RADIO EQUIPMENT: The U.S. Navy has awarded Rockwell Collins an $8.2 million contract modification for the purchase of AN/ARC-210(V) electronic radios and ancillary equipment for a variety of aircraft, the Pentagon announced March 24. Equipment being procured includes 57 control radio sets, 57 high-power amplifiers, 57 low-noise amplifier diplexers and 62 receiver transmitters. The work will be performed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is expected to be completed by May 2015. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
MILAN — Israeli officials have said they are considering closer cooperation with Italy as part of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. The two countries have widened their defense ties following the signing in 2011 of a deal for Israel to purchase the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 jet trainer, while Italy in return plans to purchase two airborne early warning aircraft and an optical reconnaissance satellite from Israeli companies. Senior Israeli military leaders are promoting further opportunities.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is using video playback of “previous incidents” of nose-wheel landings and pilot-induced oscillations as part of new required annual training for pilots of its General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft. The action comes in the wake of an MQ-9 hard landing and excursion off the side of the 10,000-ft. “skid strip” runway at Patrick AFB, Cape Canaveral, Fla., after a routine patrol of the warning areas to the east of the launch facility in May 2013.
LONDON — Missile manufacturer MBDA says firing trials of its Dual-Mode Brimstone missile from the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle were successful, but a final decision on whether the weapon will be integrated with the UAS is yet to be made. The trials, conducted at China Lake, Calif., during December 2013 and January 2014, were led by the U.K. Royal Air Force but also involved the U.S. Air Force’s Big Safari program office and General Atomics.
Autonomous collaboration could enable existing unmanned aircraft to operate more effectively in less-permissive environments, says the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), revealing details of its new Collaborative Operations in Denied Environment (CODE) program. CODE aims to increase the capabilities of legacy and future unmanned aircraft through increased vehicle autonomy and collaboration between platforms. Industry will be briefed on the program April 11 in Washington.
LONDON and MILAN — The prospect of further cuts to Italy’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter buy have increased, with the publication of a report calling for “significant” reductions in the country’s agreement with Lockheed Martin. The document, signed by the ruling center-left Democratic Party earlier this week and published on March 19, comes just days after newly elected Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi suggested Italy could cut its JSF purchase, as the Italian government struggles to bring down state spending.
Fokker Technologies and the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) have signed a letter of intent to establish a highly automated manufacturing facility for composite landing-gear components. Under contract to United Technologies Aerospace Systems, subsidiary Fokker Landing Gear (FLG) is developing and qualifying a composite drag brace for the main landing gear of the F-35A conventional and F-35B vertical-lift versions of the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter.
MILAN — Alenia Aermacchi is examining new engine options for its M-345 High Efficiency Trainer (HET) aircraft. The company, which is developing the HET for a possible Italian air force requirement for a jet trainer with operating economies similar to a modern turboprop trainer, says it is looking at several U.S.-made engines for integration into the M-345, initially developed as the SIAI Marchetti S.211 back in the 1980s. The aircraft is currently fitted with the Pratt & Whitney JT15D-5C turbofan.
The U.S. Navy’s proposed fiscal 2015 budget plan underscores the service’s emphasis on precision-strike capability. “Our precision strike capabilities and capacity will be critical to success in any foreseeable future conflict,” says Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations.
“USAF Prepares Industry for Cutbacks,” warned an Aviation Week & Space Technology headline, followed by a story that discussed the death of aircraft companies, shuttering of facilities, a Pentagon briefing to industry leaders with “a blunt warning of things to come” and a diminished role for manned aircraft in national defense. That article didn't appear recently, however. It was written in 1957—the first time the Laureate awards were presented.
Even as the Obama administration pushes to have the FAA fund itself with the traveler-paid Airport and Airway Trust Fund, the White House predicts the fund's balance will grow steadily over the next decade. White House budget documents lay out a road map to wean FAA from general-fund contributions. As of 2015, the FAA budget request would have the trust fund cover 93% of FAA's operations, as well as its Airport Improvement Program, facilities and equipment, and research, engineering and development accounts.
The new P-8, a linchpin of the U.S. Navy's low-profile maritime patrol force, has been pushed into the limelight from its traditional mission of submarine-hunting to join the massive search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared March 8.
SpaceX delayed its third commercial cargo flight to the international space station (ISS) because of “payload contamination” problems in the unpressurized “trunk” of its Dragon spacecraft, but don't try to find out what those problems are. “We've had some issues with payload contamination that we will be addressing,” says Sam Scimemi, ISS program director at NASA headquarters, during a March 14 Space Transportation Association presentation. “We're going to have to assess that and replace some parts and get the rocket ready for launch again.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's move to annex the Crimean Peninsula is a “wake-up call,” says NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who urged Europe to increase defense spending—particularly in the missile defense, cyber and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance arenas. “Developments in Ukraine are a stark reminder that security in Europe cannot be taken for granted,” he said last week. Russia's actions must have consequences, he warned.
The U.S. Navy/Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) team broke a barrier in 2013, proving that a stealthy, unmanned aircraft can operate on and around the aircraft carrier deck and clinching the Laureate for Aeronautics and Propulsion.
AgustaWestland has begun flying the first fully configured HH-101 Caesar combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) helicopter destined for the Italian air force (AMI). The first AMI HH-101 flew in a green configuration in February and underwent a short test flight at Yeovil, England, on March 17 (see photo). AMI has 12 of the helicopters on order. Company officials say the aircraft are the most advanced versions of the AW101 flying.
Italy's long-struggling aerospace and defense giant, Finmeccanica, is changing shape as it works to overcome debt and the effects of reduced government spending.
In late 2012, Dassault Aviation and the French defense armaments agency (DGA) made history, sending Neuron, Europe's first stealthy unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) into flight. The feat, which required political finesse and helped establish Europe as a place for unmanned technology, earned the Neuron team Aviation Week's 2014 Defense Laureate.
Conducting operations in bitter Arctic winters is a part of everyday life for the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) search-and-rescue helicopter crews. Every year, RCAF SAR crews pluck hundreds of people from dangerous situations on sea and land across the vast Canadian wilderness. But one operation particularly resonated with Aviation Week's Laureate judges. The mission, on Feb. 9, 2013, tested the crew in challenging conditions, but their courage, resourcefulness and quick thinking prevailed and has won them plaudits on both sides of the Atlantic.
Many of the advances in aerospace can be traced to those who serve or once served in their country's military. The fact is that national defense has been a key impetus to technological achievement throughout the industry's history, and its practitioners have helped provide welcome security from external threats as well as inspiration for the people under their protection.
