Belgium has taken delivery of its first NH90 in the NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH) configuration. The country becomes the fifth nation to take delivery of the naval version of the twin-engine utility helicopter, which is produced by NHIndustries, a consortium of Eurocopter, AgustaWestland and Fokker.
The Senate fiscal 2014 defense spending bill makes a modest increase to an account that usually doesn’t attract much attention, adding $725,386 to the “Classified programs” line in the Air Force’s “Other procurement” account. It’s a modest 5% increase to the $15.2 million for U.S. Air Force “Other Procurement” line 999, summarizing multiple programs. The committee report on the bill (S.1429) explains the increase as “Classified adjustment.” The full Senate Appropriations Committee marked up the bill Aug. 1.
WGS WINDOW: The U.S. Air Force is anticipating a launch window for its sixth Boeing Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) spacecraft of 49 min. starting at 8:29 a.m. EDT Aug. 7. The satellite, which will provide high-bandwidth data and voice communications for U.S. and Australian forces, will be lofted by a United Launch Alliance Delta IV with four solid-rocket motors and a 5-meter fairing, from Cape Canaveral.WGS-6 is the final “Block 2” standard satellite, which includes a bypass to allow for quick transfer of video data collected by unmanned aircraft.
OSHKOSH — The “sweet spot” cost for widespread law-enforcement and public safety deployment of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) is probably around $50,000 — about the cost of a fully equipped squad car — suggests Alan Frazier, assistant professor in the University of North Dakota aviation department and a 33-year law-enforcement veteran working on research to integrate sUAS into public-safety use.
ARMY Lockheed Martin – Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., was awarded a firm-fixed-price, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract with a maximum value of $223,310,000 for the procurement of Modernized-Target Acquisition Designations Sight pilot night vision sensors and related services. This FMS contract is in support of Korea. Fiscal 2013 Procurement funds are being obligated on this award. Three bids were solicited, with three bids received. The Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-13-C-0104).
LONDON — U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (Afsoc) is boosting its capabilities in Europe with the delivery of Bell Boeing CV-22 Osprey tiltrotors and updated Lockheed Martin MC-130J Commando II support aircraft.
NEW OWNER: Penton, an information and media company that owns titles including Aircraft Bluebook Ac-U-KWIK, Air Charter Guide, SpeedNews and Air Transport World, has acquired the Aviation Week group from McGraw Hill Financial. Along with Aerospace Daily & Defense Report and the Aviation Week Intelligence Network, Aviation Week includes Business & Commercial Aviation, Aviation Week & Space Technology and its MRO and Defense Technology editions.
Northrop Grumman expects to be under contract with Lockheed Martin shortly after being selected to supply the active, electronically scanned array radar for an F-16 avionics upgrade under development for the U.S. Air Force and Taiwan.
Northrop Grumman and the German defense minister remain far apart when it comes to cost estimates of what it would take to certify the now-canceled Euro Hawk high-altitude UAV for flight in German airspace. A Bundestag commission investigating the Euro Hawk cancelation recently held a series of hearings to find out who knew what—and when—about cost overruns in the program and problems in obtaining certification for the system to fly in the country’s airspace. The German election campaign season only adds to the angst; general elections take place Sept. 22.
A more robust and maturing sensor network for the U.S. missile defense architecture is allowing planners to expand the options for an enhanced kill vehicle (KV).
The former chief of U.S. Africa Command (Africom) says Niger was willing to allow armed, as well as unarmed, U.S. unmanned aircraft to fly over neighboring Mali from an airfield in the North West African country but the request was not approved by higher U.S. authorities. Army Gen. Carter Ham (ret.) told the Aspen Security Forum last month that when the U.S. began flying unmanned aircraft surveillance missions out of Niger in February the Nigeriens “were certainly willing to have armed capability” as well.
Aviation could ultimately benefit from a new round of U.S. Energy Department awards for projects to accelerate the development of sustainable algae biofuels. The projects aim to boost algae productivity while cutting the capital and operating costs of commercial-scale production. Aviation sees algae as a promising feedstock for biofuel because it uses less land and water than growing energy crops and produces more oil. Airbus is backing algal biofuel and establishing a research center in Germany to advance the industrial production of kerosene from algae.
TEL AVIV — Undergoing a major force reduction, Israel is holding a garage sale. Fighter aircraft, helicopters, transport aircraft, tanks and missile boats may have helped build the nation’s military legacy, but now the military is ready to sell them off.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) aug. 11 - 15 — AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, Hilton Head, S.C. For more information go to www.aiaa.org/EventDetail.aspx?id=13178 aug. 11 - 15 — AIAA Aerospace Sciences, Flight Sciences and Information Systems Event, Boston, Mass. For more information go to www.aiaa.org/Boston2013
The incoming CEO of Rockwell Collins believes cuts to the U.S. defense budget are here to stay and says the managers of military programs would be well-advised to wake up to reality.
Click here to view the pdf U.S. Navy Procurement Funding Shifts:2013 Plan for Fiscal 2014 Compared To Actual 2014 Request (Winners) (Then-year dollars in millions) U.S.
LONDON — BAE Systems is pursuing deals for Eurofighter Typhoon jets for the UAE and a follow-up deal for the aircraft in Saudi Arabia. The company is keen to push production of the fourth-generation fighter out beyond 2020, CEO Ian King told analysts as the company released its half-year results on Aug. 1.
FALCON FLIGHT: Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is set to launch three Canadian-built C-band Earth-observation radar satellites for MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates under a “launch reservation contract” awarded to the Hawthorne, Calif.-based launch service provider July 30. Funded by the Canadian Space Agency, the Radarsat Constellation Mission is designed to continue the C-band dataset of earlier Radarsats with as many as four daily passes over Canadian territory and “several” passes a day over the Northwest Passage.
