The Philadelphia-based U.S. Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support (Navsup WSS) site needs to better track and document its sole-source procurement, a recent Department of Defense Inspector General (IG) report says. Because of some issues with the sole-source contracting at Navsup WSS, “improper sole-source awards could occur,” the IG says in its December report. “Personnel could not make informed decisions that the proposed contractors were the sole source. Also, interested sources were not aware of future contracting opportunities.”
STATUS QUO: Republican leadership of House Appropriations subcommittees will remain unchanged when it comes to aerospace and defense panels, according to Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.). Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.), the current chairman of the defense subcommittee, received a waiver to continue in that capacity. Young has led the party on the committee since 2005 and had a previous run as chairman from 1995-1998. He also served as chairman of the full House Appropriations Committee from 1999-2004. Rep.
Jan. 2 may feel a lot like Groundhog Day, but aerospace analysts foresee congressional action on sequestration as the first step toward truly reversing the budget penalty. The American Taxpayer Relief Act, approved by Congress on Jan. 1, extends tax cuts for the majority of Americans and delays government-wide budget cuts until March 1.
Australia has removed the Wedgetail Boeing 737-based airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) program from its Projects of Concern list following delivery of all six aircraft and achievement in November of initial operational capability (IOC). The A$3.2 billion ($3.3 billion) Wedgetail program was added to the Projects of Concern list in January 2008 because of schedule delays and system performance issues. A remediation plan was agreed with Boeing in 2011, resetting IOC for 2012.
The Texas-based Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office received contract modifications at the end of December worth about $1.5 billion for V-22 Osprey work. One modification, worth about $1.4 billion, was for the V-22 lot 17 advance acquisition contract for 17 fiscal 2013 Ospreys for the U.S. Marine Corps and four fiscal 2013 CV-22 aircraft for the Air Force.
SAN DIEGO — There is little doubt about the U.S. Navy’s intentions to improve the looks and operations of its first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom – and the ship’s rising cost is reflecting that push. The Navy estimates the cost of the post-shakedown availability (PSA) overhaul at about $42 million, which includes the replacement or modification of piping, compressor and other vital systems on the ship as a result of lessons learned during trials and other mission-related operations.
Engine manufacturers will be busy in 2013 as testing accelerates on the latest commercial turbofans and work advances on the next generation of military powerplants. Production will rise, but more significantly on the commercial side than the military. The pace is highest at CFM and Pratt & Whitney as they battle for the single-aisle airliner market with the Leap-1 and PW1000G, respectively. While the 2011 and 2012 order levels are unlikely to be sustained in 2013, it will see vital tests for both engines.
Key gains by NATO allies in the increasingly important military discipline of close air support (CAS) may be at risk, because equipment and budgetary decisions at national levels contradict alliance standards for training forward air controllers (FACs).
Active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radars have transformed military aviation, providing significantly greater multi-mode capability and reliability. Now the technology is moving into the land and sea domains. Thales's APAR active phased-array radar is already operational on frigates with three European navies, and the DDG-1000, the U.S. Navy's first AESA-equipped warship, will launch in 2013 fitted with Raytheon's SPY-3 radar.
The Transportation Security Administration is commissioning a study about whether the X-ray body scanners used to screen passengers at airports emit too much radiation. The study also will evaluate whether the design and maintenance of machines that use X-ray technology could prevent over-exposure to harmful radiation. The safety of X-ray screening machines was called into question in a 2011 report by ProPublica, a non-profit investigative news group, which suggested that up to 100 U.S. airline passengers per year could contract cancer from airport screenings.
It has been called the most significant advance in jet engines since the turbofan: development of variable-cycle “third stream” engines with 25% lower specific fuel consumption than today's fighter powerplants. General Electric and Rolls-Royce will ground-test demonstrator engines in 2013, and GE and Pratt & Whitney are under contract to mature the technology and test new adaptive-fan engine designs in 2016. In addition to the high-pressure core and low-pressure bypass streams of a conventional turbofan, these variable-bypass engines have a third, outer flowpath.
Italy's defense budget is on the upswing again after deep cuts in 2012. However, the defense minister, the retired Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola, has received a preliminary green light for a major restructuring and deep cuts to all three of the armed forces. The plan is subject to future political decisions, but appears to be unavoidable.
General Electric has confirmed it will purchase Italian aero engine specialist Avio SpA from Cinven, a European private equity firm, and government-owned defense group Finmeccanica for €3.3 billion ($4.36 billion).
Advances in rocket engine technology do not come along often, so it was noteworthy in October 2012 when Orbital Technologies flew a sounding rocket powered by its “vortex” engine, which injects fuel and liquid oxygen so the burning mixture does not touch the walls of the combustion chamber, allowing it to be thinner, lighter and cheaper. Oxidizer is injected at an angle that sets up a pair of coaxial vortices. Combustion occurs in the innermost swirl, the outer vortex protecting the chamber walls from the heat of combustion.
European government bickering scuttled a mega-merger of EADS and BAE Systems, and the Pentagon continues to hold firm against further consolidation among its top contractors. But consolidation amid second- and third-tier contractors is likely to accelerate as defense spending heads down in the U.S. and Europe.
The pace of advance in China's military modernization has reached the point where the question is more one of what surprises will be sprung on the world in 2013, rather than whether there will be any. The first-ever flight operations from a Chinese aircraft carrier took place in November, with what was by national standards a blaze of publicity. In September, outgoing Communist Party General Secretary Hu Jintao personally officiated at the carrier's commissioning.
NASA Space Launch System (SLS) advocate Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) is leaving Capitol Hill, but the program should get a boost by meeting an early test. An engineering board has cleared the first element of the heavy-lift rocket for preliminary manufacturing, keeping the program on track for a first flight with the Orion multipurpose crew vehicle in 2017.
NASA wants $800 million in fiscal 2013 for its program to outsource the transport of crews to and from space, and says if it does not get the funding first commercial flights to the International Space Station will slip to 2018. With station funding set to expire in 2020, that could be a problem.
Although some questions about Britain's plans for its future national defense were answered in 2012, the year was defined by ongoing uncertainties, and 2013 looks likely to continue the trend.
