THE PENTAGON — The U.S. Air Force has decided to move forward in acquiring the Combat Rescue Helicopter, utilizing funds Congress mandated in fiscal 2014 final appropriations, the armed service’s budget director said March 4.
NASA is not planning for a disruption in the U.S.-Russian partnership that controls the International Space Station, despite the continuing military confrontation between Russia and the Ukraine over control of the Crimean Peninsula. Bolden noted that the ISS partnership has persisted through difficult times before during 13 years of joint operation and occupancy of the station, including the tense confrontation in 2008 between Russia and the U.S. over the former Soviet republic of Georgia, which resisted an invasion by Russian forces.
THE PENTAGON — While continuing to build more SSN Virginia-class attack submarines, the U.S. Navy is also investing in development of the SSBN Trident nuclear-missile fleet, according to its proposed fiscal 2015 spending plan. The budget proposal announced March 4 includes about $5.9 billion for two more Virginia-class subs.
THE PENTAGON — The U.S. Army is seeking a modest increase in intelligence and unmanned aircraft acquisitions in its $125 billion budget request for fiscal 2015, service officials said March 4. The Army is seeking $1.10 billion for intelligence acquisitions and research and development, down slightly from the $1.17 billion approved by Congress in December for the current fiscal year.
PARIS — The success of back-to-back launches of commercial communications satellites on Space Exploration Technologies’ (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rockets in December and January has drawn barbs from competitors in the commercial launch industry. Stephan Israel, chairman and CEO of European launch service provider Arianespace, has repeatedly criticized Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX for charging its U.S. government customers roughly twice the cost of a commercial Falcon 9 launch, which the company advertises for $56.5 million.
The news is in the details of NASA’s $17.5 billion, stay-the-course budget request for fiscal 2015. The request tries to maintain pace on all of the agency’s major priorities: the James Webb Space Telescope, Space Launch System and Orion crew capsule, along with the International Space Station (now extended until 2024) and commercial crew access to it.
THE PENTAGON — U.S. defense officials are putting their money where their mouths have been with the fiscal 2015 budget request to Congress, which emphasizes the pursuit of new and critical military technology over the size of the military, or even how it is compensated and trained.
ARLINGTON, Va. — Flight restrictions that stop the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter from flying within 25 nm of a lightning storm could be lifted next year, senior program officials have said. The restrictions, partly the result of a 2006 bid to reduce weight in the short takeoff and landing (STOVL) F-35B, could be lifted thanks to changes in the onboard inert gas generating system (Obiggs) that are due to be flight tested in the coming weeks.
THE PENTAGON — Putting to rest—for now—questions about the U.S. Navy’s support for the nation’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier fleet, the service’s fiscal year 2015 budget includes money for next-generation models, as well as funding to anchor the overhaul of existing ships.
The U.S. Navy recently awarded about $359 million in contract modification work involving V-22 Ospreys to the Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas and to Rolls-Royce of Indianapolis, Ind. The bulk of the award—about $351 million—was for a Feb. 28 modification to a previously awarded, cost-plus-incentive, fixed-price incentive-fee contract for the Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office for V-22 joint performance-based logistics support. The work is expected to be completed in November 2016.
NEW DELHI — India has put all defense contracts with engine maker Rolls-Royce on hold following allegations that the British company paid bribes to win lucrative contracts to supply Hawk advanced trainer jet engines to state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), a defense ministry official says.
A seven-camera video system has confirmed deployment of a 9-meter mesh antenna on the Sirius FM-9 satellite-radio spacecraft, setting the Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) platform for service from geostationary orbit. Designed and delivered by Ecliptic Enterprises Corp., a Pasadena, Calif.-based company that manufactures in-space video systems for spacecraft and launch vehicles, the cameras verified that the reflector and boom hinges on the large antenna deployed correctly, followed by the large, unfurlable mesh reflector.
NASA’s upcoming $17.5 billion request for funds in fiscal 2015 will include a request for “pre-formulation” work on missions to exploit recently discovered water geysers over the south pole of Europa and sophisticated techniques to gauge the effects of dark energy on the observable Universe, along with stay-the-course spending on continuing major programs.
MOORESTOWN, N.J. — To develop Aegis Ashore, a team of Lockheed Martin, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and other contractors had to discern ways across the board to do in hours what it would take days to do for previous shipboard Aegis installations. “It was such a tight schedule,” Brendan Scanlon, Lockheed Martin Aegis Ashore program director, tells the Aviation Week Intelligence Network. “We had to find ways to do things faster.”
MD Helicopters (MDHI) is studying the possibility of producing a hybrid-powered helicopter, its owner says. Speaking at Heli-Expo 2014 in Anaheim, Calif., Feb. 25, owner and CEO Lynn Tilton said company engineers were examining what options and technologies are available, and that 3D printing of components was also being considered.
USCG CHIEF: President Obama plans to nominate Vice Adm. Paul F. Zukunft as the 25th Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard to replace Adm. Robert Papp, who is slated to turn over command this spring. A 37-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, Zukunft coordinated the federal response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He now commands U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area, is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and holds advanced degrees from the U.S. Naval War College and Webster University.
