A forthcoming U.S. Missile Defense Agency flight trial will be the first of its kind to test a layered defense pitting multiple air- and missile-defense systems against both ballistic missiles and air-breathing targets at once. But, hurdles remain toward achieving a truly integrated defense against air and ballistic missile threats to allied interests at home and abroad. FTI-01 is a major graduation exercise slated for this fall, and designed to position three of the Pentagon's missile-defense systems against five targets launched nearly simultaneously.
Two demonstration Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) satellites, built by Northrop Grumman, captured these infrared images of a ballistic missile intercept from their low Earth orbit. In 2009, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) lofted the two STSS satellites, developed under the then-Space-Based Infrared System-low program, to explore whether orbiting spacecraft could be used to track warheads in mid-flight.
Israel's aerial refueling requirements are moving to the forefront as the country mulls possible air strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, and although a U.S. offer of surplus KC-135s would help, it is not a long-term solution. The ingress and egress routes to distant Iranian targets present planners with enormous challenges, including several midair refuelings under hazardous conditions, tasking every single asset that the Israeli air force (IAF) can put in the sky. Keeping fuel-guzzling jets flying to their targets and back would depend on tankers.
Aviation Week's 2012 Workforce Study data come from respondents that collectively employ 80% of the A&D industry's workforce of 624,000. Newcomers to this year's study include Alenia Aermacchi North America and Acutec Precision Machining.
U.S. Navy emails and other documents suggest that officials muzzled bad test results for the first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) variant, the USS Freedom, at a crucial time in the program’s development, when the service was considering which seaframe to pick for the $30 billion-plus fleet.
CHINOOK AT 50: Boeing’s CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter has become the company’s longest continuously produced aircraft. The first H-47 was delivered to the U.S. Army on Aug. 16, 1962. Boeing is nearing completion of a $130 million renovation of its Chinook production line in Ridley Township near Philadelphia to produce the latest model, the CH-47F. Thus far, more than 1,200 Chinooks have been produced for 18 operators, with more than 800 in operation for combat, cargo and humanitarian relief missions.
GENOA — Italy plans a major reform of its armed forces, with the ambitious goal of increasing or at least maintaining operational capability while simultaneously cutting personnel, infrastructure and support components. This is what Defense Minister Giampaolo di Paola wants to achieve through a special law, to be approved by Parliament before winter, followed by a number of detailed decrees.
LOGAN, Utah — A growing market in the developing world for small satellites and demand for more capable orbital spacecraft like Darpa’s planned Phoenix testbed are behind ATK’s recent decision to broaden its line of small satellites.
The U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) is seeking proposals to develop an affordable solid-state laser weapon prototype for Navy ships. The service’s broad agency announcement (BAA), released this week, is part of a continued Navy effort to develop and deploy laser weapons aboard its ships — one that has been hampered by vessel size and weight limitations, coupled with the lasers’ enormous power needs.
Click here to view the pdf Australian Submarine Spending Australian Submarine Spending 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Totals Annual Fiscal Totals $30,700
With Australia on course to replace its Collins-class submarines, the country is looking to significantly increase spending on sub programs through the mid part of this decade, according to analysis and data provided by Avascent 050, an online market analysis toolkit for global defense programs.
LAS VEGAS — With the prospect of unmanned aircraft owned by one country flying through airspace controlled by another, as manned aircraft routinely do today, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is working to develop global standards for their certification and operation. The first package of standards for what ICAO calls remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) will become applicable on Nov. 15. “This is the tip of a complete regulatory framework,” says Leslie Cary, secretary of ICAO’s unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) study group.
The U.S. Air Force has to do a better job of organizing, funding and fielding its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) programs, according to a National Research Council (NRC) panel. “The responsibility for evaluating and informing decisions about Air Force ISR capabilities is diffuse, overly personnel-intensive, and divided among many organizations, resulting in an excessively lengthy process,” the NRC says in its report, released earlier this month.
LAS VEGAS — Sensing the market is ready, Protonex Technology has introduced a commercial fuel-cell power system for long-endurance unmanned aircraft and ground vehicles. The UAV-H500 proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell runs on compressed hydrogen and is a variant of the unit that powered the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) Ion Tiger unmanned aircraft to a flight endurance record of more than 26 hr.
When it comes to defense spending, plans presented by presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and his new running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), diverge in ways that typify an ongoing rift within the Republican Party.
A control fin that had functioned correctly on two previous flights malfunctioned on the Aug. 14 third flight of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Boeing X-51A Waverider, causing the hypersonic demonstrator to lose control before its scramjet engine could be ignited.
