RIO DE JANEIRO — The Brazilian army has begun flight trials using a small, tactical unmanned aircraft to develop its doctrine for operational use of the system. Flight trials began late last year near Sao Paulo, says a Brazilian army officer. The goal is to work out the doctrine to support artillery operations at the division level within the next year or two, he notes.
FORT WASHINGTON, Md. — The U.S. Navy will hold contractors to increasingly higher performance standards as it decides whether to grant or continue contracts, according to Sean Stackley, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition. The Navy will grade performance “at the corporate level,” Stackley said April 13 during his luncheon speech at the 2011 Navy League Sea-Air-Space Symposium and Exhibition here.
SAN FRANCISCO — U.S. Air Force hypersonic test team members say the recent aborted attempt to launch the second X-51A WaveRider had to be scrubbed because the vehicle did not release from the B-52H mothership. The hang-up of the 25-ft.-long stack on March 24, comprising the X-51A and its rocket booster, caused “tense moments” on the ground and in the air, according to test observers.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin have completed fueling the first Space-Based Infrared System (Sbirs) satellite, which is expected to launch May 6. About 5,000 lb. of fuel was added to the satellite, which is based on Lockheed Martin’s A2100 design. The process took place April 8-11, says Jeff Smith, who oversees the program for the company.
SAN FRANCISCO — First ground tests of a complete engine for a Franco-Russian Mach 8 hypersonic test vehicle are being planned following the resumption of funding.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) will not include a target-acquisition sensor in its forthcoming missile-tracking satellites, as part of an effort to streamline the system and control costs. The agency’s new design for its next space-based missile-tracking system will be simpler than the two Northrop Grumman Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) satellites now conducting a demonstration in space, according to MDA and industry officials.
Northrop Grumman has proven the increased duration of gallium nitride-based high-power transmit/receive (T/R) modules — a development that could pay dividends in the company’s efforts to secure major military radar-related contracts, including the U.S. Navy’s Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR).
TOUGH ON DEFENSE: President Barack Obama has pledged to make $400 billion in future defense spending cuts as part of his plans to reduce the national deficit by $4 trillion over the next 12 years. “Just as we must find more savings in domestic programs, we must do the same in defense,” Obama says. According to the White House, the savings will be spread between now and 2023. Obama says he will provide specifics after a comprehensive review with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
TORNADO STRIKE: The Royal Air Force (RAF) has completed the first air-to-ground strike with the Eurofighter Typhoon. The mission took place April 12 as part of combat operations in Libya. One Typhoon was flying with a Tornado GR4 when the two engaged ground targets near Misratah. The Typhoon employed an Enhanced Paveway II and the Tornado used a Paveway IV. It marks the first air-to-ground operational strike of any Typhoon operator.
GROWTH MARKETS: Governments around the world are increasingly looking for military sustainment solutions beyond traditional MRO, such as for total management of supply chains, according to speakers at Aviation Week’s MRO Military conference in Miami. Hal Chrisman, a principal at AeroStrategy, points to the deal between Japan’s Self-Defense Force and Sojitz Aerospace. The move comes as Western and allied nations face a combination of budget pressures and high-cost, complex weapons systems.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — United Launch Alliance (ULA) is due for a break in the price of its upper-stage engines, if rocket-engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) is able to convert excess RL-10 engines designed for the Delta IV into a configuration that can fly on the Atlas V. Steven Bouley, vice president for launch vehicle and hypersonic systems, says the company is preparing to modify RL-10B2 variants into a new type dubbed the RL-10C1 that will fit the Atlas V. Currently the big Atlas uses the RL-10A4 variant.
The U.S. Air Force’s high-flying Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle has exceeded its cost projections by at least 25% in per-unit cost, triggering a notification to Congress that the program has breached the Nunn-McCurdy program monitoring statute for the second time.
The U.S. Congress this week will consider a spending bill negotiated by the White House and congressional leadership to fund the government for the rest of fiscal 2011 that ends funding for the Joint Strike Fighter’s F136 alternate engine made by General Electric/Rolls-Royce (GE/RR). In the bill, the Defense Department receives $513 billion plus $157.8 billion for war expenses, according to the Senate Appropriations Committee — $2 billion less than what the House had agreed to earlier in the year.
MIAMI BEACH, fla. — U.S. Navy “resource providers” are concerned about the financial constraints of the long-term performance-based logistics (PBL) arrangement for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, says the one-star commander of the service’s Fleet Readiness Centers (FRC).
FORT WASHINGTON, Md. — A U.S. Naval Sea Systems team is reviewing possible design changes and requirements for the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke destroyer that would enhance its ability to perform ballistic missile defense (BMD) missions, according to an official with shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII).
SINGAPORE — Malaysia has become a key market for Swiss aerospace and defense conglomerate Ruag Aviation. Industry executives familiar with the situation say Ruag has just established a Kuala Lumpur office headed by David Jones, previously Southeast Asia sales director for commercial aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul firm SR Technics, which also is headquartered in Switzerland. Jones officially started with Ruag on April 1.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian and South African naval officials plan to define requirements for a cooperative surface-to-air missile program. The move would be the latest in an expanding relationship between the two countries in the guided-missile sector. The project would be built on the Denel Dynamics Umkhonto-IR short-range air defense system. But the new missile would have a much longer range and effectively represent an entirely new class of weapon, an industry official said during the LAAD Defense & Security exhibition.
RETIREMENT HOMES: NASA has chosen to place the three retiring space shuttles on permanent display at museums in Florida, California and Virginia. Atlantis, which will perform the fleet’s final mission, will remain in Florida at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center. Endeavour, which is slated for its final liftoff on April 29, is slated to go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The oldest orbiter, Discovery, will go to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.
POSEIDON’S ADVENTURE: The U.S. Navy’s P-8A Poseidon multimission patrol aircraft will be the first of the service’s airborne weapons systems to undergo a new Support System Design Review Initiative. The Navy is trying to develop and implement a formal design review construct “to ensure that all aspects of the support system are appropriately designed, integrated, testable and sustainable.” says Rear Adm. Timothy Matthews, commander of the service’s Fleet Readiness Centers, speaking at Aviation Week’s MRO Military conference in Miami.
LONDON — The Norwegian government is asking parliament to approve additional funding for the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) that would see the project through its critical design review. The stealthy JSM is an evolution of the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile, now in production with design changes to allow internal carriage in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s bomb bay.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Pentagon’s newly crafted Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS) is moving forward after a tumultuous year since its predecessor, the tri-agency National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (Npoess), was canceled.
TORNADO UPGRADE: With the Tornado GR4 fleet now forming the backbone of the Royal Air Force’s ground attack capability, the U.K. Defense Ministry has decided to fund an urgent operational need for a helmet-mounted cueing system. The device is being adapted from the Harrier GR9, which should help to limit development time and effort. BAE Systems says it has received an £8 million ($13 million) contract for the urgent operational requirement, and the system should be operationally ready this year
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The new Air Force Space Command chief has “laid his soul bare” to ask industry for help in crafting more resilient, affordable and — perhaps — simple satellite constellations for the future.
