Pasadena, Calif. – A prototype vertical takeoff and landing suborbital launch vehicle under development by Masten Space crashed Sept. 11 during a flight test at Mojave, Calif.
ST. LOUIS – The U.S. Navy is always searching for a way to clear the water and beachfronts of mines with as little risk as possible to sailors or Marines. Now a Boeing proposal to employ some of the company’s latest missile-guidance technology may help the service move closer to that goal.
WASHINGTON – The earlier phases of the proposed U.S. ballistic missile defense (BMD) plan to protect European allies through the European Phased Adaptive Approach ( EPAA ) should work if the right technology is in place, says a recent report by the National Research Council. However, the NRC report raises flags about the final phase.
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Click here to view the pdf Fiscal 2013 Defense Senate Appropriations Markup: Changes to RDT&E Lines: Defense-wide, Army, Navy, Air Force ($ in thousands) Fiscal 2013 Defense Senate Appropriations Markup: Changes to RDT&E Lines: Defense-wide, Army, Navy, Air Force ($ in thousands)
CLASSIFIED PAYLOAD: A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 launched NROL-36, a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., Thursday at 2:39 p.m. PDT. As is typical of classified missions, there was only limited comment about the success of the ascent or the health of the payload. The only confirmation was success through the payload fairing separation. The launcher included a 4-meter fairing, no solid rocket boosters and a single Centaur upper stage.
The National Research Council ( NRC ) calls for the U.S. to stop investing in the Precision Tracking and Surveillance System (PTSS) for ballistic missile defense ( BMD ) in a recent report. “MDA should terminate the PTSS unless a more convincing case can be made for its efficacy for the mission that it is supposed to carry out,” says the report, “Making Sense of Ballistic Missile Defense : An Assessment of Concepts and Systems for U.S. Boost-Phase Missile Defense in Comparison to Other Alternatives,” released Sept. 11.
As CEO of EADS, Louis Gallois was repeatedly rebuffed by his board when he sought to acquire U.S. defense companies. Less than four months after Gallois’ retirement, a single deal could finally make EADS a top supplier to the Pentagon, and in the process create the largest aerospace and defense (A&D) company ever.
Houston – Japan’s third H-II Transfer Vehicle departed the International Space Station on Sept. 12 following a seven-week stay. NASA and Japanese astronauts Joe Acaba and Akihiko Hoshide unberthed the 32-ft.-long spacecraft from the station’s U.S. segment Harmony module using the Canadian robot arm shortly before 7 a.m. EDT. The capsule was released at 11:50 a.m. EDT .
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is a day away from finishing its thoroughgoing checkout period, and soon will begin driving in search of a good rock to touch with its robotic arm and analyze. Performance of the rover’s Canadian-built alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) has checked out on a sample target of polished basalt from Earth that is mounted on the rover’s deck. Plans call for Curiosity to set off Friday in search of a piece of Mars basalt to reach out and touch with the APXS sensor on the end of the rover’s robotic arm.
The high-profile military exercise Austere Challenge 12 – initially scheduled for April but postponed as Israel and the U.S. mulled Iran and their own relations – is now rescheduled for October. Although there seems to be a considerable reduction of U.S. military manpower taking part in the exercise in Israel, “Austere Challenge-12 remains the largest-ever ballistic missile defense exercise between our nations and a significant increase from the previous event in 2009,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Jack Miller, a Pentagon spokesman.
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While the Pentagon has made great strides lately in developing its UAV programs, the Defense Department needs to boost its training and simulation efforts, says a recent Defense Science Board (DSB) report. “There is no high-fidelity training environment for UAV pilots and sensor operators today,” DSB says in its “Final Report on the Role of Autonomy in Department of Defense Systems,” released in July. “There is no computer-based training system for Predator crews to operate in conjunction with real-world weapons tactics training,” DSB says.
BACK OFF: Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to back off public statements calling on President Obama to set clear conditions on when he would use the U.S. military to respond to Iranian nuclear activity. That’s an issue that Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney continue to disagree on. But Boxer is backing up the White House, pointing to U.S. aid for a counter-mortar system as evidence of the nation’s support for Israel.
At the Military Aviation Museum in the heart of tactical aviation country in Virginia Beach, Va., Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney told a Virginia television station Sept. 8 that if he were elected president, he’d add more fifth-generation F-22 Raptor jets. But not even all of the F-22’s allies on Capitol Hill immediately agreed that is the right course to take.
Three elements could change the march toward a conflict with Iran over its nuclear weapons program – the fall of the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad, Iran’s big supporter, and decisions by Russia and China to not pour advanced weapons into the region and to pressure Tehran to stop its indigenous development of weapons of mass destruction.
