CYBER STEP: The divide causing cybersecurity legislation to stall in the Senate hinges on whether or not the government can direct private companies to share information about attacks. But the Senate’s version of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill will take a limited step in that direction. The bill includes a provision that will require defense contractors to report breaches of their network and the loss of information on sensitive programs.
The Russian government recently announced two programs to further develop its transportation system and aircraft industry, but the support of local manufacturers will become less straightforward following the country's inclusion into the World Trade Organization this summer. The new transport development program, announced Nov. 23, covers all means of transportation and strives to increase the mobility of the population to 10,000 km (6,200 mi.) per person by 2020 from today's 7,000 km per person, according to the transport minister, Maxim Sokolov.
President Barack Obama, expected to soon begin announcing new members of his Cabinet, will be selecting the leader of the world's largest bureaucracy and filling one of the toughest jobs in the U.S. At least four names are being floated as replacements for Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and each is being greeted by defense industry officials with degrees of dismay.
As Hurricane Sandy wound its way north along the Atlantic Coast in late October, the storm appeared to be on a track to head harmlessly out to sea. But data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) polar orbiting weather satellites indicated that the deadly storm would take a sharp left turn and hit some of the most densely populated regions of the U.S., providing days of warning.
PARIS – Infrared sensor manufacturer Sofradir will acquire the IR detector facilities of Sagem and Thales, fortifying Sofradir’s position as a player in the global infrared imaging market.
The Pentagon’s warnings to North Korea not to replicate an April satellite launch this month come as U.S. defense officials are delaying the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) next planned flight test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, which has not achieved a successful intercept since 2008.
LONDON — The introduction into service of the MDBA Meteor air-to-air missile has moved another step closer with the first firing of the weapon from a Eurofighter Typhoon. A single Meteor was launched from the BAE Systems-operated Instrumented Production Aircraft (IPA) 6 during a sortie from the company’s facility at Warton in Lancashire on Dec. 4. The weapon was ejected from one of the aircraft’s rear semi-conformal missile stations and follows a series of trials involving unpowered missiles which demonstrated safe separation of the weapon.
The U.S. Air Force is scrapping a troubled $1 billion, seven-year effort to overhaul and modernize its management of logistics — and Senate Armed Services Committee leaders want to know who to hold accountable.
With less than a month to go before the budget penalty known as sequestration could kick in, the Obama administration has dropped another edict on the table: everyone start planning now. Administration officials maintain that the goal is unchanged: Sequestration should be avoided. It’s the directive to start detailed planning that is the big change.
Rolls-Royce (R-R) has passed details of an internal review to the U.K. Serious Fraud Office (SFO) relating to concerns about corruption in the Far East. In a statement on Dec. 6, the engine maker said the move followed requests for information from the SFO about what it calls “allegations of malpractice in Indonesia and China," adding that it has “identified matters of concern in these and in other overseas markets.”
NEW DELHI — Confirming early reports, India on Dec. 5 officially announced that Boeing’s Chinook CH-47F tandem-rotor helicopter has been chosen for the Indian air force (IAF), besting the Russian Mi-26. “In the proposal initiated by the IAF for the procurement of 15 heavy-lift helicopters, Boeing with [the] Chinook helicopter has emerged as the L1 [i.e., lowest-bidding] vendor,” Defense Minister A.K. Antony says. “The cost of the contract would depend upon outcome of the contract negotiation with the L1 Vendor, which has not yet concluded.”
LONDON — The Spanish government has given the green light for its navy to buy a pair of surplus U.S. Navy SH-60F Seahawk helicopters. Madrid will spend €24.5 million ($32 million) on the two aircraft, which are being purchased as an interim measure because of the delayed service entry of the naval version of the NHIndustries NH90 helicopter. Agreement on the purchase was reached by the Spanish government’s Council of Ministers on Nov. 30.
EADS shareholders and the governments of France, Germany and Spain yesterday agreed a new ownership structure for Europe’s biggest aerospace group after five days of intense negotiations. The complex agreement sees France and Germany each holding stakes of 12% in EADS and Spain a further 4%, changing a structure that provides France 15% and Spain 5.6%.
House Democrats are shuffling leadership positions on a number of committees that affect aerospace and defense. Rep. Nita Lowey (N.Y.) replaces outgoing Rep. Norm Dicks (Wash.) as the minority leader of the House Appropriations Committee. Dicks led the party on both the full committee and the defense subcommittee. The subcommittee role has not been formally decided yet, but Rep. Peter Visclosky (Ind.) is expected to fill that role.
After several years of the military supporting the civilian aerospace industry, the reverse is now the case — a trend likely to continue into 2013, according to the Aerospace Industries Association’s (AIA) annual year-end review and forecast.
NEW DELHI — India says it has not canceled its plans to buy 197 reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters, but “the procurement case is under examination,” according to Defense Minister A.K. Antony. The proposed deal, worth more than $2 billion, has been mired in controversy following allegations that an Indian official had solicited a bribe from bidder AgustaWestland. Antony has said that if any evidence is found of tender deviations or any other misconduct, the deal will be scrapped.
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has won the first two U.S. Air Force contracts aimed at fostering competition in the U.S. launch market over a new design proposed by Orbital Sciences. SpaceX will use its Falcon 9 v1.1 to boost NASA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) in November 2014 and the Falcon 9 Heavy for launch of a Space Test Program satellite in September 2015, says Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, program executive officer for Air Force space programs.
