NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory A and B lunar mission spacecraft are scheduled for a violent but potentially scientifically productive end as they carry out a controlled plummet into a mountain ridge near the Moon’s north pole on Dec. 17. The impacts, within seconds of one another at 5:28 p.m. EST, will be monitored by ultraviolet sensors on NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter for the presence of water vapor and other potential volatiles in lunar soil exposed to long periods of sunlight.
LONDON — Cassidian is preparing the ground for potentially reduced levels of revenue from its air systems and service activities after 2015, company CEO Bernhard Gerwert has revealed.
Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) has released the names of the Republican chairmen of the House Armed Services subcommittees. Rep. Michael Turner (Ohio), who currently leads the subcommittee on strategic forces, will take over the powerful air and land forces subcommittee. Rep. Randy Forbes (Va.) moves from the Readiness panel to the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, a boon for his Navy-heavy district along the Virginia coast.
Planners and doctrine experts linked to the U.S. Army and Marine Corps are staking out defensive positions in case the U.S. government’s “Pacific pivot” strategy and the closely associated Air Force-and-Navy-led concept of Air Sea Battle (ASB) threatens the future importance of heavy ground forces.
Australia, dropping its commitment to operate only Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightnings in its future air combat fleet, will ask the U.S. for the price of a second batch of 24 Boeing Super Hornets. Because of repeated delays in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, Lockheed Martin now looks increasingly likely to get only about half of the Australian requirement for 100 fighters previously earmarked for the company in full.
As the White House and Congress continue deficit reduction negotiations, the nation’s largest corporations sent a message to President Barack Obama: it’s time to stop posturing and reach a deal. The Business Roundtable, made up of corporate CEOs who draw $7.3 trillion in annual revenues, wrote a Dec. 11 letter to Obama calling for a deal that averts the so-called fiscal cliff — the Washington buzzword to denote the expiration of tax cuts at the end of the year and the implementation of nearly $1 trillion in across-the-board budget cuts.
FIGHTER REBOOT: The Canadian government has officially released a series of documents outlining the parameters for moving forward with an F-18 replacement and shelving its earlier evaluation that led to the selection of the Lockheed Martin F-35. “Last April, we set out a Seven-Point Plan to hit the reset button on the process to replace the CF-18 aircraft,” the Honorable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, said in a press release.
As the U.S. takes initial steps toward laying down rules for cyber warfare, the head of EADS is voicing a note of caution. During a Dec. 11 speech at an Atlantic Council event assessing future global trends, CEO Tom Enders warned against the use of offensive cyber attacks, particularly at a time when the vulnerability of information technology is widespread. The vulnerability of an IT-based society and economy remains “largely ignored.”
Boeing now plans to announce its choice of a medium-sized business jet airframe for its new Maritime Surveillance Aircraft early next year, according to a company official. Boeing had hoped to announce the new partnership during the summer’s Farnborough air show and then pushed it back to year’s end. But final negotiations with the supplier are taking longer than planned, forcing the company to once again slip its unveiling.
Aviation Week Events - Defense Technology And Affordability Requirements March 5-6 2013 Hilton Arlington Arlington, VA Join senior defense officials and discover where priorities and opportunities exist beyond the FY 2014 budget and hear First-hand how programs are implementing affordable and effective designs! Register now at www.aviationweek.com/events/dtar
Aviation Week Laureate Awards March 7, 2013 National Building Museum Washington, D.C. Time: 6:00 p.m. Aviation Week’s 56th annual Laureate Awards will recognize individuals/teams for their extraordinary accomplishments. Their achievements embody the spirit of exploration, innovation and vision that inspire others to strive for significant, broad-reaching progress in aviation and aerospace.
The Dec. 11 launch of the U.S. Air Force’s third X-37B mission took place only after the service acknowledged “acceptable risk” associated with unknowns surrounding the yet-to-be-competed RL10B-2 upper-stage engine anomaly investigation, according to an Air Force Space Command spokeswoman.
As House and Senate negotiations on the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill near their end, the Secretary of Defense, lawmakers and interest groups are undertaking a last-ditch effort to win a compromise on key issues – including the retirement of U.S. Air Force aircraft. On Dec. 11, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made his final appeal to the leaders of the armed services committees to make changes to a long list of issues, aircraft retirements among them, or else he would recommend the president veto the bill.
NEW DELHI — India has canceled a tender to buy 180 howitzer artillery guns for the third time in 10 years. “The Request for Proposal (RFP) for the procurement of the Howitzers was canceled this year (2012) as both the firms participating in the tender were not able to meet the parameters,” Defense Minister A.K. Antony said in parliament on Dec. 12.
LONDON — The French army has conducted a series of embarkation trials on a French navy ship to prepare for future joint operations. The trials, which began Dec. 3, saw the French Army Air Corps’ new NHIndustries NH90 Caiman Terre and Eurocopter EC665 Tiger helicopters embark on the French navy’s helo carrier and assault ship Dixmude for the first time. The trials took place off the coast of Hyeres in southern France.
The Council of Governors is petitioning the leaders of the House and Senate armed services committees to press forward with the creation of a National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force.
LONDON — The consortium providing the U.K. with new air-to-air refueling tankers has taken delivery of its second aircraft and is in the process of applying for its Air Operators Certification (AOC).
The Pentagon is getting closer to starting new missile defense operations at a site in Romania in the middle of the decade with forthcoming work from Lockheed Martin on the launch system.
