LONDON — Switzerland has rejected its government’s planned purchase of the Saab JAS 39E Gripen fighter aircraft. Some 53.4% of the public voted “no” in a referendum on the purhcase held on May 18, which will force the Swiss government to abandon the 3.1 billion Swiss franc ($3.5 billion) program for 22 aircraft, and re-examine its options to replace the aging Northrop F-5 Tiger. Nearly 2.9 million Swiss voters took part in the referendum, with a turnout of 55.3%.
MARS LANDER: NASA’s Insight (Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) Mars lander passed its critical design review on May 16, clearing the way for the agency and its international partners to begin construction. Insight will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in March 2016, making it the first interplanetary mission ever to launch from California, NASA says. The lander will dig beneath the Martian surface to study the planet’s interior, shedding light on how rocky planets form and develop their layered inner structure.
Six flight crews from the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC)-3 provided support to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) to help fight wildfires throughout San Diego County this month. At the request of Cal Fire, the six specially-equipped MH-60S, or Sierra, Seahawks are supporting firefighting efforts in the vicinity of USMC Camp Pendleton, Calif., by conducting aerial water drops.
Three of Europe’s largest military aircraft manufacturers are proposing a joint approach to the development of a pan-European, medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV. Airbus Defense and Space, Alenia Aermacchi and Dassault Aviation say they have delivered proposals for what the companies call MALE 2020 to the defense ministries of France, Germany and Italy, and say their plans are backed by industrial agreements on work shares as well as a cooperative agreement.
BATH, MAINE — While the current fiscal 2015 Pentagon budget proposal includes plans to cut future buys for Sikorsky MH-60 helicopters and Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout UAVs, the U.S. Navy is continuing to build and train for future operations using both, especially in tandem, off its surface-fleet ships.
After a nearly one-year delay, the European Space Agency (ESA) has approved the system design of a service module being developed by Airbus Defense and Space to fly on NASA’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) in 2017, the company announced May 19. ESA’s approval green-lights hardware development of a structural model that will be used for static tests expected to start “in the next few months,” followed by dynamic tests simulating launch loads that will be conducted within the coming year.
HOUSTON — SpaceX recovery ships steered for port in Los Angeles following a successful Pacific Ocean recovery of the company’s third round-trip Dragon resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The freighter splashed down May 18 about 350 mi. west of Baja, Calif., at 3:05 p.m. EDT, ending a 30-day flight that delivered nearly 5,000 lb. of cargo and returned with more than 3,500 lb. of station hardware, crew equipment and research materials, including perishable medical specimens and biological samples.
NEW DELHI — India’s space agency has a busy period coming up, with the next launch of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C23) bearing a clutch of foreign satellites slated by the end of June, and an experimental launch of its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mk. 3) by the end of July. Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) say both missions are currently at “different stages” of progress. The next two months will be “very hectic” for the space agency, they say.
The U.K. government has sent one of its Raytheon Sentinel ground-surveillance radar aircraft to Central Africa to assist in the search for schoolgirls kidnapped by extremists in Nigeria. The Sentinel was one of a number of options offered by London to the Nigerian government to assist in the search operation for the 223 schoolgirls abducted by the militant Islamic group Boko Haram in April.
BAE Systems’ U.S. subsidiary is streamlining, going from four to three business units, in the latest example of a prime Pentagon contractor cutting its own costs to maintain competitiveness in an era of relative government austerity in the West.
NASA managers have cleared the Kepler extra-solar planet-finder for another two years of operation, following presentations that convinced them that the space telescope can generate useful data with only two functioning reaction control wheels.
Beechcraft appears close to its first significant fleet order for the AT-6C Texan II attack aircraft. On May 13, the Defense Department confirmed State Department approval for the potential sale of 24 of the aircraft to Iraq. Delivery would occur over three years. The sale also covers two spare PT-6A-68 Turboprop engines, two spare ALE-47 Counter-Measure Dispensing Systems and/or two spare AAR-47 Missile Launch Detection Systems, along with various other spares and support. The total estimated cost of the deal is $790 million.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. Army has turned to the pairing of manned and unmanned aircraft as a way to provide battlefield superiority to troops from the platoon to division level through faster, simpler communications and a quicker response to threats, according to the deputy commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
The fourth Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-4), the USS Coronado, successfully completed the first Structural Test Firing (STF) of its 30mm gun mission module recently off the coast of Southern California. The guns are part of the LCS surface warfare mission module package. With recent guidance from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to make the ships more lethal, many analysts predict that the 30mm guns—or other, more powerful ones—will be made permanent fixtures aboard the vessels.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Lockheed Martin has developed a fire- fighting variant of its robotic six-wheeled infantry squad equipment-carrying vehicle, the Squad Mission Support System (SMSS), or Ox. Called the Fire Ox, the bright red autonomous unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) was unveiled at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) annual robotics conference and trade show May 12-15.
LONDON — Airbus Helicopters is planning to increase the maximum takeoff weight of its new EC175 intermediate-heavy twin-engine helicopter. The aircraft, which was certified by EASA at the beginning of 2014, will receive a 300-kg. (660-lb.) increase in its maximum takeoff weight, the company announced May 16, as one of the prototypes visits key clients providing helicopters for oil and gas operations in the North Sea.
A Russian federal launch of the Proton M/Briz M failed to carry Russia’s Express AM4R communications satellite to geostationary orbit on May 16. After lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1:42 a.m. Moscow time, the rocket “developed an anomaly” during the third-stage flight, “and the Express AM4R spacecraft was not placed into its intended orbit,” according to a statement by International Launch Services (ILS) of Reston, Va., which markets commercial launches of the Khrunichev-built rocket.
The U.S. Navy has successfully tested a new lightweight ramp intended for use on the Navy’s Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV). The advanced ramp would provide significant improvement over the JHSV’s current ramp by allowing the loading or unloading of people and combat vehicles in rougher ocean conditions than are currently possible between a JHSV and another ship, pier, mobile landing platform or more, Navy officials say. During the test, the ramp was able to hold an M1A1 Abrams tank while a motion simulator mimicked crashing waves.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] . (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) May 19-22 — National Space Symposium, The Broadmoor Hotel, Colorado Springs, Colo.. For more information go to http://www.robobusiness.eu/
TIGER HUG: Gen. Fang Fenghui, the Chinese chief of defense, visited the U.S. this week, touring an aircraft carrier and meeting with U.S. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the Pentagon. After a one-on-one meeting between the leaders, Dempsey told reporters in a joint press conference about China’s first-ever participation in the upcoming Rim of the Pacific international maritime exercise. But Fang also made clear that China is not about to stem what U.S. allies in the Pacific view as encroachment in the South China Sea.
