An Ohio congressman is trying to prod the FAA into providing a timeline for when it will take the next step toward establishing six sites in the U.S. for testing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in civilian airspace.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Marietta, Ga., (FA8625-07-C-6471, P00160) is being awarded a $38,333,017 contract modification for support of the C-5 Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP) to procure two spare C-5 RERP RFI engines and RFI engine kits. The location of the performance is Marietta. The work is expected to be completed by May 30, 2014. The contracting activity is AFLCMC/WLSK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
Selected aerospace and defense contracts for the week of Nov. 19-23, 2012. AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Marietta, Ga., (FA8625-07-C-6471, P00160) is being awarded a $38,333,017 contract modification for support of the C-5 Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP) to procure two spare C-5 RERP RFI engines and RFI engine kits. The location of the performance is Marietta. The work is expected to be completed by May 30, 2014. The contracting activity is AFLCMC/WLSK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has found another weapon in the continuing battle to subdue the global piracy scourge: software. NRL has developed the Piracy Attack Risk Surface (PARS) project, which dynamically couples shipping, pirate behavior, and meteorology and oceanography (METOC) to identify areas that are subject to the greatest risk of pirate attack.
MOSCOW — On Nov. 22 the Russian air force received its first two Su-30SM fighters, domestic variants of the export best seller Su-30MKI. Thirty aircraft were ordered in March 2012. Deliveries to the military will continue in 2013 and last through 2015.
LONDON — The Italian army has unveiled plans to deploy its AgustaWestland AW129 Mangusta attack helicopters at sea. In a move that follows in the footsteps of several European countries, the army wants to be able to operate the Mangusta from the decks of Italian naval vessels — such as the flagship Cavour-class aircraft carrier — and provide “power projection from the sea.”
Singapore — Antonov is hoping to persuade Vietnam’s air force to upgrade its fleet of Antonov An-26s rather than phase out the aircraft. Industry executives say Vietnam’s air force is looking to replace its An-26s with new aircraft. Meanwhile, Antonov’s president, Dmytro Kiva, was in Hanoi this month as part of a Ukraine government trade delegation headed by the country’s prime minister, Nikolai Azarov.
While replacing the aging Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine remains a high priority, the U.S. Navy needs to make sure it contains costs to keep funding intact for other shipbuilding programs, the service’s director of undersea warfare says. “Another major factor in the cost discussion is ensuring our efforts to build Ohio Replacement are integrated into the overall Navy shipbuilding effort,” Rear Adm. Barry Bruner says in a recent blog.
BEIJING — Chinese national space contractor CASC has revealed a new medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV, the CH-4, which is primarily a civil aircraft, despite its exhibition at the Zhuhai air show this month toting bombs and surface-to-air missiles.
NAPLES, Italy — French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says France would favor proposed European legislation to classify electronic surveillance equipment as dual-use technology subject to export control. In testimony before French lawmakers Nov. 22, Le Drian said he backs a German proposal to designate spy software systems as dual-use exports, a move prompted earlier this year with the discovery that Muammar Gadhafi’s regime used a mass-surveillance system purchased from a division of French technology-maker Bull to spy on the Libyan public.
SALE SOUGHT: Indonesia’s state-owned aircraft maker Indonesian Aerospace (IAe) is hoping to secure a deal soon for the sale of more IAe CN-235s to the local armed forces. An IAe official says the company is seeking to secure a follow-on order in the coming weeks from the Indonesian navy for two CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) and an air force order for one CN-235 surveillance aircraft. The navy ordered three CN-235 MPAs in 2009. The new order would increase the total of CN-235 MPAs in the navy’s fleet to five, the official says.
During the 2006 conflict in southern Lebanon, about 25% of the Hezbollah-fired missiles struck populated areas in northern Israel. In the current conflict, while Israeli security is keeping a lid on where the Hamas and Jihadist missiles have landed, the very few deaths reported in Israel—in the single digits—indicate that the first five batteries of the short-range, Iron Dome missile defense system are surprisingly efficient.
Just 15.5 sec. after it was released from the Boeing B-52 mother ship over the Pacific, one of four control fins on the Boeing X-51A WaveRider hypersonic demonstrator unlocked. The unpowered fin swung fully trailing-edge down and stayed there as the booster accelerated the X-51A cruiser to its planned release at Mach 4.9.
Hypersonic technology is extremely difficult to master and high-speed travel generally involves long distances. These simple, but axiomatic principles of hypersonic studies not only dictate key areas of research but also, increasingly, influences who teams with whom.
India has made no secret of its hypersonic ambitions whether aimed at high-speed weapons, sub-orbital passenger transport or as a stepping stone to space. Now, key tests are set to begin for a technology demonstrator that could unlock some of these possibilities.
Unlike previous lightweight and compact weapons that proved highly suitable for guerrilla warfare techniques, the Iranian-made Fajr rockets supplied to Hamas in Gaza are significantly more devastating than earlier Grads and Qassams. Both the Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 carry a 90-kg (200-lb.) high-explosive warhead with massive fragmentation sheets made of steel balls that create extensive collateral damage. Analyses of attacks from 2006 to this year indicate the rockets could be equipped with a delay fuse to increase building penetration.
The first implementation directive for “Better Buying Power” (November 2010) by Ashton Carter, the then-undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics (USD/AT&L), concluded with the challenge, “Reduce Non-Productive Process and Bureaucracy.” Yet the memo added 16 tasks and reports. Similarly, “Better Buying Power 2.0” directs the defense acquisition workforce to “eliminate unproductive processes and bureaucracies.” The dictum institutes new processes while not detailing procedures, reports or reviews to be eliminated. The processes are addictive.
