AIR FORCE Booze Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean , Va. , was awarded a $9,500,000 contract which will create proactive radar electronic protection techniques using multi input multi output and waveform diversity. At this time, $724,000 has been obligated. AFRL/PKMN, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio , is the contracting activity (FA8650-11-D-1011). NAVY
U.S. Air Force officials plan to review revised KC-10 CNS/ATM upgrade proposals from bidders because of a problem in the original source selection that awarded Boeing the $216 million contract, says Col. Michael Schmidt, contractor logistics support programs director for the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center. Boeing won the contract to upgrade all 59 KC-10s in June, and a stop-work order was issued Oct. 13. Bidders deemed by the Air Force to be “in the competitive range” were notified Nov. 17 that they can submit revised proposals.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) racked up its fourth successful flight of a Delta IV Heavy, which blasted off Nov. 21 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., carrying a classified satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. The launch occurred at 5:58 p.m. EST. ULA halted commentary about 7 min. after liftoff. At the time, the vehicle was performing as expected.
HYDERABAD—India’s state-run Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) is developing a software-driven radio (SDR) set for India’s armed forces. Able to function at any frequency, the SDR is lightweight, easy to operate and cost-effective, the company says. Different radio sets are now being used, depending on very high-frequency, ultra-high-frequency, high-frequency and L-band needs. BEL says the SDR would revolutionize communications on the battlefield.
AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Information Technology, Herndon , Va. , was awarded a $49,900,000 contract which will provide fully functional messaging systems to the operational messaging community, including Air Force Intelligence Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Agency, Department of Defense, intelligence community members, federal government departments/agencies and our coalition partners for messaging and data handling systems. At this time no money has been obligated. AFRL/RIKF, Rome , N.Y. , is the contracting activity (FA8750-11-D-0031).
Besides an additional 20 Lockheed Martin F-35s, at a cost of around $3 billion, if Israel makes more movement for peace with Palestinians, the U.S. also has pledged to provide Israel with more technologies and capabilities to counter threats from Iran and to veto any anti-Israeli resolution in the U.N. or the International Atomic Energy Agency. Further, the U.S. has proposed signing a new defense treaty with Israel if a peace accord with the Palestinians can be achieved.
MBDA has signed a three-year agreement with the Italian Aerospace Research Center that will boost the European missile maker’s R&D capability while ensuring the long-term future of the Italian research organization. The agreement, which is renewable, will cover a broad range of activities, including composite airframes for subsonic/supersonic applications; guidance, navigation and control systems for next generation launchers and hypersonic vehicles; and anti-ballistic missile defense.
LRIP 4: The Pentagon said late Nov. 19 that the Naval Air Systems Command awarded Lockheed Martin Aeronautics of Fort Worth a $3.49 billion contract modification for manufacture and delivery of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter low-rate initial production Lot 4 aircraft. The modification also converts the contract type from a cost-plus-incentive-fee to a fixed-price-incentive (firm target).
DEPENDABLE ENGINE: Pratt & Whitney’s F100-229 Engine Enhancement Package has completed more than 6,000 total accumulated cycles (TACs) in an accelerated mission test at the U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engine Development Center, Tenn. Pratt says the aggressive, yearlong test would take the average engine 10,000 TACs, or more than 25 years of operation, to experience the same levels of time and temperature exposure built into the EEP test plan.
Hyderabad, India – Aviation Conclave 2010 opened in Hyderabad Nov. 18 with its hosts determined to show that the south India city is ready to become a leading aerospace hub.
TARGETED OPPORTUNITY: BAE Systems is heading a proposal team to provide part of the U.K.’s Military Flying Training System (MFTS) program. BAE Systems has teamed with Swiss aircraft maker Pilatus, along with the Gama Group and Babcock Aerospace, to bid for a basic training portion of the MFTS. The aircraft on offer would be the PC-21. The umbrella program is run as a partnership between the U.K. defense ministry and a Lockheed Martin/Babcock International joint venture.
SBSS VISION: “Continuity of service” is a top priority for Pentagon officials as they craft an acquisition strategy for the follow-on to the first Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) satellite, says Col. Arnie Streland, who heads the U.S. Air Force’s Space Superiority Directorate. This likely means the service will not fund advances in technology for the sensor.
ZHUHAI, CHINA– Airshow China is hosting the first international demonstration of the Chengdu JF-17/FC-1, flown here by a team from the Pakistan air force. Officials from China’s Aviation Industries of China (Avic) and China Aero-Technology Import Export Corporation (Catic) tell Aviation Week that despite the low price of the aircraft, it is not a low-tech piece of equipment, but rather a “21st century product.”
HYDERABAD – India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) plans to establish four new state-of-the-art facilities in and near Hyderabad. DRDO chief, V.K. Saraswat, told Aviation Week during the Aviation Conclave 2010 here that the facilities will further Hyderbad’s mission to become an Indian aerospace hub. DRDO will provide more than Rs 1,000 crore ($220.1 million) for all the projects over the next five years, Saraswat says.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) NOV. 23 - 25 — International Aerospace Symposium of South Africa 2010, Villa Via Hotel, Cape Town. For more information call +27 (12) 841-4128 or see www.iassa.org.za/ Nov. 29 - Dec. 3 — I/ITSEC 2010, “The World’s Largest Modeling, Simulation & Training Conference, Orlando, Fla. For more information go to www.iitsec.org
San Francisco — NASA’s DC-8 Icebridge mission has used a laser altimeter to provide high-fidelity measurements of snow thickness on sea ice and to penetrate ice sheets covering the South Pole to a depth of 10 km. (6.2 mi.). The flights, which wound up for the season last weekend, are staged from Punta Arenas, Chile, and bridge a data gap in Antarctic ice studies that opened up when NASA lost its Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICEsat-1) last year after six years of operation. ICEsat-2 is not due for launch until 2015.
EYES OPEN: European leaders have signaled a willingness to work with the U.S. to build a global network of space- and terrestrial-based surveillance systems that would permit the early detection and identification of vessels believed to be engaged in narcotics traffic, illegal immigration and other illicit activities at sea. The network has been championed by the U.S’s. National Maritime-domain Awareness Coordination Office (NMAO), which sees it as an effective way to combat piracy.
GOOD TEST: Safran’s Snecma unit has completed a successful ground test of the Vinci upper-stage cryogenic engine with its extendible nozzle deployed, marking a major step forward in its development program. The test, run on the third development model, was the first with the 3-meter-long carbon/matrix composite nozzle fully extended. Vinci is to equip the higher-power Ariane 5 ME, slated to enter service in 2016.
COMPETITIVE PROGRAMS: U.S. Air Force Undersecretary Erin Conaton says that as Pentagon budgets flatten, military space systems must prove that the “cost of national security space is justified.” The Fiscal 2010 budget is slated to go to Congress in early February, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to save $102 billion within five years. “It is not enough simply to demonstrate the need” for space programs, they must also provide “good value” to the nation, Conaton told an audience at the Air Force Association’s Global Warfare Conference in Los Angeles last week.
ZHUHAI, China – Eurocopter has further cemented its links with China through two new ventures announced at Airshow China. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with the Civil Aviation University of China (CAUC) for ab-initio (from the beginning) pilot training activities, to prepare a new generation of helicopter flyers for China.
MRAP BUY: The Marine Corps Systems Command awarded Navistar Defense LLC of Warrenville, Ill., a $253 million delivery order under a previously awarded contract for the procurement of 250 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected recovery vehicles and contractor logistics support, the Pentagon said Nov. 19. The award’s objective is to support coalition forces in Afghanistan who require assistance with disabled vehicles. The work will be performed in West Point, Miss., and is expected to be completed before October 2011.
Houston—With repairs to the fuel tank of the shuttle Discovery still underway, NASA shuttle program managers on Nov. 18 retargeted the earliest date for a second round of launch opportunities for the agency’s senior orbiter from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3. The delay will permit more time for agency managers to establish flight rationale using the repaired fuel tank. The upcoming launch period will close three days later to permit a Dec. 15 Soyuz launching with three U.S., Russian and European space station crewmembers.
