EXAMINING EMP: The U.K. Parliament’s defense committee is taking a hard look at the potential threats to the country’s electronic infrastructure from electromagnetic pulse (EMP) or other threats. Both deliberate attacks as well as concerns over spurious signals will be investigated. Beyond just establishing what the level of vulnerability is, the committee also expects to look at the potential consequences of damage.
LONDON — Undeterred by the difficult defense budget environment prevailing in the U.K., Elbit is making a bet it can expand its stature in the country to secure additional revenue.
TIANJIN, China — China’s Avic Engine is working on two new turboshaft powerplants, one of which is evidently intended for a very big rotorcraft that China is negotiating to build with Russia, while the other may be aimed at a domestic regional airliner.
A U.S. Senate panel’s cut to Pentagon purchasing in fiscal 2012 is one-third less than it seems. A bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee Sept. 15 cuts baseline procurement spending by $6 billion and shifts $2.9 billion to the supplemental account that funds the war in Afghanistan. The 22 budget lines include three of the Defense Department’s highest-profile UAV programs: the MQ-1A Gray Eagle, MQ-8 Fire Scout and the MQ-9 Reaper.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s next round of awards to support development of commercial systems to fly crews to the International Space Station (ISS) will be fixed-priced contracts, not the more flexible Space Act Agreements favored by industry. Managers of the Commercial Crew Program office announced the move Sept. 16 at an industry briefing in advance of next week’s release of a draft request for proposals.
With the recent $1.8 billion U.S. Navy contract award to build hulls and related components for the Zumwalt-class destroyers DDG-1001 and DDG-1002, the biggest remaining question is whether the deal represents the epilogue of the controversial shipbuilding program or just a transition chapter to a later, bigger build.
LONDON — With its data-handling work growing rapidly, Rafael has embarked on a major overhaul of its ImiLite intelligence fusion offering. The so-called Generation 2 would involve a new architecture and intelligence-processing engine called Atlas. It should be ready around the end of next year.
FREE Webinar! September 27, 2011 2 - 3 p.m. Program Excellence: Leading Virtual Teams Communicating team deliverables across companies, time zones, languages and differing cultures is a daunting challenge. A panel of program leadership experts will discuss the lessons learned on how best to meld together a virtual team that delivers - on technology, cost, impact and schedule! Register Now.
The two biggest losers in the fiscal 2012 spending bill approved Sept. 15 by the Senate Appropriations Committee may have difficulty remaining viable. The committee killed all funding for the Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS) and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV). With such a strong vote against them and additional cuts by the House, the long-term prospects probably aren’t good for either program.
BAE Systems is teaming with Northrop Grumman to propose its Hawk trainer for a forthcoming U.S. Air Force competition to replace the T-38C fast-jet trainer. The team plans to announce their partnership on Sept. 19 at the annual Air Force Association conference, according to industry officials. Competitors are likely to include Lockheed Martin/Korea Aerospace Industries’ T-50 and Alenia Aermacchi’s M346.
NEW DELHI — India and the U.K. have signed a letter of arrangement (LOA) to help pursue collaboration and cooperation in the field of defense research and development.
LONDON — The Australian Defense Ministry is about to put the NH Industries MRH-90 multi-role helicopter through another major review. The results, due in October, could determine whether the program is formally added to the government’s “Projects of Concern” watch list.
The Senate Appropriations Committee is issuing a stern warning to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program: “If its costs are not brought under control ... the program’s future could be in jeopardy.” The missive is included in the committee’s report on the fiscal 2012 spending bill that it approved Thursday.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Sept. 19 - 21 — AFA - Annual Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition 2011, Washington, D.C. For more information go to http://www.afa.org/events/conference/2011/default.asp
Lawmakers on the Senate Appropriations Committee recommend an $8 billion cap on the development of the troubled James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) program, which covers the latest projected cost to finish and operate the huge infrared telescope.
SINGAPORE — No Singaporean has gone into space and the government has no desire to be part of the space race, but Singapore has succeeded in becoming a center for the space industry in the Asia-Pacific region. Astrium Satellite Services, Arianespace, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Intelsat and Iridium are just some of the global players that have Singapore offices, which in most cases are their Asia-Pacific headquarters.
LONDON — AgustaWestland is preparing for the next-generation Lynx, the AW159 Wildcat helicopter, to undergo its first at sea trials on the U.K.’s RFA Argus training ship. The exercise, involving TI-3, the third development prototype, is part of the service release program, says the helicopter maker’s program manager, David Hillcoast. The flights are planned for next month.
NASA is set to publish its plans for procuring the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) on Sept. 23, in the hopes its hard-pressed contractors can use the information to retain space shuttle and Constellation engineers and other workers with the hard-won skills and experience that will be needed to build and fly “the most powerful rocket built.”
The health of the U.S. classified satellite fleet is solid, as are the development programs under way now to produce the next generation of spacecraft, says the director of the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). U.S. Air Force Gen. (ret.) Bruce Carlson, however, declines to speculate on how the secretive organization, which designs and operates classified U.S. spacecraft, will fare in upcoming budget talks as Washington sorts out a national debt reduction plan.
The top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee will be pushing to spend up to $524 billion on defense in fiscal 2012 – more money on defense than his Senate counterparts are recommending. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Sept. 15 approved a bill that removes nearly $26 billion from President Barack Obama’s request, providing $513 billion. That is a far steeper reduction than the $9 billion trim the House passed earlier in the year. But the House acted long before the summer’s all-consuming budget debate.
The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is developing faster, cheaper ways to process the millions of signals, communications and images it handles. But despite massive improvement in data fusion over the last three years, progress is still about “five orders of magnitude below what it needs to be,” the agency’s chief says.
CHINESE UNEASE: Speaking about the Chinese government, “I would be a lot happier if I knew exactly their intent,” says U.S. Air Force Gen. (ret.) Bruce Carlson, director of the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. “They are an incredibly modern society, with a military philosophy that goes back 4,000 years,” he said during a Defense Writers Group breakfast in Washington Sept. 15. “They believe in deception, so I remain concerned. “I also wish I knew North Korea’s intent,” he continues. “They are very clever and work hard to deceive us.
NEW DELHI — Swedish defense firm Saab and India’s Wipro Ltd. will jointly manufacture, market and sell active protection systems for ground vehicles on the Indian market. “The Land Electronic Defense System [LEDS] provides active protection to light and medium combat vehicles as well as to main battle tanks against engagement by weapons like rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank missiles, mortars and artillery shells,” says Pratik Kumar, president of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering Ltd.
