SINGAPORE — New Zealand continues to face a tight fiscal budget, but is progressing with its plan to get new primary trainer aircraft for its air force, and to replace its Lockheed Martin P-3Ks and C-130Hs next decade.
EADS North America has withdrawn its proposal for the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role (JMR) advanced-rotorcraft technology demonstration, to focus company resources on its offering for the service’s Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) requirement. CEO Sean O’Keefe informed Assistant Secretary of the Army Heidi Shyu of the decision in a letter sent May 29, just a day or two before the Army’s Aviation Applied Technology Directorate invited at least some of the JMR bidders to enter negotiations to build and fly demonstrators in 2017.
Bell Helicopter has joined the companies selected for the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role advanced rotorcraft technology demonstration (JMR TD). A Sikorsky/Boeing team has previously confirmed it has been selected to negotiate a cost-sharing agreement to build and fly a JMR demonstrator in 2017. Industry sources say AVX Aircraft also has been selected to negotiate an agreement, but the small, Fort Worth-based company declines to comment.
Engineers are preparing to flight test a new night-vision camera by month’s end that is designed to address shortcomings of the original F-35 helmet system that prevented pilots from conducing nighttime aerial refueling and vertical landings in the developmental, stealthy fighter.
USAF STRUCTURE: The first public hearing of the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force saw a strong presentation by reserve and Air National Guard advocates for better favoring of their wings of the total U.S. Air Force. Representatives from associations advocating for reserve officers, adjutant generals and the National Guard, testified that the Pentagon could save about $2.6 billion for every 10,000 airmen billets shifted out of the active force. The commission’s June 4 public hearing followed a closed-door session the day before with top U.S.
NASA has awarded $38 million in contracts to four companies to address “system technology gaps that are exposed by the operational challenges” of the next-generation air traffic control system (NextGen).
It is still far too early to tell, but at least one Capitol Hill advocate for American manufacturing is forecasting near-term congressional action that could restrict China’s access to the U.S. marketplace, particularly federal-related acquisitions. If so, such moves could affect several western companies, which have reached out to China as both a commercial provider and marketplace over the last two decades.
NASA has awarded $38 million in contracts to four companies to address “system technology gaps that are exposed by the operational challenges” of the next-generation air traffic control system (NextGen).
TEL AVIV — Seeing future Syrian S-300 surface-to-air missiles as a threat to its own airspace, Israel has pledged to take preventative action. Fixed-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles or through covert sabotage on assembly points could disable “S-300 missiles and similar weapons before becoming operational,” says retired army general and National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror to European diplomats.
Sequestration has failed to curb the U.S. Navy’s desire to bolster its Aegis-equipped destroyer fleet — the service awarded contract deals this week worth about $6.2 billion for new destroyers that will equipped with the combat system and able to perform ballistic missile defense (BMD) missions. The Navy awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) a $3.3 billion fixed-price-incentive firm target (FPIF) contract for the design and construction of five DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class ships, one each in fiscal 2013-2017.
ARLINGTON, Va. — After more than a decade of proving its modeling and simulation worth for the U.S. Navy’s Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite constellation, Los Angeles-based Scalable Network Technologies is looking to expand its Modeling and Evaluation Environment (M2E2) into other military applications.
ARLINGTON, Va. — A California-based company is developing a modeling system that it says will help the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and other services in their “war against rust and rot” being waged to save aircraft, ships and other equipment. San Marcos-based GCAS is developing the Accelerated Corrosion Expert Simulator (ACES), a simulation and modeling analysis system for predicting aircraft and ground vehicle structure degradation due to corrosion.
SINGAPORE — Canada’s requirements for search-and-rescue (SAR) aircraft and naval helicopters have been dogged by delays, but the country’s defense minister appears confident that progress is about to be made.
The House subcommittee tasked with allocating defense spending is doubling down in its fight over RQ-4B Global Hawks. The lawmakers are directing the U.S. Air Force to “obligate and expend” money previously directed by Congress to buy 12 of Northrop Grumman’s high-altitude surveillance UAVs.
NEW DELHI — Pilatus plans to establish a manufacturing facility in India, as the country looks at acquiring more aircraft from the Swiss aircraft maker. The facility will initially manufacture airframes for its single-engine turboprop PC-12 aircraft. “This will be our third support facility for PC-12 aircraft, the other two being in Portugal and Poland. It will be part of our offset commitment in India,” says Pilatus Vice President Jim Roche. Plans call for shipping the airframes to Switzerland for final assembly.
U.S. AIR FORCE United Technologies Corp., East Hartford, Conn., has been awarded a $28,589,240 Delivery Order for two F135-PW-100 conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) ground test engines. Work will be performed at East Hartford, Conn., and is expected to be completed by June 30, 2014. Fiscal year 2012 Research and Development funds are being obligated on this award. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/LPAK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (F33657-99-D-2051 0031)
U.S. aviation, aerospace and defense contractors are gearing up for a policy battle that hits close to home, as an effort to rein in federal contractor salary reimbursements is about to see a major boost. That is because the White House is asking Congress, through defense authorization committee hearings in June, to lower and extend a cap on the amount of contractor salaries that can be reimbursed by the government.
STEEP HILLS: Dozens of analysts from think tanks in Washington have issued a call for lawmakers to empower another round of military base realignment and closures, as well as significant changes to military pay and benefits, among other proposals to better spend precious federal dollars. But the analysts know they have a steep hill to climb inside the Capitol, as illustrated by Rep. Jim Cooper (Tenn.), a so-called Blue Dog Democrat.
