The general officer overseeing the new U.S. Air Force command established to organize, train and equip the service’s strike forces is not involved in the day-to-day planning for a multibillion-dollar, next-generation bomber.
Nov. 30 - Dec. 1, 2010 Munich, Germany Gain cost-effective best practices and strategies for engine MRO planning, new technology implementation, navigating maintenance contracts, green processes and compliance issues. Register now - http://www.aviationweek.com/events/current/mroeng/index.htm
NASA will negotiate with 13 contractors on possible systems analysis and trade study contracts aimed at refining choices for a U.S. heavy-lift launch vehicle and related technology. Companies selected will have a shot at $7.5 million in total contract awards, with a maximum value per contract of $625,000, to evaluate launch vehicle system concepts, propulsion technologies and “affordability,” the agency said late Nov. 8.
Even before India next year decides on its Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft supply of 126 fighters, the country dominates the recent history of sales for such aircraft. In a new update on the combat aircraft market, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute notes that in the 2005-2009 period, India topped the list of countries importing fighters with 12% of the total or 115 units. The United Arab Emirates came second at 11%.
NEW DELHI – The Indian air force has reached a preliminary agreement with Boeing to purchase 10 C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft. They will replace the IAF’s fleet of more than a dozen Russian Ilyushin Il-76s. The $4.1 billion deal comes in the wake of President Barack Obama’s visit to India, during which the U.S. removed some Indian laboratories from its restricted entities export list and Obama vowed to make sure “unnecessary barriers don’t stand in the way of high-tech trade between our countries.”
CULLED FLEET: Australian officials have called for industry proposals to dispose of retired de Havilland DHC-4 Caribou aircraft, first brought into service during the Vietnam War. Defense Materiel Minister Jason Clare said two of the fleet will be reserved for sale to historical organizations, while two more already have been presented to the Royal Australian Air Force Museum at Point Cook and the Australian War Memorial. Tender deadline is March 1, 2011.
Cyber missions are still being sorted out among the services to avoid duplication, and cyber operations are still not being conducted as fast as they must be to deter network attacks.
The U.S. Navy is still coming up short in its plan to fund Virginia-class submarines in coming decades and Congress will have to decide whether to go ahead with the service’s sub-building strategy or get the Navy to come up with a new plan, according to a recent report by congressional researchers. While the Navy’s global defense strategy includes a force of 48 Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) in the coming decades, the service’s funding plans still fall short of that mark, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) notes.
Nov. 30 - Dec. 1, 2010 Munich, Germany Gain cost-effective best practices and strategies for engine MRO planning, new technology implementation, navigating maintenance contracts, green processes and compliance issues. Register now - http://www.aviationweek.com/events/current/mroeng/index.htm Click here to view the pdf
LONDON – Astrium Services will perform a study looking into using satellites to gather inflight cockpit voice and flight data recorder information. The focus is on better aircraft tracking over oceans or in remote areas, as well as possibly providing a backup of information now stored on the so-called black boxes. Interest in such a system has increased since last year’s crash of Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Neither the cockpit voice nor flight data recorder have been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean seabed.
DEFENSIVE POLL: A new poll shows Americans far more in dispute about cutting defense spending than citizens of the five largest European allies. In a Financial Times-Harris Poll survey announced Nov. 3, almost half of Germans, 45% of Spaniards and 41% of Italians believe cutting defense budgets to further bring down budget deficits is mostly a good thing. About two in five Britons (39%) believe doing so is mostly a bad thing and 44% of French say it is neither a good nor a bad thing.
PARIS – Arianespace will launch a communications satellite for Azerbaijan’s communications and information technologies ministry. Construction of the 3-metric-ton spacecraft, known as Azersat-1, was awarded earlier this year to Orbital Sciences Corp. To be equipped with 36 active Ku- and C-band transponders and orbited in late 2012 on an Ariane 5 rocket, Azersat-1 will provide communications services throughout Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as Azerbaijan itself.
RENEWED START: The Obama administration is setting ratification of the new Start nuclear arms reduction deal with Russia as a top priority during the so-called lame-duck session of Congress starting later this month. “There’s no sense in putting off what we need now to the next Congress,” Defense Department Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said. Still, department officials downplayed concerns that the treaty would fare worse once the more conservative-infused 112th Congress is seated next year.
NEW DELHI – The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Defense Research Development Organization (DRDO) and Bharat Dynamics Ltd. – the prime production agency for missile weaponry systems – received welcome news Nov. 8 when U.S. officials announced that many of their laboratories have been removed from a restricted-entity export list. The move was revealed during President Barack Obama’s visit here.
After a series of small, albeit important issues kept the Cosmo-SkyMed 4 mission stuck on the pad for seven days, the fifth try was the charm Nov. 5 for the Italian dual-use Earth observation mission. Built by Thales Alenia Space and based on Alenia’s Prima Bus, the 1,900 kg. (4,180 lb.) satellite is the last of four in the Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation (Cosmo). All carry synthetic aperture radars (SAR-2000) operating in X-band and have a 300 Mbps. transmission rate.
AIR FORCE Tiax LLC, Lexington, Mass., was awarded a maximum $99,446,650 contract which will award the systems development and demonstration of the integrated aircrew ensembles. It will also include options for low rate initial production, production tooling, and full rate production. At this time, $1,000,000 has been obligated. ASC/WNU, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8606-11-D-6360).
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is retargeting launch of its first Dragon capsule from late November to Dec. 7, the company said Nov. 8. “We think more testing could be valuable,” SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Brost said. Dragon is to be launched on SpaceX’s second Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The mission is the first of three planned under a $278 million NASA contract to flight test the Dragon capsule and related technologies needed for cargo delivery missions to the International Space Station.
KUTTEMPEROOR – India cleared a hurdle in engine development Nov. 3 when the homegrown powerplant for its national fighter jet program passed critical tests in Russia.
AIR FORCE Boeing Co., St. Louis, was awarded a $106,354,379 contract modification which provides for the exercise of the Lot 7 option for small diameter bomb production for munitions, carriages and technical support. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. AAC/EBMK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity (FA8672-11-C-0034).
LONDON – The U.K. Defense Ministry has revealed its first detailed road map of how to implement many of the changes spelled out in the Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR). The document is part of the coalition government’s “Transparency Framework” that requires each department to state its priorities and the pace of some of the structural changes to be made as a result of the SDSR.
