A program to extensively modernize the radar, command and surface-to-air missile systems of Australia’s Anzac Class frigates is running on schedule and on budget, BAE Systems says.
This week’s Check 6 marks the start of a series of special features running before Aviation Week & Space Technology’s 100th anniversary in 2016 with a discussion of stealth and counter-stealth technology.
Much of the history of stealth has taken place under a shroud of secrecy that often hid important events from insiders as well as the public. It’s been a vast and often chaotic development, driven by technology, economics and geopolitics—and even the goals set 30 years ago have yet to be met.
The new shape of the Air Force’s bomber fleet relies on the outcome of a secretive project to lay the foundation for a new generation of U.S. stealth aircraft.
INMARSAT and AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA finished safety evaluation of satellite-based oceanic flight-tracking system on commercial flights by Qantas Airways, Virgin Australia. SIERRA NEVADA CORP. launched program to work with spaceports/commercial airports to designate them preferred landing sites for company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft.
Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) is concerned that a new Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation (DFARS Case 2013-D034) proposed by the Pentagon could hamper participation by cutting-edge commercial firms. The regulation “sends a signal that DOD has little interest in realistic commercial acquisition practices and will continue to operate under its archaic, defense-unique, cost-based oversight system,” McCain wrote Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Blue Origin have signed a production agreement for the liquid oxygen/liquefied natural gas (LNG) BE-4 rocket engine for the Vulcan launch vehicle.
Researchers backed by NASA and the U.S. military will have access to some data from Italy’s Cosmo-Skymed constellation of four X-band radar satellites, under an agreement that gives the Italian Space Agency (ASI) use of U.S. ground stations in Alaska and NASA post-doctoral scholarships for Earth-science research in the U.S.
Norway has been considered one of the most reliable and consistent international partners in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, but substantial cuts to its planned 56-aircraft buy are among options in the nation’s current defense planning cycle.
