HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The U.S. Army is making headway with plans to demonstrate the utility of nanosatellites and small, low-cost, mobile launchers to provide direct support to deployed forces, bypassing the traditional data processing and dissemination system located in the U.S.
FLYING CATS: EADS subsidiary Cassidian Aviation Training Services (CATS) has selected Cirrus SR20s and SR22s to provide training services to the French air force and navy. A fleet of 13 SR20s will be used for training pilots at the Salon de Provence air base. Seven SR22s will provide navigator training and liaison flights. Another three SR20s will train students of the Ecole Navale at Lanveoc-Poulmic naval air station.
The U.S. Navy is making strides in developing “networked” weapons that can be redirected in flight from any nearby aircraft carrying the right data-linking system. Raytheon's Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) C-1 achieved just such a mission, retargeting from a small ship to a larger, maneuvering ship target during flight, as part of its first integrated test experiment. An F/A-18F Super Hornet released the glide bomb roughly 90 km (56 mi.) from the small ship, its first designated mark.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The U.S. Army is making headway with plans to demonstrate the utility of nanosatellites and small, low-cost, mobile launchers. (Kestrel image: U.S. Army)
Just in time for the Republican National Convention, the Center for Security Policy has reissued a database of defense spending across congressional districts. Here’s a look at contracts coming to some of the House’s most influential members on defense matters.
Australia will acquire electronic attack systems for the half of its Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet fleet that is already wired for the equipment. The upgrade will cost an estimated A$1.5 billion ($1.44 billion), and the converted aircraft are scheduled to be operational in 2018.
NEW DELHI — India-based Samtel Avionics & Defense Systems is in talks with Honeywell for the supply of multiple displays for aircraft and expects business worth $100 million from the U.S. firm in the next five to seven years.
Lockheed Martin, Oshkosh and AM General all have been chosen to progress into the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program to replace U.S. Army and Marine Corps Humvees. Lockheed is receiving $66 million for the 27-month EMD phase, with Oshkosh receiving $56 million and AM General $64 million. Navistar International Corp., General Dynamics and BAE Systems also bid for EMD but were not chosen.
REALITY, AUGMENTED: The U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) is showing off the next phase of an augmented-reality project that the lab says will quite literally change the way warfighters view operational environments. ONR is developing a system that allows trainees to view simulated images superimposed on real-world landscapes — for example, virtual aircraft, targets and munitions effects inserted into the real-world view through glasses, goggles or a visor.
Click here to view the pdf Fiscal 2013 Senate Defense Appropriations Markup:U.S. Military Missile & Space Procurement ($ in thousands) Fiscal 2013 Senate Defense Appropriations Markup: U.S.
U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard units are fielding a helmet-mounted cueing system (HMCS) from Gentex Corp. of Carbondale, Pa., in A-10s, F-16s (Batch 30 and 32) and C-130 gunships flown by Air Force Special Operations Command. The Scorpion HMCS was tested by the Air Force and originally selected in 2010. Nine A-10 Thunderbolt II pilots from the 47th Fighter Sqdn. of Barksdale AFB, La., are the first to try out the system in an operational exercise. They tested Scorpion during the Rim of the Pacific exercise June 29-Aug. 3, in Hawaii.
One year after Boeing unexpectedly ended an acrimonious dispute with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) with a four-year contract deal, the company is facing a new quarrel, this time with its Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (Speea)-represented workforce.
TEL AVIV — Israeli defense analysts believe recent threats from Hezbollah indicate the terrorist group may have obtained weaponized chemical substances, possibly smuggled in from chaotic Syria, that could be installed on long-range missiles.
NEW DELHI — India’s Coastal Surveillance Network (CSN), meant to detect intrusion by ships along the country’s 4,600-mi. coastline, will become completely operational by 2013. “A Coastal Surveillance Network consisting of a chain of static radars and electro-optic sensors at 84 remote sites is envisaged along the coastline including island territories to detect movement of suspicious vessels. The network is envisaged to be fully functional by [the] middle of next year,” Defense Minister A. K. Antony told the Indian parliament Aug. 22.
The Pentagon recently agreed to a broad U.S. Navy plan to develop and buy presidential replacement helicopters, but some defense analysts say the program is still dragging. The U.S. Navy in May proposed a conceptual acquisition strategy to the Pentagon “that would use mature technology to satisfy user requirements,” says Navy Capt. Catherine Mueller.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has successfully tested an imaging device at 0.96 and 1.4 gigapixels of resolution, developed for its Aware — Advanced Wide FOV (field of view) Architectures for Image Reconstruction and Exploitation — program.
Click here to view the pdf Fiscal 2013 Senate Defense Appropriations Markup:U.S. Navy, Army Aircraft Procurement ($ in thousands) Fiscal 2013 Senate Defense Appropriations Markup: U.S.
