LONDON — In a bid to advance its concept for a carrier-borne Gripen, Saab says it will establish a design center in the U.K. to flesh out the idea. Saab CEO Hakan Buskhe says the Sea Gripen concept design phase will take 12-18 months and he believes Saab could deliver starting in 2018 if it secures a contract. A flight demonstrator also may be built.
HOUSTON — Russia’s Soyuz TMA 20/25S commander Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA flight engineer Catherine Coleman and European Space Agency flight engineer Paolo Nespoli returned to Earth southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, late on May 23.
The U.S. Navy’s proposed upgraded radar suite for its next class of aircraft carriers could up the ante on vessel costs, a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report says. The next-generation CVN-78 Ford carrier class is slated to get a dual-band radar (DBR) suite, with an X-band SPY-3 multifunction radar (MFR) and an S-band SPY-4 volume search radar (VSR) – the same package initially planned for the Navy’s DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers.
NEW DELHI — India successfully test-fired on Friday the Astra air-to-air guided missile from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in the eastern state of Orissa. Developed by the Defense Research and Development Organization, the beyond-visual-range missile will be used to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft, DRDO spokesman Ravi Gupta tells Aviation Week. After the last trial, the missile will be integrated on fighter jets like the Su-30MKI and Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps’ steady effort to lower weight across the spectrum of platforms and equipment factors heavily into the recently released request for proposals (RFP) for the Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC), which is viewed as the new vessel for transporting the Marines and their equipment given the cancellation of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. The total ownership cost (TOC) also ranks as a high priority, according to the RFP.
DEFENSE COOPERATION: Defense industry representatives from Australia, Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. will meet in London in September as they look for more opportunities for cooperation. “As the challenges of the global economic situation puts pressure on national defense budgets, there is a desire for even closer business cooperation between the four nations’ industries,” say U.S. boosters in an announcement from the National Defense Industrial Association.
The U.S. Navy will be under the gun to develop and deliver its proposed Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) in time to meet the construction schedule for the Flight III version of the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The Navy is counting on the AMDR to shoulder its proposed enhanced ballistic missile defense (BMD) role. The Flight III DDG-51 is the first ship class slated to get the new radars.
NEW DELHI — The successful launch of the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) GSAT-8 geostationary satellite is expected to help civil aviation networks across the country and strengthen safety in Indian airspace.
ARMY AM General LLC, South Bend, Ind., was awarded on May 9 a $164,426,332 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the procurement of 763 various models of the High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle for two foreign military sales to Afghanistan and Jordan. The work will be performed in Mishawaka, Ind., with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2012. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-10-C-0405).
Sweden’s navy is planning substantial modernization over the next decade as, like the rest of the country’s armed forces, it transitions from a conscript-populated force to a smaller, more modern fleet.
AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., Long Beach, Calif., is being awarded a $962,509,138 firm-fixed-price delivery order against the basic C-17 production contract (FA8614-06-D-2006) to procure five C-17 aircraft. At this time, $471,629,477 has been obligated. ASC/WLMK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8614-06-D-2006 DO 0006). NAVY
U.K. engine maker Cubewano says it has broken through the 1-hp/1-lb. barrier with the lightest, most powerful heavy-fuel engine yet to fly. The kerosene-fueled rotary engine powered Honeywell’s Class 1 Increment 2 ducted-fan unmanned aircraft on an 8-min. flight in Albuquerque, N.M. Cubewano CEO Craig Fletcher says the single-rotor Wankel engine was developed in less than two years after the original turbine engine for the Class 1 Increment 2 UAV failed catastrophically.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space Florida, a state-backed economic development agency focused on space and related technologies, has hired Masten Space Systems for a series of suborbital demonstration flights from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 36. The $400,000 launch services contract includes multiple flights of Masten’s vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) reusable suborbital vehicle, called Xaero.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling favoring the contractors for the canceled A-12 U.S. Navy stealth aircraft shifts the balance of power in legal disputes with the government involving classified information – but less so than it might have. “Neither side will be entirely happy with the resolution we reach today,” Associate Justice Antonin Scalia wrote May 23 in the unanimous opinion by the nine-member court.
LONDON — A delay in fielding Dutch F-35 Joint Strike Fighters would drive up costs to keep the country’s F-16 fleet flying. Fielding the F-16 replacement in 2019 rather than 2016 would cost around €300 million ($420 million), the defense ministry tells parliament. If the fleet has to be sustained much longer, the costs “will rise significantly,” Defense Minister Hans Hillen tells the legislature.
FORT WORTH — The F-35 flight-test force has executed 808 flights totaling 1,227 total flight hours thus far, according to Steve O’Bryan, director of business development for the program at Lockheed Martin.
RAYTHEON OUT: Congressional auditors have denied a protest by Raytheon regarding U.S. Customs and Border Protection awards to Telephonics and ICx Technologies for mobile surveillance capability equipment under the embattled secure border initiative known as SBINet. Raytheon argued that CBP misevaluated its final proposals, failed to hold meaningful discussions, and made an unreasonable source-selection decision, according to a Government Accountability Office decision date April 26, but recently published.
SINGAPORE — The Philippine air force (PAF) plans to purchase maritime patrol aircraft, a move that comes after maritime security became a higher priority for the government. This is the service’s No. 1 priority for aircraft purchases, says a senior PAF official, who spoke to Aviation Week on the sidelines of the Imdex naval defense show in Singapore.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) May 23 - 26 — 21st AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Technology Conference and Seminar, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, “Showcasing recent advances in the field of parachute and aerodynamic decelerator systems.” For more information go to http://www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=230&lumeetingid=2476
Work is beginning on a program to develop a kit enabling joint tactical air controllers to take command of sensors and weapons on manned and unmanned aircraft to increase the speed and accuracy of fire support for ground forces. Northrop Grumman and Raytheon have been awarded contracts for Phase 1 of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (Darpa) four-year Precision Close Air Support (PCAS) program.
