Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Graham Warwick
Lockheed Martin is looking ahead to a company-funded surface-launched test of its Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (Lrasm) in preparation for an expected U.S. Navy competition.

By Graham Warwick
Almost a year after rollout, significant work remains before the CH-53K can take to the air. But once the helicopter is airborne, developer Sikorsky maintains tests can move quickly because of work accomplished on the ground, and the Marines still expect initial operational capability in 2019.

By Jay Menon
Indian Space Research Organization Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar says the Mangalyaan mission still has 39 kg of fuel and is likely to survive “several years” in orbit.

By Tony Osborne
Poland has selected Airbus Helicopters to provide the country’s future military utility helicopters, while Raytheon’s Patriot has been chosen as Warsaw’s next generation surface-to-air missile system.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
Airbus Helicopters will soon begin testing a new lightweight digital health and usage monitoring system (HUMS) which could be used on light-single and twin-engine helicopters

The Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A) and Afghanistan’s Ministries of Defense and Interior “did not have controls in place to effectively manage accountability of the approximately 95,000 vehicles procured by DoD (Department of Defense) for Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) since 2005,” the Pentagon Inspector General says.

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. William R. Merz, Commander, Submarine Group 7 (Comsubgru 7), met with representatives from the Indonesian submarine force in Surabaya, Indonesia, earlier this month to strengthen a working relationship between the two navies, U.S. Navy officials say.

By Jay Menon
India has approved a plan to jointly develop a short-range surface-to-air missile (SR-SAM) system with major European missile developer and manufacturer MBDA for deployment on navy warships.

By Graham Warwick
Flight tests of the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton’s main sensor, a 360-deg.-scan surveillance radar, have begun on the unmanned aircraft at the U.S. Navy’s NAS Patuxent River test center in Maryland.

By Mark Carreau
As it carries out its final orbits of the planet closest to the Sun, NASA’s Messenger Mercury mission leaves mounting intrigue over the Solar System’s early era, including the distribution of life’s precursors.

By Bradley Perrett
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s call for sustainable warship building removes a risk that the government could switch to ordering all ships for the Royal Australian Navy from abroad, giving up on the trouble-plagued industry.

Helicopter Maritime Strike (HSM) Squadron 77 was selected to host the first overseas test of the Multi-Aircraft Nose and Tail Interface System (Mantis), a next-generation aircraft ground transport for shipboard use in the Western Pacific.

By Jay Menon
India’s second lunar exploration mission – Chandrayaan-2, to be launched during the next two to three years – will be completely indigenous, the country’s top scientist says.
Space

Officials from the U.S., Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan concluded “a productive and substantive security meeting” earlier this month in Washington, “to enhance trilateral defense cooperation in light of the evolving security environment in the region,” the Pentagon says.

RAYTHEON has $2b contract from undisclosed international customer for Patriot Air & Missile Defense System. Contract awarded April 2. ORBITAL ATK delivered DIRECTV’s Sky Mexico-1 (SKYM-1) satellite to launch site in Kourou, French Guiana, for late May Ariane 5 launch. SELEX ES has multi-million-euro contract from COBHAM AVIATION SERVICES in Australia for Seaspray 5000E Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars for Cobham’s Challenger CL-604 maritime search-and-rescue missions.

The U.S. Air Force resumed flying T-6A Texan II training aircraft on April 15 after standing down the fleet five days earlier. Air Education and Training Command (AETC) had found indications of a malfunctioning engine oil line, and ordered the stand-down for an inspection of the fleet of 445 single-engine, two-seat primary trainers. The inspection focused on engine oil cooler supply and return lines. If chafing causes a failure in the supply and return lines, oil loss can damage the engine. All aircraft that have passed the inspection are returning to flight, according to AETC.

BOEING has $321m U.S. Army contract to complete development of baseline Apache attack helo. Work will be complete by March 31, 2018. NORTHROP GRUMMAN

By Guy Norris
NASA has conducted the agency’s first flight of the X-56A testbed as part of a broader research effort to develop system and design technology for a future generation of aircraft with lighter, higher aspect ratio wings.

The head of U.S. Air Force Space Command envisions a future in which all of the Air Force’s satellites — ranging from communications, precision navigation and timing, weather and missile warning — are controlled by a common ground station.

The French government will establish two state-owned companies this year to purchase and leaseback Airbus A400M airlifters and multimission FREMM frigates to the nation’s armed forces under a plan aimed at filling a gap of more than €2 billion ($2.1 billion) in the nation’s 2015 defense budget.

By Mark Carreau
The sixth SpaceX Dragon resupply capsule successfully rendezvoused with the International Space Station early April 17.

With one satellite in house here, another on the way, and plans afoot for new spacecraft conceived on the path-finding model of its U.K. parent, Surrey Satellite Technology U.S. is taking root in fresh soil.

By Maxim Pyadushkin
Ukraine’s aircraft manufacturer Antonov rolled out the first prototype of the An-178 transport aircraft on April 16. The first flight is scheduled for early May.

Brazilian Defense Minister Jacques Wagner did not rule out a possible sale of JAS 39E Gripen NG fighters to Argentina at the LAAD defense show here, but industry sources still confirm that such a deal is hypothetical at best.

ST AEROSPACE received new contracts worth $298m in the 1Q 2015, ranging from aircraft maintenance and cabin mods to pilot training. SAGEM and Swedish