The U.S. Air Force is gearing up to set another round of firsts with the pending third launch of the Boeing X-37B, but what those milestones may be will remain as much of a mystery as it has been with the recently completed second flight. Looking relatively pristine after its fiery reentry through the atmosphere, the second X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-2) completed a record-breaking 15-month classified mission with a textbook autonomous landing at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on June 16.
FORT WORTH — Lockheed Martin plans to conduct intercept flight tests with its Extended Area Protection and Survivability (EAPS) counter-rocket, artillery and mortar system in the second half of this year, says Jonathan Crawford, international business development analyst for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. Lockheed Martin is under contract with the U.S. Army to develop EAPS as part of a competitive program. Northrop Grumman also is working on a concept.
EDWARDS AFB, Calif. — A heavily modified version of the Boeing X-48 blended wing body (BWB) remotely piloted research aircraft is set to begin a six-month flight-test program next week at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. The X-48C is a rebuilt, twin-engine derivative of the three-engine X-48B tested between 2007 and 2011. In this new configuration the engines are mounted farther forward from the trailing edge and shielded between vertical tails that are moved inboard and replace wingtip-mounted tails.
EDWARDS AFB, Calif. — Boeing and its X-51A team partners are ready to attempt a third test of the scramjet-powered hypersonic demonstrator following modifications to avoid problems that cut short the last flight in June 2011. The missile-like vehicle is being prepared at Boeing’s Palmdale, Calif., facility and will be transferred to nearby Edwards AFB for the flight, which will take place over the Pacific test range after launch from a B-52H carrier aircraft. “The vehicle is nearly ready for shipping,” says Boeing X-51A Program Manager Joe Vogel.
NEW DELHI — India’s government on June 22 approved acquisition projects for its armed forces worth $4 billion, ranging from aircraft and missiles to guns and command-and-control systems. The Defense Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defense Minister A.K. Antony, authorized the Indian army to receive 14 Dornier reconnaissance aircraft from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., and eight regiments of Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missiles (QRSAMs), a ministry official says. The Dornier aircraft order is worth around $200 million, he adds.
HOOD RIVER, Ore. — The U.S. Navy is moving to integrate the Harpoon anti-ship weapon on the P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, replacing the SLAM-ER previously slated for that role. The change is linked to weapons availability, says Fred Smith, director of business development for surveillance and engagement for Boeing. India also will receive the Harpoon. The P-8 also will be able to employ the Mk. 54 torpedo.
As U.S. Special Operations Command (Socom) shifts its money from contingency war operations to its core budget, the command also is focusing more on training overseas partners to keep from spreading its operators too thinly across the globe.
Leaders of the congressional defense committees can agree on this much regarding the threat of steep budget cuts looming next year: it’s time to reach for a deal. Last August, Congress passed a law calling for $1.2 trillion in federal deficit reduction. In the absence of an agreement on how to reduce the deficit, the law institutes a $1.2 trillion across-the-board federal budget cut in January 2013.
Smarter strategies in spending, allocation and technology investments will be required to offset the coming reduction in U.S. defense spending, a new study argues. “Strategy in Austerity,” released June 21 by Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment (CSBA), also argues for exploiting better military technologies, solidly linked to new operations theories, which can allow the U.S. to field a more effective force for the same cost.
As the U.S. Navy invests more in biofuel development, questions are starting to arise about just how important — or affordable — that effort might be. “An important policy question for Congress may be whether a domestic biofuel industry is necessary for national defense, and whether proceeding under the authority of the DPA (Defense Production Act of 1950) offers the necessary stimulus,” the Congressional Research Service (CRS) says.
NEW DELHI — India is set to issue a global tender to buy air defense missiles for its army, with the contract expected to be worth 100 billion rupees ($1.8 billion). “A decision to procure Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missiles (QRSAMs) will be taken soon by the government to replace the age-old Russian Kvadrat systems,” a defense ministry official says. The proposed deal could also contain partnership and knowledge transfer clauses that would enable an Indian company to make certain major equipment for the missile, he says.
EYES ON THE SKY: The Pentagon’s largest ground-based telescope and a smaller cousin are back online at the Maui Space Surveillance Complex in Hawaii after a two-year modernization effort by Boeing. The U.S. Air Force declared initial operational capacity on the 75-ton, 12-ft.-dia. Advanced Electro-Optical System (AEOS) and a 1.6-meter telescope at the same complex on Mount Haleakala. Both are used to track and image satellites and manufactured space debris in near-Earth and deep-space orbits, according to Boeing.
MOD TRANSPORT: The U.K. defense ministry has awarded BAE Systems a £15.5 million ($24 million) contract to convert two BAE 146-200QC (Quick Change) aircraft to military aircraft for passenger and freight transport to offload more mundane tasks from airlifters. The aircraft were previously operated by TNT Airways. The work is to be completed by March 2013.
The European Commission has called on the U.K. and other European Union members to make good on their commitment to implement new rules to ease arms trading among EU members. The U.K., as well as Belgium, Luxemburg, Poland and Finland, have so far failed to put forward any measures to implement so-called Directive 2009/43/EC. The implementation deadline was June 30, 2011. Denmark has also been called on the carpet for moving forward only with partial implementation of the rule.
ANNAPOLIS JUNCTION, Md. — Boeing still expects to fly its company-funded MC-12S Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance Surveillance System (Emarss) risk-reduction prototype this year pending a decision by the contractor on full-rate production, says Roger Krone, president of Boeing Network and Space Systems.
HOUSTON — The NASA-funded National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) has selected seven U.S. medical researchers to lead focused studies of the top health issues faced by astronauts assigned to long-duration missions, including musculoskeletal deterioration, cardiovascular changes and radiation effects. The seven-year appointments require that each of the leads have direct research involvement in their space health focus.
With law enforcement agencies eager to snap up new UAVs, Congress and the FAA are still at the early stages of trying to handle the resulting fears about the new form of surveillance. Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), both in their first term, are sponsoring companion legislation that attempts to lend industry a hand by setting rules for the domestic use of UAVs before they proliferate. The bills would essentially require police to obtain a warrant for surveillance with UAVs as they currently do to wiretap phones.
The ultimate goal for U.S. military planners is to field a networked system that can break down or overcome any foe’s anti-access and area-denial (A2AD) capabilities. They need the ability to penetrate, avoid or punch through enemy defenses that include long-range, anti-ship missiles — both ballistic and cruise — long-range air-defense weapons, extended-range radars for small target identification, and cyber and electronic attack capabilities.
With law enforcement agencies eager to snap up new UAVs, Congress and the FAA are still in the early stages of trying to handle the resulting fears about the new form of surveillance. Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), both first-term lawmakers, are sponsoring companion legislation that attempts to lend industry a hand by setting rules for the domestic use of UAVs before they proliferate widely. The bills would essentially require police to obtain a warrant for surveillance with UAVs as they currently do to wiretap phones.
