Advances in modular-architecture concepts could make the business case for a space solar-power (SSP) platform close in as little as a decade, provided there is funding to advance the technology readiness levels needed to make the concepts work.
ARMY Force Protection Industries Inc., Ladson, S.C., was awarded an $185,864,608 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract to procure 167 Buffalo A2 vehicles, without bar armor installed, and 102 bar armor kits. The work will be performed in Ladson, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 1, 2012. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-08-C-0028).
PARIS — Russia’s Phobos-Grunt spacecraft remains stranded in low Earth orbit, and if engineers are unable to salvage the Mars-bound mission by December, the robotic probe is expected to burn up on re-entry and pose no danger to Earth, the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos said Nov. 14. “There is no doubt that the device will explode when entering the atmosphere,” Vladimir Popovkin, general director of Roscosmos, says in a statement posted on the agency’s website.
Laureate Awards March 7, 2012 Andrew Mellon Auditorium Washington, D.C. Aviation Week’s 54th annual Laureate Awards recognize individuals and teams for extraordinary accomplishments that embody the spirit of exploration, innovation and vision. Join us to celebrate their significant contributions and the inspiration they provide. The 2012 Awards will be presented in each of the following categories: -- Aeronautics/Propulsion
Click here to view the pdf Programs In Play: How Nunn-McCurdy Repeaters Fared ($ In Thousands) Programs In Play: How Nunn-McCurdy Repeaters Fared ($ In Thousands) Description Number Of N-M Breaches Request H
DUBAI — The Eurofighter consortium and MBDA are looking at the feasibility of integrating the Marte-ER air-to-sea missile on the Typhoon fighter to meet an Indian requirement that is part of the Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft program.
SALES UP: The U.S. State Department expects this year to have received and reviewed more than 85,000 direct commercial sales cases for the U.S. defense industry to sell abroad – “the largest ever,” according to Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. “The total value of authorized direct commercial sales per year is now roughly $145 billion, or about one percent of GDP,” he said Nov. 9. Meantime, foreign military sales (FMS) are on course to exceed last year by 9%. For four consecutive years, FMS have exceeded $30 billion.
Aviation Week A & D Finance Conference Nov. 30 – Dec. 1, 2011 New York, NY Join a powerful exchange of A&D’s top CEOs pitching to Wall Street! Hear about business development, investment opportunities and growth strategies from leading companies. Be part of the only investor event that is open to industry. Register Today! www.aviationweek.com/events
While the U.S. Navy remains on course with its current plan to build submarines, carriers, destroyers and other surface combatants, the future remains murky, says Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) CEO Mike Petters. Given the budget-cutting emphasis at the Pentagon and other matters more directly related to HII business, Petters declined to give Wall Street investment analysts predictions for the coming year during a Nov. 10 quarterly financial results conference call.
While others in the defense community fret about the future of next-generation aircraft carrier programs, the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Newport News (Va.) Shipbuilding unit remains on course to build the ships, says CEO Mike Petters. The company also remains on schedule for its other shipbuilding plans and the closure of its yard in Avondale, La., Petters says.
As a Nov. 23 deadline bears down on a congressional “Super Committee” charged with agreeing on how to cut another $1.2 trillion from the U.S. budget deficit during the next 10 years, Democrats and Republicans remain far apart.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Nov. 15 - 16 — American Astronautical Society National Conference, "Celebrating Achievements, Celebrating the Future," Gilruth Center at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston. For more information go to www.astronautical.org
The U.S. Navy is under increasing pressure to execute its submarine programs well as the service tries to develop its ballistic-missile sub replacements and buy enough upgraded Virginia-class attack subs to maintain the fleet size it needs at a time when the Pentagon is watching every penny. In this environment, the Navy submarine community has to make sure its programs deliver as promised, says Adm. Kirkland Donald, director of Naval Reactors. 'Conservative engineering'
The Pentagon acknowledged this week that it created a new office in August “to integrate air and naval combat capabilities in support of emerging national security requirements,” although Defense Department officials have provided few concrete details on what exactly the new office will provide. “The priority is to develop air and naval forces that are integrated,” a Pentagon official said during a Nov. 9 briefing about the office. “There are three dimensions of change: institutional, conceptual and material.”
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center here is expanding the scope of its nuclear technology work to encompass the Obama administration’s shift away from the canceled Constellation back-to-the-Moon effort toward a more open-ended technology development portfolio.
The Senate this week freed contractors from a mandate that would have forced the government to hang on to 3% of their payments, a requirement that was intended as leverage to force tax cheats to pay the government. The initial bill was passed in 2006. For several years lawmakers pushed back the date of implementation to Jan. 1, 2012. On Nov. 10, the Senate unanimously repealed the law as part of a vote on the veterans jobs bill.
Click here to view the pdf Programs In Play: Sometimes The House Is Harsher($ In Thousands) Programs In Play: Sometimes The House Is Harsher ($ In Thousands) Description Request House Hdiff
Aviation Week A&D Finance Conference Nov. 30 – Dec. 1, 2011 New York, NY Join a powerful exchange of A&D’s top CEOs pitching to Wall Street! Hear about business development, investment opportunities and growth strategies from leading companies. Be part of the only investor event that is open to industry. Register Today! www.aviationweek.com/events
SINGAPORE — South Korea plans to order aerial refueling tankers and hopes the first one can be delivered in 2017. Son Hyeong-yeong, a spokesman at Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), told the Korea Times that it plans to have the procurement included in the 2013 fiscal budget. Assuming there are no unforeseen setbacks, he says the plan is to select a winner in October 2013 and sign a firm contract in early calendar year 2014.
The good news for the U.S. Air Force and Navy’s Amraam budget request is that Senate appropriators only cut it by about a third. The bad news is House appropriators wiped out almost all of it — and it could get worse. Midway through the regular markup process this year of the fiscal 2012 defense budget, Congress took a turn toward enforced fiscal austerity with the Budget Control Act (BCA). House appropriators had worked some of their annual spending bills before the act passed in August, but the Senate’s defense markup came a month after the act.
FT. BENNING, Ga. — For the first time, the U.S. Army has used a 3G wireless network to tie various smartphones, tablets, and radio systems to a multitude of sensors and unmanned ground and air assets, pushing information down to squad and fire team leaders. The effort is all about empowering the squad, something the service has been touting for some time now. The demonstration took place last week at the 7th annual Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment (AEWE) at Ft. Benning, Ga.
PHOBOS-GRUNT: Hope is dimming for Russia’s Phobos-Grunt probe, which remains stranded in Earth orbit after an unknown failure prevented the ambitious sample-return mission from firing its engines and heading to Mars. “So far all efforts to communicate with the craft have been unsuccessful,” lead mission scientist Alexander Zakharov tells Reuters.
