Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) put two of the U.S. Navy department’s biggest programs — the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and the Ford CVN-78 aircraft carrier — in the crosshairs March 15 during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Navy’s fiscal 2013 budget request.
While the U.S. Navy has made strides in addressing congressional concerns about its small-boat procurement and maintenance, the service still can make improvements, a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says. “The Navy has noted that successful execution of its maritime strategy requires the acquisition of not only surface combatants, but also small boats,” GAO notes in its March report. “The Navy reported that it received about $135 million in fiscal year 2010-2012 base procurement funding for small boats.”
The prospect of deep reductions to next year’s defense budget is already having a “chilling effect” on industry, and Congress should not wait until after the elections to deal with the deficit, the president of the nation’s largest defense company told a Capitol Hill audience March 14.
INDIAN AFFAIRS: EADS Cassidian has appointed Peter Gutsmiedl as the first chief executive officer of its India operations. Gutsmiedl, who will be based in Bengaluru, will lead the next phase of Cassidian’s engagement with India, a company release said March 14. Before assuming the new position, Gutsmiedl served in various senior and board-level roles at Cassidian, which is the security and defense company of EADS.
Under pressure from Gulf Coast state politicians, U.S. Air Force leadership confirmed they are reconsidering their plan to move C-130s to Montana from Texas. And the Air Force plans to wrap up its acquisition strategy for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program this spring, in a way that allows for increased competition. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz offered these updates to the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee during a March 14 hearing.
Some astronauts who have spent extended periods in microgravity on the International Space Station (ISS) have developed abnormalities in their eyes and pituitary gland/brain connectors that are similar to a type of intracranial hypertension that occurs on the ground. The finding may help earthbound physicians understand what causes the potentially serious condition, but it already has NASA flight surgeons pondering how they can mitigate it when astronauts travel into deep space.
U.S. Navy aircraft took the biggest hit among naval procurement and maintenance accounts in the Pentagon’s proposed fiscal 2013 budget request, continuing a trend that developed in the latter half of the previous decade. The Pentagon cut about $14.6 billion from its fiscal 2013 request for Navy aircraft procurement compared to the proposed budget from the previous year. At the same time, the current proposal cuts about $3 billion from aviation operations and maintenance compared to fiscal 2012.
BARCELONA, Spain — Italy is exploring upgrades to its MBDA Storm Shadow cruise missile, in part reflecting lessons learned from last year’s NATO-led air war over Libya, where the Italian air force first used the weapon. Some of the upgrades are in line with what France and the U.K. are doing. The two partners behind the original development of the cruise missile also have committed to jointly explore upgrade options.
BARCELONA, Spain — Sagem expects to complete development of the laser-guided version of the AASM (Armement Air-Sol Modulaire) powered bomb this year. The laser guidance kit augments the inertial navigation system guidance with GPS updates. It is the third member of the AASM (or Hammer) weapon family, along with the INS/GPS system fielded first and the version augmented with an infrared seeker used operationally last year in Libya as well.
EXIT SIGN: The Canadian government has not ruled out the idea of pulling out of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, Associate Defense Minister Julian Fantino said March 13, according to Reuters. “We have not as yet discounted the possibility of backing out of the program. None of the partners have,” Fantino told the House of Commons defense committee.
BARCELONA, Spain — Astrium is trying to drum up European interest in its geostationary Earth-observation (EO) satellite concept, including a recent briefing to the European Defense Agency (EDA) to garner funding support.
BARCELONA, Spain — Legal hurdles may be the most challenging issue to address as European NATO countries consider pooling precision-guided munitions (PGMs). The concept has gained increased interest after several NATO members during last year’s Libya air war ran short of smart weapons because of the prolonged campaign.
LONDON — The Eurofighter Typhoon consortium will be the only European aircraft maker to do battle against U.S. rivals in the South Korean F-X3 fighter competition. The Eurofighter campaign will be led by EADS CASA in Spain. The team is hoping South Korea’s interest in finding an industrial partner for the future KF-X program may offset some of the historic U.S. advantage in that country. Saab does not plan to bid the Gripen in South Korea, and Dassault also has decided it will not pursue the F-X3 program.
NEW GIG: Michael Lopez-Alegria, retired NASA astronaut and lead for the International Space Station’s multilateral crew operations panel, is becoming president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, effective March 19. Lopez-Algria, a former naval aviator who holds the current record for U.S. spaceflight of 215 days, will serve as the federation’s chief Washington liaison. The seven-year-old organization represents more than 50 commercial spacecraft developers, suppliers and support service providers.
STRATFORD, Conn. — The U.S. Air Force is expected to issue a draft request for proposals for its new Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) as soon as next week, according to industry officials. This will kick off a new competition for a long-awaited replacement for the Sikorsky HH-60G after the service’s plans to buy a Boeing Chinook-based model were canceled in 2009 owing to protests from competitors.
The panel of outside scientists that advises NASA on its spending priorities wants the agency to restore aid for robotic planetary exploration in its fiscal 2014 budget request, and urges agency managers to keep the same scientific priorities for Mars regardless of funding levels.
STRATFORD, Conn. — Sikorsky plans to demonstrate use of its fly-by-wire and autonomous flight technologies on a newly purchased S-76, according to Igor Cherepinsky, who leads these efforts in the company’s Innovations Div. The aircraft was purchased this year and is being modified in preparation for a series of flight tests. Cherepinsky says he hopes for first flight late this year or early in 2013. A date has yet to be set for an optionally piloted or unmanned flight; Cherepinsky says the program is event-driven, not “marketing-driven.”
GENOA, Italy — To stave off intervention by the European Union, Italy has introduced new rules governing attempts to acquire stakes in companies of strategic importance to the country — rules that will affect the proposed sale of shares in propulsion company Avio, as well as any future attempts to gain control of defense giant Finmeccanica. Avio is likely to be the first test case for the new regime. The company is rumored to be in the sights of French aerospace group Safran, which itself is controlled by the French government.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is waging war with the Pentagon over how the department moves money between accounts, threatening to block such requests to Congress if they are used to start new programs. He has already blocked at least two requests in particular: one involving $29.2 million for a Navy ocean forecasting mission and another that would provide $38 million for an Army signals program.
Boeing has filled out its 702 satellite group with the launch of the “small platform” family on a joint order for four spacecraft from Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) and Satellites Mexicanos (Satmex). The first two spacecraft, ABS-3A and Satmex 7, are scheduled to be delivered together for tandem launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in the fourth quarter of 2014 or first quarter of 2015. Launch plans and details on the second spacecraft for each buyer have not been announced.
LONDON — The AirTanker consortium that aims to provide air refueling services for the U.K. Defense Ministry is hopeful the government will soon accept the first of the A330-based Voyager aircraft into its inventory.
