SINGAPORE — Belgium will be able to take advantage of some of Luxembourg’s allocation in the U.S. military’s Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) constellation.
NEW DELHI — India’s efforts to develop heavier rockets received a boost with a recent test of its indigenously built, super-cooled cryogenic engine, which will be used to place a communications satellite into geosynchronous orbit later this year. The cryogenic engine is slated to fly on the country’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) as early as September, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chief K. Radhakrishnan says. India started developing cryogenic rocket engine technology in 1993.
October 8, 2012 Amsterdam, The Netherlands Repair in New Generation Aircraft: Challenges and OpportunitiesLightweight composites will soon rival metals as the primary material for airframes. Are you prepared? This event will highlight the latest developments, challenges and best practices in aircraft composite repair and maintenance technology. It will allow all of the key industry players to discuss best practices and share experiences. Register now! www.aviationweek.com/events/composites
Singapore – The Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) constellation will have 10 satellites and the U.S. foresees having more nations join the program, a senior U.S. Air Force official says. “Ten satellites is the official program level,” David Steare, lead at the U.S. Air Force’s milsatcom international engagement, space and cyberspace division, told delegates at the MilSatCom Asia conference in Singapore. He says this is the first time the total number of satellites planned for the program has been publicly disclosed.
Pakistan on May 10 successfully test-fired a short-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile, the country’s military says. The Hatf-III, known as Ghaznavi, has a range of up to 290 km (180 mi.) and can also carry conventional warheads. The test-fire “was conducted at the conclusion of the annual field training exercise of Army Strategic Force Command,” Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department says.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency is seeking bids to provide four small satellites to demonstrate its fractionated spacecraft architecture in orbit.
New Delhi – India has approved the purchase of 145 ultralight M777 howitzers from the U.S., the first major artillery buy since it inducted howitzer guns from Switzerland-based AB Bofors in 1987. “The purchase of the 155 mm lightweight towed howitzers with Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing Systems [Linaps] will be made through the U.S. government’s foreign military sales program,” a senior defense ministry official says. The M777 is manufactured by BAE Systems ’ Global Combat Systems division.
VIDEO RADAR: A synthetic-aperture radar small enough to fit inside an electro-optical/infrared sensor ball and which can provide high-resolution video in all weather – that’s the goal of a new U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program. The Video Synthetic-Aperture Radar (ViSAR) program plans to develop an extremely high-frequency radar that will allow a gunship to target moving people and vehicles through clouds and other obscurants that degrade infrared.
The U.S. Army plans to award Boeing a contract to support development of a package of upgrades to its CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. The CH-47 Block II Aircraft Component Improvement Program (ACIP) will integrate three separate developments : the Advanced Concept Rotor Blade (ACRB), active parallel actuator system and improved-performance (IP) engine.
R&D organization Battelle has completed preliminary design of an improved icing spray system to replace equipment now used by the U.S. Army to perform icing certification on military and civil helicopters and smaller fixed-wing aircraft.
While the U.S. Defense Department is becoming more effective in the way it estimates costs for certain studies and reports, it still needs to do a better job of making those assessments, asserts a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. Cutting down on those costs, and obtaining a clearer picture of cost estimates, has become a Pentagon priority, GAO notes.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) May 14 - 17 — 2012 Insensitive Munitions and Energetic Materials Technology Symposium, "Insensitive Munitions and Energetic Materials Advancements and their Benefits to the Warfighter," Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nev. For more information go to www.ndia.org/meetings
ROME – The Italian air force is developing an EC-27 JEDI electronic attack aircraft. The system is effectively a smaller version of the U.S. EC-130H Compass Call that the U.S. Air Force operates. The system is based on commercial off-the-shelf equipment and is set up as a roll-on/roll-off capability, says Italian air force Col. Giuseppe Sgamba, the commander of the Italian air force electronic warfare center.
ROME – Saab is about to embark on flight testing of the BOH pod, a new self-protection system for fighters and light-attack aircraft. The system is the latest iteration of the BOL and BOZ dispense system family. The BOH is integrated in a Sidewinder-sized pod and would be mounted on a weapons station capable of firing the dogfight missile or AIM-120 Amraam missile.
Los Angeles – Alliant Techsystems (ATK) will develop a composite crew compartment with support from Lockheed Martin as part of a complete launch system being proposed with partner Astrium for NASA’s commercial crew program. Unveiling new details about the Liberty project, ATK says the system is on track for initial tests in 2014, with the first crewed test mission anticipated as early as 2015. Kent Rominger, ATK vice president and Liberty program manager, says the test plan supports crewed missions for NASA by 2016 and is built on flight-proven elements.
APACHE CONTRACT: The U.S. Army has awarded Morganti HAC, J.V., of Danbury, Conn., a $54,696,965 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for the construction of facilities and infrastructure to support the procurement of Apache AH-64D helicopters, the Defense Department announced May 10. The work will be performed in Kattamia Air Base, Egypt, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 22, 2012. There were 23 bids solicited, with six received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Winchester, Va., is the contracting activity.
LONDON – Higher-than-expected costs of converting its aircraft carriers to use F-35Cs has forced the U.K. to return to buying the F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing version. The U.K. abandoned the F-35B during the 2010 Strategic Defense & Security Review, arguing the catapult-launch and arrestor gear F-35C was a better fit.
October 9, 2012 Amsterdam, The Netherlands Repair in New Generation Aircraft: Challenges and OpportunitiesLightweight composites will soon rival metals as the primary material for airframes. Are you prepared? This event will highlight the latest developments, challenges and best practices in aircraft composite repair and maintenance technology. It will allow all of the key industry players to discuss best practices and share experiences. Register now! www.aviationweek.com/events/composites
AVX Aircraft is to study fuel-efficiency improvements for the U.S. Army’s Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed scout helicopter under a contract awarded via the Vertical Lift Consortium (VLC). The study’s starting point is the Fort Worth-based company’s proposal to upgrade the OH-58D with coaxial rotors and dual ducted-fan propulsors to meet the Army’s Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) requirement.
ROME – The Australian government has opted to buy 10 Alenia Aermacchi C-27Js to meet its tactical transport needs. The aircraft is to replace the Caribou, retired in 2009. The first C-27J is due in Australia in 2015, followed in late 2016 by its initial operating capability. The aircraft will be based at RAAF Richmond.
Los Angeles – U.S. and Australian researchers say a rocket-boosted, hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet was successfully operated for around 12 sec. while accelerating from Mach 6.5 to Mach 8 during a test from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii.
The House Armed Services Committee has approved a defense policy bill to authorize $554 billion in Pentagon spending during fiscal 2013 and that keeps in place a requirement for the Pentagon to start work on a new East Coast missile defense site. The bill, which authorizes $88 billion in war funding, also approved an amendment that will follow the House Appropriations Committee in putting a halt on the Air Force’s plan to scale back the Air National Guard with regard to C-130s.
