As FAA continues to sort out rules for operating UAVs within the U.S., members of Congress are already moving to block the use of weaponized UAVs here. Spurred by reports about local police departments seeking weaponized UAVs, lawmakers of both parties are responding to concerns from their constituents to prevent the possibility that a U.S. citizen could be gunned down from the air.
Inmarsat CEO Rupert Pearce sees ISR data from unmanned aircraft as a significant driver of demand for the company’s upcoming Global Xpress Ka-band satellite service.
Boeing is restructuring the A160T Hummingbird unmanned helicopter program after experiencing “technical challenges,” including a voluntary grounding in place since a crash on April 17. Following the crash, the U.S. Army canceled plans to deploy three A160s to Afghanistan carrying the BAE Systems Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System (Argus-IS).
While many defense analysts have been downplaying the interest of the Pentagon and U.S. Navy in Arctic operations — saying the Coast Guard appears to be becoming the dominant U.S. player in the region — the chief of naval operations (CNO) says the service has been focusing on those waters for some time. “We’re working with the Canadians and with the Norwegian navy,” U.S. CNO Jonathan Greenert says. “We’ve been doing a series of exercises in the Arctic. So the concept of operations we’ve been developing for a number of years. Five, six years now.”
The Space Propulsion Group carried out a successful 11-sec. test firing of a developmental, 22-in. flight-class hybrid solid rocket motor fueled by paraffin and liquid oxygen
The U.S. Air Force has completed the first flight of an aircraft using alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) biofuel. The Fairchild A-10 completed the test flight from Eglin AFB, Fla., on June 28 “without any issues,” according to the service. The Air Force has approved fleet-wide certification of ATJ fuel, following previous efforts involving synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) fuel produced from coal and natural gas and hydrotreated renewable jet (HRJ) fuel derived from vegetable oils and animal fats.
On the site it had planned to assemble A330-based tankers for the U.S. Air Force, Airbus hopes to make its A320 family more competitive in the world’s biggest replacement market for single-aisle transports.
The threat of a biological catastrophe remains a concern for the U.S., and industry is not properly “incentivized” to tackle the problem, says the former vice chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Like cyber attacks, “bio is a 21st century threat and has an attribute of anonymity that other things like nuclear weapons did not have in the 20th century,” retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright recently told a small group of reporters.
As the U.S. Navy tries to get its fleet shipshape following years of neglect, the service has found a way to train its sailors to do a better job by learning the ropes on their own vessels and equipment. “Rear Adm. Dave Thomas, commander, Naval Surface Force, Atlantic (CNSL) and his team have established several waterfront initiatives over the past two years to deliver maintenance training directly to our sailors on the deckplates,” Adm. J.C. Harvey Jr., commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, says in a recent blog.
A student team from the University of Texas’ Austin campus succeeded in spoofing the GPS on an unmanned air vehicle at a range of 1 km and causing it to change position during a demonstration at the White Sands missile range in New Mexico.
GUARD CHIEF: President Barack Obama has nominated U.S. Army National Guard Lt. Gen. Frank Grass to be the next chief of the National Guard Bureau. If approved by the Senate, Grass will be the first Guard chief to serve a full term as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Grass currently serves as the deputy commander of Northern Command. He is nominated to succeed Gen. Craig McKinley of the Air Guard, who is retiring.
Rafael's Trophy Light active protection system (APS) made its debut at Eurosatory in Paris last month, demonstrated on a Rheinmetall Gavial light armored vehicle. The vehicle also carries a Samson Junior weapon station adapted for the 14.5-mm KVPT machine gun. Trophy Light was developed to protect light armored vehicles. As with other Trophy family systems, Trophy Light uses two sensors operating in unison—a network of four sensors covering 360 deg. and distributed electro-optical sensors that trigger the relevant countermeasure unit at close range.
Rafael, Israel's leading missile development center, has quietly been working on an air-to-air derivative of the Stunner interceptor, to be designated Python 6 or the Future Advanced Air-to-Air Missile (FAAM). The Stunner is a surface-to-air missile already being developed in partnership with Raytheon for Israel's David's Sling air and missile-defense system.
QATAR’S CHOICE: Qatar is looking at modernizing its helicopter force and is examining a range of options for naval rotorcraft. Options include the NH Industries NFH90, which has suffered from a dearth of new orders of late, with the U.S. offering a combination of 10 MH-60Rs and 12 MH-60S helicopters; six more MH-60S with the armed helicopter modification kit are offered as an option. The Pentagon, in notifying Congress about the potential deal, puts the price at an estimated $2.5 billion.
Turboshafts seem to last for generations, as many engine mechanics who have tended to just a handful of major types throughout their entire career can attest. Small wonder then that opportunities for new engine launches come along once in a blue Moon, particularly in the rarified world of heavy-lift helicopters.
The successful intercept of a cruise missile target on April 26 by a Lockheed Martin PAC-3 missile at the Utah Test and Training Range adds momentum to the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor (Jlens) integrated missile-defense program. Jlens, from Raytheon, deploys two aerostats, one with surveillance radar and the other with a fire-control radar, to detect and track multiple cruise missiles, as well as low-flying aircraft, ground vehicles and ballistic missiles.
OSPREY PAUSE: The Pentagon is moving forward with the delivery of the MV-22 Osprey aircraft to III Marine Expeditionary Force in Japan, but the Bell-Boeing tiltrotor will not fly there until the Japanese government receives the full results of investigations into recent V-22 mishaps in Morocco and Florida. Those findings are expected to be delivered in August.
There is a perfect fiscal storm brewing which some have been slow to recognize and has already reached our shores. The most significant element is the Category 5 hurricane known as “sequestration.” Mandated by the Budget Control Act passed last year days before the U.S. credit-rating downgrade, sequestration mandates significant cuts to both defense and discretionary domestic federal spending. It happens on Jan. 2, is automatic and can only be altered by a change in the law.
