PARIS — The United Arab Emirates has signaled that negotiations to acquire France’s advanced Rafale combat aircraft can restart, French press reports say. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi and commander of the UAE armed forces, requested that Paris renew its proposal to sell up to 60 Rafales to the UAE during a visit to Paris in mid-December, the reports say.
BENGALURU, India — India will have a new naval warship research and development (R&D) unit at Calicut, in the southern state of Kerala. Defense Minister A.K. Antony laid the foundation stone on Jan. 4 for the unit, to be called the National Institute for Research & Development in Defense Shipbuilding (Nirdesh).
BENGALURU, India — The Indian navy on Jan. 5 declared its commitment to helping the nation become self-reliant in critical defense technologies. Rear Adm. D.M. Sudan, assistant chief of the naval staff for air, says homegrown products enhance India’s strategic flexibility. The navy is widely perceived as the only wing of the Indian armed forces that backs indigenous defense research and development (R&D), as compared to the army and air force.
SWIM AWARD: Thales Alenia Space will build the Surface Waves Investigation and Monitoring (SWIM) wave scatterometer instrument for the China France Oceanography Satellite, a joint mission of French space agency CNES and the China National Space Administration. China will provide the launch, spacecraft bus and a wind scatterometer.
Engineers from Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company will help NASA develop two robotic-technology demonstrations on the International Space Station, using Canada’s Dextre special purpose dexterous manipulator.
WINTER CHILL: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will brief reporters Jan. 6 at the Pentagon on budget cuts and changes expected under the Obama administration’s Fiscal 2012 budget request. Numerous industry observers and various news reports said the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant of the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter would be delayed significantly, while the General Dynamics Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle for the Marine Corps could be practically scrapped.
PARIS — Arianespace Chairman/CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall says the company has received preliminary approvals for a capital injection and a new public price support scheme, but exact amounts remain to be decided. Le Gall told reporters here Jan. 4 that Arianespace shareholders agreed at the end of 2010 to a capital injection intended to compensate for a €71.2-million ($94.7-million) 2009 net loss. However, he says the amount of the recapitalization will not be known until May, when the 2010 accounts are due to be approved.
RAVEN ORDER: The U.S. Army has ordered $46.2 million worth of new hand-launched RQ-11B Raven unmanned aerial systems and upgrade kits from AeroVironment, Inc. The funds originate from the 2010 Department of Defense Appropriation Act. AeroVironment will deliver to the service 123 of the small reconnaissance systems, each of which typically includes three aircraft, two ground control stations and initial spares.
GENOA, Italy — The Italian air force has signed a contract worth €96 million ($127.7 million) with the European consortium Panavia to begin upgrading a further batch of Tornado fighter bombers — 15 Electronic Combat/Reconnaissance aircraft and 10 standard interdictor/strike attack aircraft — which are to be brought to the latest Ret 8 configuration.
BENGALURU, India — The countdown for the long-awaited Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) for India’s Tejas Light Combat Aircraft has begun, with Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony due to hand over IOC documents to the Indian air force here on Jan. 10. The event, called a Declaration of IOC, will make Tejas technically eligible to be flown by Indian air force pilots. It will also signal the end of the certification process for the Tejas Mk. 1. Jan. 4 was the 10th anniversary of Tejas’s first flight.
PARIS — The Galileo A test satellite is still in perfect working order, 18 months after it was moved out of its medium Earth orbit to make way for the first Galileo In Orbit Validation (IOV) spacecraft, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).
LONDON — The French government has followed Sweden in making a production commitment to the MBDA ramjet-powered Meteor beyond-visual-range missile. On Jan. 3, French defense armaments agency DGA announced that the contract with MBDA was completed on Dec. 22. Meteor will be integrated on the Rafale fighter, but the initial units are not expected to be delivered until 2018, according to DGA.
HOUSTON — Space shuttle program managers are assessing the need for radius block modification to each of the 108 support stringers on the shuttle Discovery’s external tank (ET), an upgrade that would likely require NASA to push the senior orbiter’s final mission out of an early February launch window. Managers will consider the additional work during a Program Requirements Control Board meeting on Jan. 6.
Ultra Electronics is building up its niche technology skills base with the $23 million acquisition of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Adaptive Materials. The value of the deal, announced Jan. 4, could increase by $5 million depending on the performance of the business through the end of 2013. The company is being acquired from founders Aaron and Michelle Crumm, Ultra says.
LONDON — Members of 51 Sqdn. are due to begin training at Offut AFB, Neb., this week as the Royal Air Force gradually gears up to field three RC-135W Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft. The foreign military sales agreement for the aircraft, to be based at RAF Waddington, was finalized last year. The British Defense Ministry says up to four RAF crew will undergo training at Offut. As part of their preparation, the British personnel will begin operating on U.S. RC-135 Rivet Joints this summer.
While questioning the U.S. Navy plan to buy its new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fleet through a dual-block buy that splits the work between the Lockheed Martin and Austal USA teams, Congressional Research Service (CRS) naval expert Ron O’Rourke acknowledges there could be some side gains from the deal.
February 1, 2011, 1:00 PM, EST Whether it’s internal to your organization or with suppliers, the handing off of engineering work can make or break a program. Learn to: -- Delegate tasks and responsibility in a way that leads to program success -- Better partner with your suppliers Register Today!! www.aviationweek.com/events
GENOA, Italy — The Italian air force has signed a contract covering production of an initial batch of Elettronica ELT/572 Dircm (Directional InfraRed CounterMeasures) electronic warfare systems to protect some of its aircraft from heat-seeking missiles.
LONDON — The British government plans to unveil a new defense and security industrial and technology policy this year that will spell out the national industrial capabilities deemed essential to meet national security needs, even in an age of austerity.
NEW DELHI — The Indian navy has denied it is looking at a follow-on order for three additional Scorpene submarines, despite a statement from an industry official to the contrary. India ordered six Scorpene diesel-electric attack submarines under the Indian navy’s project dubbed P75. The subs are being assembled by a joint venture between French shipbuilder DCNS and the Mumbai shipyard Mazagon Dock Ltd. (MDL).
