As demand from the U.S. military for its small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) winds down, AeroVironment is looking to move into the tactical missile, mission services and commercial markets. International sales of its small UAS, production ramp-up on the Switchblade lethal unmanned aircraft and finding customers for surveillance services and the Global Observer hydrogen-fueled high-altitude/long-endurance UAS are key to the company’s strategy to diversify its business.
The U.S. Navy and NASA conducted a stationary recovery test of the agency’s Orion space capsule in the well deck of the amphibious transport dock LPD-24 USS Arlington last week while it was berthed at Naval Station Norfolk’s Pier 12. “This is a building block for the United States to conduct manned space flight again,” says NASA Recovery Director Louie Garcia.
As demand from the U.S. military for its small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) winds down, AeroVironment is looking to move into the tactical missile, mission services and commercial markets. International sales of its small UAS, production ramp-up on the Switchblade lethal unmanned aircraft and finding customers for surveillance services and the Global Observer hydrogen-fueled high-altitude/long-endurance UAS are key to the company’s strategy to diversify its business.
NEW DELHI — India’s first dedicated military communications satellite, GSAT-7, will be launched at the end of August, a senior scientist says. GSAT-7, which will primarily serve the Indian navy, is slated for launch on Aug. 30 from Europe’s spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, aboard an Ariane 5 rocket, a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) says.
CANBERRA — South Korea appears poised to order 60 Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagles for its F-X Phase 3 competition, throwing a lifeline to the venerable fighter’s production line and offering the manufacturer an opportunity to improve it for future contests.
The Aerospace States Association (ASA) has joined with two national state-government organizations to create guidelines for states crafting legislation to protect citizens’ privacy from unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) without endangering the nascent industry.
EADS STAKE: Vnesheconombank (VEB), Russia’s Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs, has sold its 5% stake in EADS. VEB reduced its stake to just under 3% at the end of July and has now divested its entire shareholding, industry sources tell Aviation Week. The sale is understood to be part of a broader plan to address the ongoing financial difficulties at Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC), the producer of the Superjet 100. SCAC has debt amounting to around $2 billion, $1 billion of which is owed to Vnesheconombank.
NEW DELHI — The Indian navy fears there are no survivors on the INS Sindhurakshak submarine, which sank in its dockyard with 18 people onboard after an explosion and fire. “The state of ... [the three recovered bodies] and conditions within the submarine leads to the firm conclusion that finding any surviving personnel within the submarine is unlikely,” an Indian navy spokesman says.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — U.S. Missile Defense Agency Director (MDA) Vice Adm. James Syring plans to push for at least two Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) tests next year and more routine flight trials in the years to follow. “It is important for us to get back to regular, more than annual...flight-testing of the GBI [Ground-Based Interceptor] system,” Syring said during a speech Aug. 14 at the 16th Annual Space and Missile Defense Symposium here.
EXTRA SCRUTINY: For contractors helping to provide the U.S. Defense Department’s emerging “Joint Information Environment” (JIE), expect a lot more scrutiny. Development of the Pentagon’s new cloud-oriented information network will include no-notice inspector general reviews, personnel moves, integrated financial execution and planning, and converged enterprise services and chief information officer functions, according to the Defense Information Systems Agency’s director. Air Force Lt. Gen.
PALM BEACH and PANAMA CITY, Fla. — After years of treading water, the U.S. Navy’s Remote Multi-Mission Vehicle (RMMV) program appears to be making solid headway again, and program officials now feel the unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) will give them the bang of a minesweeper for the bucks of a semi-submersible. Built by Lockheed Martin, the RMMV is a mission-module centerpiece for mine warfare operations planned for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
LONDON — Airbus Military has flown the first A400M airlifter destined for the Turkish air force. The aircraft, MSN9, made its first flight on Aug. 9 from the company’s facility in Seville, Spain, carrying out a 5-hr., 30-min. sortie. Turkey will be the second country to receive the airlifter. Ankara has ordered 10 A400Ms, and Turkish companies are major partners in the program. Turkish pilots, loadmasters and maintenance engineers have begun training on the type at Airbus Military’s International Training Center located next to the factory.
Congressional auditors are doubling down on calls for the U.S. Air Force and Army simply to implement their own so-called open-systems architecture policies when it comes to unmanned aircraft systems, according to a July 31 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
In a bid to “get out ahead of the threat”, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has released an industry-developed draft framework for civil aviation cybersecurity. The decision paper outlines a common approach to understanding threats and strengthening defenses for global aviation.
The U.S. Navy's Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (Uclass) effort has garnered lots of headlines for the innovations it represents, but the service is trying to use the program to prod the acquisition world into new thinking. And while seemingly bureaucratic, the new approach might just help the Navy land its desired Uclass fleet even as the military and intelligence sectors enter a long-term austere budget environment.
Leaks of classified information from former Booz Allen Hamilton and U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden have given the NSA a world-class public-relations headache. Private citizens are reeling too, having not yet grasped the extent to which digital communications were potentially subject to state scrutiny. As the U.S. continues communications surveillance as a tool to fight terrorism, it faces both in-house and international data-privacy concerns. That struggle will also present new challenges for industry.
Speaking of austerity, the full effect of the 2011 Budget Control Act and its annual sequestration limits is likely to force the Pentagon to take a major near-term hit in its research, development and procurement accounts for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.
Finally, NASA is rolling out a new “strategic vision” for aeronautics that focuses civil aviation research on six themes. But with no new money, work that does not align with the main thrusts will be reduced. The strategy is based on understanding emerging global trends, including new competitors for U.S.
The Russian aerospace industry's ambitious strategic goal is to return to its Soviet-era position in domestic and international markets. But achieving that goal is not easy. The defense sector, which survived the 1990s and early 2000s thanks to export contracts, is consolidating its gains with the help of big orders from the Russian air force. The civil segment, backed by massive government subsidies, is trying desperately to win back a market lost to foreign manufacturers.
As a new phase of ship-borne testing of the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter gets underway on the amphibious assault vessel USS Wasp, British shipbuilders are assembling the ski-jump launch ramp on HMS Queen Elizabeth—the first of two new JSF-dedicated aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy.
