier this month, Lockheed Martin said March 29. The company is competing with teams led by Boeing-Northrop Grumman and Raytheon to build the JCM, which is to replace the Maverick and Hellfire missiles.
NATO efforts to develop surveillance aircraft and cooperate with Russia on missile defense are advancing as planned, the head of the alliance said March 29.
ARMY AVIATION: The U.S. Army is considering appointing a two- or three-star general to oversee all of the service's aviation efforts, says Lt. Gen. Richard Cody, Army deputy chief of staff. With aviation accounting for a big chunk of the Army's budget, and in light of the recently announced restructuring of aviation programs, such a position may be warranted to ensure aviation receives adequate high-level attention, Cody says.
April 6 - 7 -- DoD Chemical Biological Advance Planning Briefing for Industry (APBI), Kossiakoff Center, Laurel, Md. Contact Angie Gress at (703) 247-2568, email [email protected], or go to www.ndia.org. April 11 - 12 -- SPIE International Symposium: Technologies and Systems for Defense and Security 2004, Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center, Orlando (Kissimmee), Fla. For information go to www.spie.org/info/or/.
NEW DELHI - Russia has assured India that work on the first of three upgraded Ilyushin Il-38 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft scheduled for delivery to the Indian navy will be completed within six months. Work will begin on the aircraft in the next two months, a navy official said. The upgrades include the installation of Ilyushin Design Bureau's new Sea Dragon mission system. The remaining two aircraft will be completed next year.
VTOL NEEDS: The technology needs of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft will be examined at the 11th biennial Helicopter Military Operations Technology Specialists Meeting (HELMOT XI). The conference aims to "stimulate dialogue among military, civilian and industry technologists, developers and operators concerning the development, transition and use of critical technologies that enhance and sustain joint service VTOL aviation," according to an announcement of the event. The conference is scheduled for Oct.
COMPETING RESOLUTIONS: House members expect to go to conference with the Senate as early as Tuesday on their competing versions of the fiscal 2005 budget resolution. They could complete the conference and vote on the non-binding resolution, which is aimed at guiding spending policy, by the end of the week. The Department of Defense has requested $401.7 billion for FY '05. The Senate Budget Committee trimmed $7 billion from its version of the resolution but the House committee did not agree, saying the defense request should not be cut.
Mojave Airport in California has become the first inland site to file for a commercial spaceport license with the FAA and hopes to receive the license soon, according to airport manager Stu Witt. The license will authorize the operation of runway-launched winged space vehicles rather than vertically launched rockets, according to Witt. "The two concepts which we anticipate our license identifying will be that of Scaled Composites and that of XCOR Aerospace," Witt told The DAILY.
STAUNCH SUPPORTER: A bipartisan group of lawmakers are hosting a U.S.-Italy "military and aerospace industry conference" on March 30, aimed at boosting collaboration on defense technology programs. "Italy has been a staunch supporter of the United States in the global war on terror and was a vital ally in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the past, the United States and Italy have cooperated on numerous defense and aerospace programs," says Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), one of the lawmakers hosting the event.
A European Union (EU) decision to end its 15-year ban on military sales to China would significantly hinder the U.S. defense industry, two industry analysts told The DAILY. EU heads of state decided at a summit in Brussels last week to delay a decision about the ban until EU foreign ministers discuss it in a meeting scheduled for this week, said Heritage Foundation senior policy analyst John Hulsman.
AIR DEFENSE: Russia's minister of defense, Sergey Ivanov, says the country's future air and space defense system will "consolidate all the state's resources, including civilian aviation." This could mean that civil air traffic management will be consolidated under military control, Russian observers say. Some military officials have complained about Western countries competing to provide air traffic management systems in Russia's far east and central region. Ivanov spoke to the media last week after observing an air attack simulation in the Tver region.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - U.S. Army researchers say they plan to expand the kinds of weapons fired in tests from unmanned aerial vehicles. The use of armed Predator UAVs by non-Army U.S. forces in recent military operations has helped fuel the Army's interest in such platforms. "Certainly, the weaponization of UAVs is a very hot and interesting topic right now, and we're doing some things along those lines, too," said Col. William Gavora, commander of the Army's Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD), based at Fort Eustis, Va.
The NATO Response Force (NRF) will serve as a "forcing mechanism" for military transformation within NATO member countries by requiring interoperability between the systems that are contributed to it, according to Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
Boeing conducted the latest in a series of successful tests and demonstrations last week of the company's prototype future battle management system for joint military commanders. The tests focus on reducing the risk of fielding the complex, network-centric systems, Boeing said in a statement. The risk reduction events began in 2003.
SPACE COMMAND: Air Force Space Command has awarded SI International, Inc. a contract to support Space Command, U.S. Strategic Command, North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Northern Command and other government agencies. The contract has a 3.5-year base period, with options that could boost its value to $800 million.
S&T: The U.S. Department of Defense increased the amount for hypersonics research in the fiscal 2005 budget request primarily to support the Single Engine Demonstration (SED), says Ronald Sega, director of defense research and engineering. The SED will integrate the Air Force's Hypersonic Technology (HyTech) engine with Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency air vehicle technology (DAILY, March 22).
