PARIS — BAE Systems has conducted the first drop of a Raytheon Paveway IV precision-guided bomb from a Eurofighter Typhoon in the Phase 1 Enhancements (P1EB) configuration. BAE Systems confirmed that test pilots dropped the weapon over the Aberporth test range in West Wales on June 5 using one of the instrumented test aircraft, IPA6.
STRATEGIC MOVES: The Democratic-led Senate Armed Services Committee will begin marking up its take on the fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill this week. That version of the bill, as well as the whole Senate’s version, is expected to significantly push back on House GOP efforts to rein in the Obama administration’s push to further reduce the U.S. nuclear stockpile, and Republican efforts to speed establishment of an East Coast branch of the Ground-based Midcourse system.
PARIS — Thales is planning to make its touchscreen-driven avionics human interface system available for integration into aircraft and helicopters by 2020. The manufacturer’s ‘Avionics 2020’ vision, which will be shown next week at the Paris air show, uses technologies developed from its Avionics 2030 ideas displayed in 2010.
With a program to modernize the “night” side of the Boeing AH-64D/E Apache’s targeting system almost complete, the U.S. Army has begun taking delivery for the first upgrade to the “day” side of the attack helicopter’s sensor suite. Lockheed Martin has delivered the laser rangefinder/designator (LRFD) for the modernized day sensor assembly (M-DSA), one half of the Apache’s distinctive nose-mounted targeting system.
The U.S. Navy ramped up its Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) program this month, with the launch of one ship and a delivery of another. JHSV-3USNS Millinocket successfully launched June 5 from the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala. The next day, the Navy accepted delivery of JHSV-2 USNS Choctaw County from the same company at the same yard.
A U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (Navair)-sponsored program developed with Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) support is creating better computer-generated urban scenes for training systems.
Dozens of U.S. Navy-approved “deviations,” or waivers from service-required manning and other associated regulations over the past six years since construction began, mark the Littoral Combat Ship as a different breed of ships, according to a 2011 Navy document justifying the waivers. The waivers deal mostly with manning issues and highlight the differences in how LCS vessels are meant to be operated, according to the service.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is assembling a variety of “pressurizable” commercial airliner fuselages to be used for live-fire testing at the U.S. Army’s Aberdeen Test Center in northern Maryland. The work is part of a long-running Army and DHS program to study cabin locations or designs that will yield the least damage if a bomb found onboard an aircraft detonates.
PARIS — Thales is hoping to complete development this year of a Ku-band satellite communication antenna designed for use on helicopters. The system — known as Antares-H — is a spin-off of other Antares products designed for medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAVs and fixed-wing aircraft. The company argues there is an increasing desire from the military for more data such as full-motion video to be sent back to commanders, and this will require such antennas, despite their weight, size and complexity.
MORE NUKES: The U.S. and Russia are reducing their operational nuclear arsenals, but China expanded its nuclear arsenal in 2012, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). At the start of 2013 the eight known and suspected nuclear states — the U.S., Russia, U.K., France, China, India, Pakistan and Israel — possessed roughly 4,400 operational nuclear weapons, with 2,000 kept on high alert. Moreover, all five legally recognized states — China, France, Russia, U.K. and the U.S.
NEW DELHI — Indian authorities have filed charges against an official with anti-aircraft system manufacturer Rheinmetall Air Defense (RAD) for allegedly paying bribes to help it avoid being blacklisted in India. A spokesperson with India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) tells Aviation Week that bribery charges have been registered in a special court against Gerhard Hoy, the representative in India of Rheinmetall, along with Indian businessman Abhishek Verma and his wife, Anca Neacsu.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is assembling a variety of “pressurizable” commercial airliner fuselages to be used for live-fire testing at the U.S. Army’s Aberdeen Test Center in northern Maryland. The work is part of a long-running Army and DHS program to study cabin locations or designs that will yield the least damage if a bomb found onboard an aircraft detonates.
When Lockheed Martin began developing the F-35 in 2001, several technologies needed for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) to succeed were far from ready. One was a revolution in helmet-display technology. The goal was to combine the functionality of head-up and head-down displays and a helmet-mounted cueing system into a single helmet for the F-35 pilot. But Vision Systems International (VSI), a Rockwell Collins/Elbit Systems joint venture, encountered some thorny issues while maturing the technology.
