The U.S. military is continuing its high-gear procurement of MRAP All-Terrain Vehicles (M-ATVs) with its first order for the ambulance variant. The U.S. Army Tank Automotive Command’s Life Cycle Management Command ordered 250 of the armored, highly mobile ambulances from Oshkosh Defense for about $161 million, the company confirmed this week. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in spring 2011. Oshkosh teams worked closely with the U.S. Army Medical Department on the M-ATV tactical ambulance’s design and interior layout.
BENGALURU, India — India’s Aeronautical Development Agency is gearing up to start the last phase of flight trials for the Tejas light combat aircraft at Chitradurga in Karnataka, 100 mi. northwest of here. This will be the first time the new test range of the Defense Research and Development Organization will be put to use. Test pilots from the National Flight Test Center in Bengaluru are readying themselves to undertake the last leg of weapon trials/stores release in Chitradurga.
UP IN ARMS: Latin American defense spending is expected to grow from about $63 billion next year to more than $65 billion by 2014, according to U.S.-based consultancy Forecast International. But only about 20% of any given military budget may be available for procurements, with the rest tied up in salaries and even social security or pension funding, according to Latin America and Caribbean analyst Rebecca Barrett. Defense spending will remain driven by internal conflicts like guerilla groups as the region itself faces “minimal” external threats.
TOKYO — Japan’s “Akatsuki” orbiter reached Venus Dec. 7 local time, but controllers at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) believe the spacecraft may have put itself into safe mode, and cannot yet determine whether the orbital insertion procedure went according to plan. The plan was to inject Akatsuki (which means “Dawn” in Japanese) into a westward elliptical orbit at an apogee of 80,000 km. (50,000 mi.) and a perigee of 200 km., to specifically match Venus’s rotation.
ASA SUNK: The American Shipbuilding Association (ASA) will dissolve at the end of 2010, silencing a familiar voice in Washington for warship construction and other industry interests. “The decision comes after a review of the organization’s charter and changes in the industry landscape convinced the board that another approach was needed to address the industry’s issues in Washington,” according to a Dec. 6 statement. ASA Board Chairman Fred Harris said talks were occurring to discuss a successor effort, but he did not provide more details.
The first parts for the Indian navy’s initial Boeing P-8I maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine-warfare aircraft have entered manufacturing at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan. The first part, cut on Dec. 6, is a bonded aluminum panel that later will be installed on the fuselage’s upper lobe to support an antenna. Spirit, which builds all fuselages for the Boeing 737 family on which the P-8 is based, is scheduled to deliver the P-8I fuselage to the Boeing Commercial Airplanes 737 assembly facility in Renton, Wash., in mid-2011.
The U.S. Navy is continuing to push ahead with work for the Ohio Replacement Program (ORP) for the service’s next-generation ballistic missile submarine (SSBN(X)) fleet, despite questions over the cost of the program and its financial effect on the Navy’s bottom line in decades to come.
Boeing has beaten out five other teams bidding for a U.S. Army intelligence-collection aircraft program totaling about $323 million. Phantom Works, the company’s advanced prototyping division, led the winning team with help from the company’s Network and Space Systems sector. Boeing won against bids from Raytheon, SAIC, Lockheed Martin/Sierra Nevada, L-3 Communications and Northrop Grumman.
GENOA, Italy — Italy and Israel plan to build a pair of hyperspectral remote-sensing satellites that will comprise one of the first operational systems of its kind in space. The Italian and the Israeli space agencies recently signed a cooperation framework agreement covering co-development of the system, dubbed Shalom, which could be in orbit as early as 2015. The pact follows a preliminary accord last summer.
PARIS — Italy and France have selected Arianespace to launch the Sicral 2 secure communications satellite. It was the 11th award of the year for the Paris-based launch provider, and one of strong strategic importance, Arianespace Chairman/CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall notes. Rome has not hesitated to resort to non-European launchers for government missions when it thought it could get a better deal elsewhere. Sicral 1b was orbited by Sea Launch and the four CosmoSkyMed imaging intelligence spacecraft by the U.S. Delta II.
ASTAMIDS FLIES: The U.S. Army’s Airborne Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Minefield Detection System (ASTAMIDS) demonstrated the ability to detect simulated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in a recent series of tests in which the system flew on prime contractor Northrop Grumman’s MQ-8B Fire Scout UAV. ASTAMIDS’ laser also demonstrated its capability as a target designator for Hellfire missiles, the company says, resulting in three direct hits in as many tests.
BIG GUNS: U.S. Navy researchers plan a “record-setting” test of a 32-megajoule Electromagnetic Railgun on Dec. 10 at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va. The event also will allow the leading competitors, BAE Systems and General Atomics, to showcase their advanced composite prototypes for “senior” Navy officials, the Office of Naval Research said Dec. 7.
BEIJING — China’s Avicopter is studying whether to build a 10-ton helicopter and sees a gap to fill with another, smaller aircraft as it works to become one of a small group of manufacturers with a full range of rotorcraft. A third version under consideration, which would be built with Russian Helicopters, would have a gross weight of 30 tons, according to Avicopter, the rotary-wing specialist subsidiary of Chinese aeronautics conglomerate Avic.
ARMY Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh., Wis., was awarded on Nov. 29 a $413,228,964 firm-fixed-price contract for the production of 1,800 family of medium tactical vehicles for the Army National Guard. The work is to be performed in Oshkosh, with an estimated completion date of March 12, 2013. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with three bids received. TACOM LCMC, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0159).
PARIS — The Eumetsat council has given the green light to the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) system, which will replace the MSG geostationary weather satellite network in the last years of this decade.
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force is looking at the management of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) as it plans its compliance with the Montreal Protocol. “The Indian air force is adopting a multipronged strategy to combat ozone depletion, including limiting the use of Halon to mission critical uses, tighter control laws and incorporating accountability toward phaseout of ODS,” Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik said at a workshop in Delhi. For new weapon systems in the pipeline, an inclusion of a clause in requests for proposals asks for alternatives.
PARIS — Eutelsat has awarded Thales Alenia Space a contract to replace a satellite lost after launch on Oct. 28. It was the company’s fifth telecom satellite award of the year. The Franco-Italian manufacturer also has landed deals for three telecom payloads, four remote-sensing payloads and three remote-sensing satellites, in addition to the Iridium Next constellation.
AIR FORCE Engineering & Software Systems Solutions Inc., San Diego, Calif. (FA8251-11-D-0001), and General Atomics Systems Integration, Kaysville, Utah (FA8251-11-D-0002), were awarded a $48,000,000 contract which will provide for engineering services for the landing gear systems at Hill Air Force Base. At this time, $2,000 has been obligated. 748 SCMG/PKAB, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity.
NAVY Bechtel Plant Machinery, Monroeville, Pa., is being awarded a $232,339,356 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-2100) for naval nuclear propulsion components. The work will be performed in Monroeville (90.2%), and Schenectady, N.Y. (9.8%). Contract funds in the amount $3,620,314 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. No completion date or additional information is provided on Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program contracts. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
SAUDI TANKS: The U.S. Army has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems $19 million to convert 15 of Saudi Arabia’s M1A1 tanks into the M1A2S model. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Command’s Lifecycle Management Command on behalf of the Royal Saudi Land Forces. The work will be performed at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio, and should be complete by March 31, 2012.
erreStar Networks has unveiled a smart phone that it plans to introduce on a hybrid North American terrestrial/satellite wireless network in cooperation with AT&T. Dubbed Genus, the phone measures just 0.7 X 2.5 X 0.8/0.6 in. and weighs barely 4.6 oz., comparable to a normal smart phone. It uses the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system, comes with touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard, and has 100 MB of memory.
NEW DELHI — Following initial delays, the Indian army’s Corps of Signals will soon have a Tactical Battlefield Communication System (TCS), Minister of State for Defense M.M. Pallam Raju said at a seminar in New Delhi Dec. 2.
