GENOA, Italy — The Italian air force is preparing to take delivery of the first two production Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master advanced jet trainers, which will be assigned initially to the Rome-based Experimental Test Wing. There, extensive operational trials will be carried out before the aircraft are assigned to the training squadrons as replacements for the MB-339 CDs currently in service.
NEW DELHI — A file related to the procurement of India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) found on a roadside near the defense ministry has bidders worried. The file is related to the program’s offsets clause, which is the final point of evaluation before the downselect is made. The contenders in the program to build 126 aircraft are Lockheed Martin’s F-16, Boeing’s F/A-18, Dassault’s Rafale, Saab’s Gripen, the MiG-35 and Eurofighter Typhoon.
PLANET TWEET: NASA will select 100 of its Twitter followers to get an inside look at the Kepler planet-finding spacecraft and the agency’s Ames Research Center on Feb. 11 at Moffett Field in California. Attendees will tour the center and speak with NASA officials, managers and scientists. Registration for the “Tweetup” opens at 1 p.m. EST on Jan. 5 and closes at 1 p.m. on Jan. 10. NASA will accommodate 100 active Twitter followers randomly selected from those who sign up online, with additional registrants put on a waiting list.
China’s first known stealth aircraft just emerged from a secret development program and was undergoing high-speed taxi tests late last week at Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute’s airfield. Said to be designated J-20, it is larger than most observers expected — pointing to long range and heavy weapon loads.
BENGALURU, India — The Defense Research and Development Organization’s (DRDO) Aerial Delivery Research & Development Establishment (Adrde) has successfully tested and flown some critical technologies on aerostats developed for surveillance. Adrde Director Balraj Gupta tells Aviation Week that his Agra-based lab has completed testing of electro-optical payload and communication intelligence systems onboard the aerostat, which is called “Akashdeep.”
The congressionally passed 2011 defense authorization bill approves full funding for most of the U.S. Navy’s high-profile programs, including the Carrier Replacement Program, Virginia-class submarine, DDG-1000, DDG-51, Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), LHA(R) amphibious assault ship, Joint High Speed Vessel and Mobile Landing Platform. The legislation provides $18.9 billion for aviation programs for the Navy and Marine Corps and another $16 billion for shipbuilding and conversion to fund Navy ships.
PARIS — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has sacked two top executives involved in the Dec. 5 Proton Block DM launch failure that destroyed three Glonass M spacecraft. The firings, which were accompanied by an official reprimand to Anatoly Perminov, head of national space agency Roscosmos, reflect Medvedev’s fury over the incident, which prevented him from meeting a promised deadline of having a full 24-satellite Glonass constellation in place by the end of 2010.
HOUSTON — Dextre, the Canadian Space Agency’s robotic manipulator, has been certified for future duties aboard the International Space Station. The designation followed an exercise last month in which the two-armed manipulator moved a 972-lb. external cargo transport carrier in response to commands from NASA’s Mission Control, a task that would otherwise have been assigned to spacewalking astronauts.
May 24-25, 2011 Washington Marriott - Washington, D.C. Managing Cybersecurity — from Policy to Protocol Find out where opportunities exist for the industry and how to effectively thwart potential cyber threats. www.aviationweek.com/events Click here to view the pdf
Now that the U.S. Navy has moved on its shipbuilding plan for its Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the service can start eyeing a possible common combat system for the fleet.
U.S. VISIT: U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano continued her international tour on Dec. 31, touring the Torkham Border Crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan. She was briefed at the Afghan Border Coordination Center at Torkham and given an aerial tour of the crossing point. About a dozen U.S. agents are based at Torkham, representing U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They are providing training to Afghan border agents. Additional U.S. personnel will be assigned there this year.
NEW DELHI — The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale of 22 AH-64D Block III Apache helicopters to India, along with related equipment and training. The complete package would be worth about $1.4 billion.
PARIS — An Intelsat spacecraft that wreaked havoc around the world since it went out of control last spring has been shut down, removing an interference hazard that had threatened communications satellite operators worldwide.
The Pentagon needs to do a better job enforcing its Broad Area Maritime Surveillance contract, a recent Defense Department Inspector General (IG) report says. “DOD officials did not have the proper controls to validate the contractor charges and performance for the BAMS contract,” the IG said in its report, released late last month. The Navy BAMS contract with Northrop Grumman, valued at $1.8 billion, is in the third year of a seven-year contract, the IG notes, and is part of a major acquisition program worth more than $19 billion.
HOUSTON — NASA shuttle managers called for the installation of a “radius block” on the stringer section of Discovery’s external tank (ET) during a Jan. 3 meeting, a modification that will strengthen areas that experience primary launch forces and are susceptible to cracks like those that formed during an early November launch scrub.
PARIS — An International Launch Services (ILS) Proton M booster has orbited a novel, high-throughput Ka-band satellite for Eutelsat, marking the rocket’s return to service after a three-week hiatus due to a Proton Block DM failure on Dec. 5.
NEW DELHI — The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) says the Dec. 25 failure of a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06) carrying the GSAT-5P satellite was caused by the untimely and inadvertent snapping of a group of 10 connectors located at the bottom portion of the rocket’s Russian-made cryogenic upper stage.
BLUE BUY: Heico says its Flight Support Group is acquiring 80% of Blue Aerospace, a military parts and support services provider. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The merger should boost Heico’s earnings within the first year, the company says. Blue Aerospace’s management team, which will remain in place, will retain the 20% of the company not acquired by Heico. Heico reported $617 million in sales in the year that ended Oct. 31. The company’s share price rose 3.35% on Jan. 3 on news of the merger.
MOSCOW — The Russian air force is starting to field the Kamov Ka-52 attack helicopter and also is augmenting other elements of its rotorcraft fleet. On Dec. 28, the air force’s 334th Tactical Deployment Center in Torzhok received three Ka-52s, the first from the preproduction batch of 12 helos being produced by the Arseniev-based Progress facility. The twin-seat Ka-52 is based on the single-seat Kamov Ka-50 Black Shark coaxial-rotor assault helicopter and will serve in the air force as a special mission rotorcraft.
ARMY The Boeing Co., Ridley Park, Penn., was awarded on Dec. 22 a $241,957,000 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for 11 CH-47F Chinook remanufactured aircraft. The work will be performed in Ridley Park, with an estimated completion date of Sep. 30, 2013. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Contracting Center Aviation and Missile, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-08-C-0098). AIR FORCE
NEW DELHI — Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony will open two coast guard stations during a visit to the Lakshadweep Islands to facilitate closer coordination among maritime stakeholders and enhance coastal security.
