TAIWAN STATUS: Congress is sending President Barack Obama a formal nudge to endorse Taiwan’s entry in the International Civil Aviation Organization. The move came as the Senate passed a resolution late last month, which had already passed in the other chamber, from House Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.). “Helping Taiwan access the latest in civil aviation safety is the right thing to do, and it is in the best interest of public safety,” Royce said.
LONDON — The U.K. Royal Navy has begun training on the AgustaWestland AW159 Lynx Wildcat maritime helicopter in preparation for its entry into service in late 2015.
With the U.S. Army showing interest in high-speed rotorcraft to eventually replace its current helicopter fleets, the service’s Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD) is seeking proposals for advanced rotors and control systems.
The U.S Army is planning to demonstrate the avionics architecture proposed for its Future Vertical Lift (FVL) family of advanced rotorcraft. The proof-of-concept demonstration in late 2014 with an initial, partial version of the Joint Common Architecture (JCA) is intended to show whether it delivers the software reusability required to meet targets for reduced costs and timescales for development and upgrades.
NEXT-GEN JAMMER: Raytheon has been selected to develop the Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) pod to replace the ALQ-99 tactical jamming system now carried by U.S Navy Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic-attack aircraft. The company has been awarded a $279.4 million contract for the 22-month technology development phase of the program. NGJ is planned to become operational in 2020. Under the TD phase, Raytheon will “design and build critical technologies that will be the foundational blocks of NGJ,” says Naval Air Systems Command.
French defense procurement agency DGA successfully completed the first qualification firing of the new MdCN (Missile de Croisiere Naval) naval cruise missile July 1 at the Biscarrosse test range in southwestern France. The test, which marks the fifth flight trial of the MdCN since DGA awarded the contract to missile-maker MBDA in late 2006, was representative of the missile launching from a frigate. It follows successful completion of the first launch of the MdCN in its submarine configuration in October of last year.
LONDON — The U.K. Royal Air Force and the U.S. Air Force are working on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will give the U.K. access to tankers equipped with refueling booms to support its fleet of RC-135 Rivet Joint intelligence-gathering aircraft. Officers close to the Airseeker program, which will cover the procurement of three Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joints, tell Aviation Week they hope to have the MOU in place by the end of this year when the first RAF Rivet Joint arrives in the U.K.
The Pentagon’s multi-billion-dollar missile defense shield has failed for the third time in nearly five years to intercept a target missile, marking the latest disappointment in a string of lackluster flight test results since the last successful intercept test in December 2008.
Making good on its plans to maintain its Middle East presence, the U.S. has added three more ships to the 5th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR). The coastal patrol (PC) ships PC-2 USS Tempest, PC-7 USS Squall and PC-12 USS Thunderbolt arrived pierside in Bahrain earlier this month as part of a realignment that will see a total of eight PCs permanently stationed in the U.S. PC-3 USS Hurricane and PC-4 USS Monsoon will complete the Navy’s plan to station 10 PCs in Bahrain by spring of 2014.
TOKYO — South Korea will have a homogenous force of 16 upgraded Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion maritime aircraft by 2018 under an L-3 and Korean Air Lines program to refit eight aircraft that remain unmodernized. Separately, the South Korean navy is seeking 20 more maritime aircraft, which would considerably augment its anti-submarine capability.
Taking its lead from prior programs that helped establish the U.S. as a leader in silicon and gallium arsenide integrated circuits for high-speed processors and active-array radars, the U.S. Air Force has launched a program to develop advanced electronic and photonic components for future electronic warfare (EW) systems.
Most cargo containers destined for U.S. ports are not screened for hazardous substances such as explosives or even nuclear materials. A law passed in 2007 called for that to be done by 2012, with 100% scanning of freight containers at the port of loading, but that goal was not met because the available technology would have impeded trade. The equipment was expensive to acquire and use; it was based on X-ray technology, with consequent health and safety restrictions; and took too long to handle the 17 million containers imported to the U.S. each year.
The U.S. Army wants to equip soldiers with smartphones, in recognition of their computing power and ability to run apps and download vital data on battlefields or behind enemy lines. With this in mind, Vanderbilt University researchers led by Akos Ledeczi, associate professor of computer engineering, have developed two modules of microphone sensors and corresponding software that let Android smartphones detect snipers. One module, the size of a deck of playing cards, analyzes muzzle blast and the ensuing shockwave to triangulate the direction of a shot and estimate range.
Water-jet disruptors fire explosively propelled jets of water to destroy the circuitry of improvised explosive devices, substantially reducing their potential for detonation. They have been deployed for 40 years, initially by British forces in Northern Ireland. Recently, manufacturer Chemring OED of Poole, U.K., revised the design of its established Pigstick disruptor to reduce weight. The new 28-mm model, called Wasp, weighs just 1 kg (2.2 lb.), compared with 3 kg for Pigstick.
The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) has developed modular software with modeling and simulation capabilities allowing Army scientists to select or design “smart” weapons. Called Smart Weapon End-to-End Performance Model, or Sweepm, the software analyzes all outcomes associated with firing a round (e.g., artillery, mortar, grenade), as well as factors that affect delivery. Sweepm reflects a renewed force-on-force emphasis after a decade of counterinsurgency warfare.
