PHILADELPHIA — Boeing and Bell are exploring configuration options for a new rotorcraft that would take advantage of the tiltrotor configuration prominently used on the V-22.
TWO BIRDS: Lockheed Martin officials say that two GPS III spacecraft could be launched on a single Atlas V if United Launch Alliance (ULA) can develop an adapter for the rocket designed with a five-meter fairing. ULA began an eight-month study of dual-launch options for the Atlas V and Delta IV in May, says company spokeswoman Jessica Rye. Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin is focused on building the first engineering development units for the GPS IIIA pathfinder satellite.
SINGAPORE — New Zealand, which has moved into a government deficit, is evaluating whether its air force should retain its Boeing 757s or get another aircraft type that will be cheaper to operate and maintain. The Royal New Zealand Air Force is the only 757 operator in the region, so spare parts and maintenance support may become a concern, New Zealand’s defense minister, Wayne Mapp, tells Aviation Week on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. The Royal New Zealand Air Force has two 757-200s and it uses these as VIP transports.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) JUNE 7 — ATI Short Course: Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Applications, Hilton Garden Inn, Dayton, Ohio. For more information go to www.aticourses.com june 14 - 16 — 2011 Institution of Metal Finishing for Aerospace & Defense Industries, Royal Air Force Museum, Cosford, England, U.K. For more information call (202) 547-0229 or go to www.instituteofmetalfinishing.org
NEW DELHI — India will test a 5,000-km-range (3,100-mi.) intercontinental ballistic missile by the end of this year, according to the chief of the country’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). “[The] Agni-V missile [should] be ready for a test, probably in December,” says V.K. Saraswat.
U.S. Air Force testers say the Global Hawk Block 20/30 unmanned aerial system (UAS) is unable to completely and reliably perform the high-altitude imagery and signals intelligence collection missions for which it is designed. Maj. Gen. David Eichorn, who heads the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center in New Mexico, says he found the system to be “effective with significant limitations … not suitable and partially mission capable” in the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) report he approved May 20.
Airlines, MRO, Aircraft & Engine Lessors – The Tricky Triangle September 14-15, 2011 Dublin, Ireland This must-attend event was designed to provide airlines with critical knowledge on maintenance obligations prior to leasing an aircraft. Attend and learn what you need to know in order to avoid costly penalties or expensive last minute maintenance prior to lease return! Learn more and register today at www.aviationweek.com/events
SINGAPORE — New Zealand will be enhancing its fixed-wing training capability with two new types of aircraft, and is hoping one of them can be used for light maritime surveillance. The country had earlier been looking at light transport aircraft, such as the EADS CASA CN-235, thinking it would take on the light maritime surveillance role. But New Zealand’s defense minister, Wayne Mapp, tells Aviation Week on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that trainers are a higher priority.
SINGAPORE — Boeing has moved on from its loss in India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft competition and is now focusing on other opportunities in that country, while also preparing to compete for fighter contracts in Japan and South Korea. “Although we’re disappointed with the results of the fighter campaign in India, we’ve moved forward,” Boeing Defense, Space and Security CEO Dennis Muilenburg told journalists during a press briefing at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore June 3.
Astronomers at the University of Michigan using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that elliptical galaxies previously though to be dead are still producing stars, relatively slowly but apparently steadily. Using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, astronomers Alyson Force and Joel Bregman found young stars and star clusters in four galaxies about 40 million light years from the Milky Way.
The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security will increasingly consider punishment of individuals, as well as companies, in pursuing purported export licensing violations, an official said June 2.
LONDON — As part of the U.K.’s larger effort to overhaul military procurement, Bernard Gray, the chief of defense materiel, has begun charting a new strategy. Consultations with industry and other stakeholders during the coming months will aim to have the new plan ready by early next year. The process will be largely informal, with no fixed schedule and no formal comment period as would be the case for a green or white paper.
CYBER COMBATANTS: The U.K. has set up a cyber-operations group as it further expands its activities in cyberwarfare. “Cyber will be part of a continuum of tools with which to achieve military effect, both defensive and otherwise, and will be an integral part of our armory,” says Nick Harvey, minister of state for the armed forces.
Boeing has issued 60-day layoff notices to roughly 510 employees in its Space Exploration division, primarily due to the impending retirement of the space shuttle.
The first cybersecurity advances to emerge from Northrop Grumman’s research partnership with three leading U.S. universities could be fielded within the next year or so, depending on government acquisition cycles, the company says. Advances in cloud-computing security, application software for mobile devices and forensic capabilities are among the first products to emerge from the 18-month-old Cybersecurity Research Consortium involving Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Purdue University.
Despite all of the concern over U.S. border security and the billions sunk into supporting technologies, a House Appropriations Committee markup of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget proposes cutting border control technology efforts.
California Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer are asking NASA to compete the propulsion systems for a congressionally mandated heavy-lift rocket that is expected to leverage billions that the agency has invested in existing space shuttle and Ares rocket assets. In a May 27 letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, the lawmakers assert a competitive bidding process would allow the agency to obtain better technology for NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) at lower initial and lifecycle costs.
