VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — U.S. Navy acquisition officials are starting to grade programs for energy conservation and efficiency in deciding whether to invest in them. “We are starting to consider energy as an attribute or key requirement when we buy our next-generation systems,” U.S. Navy Capt. James Brown told attendees March 15 at the NAVEXFOR 2011 conference for expeditionary forces. The theme of the conference was “Exploring Alternative Energy Solutions — An Operational Imperative for the Expeditionary Warfighter.”
The ongoing battle in Congress that has kept the Pentagon funded at the same level as last year has the potential to affect budget plans in 2013, the chief of naval operations said March 16. Top Navy officials have been warning for months that continued funding at 2010 levels would devastate operations and maintenance and military construction accounts, as well as the service’s contract to purchase two Virginia-class submarines and its plans to buy destroyers and parts for aircraft carriers.
KOCHI, India — The Indo-Russian PAK FA fifth-generation fighter aircraft attained supersonic speeds during a flight test last week, according to an Indian defense industry official. “We have received information that the second prototype of PAK FA, which recently joined the flight line, has achieved this milestone,” says a top official with the Aircraft Research and Development Center (ARDC) — a key division of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). ARDC has been working closely with the Russian engineers and designers currently involved with the PAK FA program.
TACSAT-4 LAUNCH: The U.S. Office of Naval Research’s (ONR) Tactical Microsatellite (TacSat)-4 is expected to be launched in May or June, Navy officials said March 15. The microsatellite arrived at Alaska’s Kodiak Launch Complex on March 1. It will carry an ONR-sponsored and Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)-developed payload. Components will be carried on a bus built by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The Air Force’s Operationally Responsive Space Office funded TacSat-4’s launch aboard a Minotaur IV rocket built by Orbital Sciences.
CONTROLS REWRITE: The National Defense Industrial Association is hosting an industry gathering March 23 in Arlington, Va., in an effort to reach agreement with the Obama administration over rewriting export controls on the U.S. Munitions List’s Category VII (tanks and automotive vehicles). The State Department proposed changes to the list in December 2010 and sought comments from industry by Feb. 8. The administration’s Category VII Working Group is now going through these comments and drafting the final rule, according to NDIA.
LONDON — Missile manufacturer MBDA is considering measures that could help to unify and strengthen Europe’s supply chain for guided weapons. The vision to move to a single European contractor was spelled out in November by the Franco-British defense treaty. MBDA also includes Italian and German branches, but several elements of Europe’s guided-missile supply base remain outside the 10-year-old business.
NEXT BUSINESS: EMS Technologies will provide L-band communications hardware for Iridium Communication’s next-generation constellation of low-earth orbiting cross-linked satellites. Thales Alenia Space, the Iridium NEXT satellite prime contractor, awarded EMS a contract to provide EMS’s fast switch matrix for the fleet’s payload. EMS executives told Aviation Week the deal was worth “in excess of $20 million,” with hardware deliveries beginning in 2012 and running through 2015.
KOCHI, India — Ignis Aerospace is partnering with Lectromec of the U.S. and India’s Radel to analyze the safety and effectiveness of aircraft wiring systems. Developing or maintaining a wiring system involves more than just ensuring all aircraft components are connected; it is also about minimizing the number and weight of wires, addressing routing needs and determining co-location and arc hazards.
While U.S. Global Positioning System satellites have proved to be a boon for precision attacks and other military operations, some military units are trying to stop relying so heavily on the system and employ other tactics, especially in navigating through unknown terrain. GPS issues have arisen during recent conflicts in mountain valleys and urban areas, U.S. Marine Corp. Lt. Col. (ret.) James Lasswell said March 15 during the NAVEXFOR 2011 conference for expeditionary forces.
HOUSTON — Three U.S. and Russian astronauts ended a 159-day mission to the International Space Station early March 16 as their Soyuz TMA-0M1/24S spacecraft parachuted safely into wintry Kazakhstan. Expedition 26 crewmembers Scott Kelly of NASA and cosmonauts Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka were greeted by helicopter search-and-rescue crews, minutes after landing northeast of Arkalyk at 3:54 a.m. EDT, or 1:54 p.m. local time. All three appeared to be in good shape as they were pulled from their descent module, which had rolled onto its side.
STAYING POWER: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made no secret of his intent to leave office this year after an unusually long stay in the Pentagon’s top spot, but aerospace and defense business analysts at Capital Alpha Partners in Washington note that his tour of duty could last through building the fiscal 2013 defense budget — meaning added influence in defense spending and, potentially, even less impact by his immediate successor.
Fuji Heavy Industries is checking with suppliers that have suffered serious damage from Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries report normal operations.
KOCHI, India — India’s government-owned Cochin Shipyard Ltd. (CSL) is gearing up for an expansion budgeted at Rs 500 crore ($111.1 million). According to CSL sources, the expanded facility will be able to accommodate ships weighing 5,000-6,000 tons. “The work for the proposed ship-lift facility would come up in the next 1-2 years, and we hope to ease the traffic in the port,” a senior official says. “The Indian navy’s Indigenous Aircraft Carrier [IAC] work is now under way at one of the dry docks at CSL.
A new generation of highly accurate mini-weapons is being developed for small, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for use against personnel and light vehicles. One factor in development is the need to weaponize small UAVs such as the RQ-7 Shadow from AAI Corp., in use by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, which cannot carry a 100-lb. Hellfire missile.
SIKORSKY COLLIER: Sikorsky Aircraft and the X2 Demonstrator Team have won the 2010 Robert J. Collier Trophy “for demonstrating a revolutionary 250-knot helicopter, which marks a proven departure point for future helicopters,” the National Aeronautic Association announced March 15. The Collier Trophy will be presented at the 100th Anniversary Collier Dinner, this year on May 5 in Arlington, Va.
SHRIVENHAM, ENGLAND — As the U.K. Defense Ministry tries to reform its acquisition process, the chief of defense materiel worries that personnel cuts could lead to an erosion of key skills. “We will have to strive not to lose good people,” Bernard Gray tells a Royal United Services Institute acquisition reform conference.
Northrop Grumman’s board of directors has approved the spin-off of its wholly owned subsidiary Huntington Ingalls Industries to Northrop stockholders, subject to final U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) clearance, the company confirmed March 15.
Canada’s MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) will begin developing a commercial satellite-refueling business under a $280 million agreement with Intelsat that will include launch of a Proton-class servicing spacecraft and a test mission on a disused communications satellite.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — NASA reopened Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39A for work March 15 following a fatality at the shuttle launch pad the day before.
A dress rehearsal for the second flight of the X-51A Waverider hypersonic scramjet engine demonstrator is scheduled for March 16, with the B-52 mothership to fly the launch profile planned for the actual flight, slated for March 22. The second X-51A will attempt to fly the same profile as the first vehicle, which flew for 143 sec. under scramjet power on May 26, 2010, before telemetry was lost and the flight was terminated prematurely. Leaky seal
PARIS — Europrop International (EPI) and Airbus Military will reach agreement over compensation on engine-related delays with the A400M airlifter “within weeks” following progress between partner nations and management agency Occar toward a finalized, redefined program, a senior official says.
Approval for the final two low-rate initial production (LRIP) batches of Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft is on the agenda for a Defense Acquisition Board meeting planned for March 16. Flight testing of the upgraded airborne early-warning aircraft, with its new electronically scanned APY-9 radar, is 91% complete and the overall system development and demonstration program is 96% complete, says U.S. Navy Capt. Shane Gahagan, Hawkeye program manager.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — A NASA Office of Inspector General investigation is ongoing after the discovery of 4.2 grams of a “white powdery substance” in a NASA facility at the Kennedy Space Center on March 7, officials said March 15. “Law enforcement personnel field tested the substance, which indicated a positive test for cocaine. The substance now is at an accredited crime lab for further testing,” Kennedy Space Center spokesman Allard Beutel tells Aviation Week.
