The aerospace industry will be asked shortly for ideas on how $510 million in government money should be spent over the next three years to build an aviation and marine biofuels supply chain in the U.S. It also will be asked how much money it is willing to put into what the government intends to be a public/private partnership.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Raytheon officials are seeking government sponsorship for continued work on an SM-3 datalink designed to mate the ballistic missile interceptor with foreign ships. The project is eyed by the company to dovetail with growing interest in NATO to build up its missile defenses after last year’s declaration that such a defense is a core alliance mission. Work prototyping the dual-band datalink has been under way for at least two years, says Ed Miyashiro, vice president at Raytheon Missile Systems.
HOUSTON — Electricity surged through Robonaut 2 for the first time on Aug. 22, signaling the prospects for a “first motion” in several weeks. R2, a broad-shouldered experimental two-armed robot, was launched to the International Space Station aboard NASA’s STS-133 mission in February. Robonaut 2 was stowed in the U.S. Destiny lab, while NASA shuttle crews focused on completing the nearly 13-year-long assembly and outfitting of the orbital outpost.
While the U.S. Navy has spent more money by far on fixed-wing aircraft than any other single expense over the past decade, the service invested evenly in both its aircraft and ship accounts during that time, according to an exclusive analysis of contracting data by the Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN).
The first in-space tests under NASA’s new advanced technology push will involve laser communications for high-data-rate links to deep-space probes, a space-qualified atomic clock to make the laser links even more efficient, and the largest solar sail yet flown. The U.S. space agency plans to spend $175 million over the next four years, if Congress appropriates that amount, on the first three Technology Demonstration Missions (TDMs) funded under the Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT).
MOSCOW — Russian Helicopters has begun operating the new Mil Mi-38 medium helicopter with Klimov TV7-117 turboshafts. The twin-engine rotorcraft has been powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127s. The Russian engines were installed on the Mi-38 immediately before the Moscow air show, where the rotorcraft debuted. The model has been designated the Mi-382. The Mi-38 transport helicopter has been in development since the 1980s.
ARMY Caterpillar Inc., Government and Defense Products, Mossville, Ill., was awarded a $37,667,837 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the procurement of 172 motorized graders with Type A-kit, and 10 days of support. The work will be performed in Mossville, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2012. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with two bids received. The U.S. Army TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-08-D-0037).
Managers at NASA replanning the troubled James Webb Space Telescope have arrived at a new total price tag of $8.7 billion to develop, launch and operate the observatory at the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange point for the duration of its five-year mission. The agency says that by the end of fiscal 2011 it will have spent $3.5 billion so far on the project, which means another $5.2 billion must be found by the end of the five-year mission following its estimated launch in 2018.
NEW DELHI — India has added an indigenous stealth warship to its navy for use on the country’s east side, amid rising concerns about the Chinese naval presence in the region. INS Satpura, a state-of-the-art, multirole combat frigate, sports advanced features designed for dodging enemy radars. The frigate is the second of the three-ship Project-17 Shivalik Class. The warship, along with its first vessel in the series, INS Shivalik, will be deployed in the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean region.
ARMY Honeywell International Inc., Clearwater, Fla., was awarded a $141,200,000 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the procurement of inertial navigation units for several end items, including the Bradley, Knight, and Howitzer. The work will be performed in Clearwater, with an estimated completion date of July 30, 2016. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-11-D-0160). AIR FORCE
BUILDING LCS: The Lockheed Martin-led Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) contractor team has started building LCS-5, named the Milwaukee, which is scheduled to be delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2014. The Navy approved the construction start after the Lockheed-led team passed a production readiness review for design completion, staffing and material readiness. The contractor team designed and constructed the first LCS, the USS Freedom, which was commissioned in 2008, and LCS-3, the future Fort Worth, which was christened and launched in December 2010.
ARMY BAE Systems Land and Armaments, L.P., Troy, Mich., was awarded a $449,964,969 fixed-price-incentive-fee contract for the technology development phase for the Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The work will be performed in Madison, Ala.; Detroit; Waltham, Mass.; and Troy, with an estimated completion date of June 26, 2013. Bids were solicited through the Internet with three received. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-11-C-C001). NAVY
Aviation Week Intelligence Network Exclusive Leading U.S. Navy Expenses 1999-2009, Ranked By Total Amount Spent Or Allocated Aviation Week Intelligence Network Exclusive Leading U.S.
The U.S. Navy is seeking to jump-start its efforts to develop a large-displacement unmanned underwater vehicle (LDUUV)—an underwater “mothership” platform that would release and control other UUVs—even as service officials acknowledge major hurdles remain in developing UUV programs. The Navy is especially having problems developing UUVs for coastal areas, which have become a priority focus for recent naval missions.
An independent analysis by Booz Allen Hamilton of NASA’s plans to develop the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) raises questions about the cost assumptions the agency is using in its own estimates of what it will cost to build the big new rocket. “Due to unjustified, sometimes substantial future cost savings, the team views each program estimate as optimistic,” Booz Allen evaluators tell NASA managers in a preliminary presentation of their findings.
FLYING AGAIN: Northrop Grumman’s X-47B naval unmanned combat aircraft system demonstrator returned to the air on Aug. 12 with a 24-min. flight at Edwards AFB, Calif., to test the latest software load, precision-GPS navigation system and Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT) low-latency data link. The aircraft, air vehicle AV-1, reached 180 kt. and 7,500 ft. Meanwhile, the second X-47B, AV-2, has begun engine runs at Edwards with high-speed taxi tests expected before the end of August.
MOSCOW — The first two prototypes of the modernized Mil Mi-34S1 single-engine helicopter have commenced development trials. The rotorcraft is the lightest model in the Russian Helicopters product portfolio. The holding company says one of the rotorcraft completed its 23-min. first flight on Aug. 5. The other model, painted in Russian air force livery, is undergoing ground engine tests before joining the flight test program, according to Dmitry Rodin, Mi-34 program director, speaking to Aviation Week at the Moscow air show.
U.S. high school students with an interest in robotics will get a chance to test their work in microgravity through a new competition that will use free-flying satellite testbeds inside the International Space Station (ISS) to determine the winning entry.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) AUG. 30 - 31 — Technology Training Corp. Military Vision Systems Conference, Holiday Inn, Alexandria, Va. For more information call 310-563-1210, fax 310-563-1220, or go to www.ttcus.com AUG. 30 - Sept. 1 — Unmanned Aircraft Systems Conference, Paris Las Vegas Hotel, Paris. For more information call 310-563-1210, fax 310-563-1220, or go to www.ttcus.com
MUSIC ENCORE: With its first Manned-Unmanned System Integration Capability (Music) exercise coming up in mid-September, the U.S. Army is turning its attention to a follow-on demonstration, Music 2, in 2013. “Where the focus of Music 1 is interoperability, for Music 2 it will be mission expansion and doing things more efficiently,” says Tim Owings, deputy program manager for Army unmanned aerial systems. Increased automation and sensor fusion will reduce the ratio of operators to aircraft.
Raytheon plans guided test flights of its 13-lb. Small Tactical Munition (STM) from an unmanned aircraft in October as it works to get the weapon mature enough to be selected for a U.S. Marine Corps program to arm the RQ-7 Shadow tactical UAV. “We think our weapon is as mature as anything out there,” says Cody Tretschok, STM capture manager. The system’s technology readiness level (TRL) after guided flights from Raytheon’s Cobra testbed UAV will be TRL 6-7, he believes.
