Fly-by-wire controls are commonplace in fixed-wing aircraft, but a rarity in rotorcraft. Cost is usually cited as the reason for not using FBW, despite its performance advantages, but now Kazan Helicopters is removing fly-by-wire from its light twin-turbine Ansat because of safety concerns.
Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) is following in the footsteps of his father, Bud, as a champion of transportation funding. In many ways, the younger Shuster is dealing with a far different Congress—one stuffed with members who lack legislative experience and were elected as agents of change.
As the U.S. looks for ways to reduce an immense budget deficit, planners in the military and intelligence communities appear to be questioning whether they really need two commercial imagery providers to supplement the super-capable government spacecraft. And that has set off a messy dance between two publicly traded satellite operators, DigitalGlobe and GeoEye, about whether they should merge and on what terms.
At first glance, the display looks familiar: rolling computer-generated terrain unfolding to mountains in the distance, a contour-hugging grid providing a sense of depth, while overlaid symbology informs and guides the pilot. The idealized three-dimensional world presented by synthetic vision is becoming known to civil pilots but, “flying” over Salt Lake City in a Rockwell Collins-built military-helicopter simulator, closer examination of the displays reveals a level of detail not seen on the screens in business-jet cockpits.
With India last week approving a $700 million contract with Switzerland's Pilatus to purchase 75 new PC-7 basic propeller trainers, the Indian air force (IAF) may also need to look outside the country for a fleet of intermediate jet trainers.
Perhaps it is best not to apply the proverb “a friend in need is a friend indeed” to the U.K. as it returns to buying the F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (Stovl) version of the Joint Strike Fighter.
The Australian government will buy 10 Alenia Aermacchi/Lockheed Martin C-27Js to meet its tactical transport needs and replace de Havilland Caribous that were retired in 2009. The first C-27J is due in Australia in 2015, followed in late 2016 by its initial operating capability. The aircraft will be based at RAAF Richmond.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has helped to block airline consolidation in the past, and now he has set his sights on the proposed union of US Airways and American Airlines. Schumer, a leading Democrat in the Senate, met last week with US Airways CEO Douglas Parker. Shortly after, Schumer followed up with a letter to the airline executive expressing his concerns about the merger's potential to disrupt airline service in upstate N.Y. Schumer is also asking whether a merger would derail American's plan to expand its hub at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
When Republicans talk about reducing the deficit, they don't mean reducing defense spending. House lawmakers last week passed a bill that would prevent massive budget reductions from taking place at the Pentagon next year by instead cutting funding for food stamps and other social programs. “This plan ensures that we maintain our fiscal discipline and commitment to reducing out-of-control government spending, while making sure our top priority is national security,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said after the bill passed.
If only the court system worked faster. A judge last week dismissed drunken driving charges against former FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt after watching video of the incident and concluding Babbitt should not have been pulled over in the first place. And although his legal record and now his reputation are restored, the decision will not allow him to return to his old job. His former deputy, Michael Huerta, has been nominated by the president to replace him and is awaiting Senate confirmation.
Delays in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program may not have produced big sales for interim aircraft, but could provide a boost for electronic warfare suppliers as militaries endeavor to keep existing hardware operationally relevant.
Amy Butler (Langley AFB, Va.), Robert Wall (Langley AFB, Va.)
Collection of intelligence in Afghanistan has not been a trivial problem, with the need to track individuals in mountains and detect small improvised explosive devices, but it pales in comparison to the challenges involved in taking on a well-equipped, highly sophisticated adversary.
ROME – The Italian air force is developing an EC-27 JEDI electronic attack aircraft. The system is effectively a smaller version of the U.S. EC-130H Compass Call that the U.S. Air Force operates. The system is based on commercial off-the-shelf equipment and is set up as a roll-on/roll-off capability, says Italian air force Col. Giuseppe Sgamba, the commander of the Italian air force electronic warfare center.
ROME – Saab is about to embark on flight testing of the BOH pod, a new self-protection system for fighters and light-attack aircraft. The system is the latest iteration of the BOL and BOZ dispense system family. The BOH is integrated in a Sidewinder-sized pod and would be mounted on a weapons station capable of firing the dogfight missile or AIM-120 Amraam missile.
APACHE CONTRACT: The U.S. Army has awarded Morganti HAC, J.V., of Danbury, Conn., a $54,696,965 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for the construction of facilities and infrastructure to support the procurement of Apache AH-64D helicopters, the Defense Department announced May 10. The work will be performed in Kattamia Air Base, Egypt, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 22, 2012. There were 23 bids solicited, with six received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Winchester, Va., is the contracting activity.
LONDON – Higher-than-expected costs of converting its aircraft carriers to use F-35Cs has forced the U.K. to return to buying the F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing version. The U.K. abandoned the F-35B during the 2010 Strategic Defense & Security Review, arguing the catapult-launch and arrestor gear F-35C was a better fit.
AVX Aircraft is to study fuel-efficiency improvements for the U.S. Army’s Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed scout helicopter under a contract awarded via the Vertical Lift Consortium (VLC). The study’s starting point is the Fort Worth-based company’s proposal to upgrade the OH-58D with coaxial rotors and dual ducted-fan propulsors to meet the Army’s Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) requirement.
ROME – The Australian government has opted to buy 10 Alenia Aermacchi C-27Js to meet its tactical transport needs. The aircraft is to replace the Caribou, retired in 2009. The first C-27J is due in Australia in 2015, followed in late 2016 by its initial operating capability. The aircraft will be based at RAAF Richmond.
Los Angeles – U.S. and Australian researchers say a rocket-boosted, hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet was successfully operated for around 12 sec. while accelerating from Mach 6.5 to Mach 8 during a test from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii.
The House Armed Services Committee has approved a defense policy bill to authorize $554 billion in Pentagon spending during fiscal 2013 and that keeps in place a requirement for the Pentagon to start work on a new East Coast missile defense site. The bill, which authorizes $88 billion in war funding, also approved an amendment that will follow the House Appropriations Committee in putting a halt on the Air Force’s plan to scale back the Air National Guard with regard to C-130s.
