TEL AVIV — The allegedly Iranian-backed UAV that penetrated Israeli airspace last weekend was shot down 30 km from the Dimona nuclear reactor after flying 30 min. over Israeli territory. According to Israeli officials, the UAV was downed in the area of the Yatir Forest, in the northern Negev, so as to avoid damage to a civilian area.
The U.S. Air Force says it is looking for ways to compensate for gaps in integrated F-22 Raptor life support system testing highlighted by a recent service report investigating pilot breathing incidents. While the different components and equipment that form the stealthy fighter’s life support system all have been modeled and tested individually, there has been no such check of the entire integrated system, according to the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Report on Aircraft Oxygen Generation released last month.
LAUNCHING SCANEAGLE: A shipboard-capable system designed to support the launch and recovery of ScanEagle UAVs completed its final demonstration flight testing Sept. 27 at a testing range in eastern Oregon, the Office of Navy Research (ONR) says. The ONR-sponsored Compact Launch and Recovery System (CLRE) is meant to provide a small-scale system for operating the maritime surveillance aircraft. CLRE uses a compressed-air launcher to shoot the ScanEagle into the sky.
AMSTERDAM — The boards of EADS and BAE Systems were due to meet Oct. 9 to determine whether they should call off the planned merger of the two companies or extend a deadline that expires Oct. 10. The German government has been emerging as the biggest hurdle to an agreement on the massive deal. BAE Systems has to apply for an extended deadline by the afternoon of Oct. 10. Such extensions usually are granted, and would give the two companies 28 more days to forge a deal and come to terms with the three governments.
INTELSAT 23: Intelsat and launch provider International Launch Services are preparing for the launch of the Intelsat 23 satellite aboard a Proton M rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on Oct. 14 at 2:37 p.m. local time. Separation of the satellite is scheduled for approximately 9 hr. and 30 min. after liftoff. Intelsat 23 is scheduled to start service at 307 deg. East longitude in 2012, replacing the Intelsat 707 satellite.
TEL AVIV — Elbit Systems and Northrop Grumman are collaborating to develop a terrain-following/terrain-avoidance (TF/TA) system to improve tactical, low-level flight safety for military transports. The TF/TA system has already been selected for integration into an ongoing C-130 Hercules upgrade program. It could help pilots carrying out combat search and rescue or Special Operations Forces missions.
ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Boeing is expecting a sole-source contract for the initial U.S. Air Force purchase of Laser-Guided Small-Diameter Bomb (SDB) weapons, according to Kristen Robertson, who heads the program for the company. The service announced its intent Oct. 4, and the initial buy is for use on the AC-130W gunship employed by Air Force Special Operations Command.
The Defense Department’s needs for U.S. Navy intelligence have focused funding on aircraft — especially UAVs — and submarine-related programs, according to recently declassified and released budget documents. The military intelligence programs’ fiscal 2010 budget justification for Congress indicates long-term Pentagon interest and funding programs that likely persist not only through this fiscal year but into the future.
The Pentagon is wasting money because of the way it handles hundreds of millions of dollars invested in single-bid contract awards, a recent Defense Department Inspector General (IG) report says. “The services have not realized potential cost savings associated with increased competition and recompeting $390.9 million in contract modifications,” IG says in its Oct. 4 report. “DOD also cannot accurately assess the percent of improvements in DOD [by] achieving effective competition,” IG reports.
As a step toward a lightweight, multifunction radar for rotorcraft, Northrop Grumman will demonstrate a compact anti-brownout sensor using millimeter-wave active-array technology under a $33.2 million contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. To be demonstrated in 2014, the Multifunction Radio Frequency (MFRF) sensor will use silicon-germanium transmit/receive tiles arranged in modular sub-arrays that will be combined to produce an active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar operating in EHF band at around 90GHz.
Despite recent concerns about developing homegrown security and defense forces in Afghanistan, establishing those types of units can be vital to counterinsurgency efforts, according to the Rand Corp.
While the U.S. Air Force has ruled out oxygen system or cockpit contaminants as the cause for recent F-22 Raptor pilot breathing issues, toxic chemicals and by-products remain a concern for jet operations, according to the recent service report on pilot oxygen issues. The service should not only continue to monitor contamination issues, the report says, but look at installing filters and sensors that the pilot On-Board Oxygen Generation System (Obogs) system now lacks.
Click here to view the pdf 2013 U.S. Defense Spending: Funding for U.S. Navy, Air Force Aircraft Under The CR ($ in thousands) 2013 U.S. Defense Spending: Funding for U.S.
Iran recently revealed four copies of its Ra’d (Thunder) surface-to-air-missile (SAM) system, with each transporter carrying three Taer (Bird) missiles. Iran very likely did not develop this missile indigenously, but its configuration defies clear determination of its parentage, which is likely either Russian or Chinese. Iranian military officials told the Fars News Agency that the Taer has a range up to 50 km to an altitude of 75,000 ft. and that it was currently in production for the Iranian armed forces.
The Pentagon is continuing its efforts to buy its replacement Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) under a different purchasing strategy from the way the Defense Department developed and procured the initial fleet. The U.S. Marine Corps and Army took some heat for the way they first bought JLTVs to meet rapid development and acquisition needs for protection against improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as well as terrain conditions in recent military conflicts.
FRANKFURT — Two days ahead of an important regulatory deadline for the proposed merger of EADS and BAE Systems, another roadblock has appeared in the form of a major BAE shareholder publicly slamming the deal.
ARMY HELLFIRE Systems L.L.C., Orlando, Fla., was awarded a $403,484,222 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract to procure various models of HELLFIRE II missiles. The work will be performed in Orlando, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2014. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-11-C-0242). NAVY
The U.S. Pacific Fleet established Navy Expeditionary Combat Command NECC Pacific (NECC PAC) this month to provide administrative control for the service’s forces assigned to the area. The move reinforces the Navy’s interest in bolstering its expeditionary forces while highlighting the Pentagon’s refocus on the Pacific region. The Navy calls the establishment of NECC PAC “a signif existed since NECC’s establishment in 2006.”
WIN-T: The U.S. Army has awarded General Dynamics C4 Systems a $346 million delivery order to procure the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2 (Inc 2) network for additional Brigade Combat Teams and Division Headquarters units, according to the company. The contract follows the Pentagon’s decision to authorize the service to continue fielding WIN-T Inc 2 as part of the Army’s Capability Set 13 deployment. Initial fielding began Oct.
