Though several Air Force generals say a “disaggregation” strategy of distributing space capabilities across more and smaller satellites is not likely to gain traction in the near term, this approach could take root later in the decade.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Sept. 26 — Aviation Week Events, Aircraft Composite Repair Management Forum, Hotel Meliá Avenida América, Madrid, Spain. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events Sept. 27 - 29 — Aviation Week MRO Europe 2011, IFEMA, Juan Carlos 1, Exhibition Park, Madrid, Spain. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events
AFGHANISTAN BOUND: The Lockheed Martin/Kaman K-Max unmanned cargo helicopter will deploy to Afghanistan within “a couple of months” to resupply remote U.S. Marine Corps forward bases, says Rear Adm. William Shannon, Navy program executive officer for unmanned aviation and strike systems. Only the K-Max completed a quick-reaction assessment (QRA) in August, as Boeing’s rival A160T was not ready.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is working with the Obama administration to shield its multibillion-dollar weather satellite program from suffering collateral damage in congressional spending wars. And with a gap in polar-orbiting satellite coverage becoming more likely, the agency is also making contingency plans to share data with other nations.
The White House is proposing new, tougher lobbying rules that might outlaw government employees from attending trade shows for free. Taking office in 2009 on the heels of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, President Obama restricted gifts from lobbyists and political appointees. The new proposal coming out of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) extends those restrictions to all federal employees and tightens the definitions of what events they can attend on a lobbyist’s dime.
P-8A WORK: The Boeing Co. has been awarded a $319,905,801 contract modification by the U.S. Navy to provide spares, support equipment and tools, logistics support, trainers, and courseware for low rate initial production of P-8A multi-mission maritime aircraft. The work will be performed in McKinney, Texas; Hazelwood, Mo.; Seattle; Jacksonville, Fla.; Anaheim, Calif.; Baltimore; Camden, N.J.; and Greenlawn, N.Y. It is expected to be completed by March 2014.
It took three years, but Louis Chenevert has made United Technologies Corp. his company. With an $18.4 billion deal to acquire Goodrich Corp., the chairman and CEO of the aerospace-industrial conglomerate is placing a costly bet on the future of the commercial aircraft sector. He is also stepping out from under the big shadow cast by his legendary predecessor, George David.
The U.S. is in danger of losing its primacy in space exploration, and the economy stands to suffer as a result, two legendary moonwalkers told the House Science Committee Sept. 22. Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong and Apollo 17 Commander Eugene Cernan, the first and last men, respectively, to walk on the Moon, told the panel that retiring the space shuttle without an alternative U.S. vehicle will make it harder to interest young students in the difficult math and science courses necessary to sustain the U.S. economy in the competitive global environment.
Boeing is looking to fly its company-funded Phantom Eye hydrogen-fueled, long-endurance unmanned aircraft in late October or early November at Edwards AFB, Calif. The twin-engine, 150-ft.-wingspan demonstrator is due to be rolled out onto the dry lakebed at Edwards this weekend for an integrated fueling, engine run and defueling test. “This will be the first time we have fully fueled the aircraft with liquid hydrogen, run the engines, shut them down and defueled,” says Darryl Davis, Boeing Phantom Works president.
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. – The U.S. Navy is showing interest in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Vulture solar-powered, ultra-endurance unmanned aircraft as a means of providing communications to carrier strike groups if satellites are knocked out. The Vulture program is developing technology for an unmanned aircraft able to stay aloft for up to five years. Boeing is designing a full-scale demonstrator with 30 days of endurance, which is planned to fly in the first quarter of 2014.
The Senate on Sept. 22 voted down a provision that would have forced the Obama administration to sell 66 F-16 C/D aircraft to Taiwan. The 48-48 vote came the day after administration officials informed Congress about the sale of $5.85 billion in upgrades to 145 F-16 A/B aircraft already in the Taiwanese inventory, along with extending the F-16 training program at Luke AFB, Ariz., and helping to sustain F-5 and C-130 aircraft. The measure needed 60 votes to pass.
NEW DELHI — India will open the commercial bids of its two shortlisted vendors for the $11 billion Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) by the middle of October, with the deal likely to be finalized by the end of this year, the Indian Air Force chief says.
Lockheed Martin was the top Pentagon defense contractor for 2010, according to an exclusive Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis. Lockheed Martin led the field with about $12.5 billion in 6,334 contracts and contract modifications for the year, according to the AWIN analysis of Defense Department data aggregated by the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting. (See chart p. 8.)
2010 Leading Pentagon Contractors 2010 Leading Pentagon Contractors No. Contractor Total Number Of Transactions Total Amount Average Amount Per Transaction 1 Lockheed Martin 6,334 $12,525,344,802
LOS ANGELES — Airbus Military has successfully completed rejected takeoff and emergency evacuation testing for the A400M airlifter as it chases a target of certification by year’s end. High-energy rejected takeoff testing at high speed and maximum takeoff weight was completed Sept. 17 at Toulouse, France, using the first development aircraft. The testing, which Airbus Military says was one of the last items performed before preparation of the aircraft flight manual, was carried out on the airport’s 11,480-ft. (3,500-meter) runway 14R/32L.
The distribution of advanced surveillance and reconnaissance data gathered in Libya to allied combat aircrews is being slowed to a crawl by bureaucratic hurdles, even as the collection and analysis of the information accelerates, U.S. and allied officials say. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) put up six complex satellites in the last seven months, the best record in 25 years. Moreover, new sensors, faster processing and clever algorithms are providing better tools to plumb the sea of available information.
LOS ANGELES — Boeing’s military 737 derivatives programs are in the midst of a fast-paced development with the imminent first flight of the Indian navy’s 737-800ERX-based P-8I, formal delivery of the first 737-700 based Peace Eye Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft to Korea and the handover of the final Wedgetail AEW&C to Australia. The first P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft for India was rolled out earlier this month and is being readied for its initial flight, currently targeted for around Sept. 30.
One of four companies funded to study the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance And Strike (Uclass) requirement, Boeing will soon select the concept it will offer for the program, which is expected to get under way in 2012.
NASA’s 20-year-old Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite (UARS) is expected to make an uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry in the afternoon or early evening of Sept. 23, when the spacecraft is not over-flying the North American continent, the space agency reported on the eve of the anticipated plummet.
Michael Lumpkin, head of the Pentagon’s Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict group, warned Congress Sept. 22 that in any future cuts to the defense budget, “we must not repeat the mistake of the degrading of [Special Operations Forces] capabilities,” as happened during the post-Cold War round of cuts.
HOUSTON — The Global Exploration Roadmap, unveiled by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group on Sept. 22, offers two 25-year human pathways to Mars. One follows the “Asteroid next” approach favored by U.S. President Barack Obama, while the other features a “Moon next” gateway more akin to the George W. Bush administration’s scrapped Constellation program.
With its proposed acquisition of Metro Machine Corp., General Dynamics stands to further stretch its ship-maintenance reach on the U.S. East Coast and anchor itself more securely as a prime U.S. Navy contractor. General Dynamics this week said it has reached an agreement to acquire the Virginia-based surface-ship repair company, which supports the U.S. Navy fleet in Norfolk, Va. The value of the cash transaction has not been disclosed. The deal is expected to close in November.
ROCKET PLANS: NASA tentatively plans to modify its Ares I upper-stage contract with Boeing to build the main core stage and upper stage of the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS), under a “synopsis” of the agency’s procurement plans for the big new rocket through 2021. Boeing also will build the avionics suite for the SLS, according to the synopsis, released Sept. 22 on the NASA Internet Acquisition Service website. An industry day is scheduled at the Alabama Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville on Sept. 29 to gather industry input on the SLS development plan.
