A Sikorsky/Boeing team has been selected to build and fly a high-speed rotorcraft under the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi Role technology demonstration (JMR TD) program. The coaxial-rotor compound helicopter demonstrator is planned to fly in 2017 under Phase 1 of the JMR TD. The Army hoped to award contracts for two competing demonstrators, and industry sources say AVX Aircraft also has been selected to negotiate a cost-sharing agreement. Other known bidders were Bell Helicopter, EADS North America and Piasecki Aircraft.
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on May 29 told federal agencies to prepare their fiscal 2015 budget requests with three levels of spending in mind, including 5% and 10% cuts from the projections given in April with the 2014 request.
Industry will submit proposals this month for “Phase 0” of a high-speed strike weapon (HSSW) demonstration program to be jointly conducted by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa). AFRL has been working toward an HSSW flight demo program, but on May 21 canceled a planned solicitation, telling Aviation Week it was “looking to an alternate strategy” for accomplishing a high-speed strike weapon demonstration.
Nearly a third of House lawmakers have signed off on a letter pressing U.S. Army leadership to fund production of the M1A2 Abrams tank System Enhancement Package in fiscal 2014, citing the “damaging impact to the highly specialized industrial base” if the line is not kept warm.
A modified Diamond DA42 is to be used for flights over Alaska later this year to measure greenhouse gas emissions from thawing permafrost. Aurora Flight Sciences has performed flights of its Centaur aircraft over the Chesapeake Bay to calibrate the specially developed measurement system. The twin-diesel Centaur was developed as an optionally piloted aircraft (OPA), but will be flown manned for the measurement flights over Alaska’s Northern Slope later this year, says Aurora. The research mission is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
LAUNCH SURVEY: The U.S. Air Force is surveying industry bidders on their near- and long-term plans to offer national security launch services, as well as what companies see as critical issues in providing this capability, recommendations for changes to Pentagon policy — especially in helping to lower launch costs — and how Defense Department acquisitions could help stabilize the industrial base. Comments are sought by June 21 for the ongoing strategic National Security Space Launch Assessment, according to a May 29 notice in the Federal Register.
Ahead of a major ad hoc spending review out of the Pentagon next week, a blue-ribbon panel of five defense think tank analysts is advising lawmakers and defense officials to invest more in next-generation technologies like unmanned systems, cyber, space and updated versions of legacy weapon capabilities like the Long-Range Strike bomber at the expense of the civilian defense workforce, short-term readiness and even elements of the nuclear triad.
The Pentagon has selected three companies for cost-sharing projects to build refineries capable of producing biofuels at costs competitive with petroleum-derived aviation and naval fuels. Emerald Biofuels, Fulcrum BioEnergy and Nature’s BioReserve will receive contracts totaling $16 million, funded under Title III of the Defense Production Act (DPA). They will be matched by more than $17 million in company investment.
The U.S. Navy kicked off its aircraft carrier mid-cycle material assessment (MCMA) this month by completing the tough new review with the CVN-70 USS Carl Vinson. MCMA is part of the Navy’s renewed focus on regular maintenance and pinpointing issues before they become major problems. “MCMA is a program intended to assess the material condition of a ship between Board of Inspection and Survey (Insurv) inspection cycles,” says Lt. Cmdr. Michael Payne, the Vinson’s damage control assistant.
KOREAN BUY: The South Korean military will seek approval to buy 20 maritime aircraft to supplement 16 Lockheed Martin P-3Cs in dealing with the threat of North Korean submarines, local media reports. The requirement, set by the joint chiefs of staff, will cost an estimated 1 trillion won ($900 million), says Yonhap news agency, quoting an unnamed military source. The candidate aircraft are the Boeing P-8 Poseidon, Airbus Military C-295MPA and Lockheed Martin SC-130J, a proposed maritime version of the Hercules airlifter.
SEVILLE, Spain — Airbus Military is delivering proposals to the French government for an Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) fitted with a cargo door on the main deck.
NEW DELHI — Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony has set a deadline of the end of 2014 for the country’s indigenously developed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft to obtain its final operational clearance (FOC). Developed by the Defense and Research Development Organization’s (DRDO) Aeronautical Development Agency and manufactured at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the Tejas has faced delays over more than two decades. It will have to attain final operational clearance (FOC) before being inducted into the Indian air force (IAF).
The Pentagon has selected three companies for cost-sharing projects to build refineries capable of producing biofuels at costs competitive with petroleum-derived aviation and naval fuels. Emerald Biofuels, Fulcrum BioEnergy and Nature’s BioReserve will receive contracts totaling $16 million, funded under Title III of the Defense Production Act (DPA). They will be matched by more than $17 million in company investment.
The U.S. Marine Corps plans to declare initial operational capability (IOC) with the F-35B in late 2015, says Commandant Gen. James Amos. The Marines are the first customer slated to declare IOC, and as such are willing to use the 2B software package, which allows for a limited flight envelope and limited weapons carriage, in the short term. A more expansive 3F software release is slated for 2017.
Alenia Aermacchi, General Dynamics Canada and DRS Technologies Canada have firmed up their teaming agreement on the C-27J Spartan as Canada prepares to release the long-awaited draft request for proposals (RFP) for new search-and-rescue aircraft. Under the agreement, GD Canada would act as mission system integrator if the C-27J is selected for the Fixed-Wing Search And Rescue (FWSAR) program. Alenia would be prime contractor and supply green aircraft to be modified, missionized and supported by GD in Atlantic Canada.
Carrier-based flight trials of the U.S. Navy’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator (UCAS-D) aboard the USS George H.W. Bush were briefly brought to a halt last week due to an unlikely frequency-sharing issue between the air vehicle and officials of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is trying to fix a problem with a faulty weather satellite.
MOSCOW — The Russian military continues its rearmament effort, with a plan to buy its first amphibious aircraft in decades. The Russian Defense Ministry placed an order on May 24 with Taganrog-based Beriev company for six Be-200s. The contract’s value is 8.4 billion rubles ($269 million), and deliveries are to be completed by the end of 2016.
Bristow has predicted it will not see its fleet of Eurocopter EC225 helicopters return to service before the first quarter of 2014. While posting its fourth-quarter earnings last week, the company said progress in Eurocopter’s probe to discover what caused two EC225s to ditch in the North Sea in 2012 was encouraging, but that it would not rush its aircraft back into operation.
U.S. ARMY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., was awarded a $135,822,257 modification (P00067), to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, foreign-military-sales contract (W58RGZ-12-C-0008), for the procurement of Navy MH-60R green aircraft in support of Denmark. The cumulative total face value of this contract is $4,955,310,889. Fiscal 2013 Procurement funds are being obligated on this award. The Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
