HOT UAVs: The future of Army aviation includes a growing role for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, says Col. Robert P. Birmingham, program manager for the Army's newest helicopter, the Comanche. "These things are getting very, very hot, both in concept and operation," he says. "[Within] the United States and around the world, we're going to be operating with UAVs out there." Efforts toward how to integrate UAVs with other aircraft deconfliction as well as defining the role they will play are now underway, but there are still a lot of unknowns, Birmingham notes.
DRS Technologies, Inc., of Parsippany, N.J., has been awarded a $29 million contract, including options, to produce AN/AQH-13 Acoustic Data Recorders and associated equipment for the upgrade of the U.S. Navy P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. The next-generation, high-capacity commercial-off-the-shelf-based recorders provide improved performance, reduced operating costs and lower weight and are designed to be plug-compatible replacements for two existing systems installed on each aircraft, the company said April 6.
NASA's next shuttle mission to the International Space Station Alpha will deliver a Canadian-built robotic arm that is longer, stronger and more flexible than the one used by the shuttle fleet. After taking off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on April 19, the Shuttle Endeavour will deliver Canadarm2, the centerpiece of Canada's contribution to the international station. The shuttle will also use the second Italian-built logistics module, called Raffaello, to deliver equipment to the station.
OLD NAVY: Any future top-line budget increases will not be enough for the Navy to replace its fleet of aging aircraft. "We won't replace all legacy systems," says Chenevey. He believes the fleet will be maintained through a combination of select new acquisitions and remanufacturing. "We have to figure out better ways to repair these planes." More effective standoff weapons will also play an important role in extending aircraft life, Chenevey says.
INTELLIGENCE POST: Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) will fill a vacant seat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The position became open due to the recent death of Rep. Norm Sisisky (D-Va.), who also was ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services procurement subcommittee.
BAE SYSTEMS and AEROJET have been selected by NASA to build the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS). ATMS, a satellite microwave instrument, will improve weather forecasting and assist in global climate research. The companies were awarded the $206 million contract in December by NASA's Office of Earth Sciences. The space-based ATMS instrument will measure microwave energy in the atmosphere. When combined with data from an infrared sounder, ATMS will provide daily global atmospheric temperature, moisture and pressure profiles.
McCOY'S NASA? Who should replace NASA Administrator Dan Goldin? House Science space subcommittee Chairman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) thinks that former Acting Secretary of the Air Force Tidal McCoy would make a fine choice and has recommended him and two unidentified people to the Bush Administration. McCoy is now chairman of the Space Transportation Association and vice president of government relations at Thiokol Corp., which makes propulsion boosters for rockets.
MATRA BAe Dynamics has reported further success with the integration program of its Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) from the Boeing/MDC F/A-18 Hornet. This followed a new series of firing trials completed in March by the U.S. Navy at its Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md. The unguided firing tests were part of a series being undertaken by the USN on behalf of the Royal Australian air force, which was the first export customer for ASRAAM, to arm about 60 of its 71 F/A-18A/B Hornets.
NEW SKIES SATELLITES N.V. of the Netherlands has been granted full authority to serve customers in the United States market by the Federal Communications Commission. To date, U.S. customers were allowed to use New Skies satellites only until August 2002, a temporary restriction that has been removed. In March 2000, Congress passed the ORBIT Act, which addressed the privatization of intergovernmental satellite organizations, including Intelsat and its spin-off, New Skies.
A new circuit breaker technology could one day help prevent wiring-related disasters, as well as significantly cut down on inspection and maintenance costs for aging aircraft. The arc fault circuit breaker (AFCB), currently under development at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, is designed to detect and prevent electrical arcing caused by breaks in wire insulation before that arcing can lead to a fire or other catastrophe.
GATEWAY ONLINE: Iridium Satellite LLC's next satellite gateway to open will be in Fucino, Italy, sometime in the late spring or early summer, according to the company. The satellite constellation's original owner went bankrupt, but the new owner, Iridium Satellite LLC, is starting up its commercial service, with voice calls offered now and data transmission coming June 1.
TOO MUCH INFO: Could the information-gathering capabilities of military reconnaissance systems such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) one day outpace our ability to process that information? "It's always a concern that you develop sensors and processing capability in parallel fashion," says Col. Joe Spivey, deputy director for ISR collection systems. "The question, I think, is what does the future hold for us? We may get to the point where our technology for collection exceeds our technology for processing. So we're trying to make sure that they're parallel efforts."
The name "QinetiQ" was "carefully chosen as the outright winner from an original list of 400" to be the new identity of 75% of the British government's Defence, Evaluation&Research Agency (DERA) when it becomes a public limited company on July 2, the agency announced. According to NewDERA, which is the Public Private Partnership section hived off from DERA's previous trading fund status to become a PLC, the catchy - if difficult to pronounce - new name is derived from the Greek "kinetikos", relating to movement or motion.
HEARING MARS: The Planetary Society's Mars Microphone will hitch a ride to the red planet on the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) Netlander mission in 2007. CNES, the national space agency of France, will deploy four landers on the surface of Mars and network them together to study the deep interior, geology and atmosphere of Mars. Another Mars Microphone launched on NASA's Mars Polar Lander in 1999, but was lost with that mission.
SURVEILLANCE STUDY: The U.S. and China plan to convene meetings of military experts to examine "all aspects" of the April 1 crash between a U.S. Navy EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance plane and a Chinese F-8 fighter jet, says Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-Va.). The meetings, which are part of an effort to lessen U.S.-Chinese tension over the crash, will include a look at how reconnaissance missions should be performed in the future to avoid more accidents. Warner says such missions are dangerous but essential.
INTEGRAL SYSTEMS, Inc., of Lanham, Md., has been awarded a contract from EchoStar Communications Corp. to provide the primary and backup control software for the EchoStar VII, VIII and IX satellites, scheduled for future launch. EchoStar VII is a Lockheed Martin A2100 satellite, while EchoStar VIII and IX are both Space Systems/Loral FS1300 satellites. EchoStar's existing control center, also provided by Integral Systems, will be expanded to incorporate the three additional satellites.
After years of restructuring, the RAH-66 Comanche program appears to be on a smoother, albeit demanding, path toward engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) as the U.S. Army begins its transition toward its objective force. Comanche, produced by a Boeing/Sikorsky team, was built to meet the tenets of the objective force. It will eventually be the replacement for scout and light attack helicopters in the Army.
THE BOEING CO.'S Delta II 7320-10 expendable was picked by NASA to launch the Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer Spacecraft. The firm-fixed price contract option is covered under the NASA Launch Services contract awarded by the Kennedy Space Center on June 16, 2000 to Delta Launch Services, Inc., of Huntington Beach, Calif. Using multiple instruments, Swift is the first-ever spacecraft designed to detect, observe and characterize gamma ray bursts in several different wavelengths.
HUGHES ELECTRONICS CORP. has successfully completed its acquisition of Telocity Delaware, Inc., which the company said gives it the ability to offer, on a national basis, a portfolio of consumer entertainment and information services that include digital multi-channel television and high-speed wired and satellite broadband Internet access.
The futuristic ion engine powering NASA's Deep Space 1 probe toward an encounter with Comet Borrelly this September has run for more than 10,000 hours - 50 times longer than was initially required. The engine only needed to complete 200 hours of operation to be considered a success. But on March 21, it passed the 10,000-hour mark and it is expected to exceed 14,000 hours by the time it wraps up the mission at the comet, NASA said.
Agusta Aerospace Corp. has selected the BFGoodrich Co.'s collision avoidance, navigation and standby instrumentation systems for the A-109 E Power helicopter, which it supplies to the U.S. Coast Guard. The initial order is to outfit the helicopters with the BFGoodrich TCAS I Collision Avoidance Systems and Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) systems as well as model AI-803 Standby Attitude Indicators.
Delivery of the Air Force's newest C-17s, which include new equipment, began in late March, the Air Force announced April 5. The Block 12 C-17s are the first to incorporate Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) and the Extended Range Fuel System (ERF). GATM is a concept for satellite-based communication, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management, and give the C-17 the capacity to fly in civilian routes. It includes an improved Multifunction Display and the Traffic Collision Avoidance System.
SPEEDIER SUPPLEMENTALS: House Armed Services Committee member Walter Jones (R-N.C.), whose congressional district includes Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station and several other military and Coast Guard installations, is proposing legislation that would set up an expedited process for Congress to consider Defense Dept. and Coast Guard supplemental spending bills. Jones' bill would restrict debate and procedural motions and limit a supplemental to ammunition procurement and other critical items.
CORRECTION: An article in The DAILY of April 6 gave the wrong name for the nominated commander of the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command. He is Major Gen. Joseph Cosumano.
UCAVS AT SEA: The Navy is on track to eventually deploy Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs) at sea, although there are still safety issues that must be addressed, according to Rear Adm. John V. Chenevey. "Clearly we have a roadmap that takes us to a carrier-based UCAV, and we will get there," says Chenevey.
