The U.S. Navy completed the first free-flight testing of the Joint Standoff Weapon C-1 variant July 26 at Point Mugu Sea Range, Calif. The test marked the first of the weapon’s end-to-end — pre-flight to target impact — ability for an inert JSOW C-1. The Navy conducts free-flight tests to verify that the weapon’s characteristics meet the designed performance requirements. Capt. Carl Chebi, precision strike weapons program manager, said: “JSOW C-1 will provide a much-needed Network Enabled Weapon capability to the fleet.”
The Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News (Va.) Shipbuilding unit delivered the Virginia-class submarine SSN-781 California to the U.S. Navy on Aug. 7 — more than 8.5 months earlier than the contract schedule, and nearly five months faster than the yard’s delivery of the previous sub, the New Mexico. The early deliveries and the ability to keep costs in line have prompted many analysts and even some within the Navy to describe Virginia-class sub efforts as a template for other shipbuilding acquisitions, particularly submarines.
NASA Inspector General Paul K. Martin reports significant lapses in the agency’s Real Property Management System (RPMS), an internal database that tracks the agency’s significant and far-flung assets — an estimated 5,000 buildings and structures, including laboratories, launch pads and test stands. In total, these properties carry an impressive current replacement value of $26.4 billion — at a time NASA and the agency’s legislative backers are in search of the financial means to fund future human as well as robotic exploration initiatives.
The U.S. Navy continues to invest in its destroyer and cruiser fleets, awarding $265.4 million in contracts and contract modifications for Aegis-related work on older vessels as well as long-lead and weapons-systems work for the newer DDG-1000 ships.
GENOA, Italy — Italian defense spending and other public allocations backing aerospace are expected to face a difficult future under Rome’s newly minted fiscal reform package aimed at soothing market fears over its ability to repay its debt.
SAN FRANCISCO — With compatibility testing of the spacecraft bus, systems and instruments complete, all that remains before shipment of the Npoess Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite to Vandenberg AFB, Calif., for launch are some routine tasks. “All satellite testing is complete,” Ball Aerospace NPP Program Manager Scott Tennant said Aug. 8. “We are in final preparations prior to shipment.”
Which missile defense system will cost more over 20 years—Raytheon’s Patriot or Lockheed Martin’s Medium Extended Air Defense System (Meads), a New York congresswoman is asking a government watchdog.
Dozens of engineers, scientists, technical experts and astronauts from NASA, the European and Canadian space agencies, universities and industry will mass in northern Arizona late this month to simulate a human mission to a near-Earth asteroid, the focus of NASA’s 14th annual Desert Research and Technology Studies (RATS) campaign.
ELECTRONIC TROUBLES: Electronic parts are responsible for about two-thirds of problems in U.S. space and missile defense programs when those programs encounter difficulty—and almost all do—according to a recent report from congressional auditors. A June report from the Government Accountability Office looked into 21 major Defense Department and NASA programs and found that materials were responsible for only about 21% of the problems, while mechanical parts made for roughly 15%.
CUBESAT REQUEST: NASA says it is seeking proposals for small satellite payloads, so-called cubesats, to fly on rockets planned to launch between 2012-14. The nearly 4-in.-long cube-shaped satellites have a volume of about 1 qt. and weigh less than 3 lb. NASA says applicants must submit proposals electronically by 4:30 p.m. EST on Nov. 14. The agency will select the payloads by Jan. 30, 2012.
U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (Navsea) is taking significant steps to make sure the maintenance work on its ships is being done as it should be. “Navsea is increasing quality assurance oversight at its Regional Maintenance Centers (RMCs),” the Navy unit says. “The RMCs are required to oversee all work conducted by contractors in their geographic regions, and they work closely with the industry partners to ensure work is correctly conducted and documented.”
FAILING GRADE: The U.K. Parliament’s Defense Committee has effectively given the government’s Strategic Defense & Security Review (SDSR) a failing grade, warning that it could leave the military unable to meet national demands after 2015 as a result of cuts made in the last year. The committee members raise a host of concerns about the long-term implications of the SDSR, including whether the so-called Future Force 2020 can be realized.
JUNO RISES: NASA’s Juno probe lifted off aboard an Atlas V rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 12:25 p.m. EDT Aug. 5, kicking off a five-year trek to Jupiter. The rocket, flying in the 551 vehicle configuration with a five-meter fairing, five solid-rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage, will propel Juno out as far as the orbit of Mars before the spacecraft cycles back around the Sun for a flyby of Earth in October 2013 and a gravitational boost to Jupiter.
TARGET SELECTION: Judging by recent congressional testimony, the new crop of Pentagon leaders support several embattled programs, calling them essential to their respective armed services. Gen. Raymond Odierno, who should become Army chief of staff, supports pursuing a new armed aerial scout helicopter, as well as maintaining the Joint Light Tactical and Ground Combat vehicle programs. He also called the WIN-T communications network one of the Army’s most important programs. Adm.
Boeing subsidiary Insitu has introduced a small unmanned helicopter aimed at the public safety market, including law enforcement, which is expected to be the first commercial-sector UAV allowed limited access to civil airspace. The Inceptor is a 3.5-lb. electrically powered rotorcraft developed by Marietta, Ga.-based Adaptive Flight Inc. The aircraft carries an electro-optical or infrared camera and is operated from a tablet-sized touchscreen control station.
LOS ANGELES — Sikorsky’s CH-53K for the U.S. Marine Corps took a further step towards flight with delivery of the first General Electric GE38 turboshaft engine for ground testing. The engine, which is 57% more powerful and has 18% lower specific fuel consumption than the T64 engine powering the current CH-53E, is the first of five ground-test and 20 flight-test engines slated for the program. The ground evaluation phase will include ingestion tests plus high-cycle fatigue testing.
While the U.S. Marine Corps has already developed a strategy for resetting the aviation equipment that it has used in Afghanistan, it has yet to do so for the ground equipment it has been using in the conflict, according to Congressional auditors.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Aug. 8 - 11 — AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, "A presentation and discussion of all technical areas related to atmospheric flight," Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Ore. For more information go to http://www.aiaa.org
LONDON — With demand for radio-frequency spectrum growing at a steep rate, the European Defense Agency (EDA) is exploring whether member states can devise a pooling mechanism to make better use of available bandwidth. “Increased spectrum sharing is essential to addressing today’s serious scarcity of available spectrum, notably to enhance situational awareness systems taking into account mobility of radio-frequency equipment,” EDA says in announcing plans to order a study on the pooling concept.
BEIJING — The China Daily’s July 12 report of an unexpectedly long range for the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile was unfounded, says a China-watching defense analyst. The newspaper, which acts as a government mouthpiece directed at the outside world, quoted a range of 2,700 km (1,600 mi.) for the potentially revolutionary missile, well ahead of the Pentagon estimate of 1,500-plus km.
The U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR) is making sea-based aviation a priority for future funding. “We will be putting resources into this category,” says Rear Adm. Nevin Carr, chief of naval research and director of test and evaluation and technology requirements. “We will make budgeting moves based on this. This is a signal to industry — we have interest here.”
