The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending the U.S. Navy delay the detail design and construction contract for the Ford-class CVN-79 John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier until it sorts out some programmatic shortfalls. The Navy and Defense Department (DOD) have rejected the recommendation, which, GAO contends, is a mistake. “DOD’s current schedule for awarding this contract undermines the government’s negotiating position,” GAO says in a new report.
LOS ANGELES — Powered flight tests of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) suborbital spaceplane resumed on Sept. 5 with a supersonic sortie over Mojave, Calif., that included the use of the tail-plane feathering re-entry system.
HOUSTON — Houston is poised to seek a commercial spaceport license from FAA to establish a runway-based complex supporting reusable launch vehicles, spacecraft assembly and flight training, as well as aerospace research and education. The proposed spaceport would occupy 439 acres of Ellington Airport property close to NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
LONDON — A series of aerial refueling trials to boost European interoperability have begun in Italy as part of a project developed by the European Defense Agency (EDA). The Collective Air-to-Air Refueling Clearance Trial aims to obtain refueling clearances for the Italian air force’s Boeing KC-767 tanker aircraft.
Alenia Aermacchi has signed a series of agreements with Polish aerospace companies as it pushes its M-346 to meet the country’s jet trainer requirement. Under its Advanced Jet Trainer program, the Polish air force is looking to purchase a fleet of between eight and 16 lead-in fighter trainers to train the country’s Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots. The air arm needs to begin training in-country as the current contract for F-16 crew training in the U.S. is due to end in 2016.
LONDON — Investigators probing the crash of a Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma in the Shetland Islands in August say they have not yet found any evidence of technical failure onboard the helicopter. Four oil workers died when the CHC Scotia-operated Super Puma ditched into the North Sea just minutes before it was due to land at Sumburgh Airport in the Shetlands on Aug. 23. Twelve passengers and the two pilots survived, although one of the crew was seriously injured.
U.S. Pacific Command’s interest in rapidly fielding a high-power microwave (HPM) counter-electronics weapon is revealed in a new National Research Council (NRC) report on U.S. Air Force directed-energy research and development. The report summarizes three workshops held from February to April, and does not address possible budget cuts, but provides new details of several Air Force directed-energy weapon R&D programs then under way.
As the U.S. Defense Department struggles with life under the full effect of the 2011 Budget Control Act and its annual sequestration cuts, the Pentagon’s acquisition chief is looking at allowing short-term cost exceptions for rotorcraft and post-Joint Strike Fighter research efforts. Frank Kendall, the acquisition chief, told the ComDef 2013 conference Sept. 4 that he is looking to follow in the footsteps of earlier defense officials in the 1990s who identified and fostered specific technology development efforts even as overall budgets dropped.
In the latest of a series of initiatives to identify and develop regional sources of aviation biofuels, Airbus as signed an agreement with Russian biotechnology firm RT-Biotekhprom for the first study to assess local feedstocks for their sustainability.
Golden Spike, the private U.S. startup established to create a human transportation service to the surface of the Moon, is gaining confidence it can make its business plan work as it wraps up initial engineering studies.
TEL AVIV — Disappointed with the delay in the U.S. decision to launch a strike against the Syrian regime, Israel is bracing for possible consequences. The Israel Air Force (IAF) was placed on high alert, took delivery of a sixth counter-rocket Iron Dome system and is preparing to deploy a seventh. “Israelis should carry on with their daily routine,” declared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but at the same time he allowed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to draft an additional 1,000 reserve servicemen, mostly from the Air Defense Corps.
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TEL AVIV — Amid rising tension in the Middle East, Israel and the U.S. tested a ballistic target, alarming Russia’s warning systems. Scheduled in advance, the Israeli Missile Defense Organization and U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) test-launched a new generation of ballistic target dubbed “Silver Sparrow” on Sept. 3. Developed by Israeli defense company Rafael, the target simulates a 1,500-km (930-mi.) range ballistic missile, similar to the Iranian Shehab 3.
EXPORT CONTROL: The U.S. Air Force has identified 15 of its weapons programs and systems that are most popular for export to allies and is moving to streamline its own approval system to expedite their export, when allowed, according to the armed service’s deputy undersecretary for international affairs. Heidi Grant told the ComDef 2013 conference in Washington Sept. 4 that the internal posturing is aimed at trying to avoid starting from the beginning of the export-license-vetting process each time there is a request.
The Bell/Boeing MV-22 team is confident the tiltrotor can safely refuel F/A-18Fs in midair after conducting the first proximity test between the two last week. A Navy Hornet flew within 30 ft. of the MV-22’s drogue chute in a lateral offset position during an Aug. 29 flight trail, says Chad Sparks, advanced derivatives manager for Bell/Boeing. This was the fourth in a series of tests paid for by Bell/Boeing as the team examines alternative missions for the V-22.
HOUSTON — A pair of NASA research aircraft — a P-3B turboprop and B200 King Air — take to the skies over Houston on Sept. 4 for a month-long state and federally sponsored campaign to refine the development of future satellite sensors capable of continuous air quality measurements from geosynchronous orbit.
LONDON — Members of the British Parliament have described the U.K.’s plan to purchase the Joint Strike Fighter for the carrier strike role as high risk because of the defense ministry’s lack of control of the program.
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ARMY Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Stafford, Conn., was awarded a $25,582,725 firm-fixed-price, option-eligible, multi-year contract modification (P0004) of contract (W58RGZ-12-D-0212) for the overhaul of 250 UH-60 Blackhawk main rotor blades. Performance location and funding will be determined with each order. This contract was a non-competitive acquisition with one bid solicited and one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Redstone Arsenal (Aviation), Redstone Arsenal, Ala. is the contracting activity.
