MORE REAPERS: The British Defense Ministry plans to buy up to five more General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft, says Peter Luff, the U.K’s minister for defense equipment, support and technology. The purchases would unfold through 2014. Luff also notes that the latest batch of 100 Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk III unmanned air systems ordered in recent weeks are slated to be delivered during the next two years. These platforms support British special operations forces and regular ground troops.
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
MIDDLE MEN: Congressional auditors looking into defense primes and subcontractors say in a new review of six major programs that primes generally attempted to shift cost risk onto subcontractors through fixed-price deals — even when their own contract with the government was cost-reimbursement. The U.S. Government Accountability Office report, dated Oct. 28, says that based on some estimates, 60-70% of work on defense contracts is now done by subcontractors, with certain industries aiming to outsource up to 80%.
LONDON — An Ariane 5 has launched two telecommunications satellites, Lockheed Martin’s BSAT-3B and Thales Alenia Space’s W3B satellites, into orbit from the European space launch facility in Kourou, French Guiana. It was the fourth Ariane 5 mission of the year, with takeoff at 6:51 p.m. local time. Arianespace says the 5,370-kg. (11,800-lb.) W3B for Eutelsat deployed 28 min. into the mission, followed by the 2,060-kg. BSAT-3B for Japan’s B-SAT Corp.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) NOV. 1 - 2 — Shephard Group’s Air Power Middle East 2010, The Ritz-Carlton, Doha, Qatar. For more information go to www.shephard.co.uk.org Nov. 1 - 3 — AVIATION WEEK A&D Programs 2010, Arizona Biltmore, Phoenix, Ariz. For more information go to http://www.aviationweek.com/events
LONDON — With the U.K. government’s decision not to field the Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft, military planners are now trying to decide how to cover the capability gap.
GENOA, Italy — The Italian air force is embarking on an extensive program to revamp its helicopter fleet to better address combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) missions and other roles. One of the newest projects involves replacing the AB212, which is now around 20 years old — the first three were acquired in 1979 and the rest in the mid-1980s.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — NASA has postponed the Oct. 29 start of the countdown for the STS-133 mission, the 39th and final flight of shuttle Discovery, to replace couplings in the right-hand Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) helium line. The work, which NASA Test Director Jeff Spaulding says is “not very complicated…we’ve done it in the past,” nevertheless requires time-consuming tank repressurization and launch pad clearance, precluding other pre-flight activities.
KEEP GOING: Advocates for Senate ratification of the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty between the U.S. and Russia are working hard to dismiss any new opposition after a U.S. launch control center lost communication with some ballistic missiles Oct. 23. The glitch suspended communication between 50 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles and F.E. Warren AFB near Cheyenne, Wyo., for nearly 45 min., according to Air Force officials. The fleet counts 450 ICBMs. When the event became public days later, there were conservatives like Wyoming Sen.
SMALL STEP: Russia’s Aerocon has unveiled a micro-unmanned aircraft, the Inspector-101. With a takeoff weight of just 250 grams (8.7 ounces) and a wingspan of 30 cm. (12 in.), the Inspector-101 with its flying wing design is the smallest UAV developed in Russia so far. Aerocon’s unmanned programs chief, Alexander Kornusheko, tells AVIATION WEEK that now the company is testing this UAV with a 2-gram digital video camera as a payload. The other option is an 8-gram analog camera.
NEIGHBORLY DEAL: Argentina is the fifth nation to indicate its intent to purchase Embraer KC-390s and participate in development and production of the Brazilian airlifter. Negotiations have begun on the acquisition of six aircraft and the involvement of Fabrica Argentina de Avioes in manufacture of the four-jet tanker/transport. Chile, Colombia, Portugal and the Czech Republic have already begun discussions on participation in the program.
TRACER FLIES: Flight tests of Lockheed Martin’s Tactical Reconnaissance and Counter-Concealment-Enabled Radar (Tracer) have begun using the Ikhana unmanned aircraft, a NASA-operated Predator B, which is being used as a surrogate for the U.S. Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV. The Ikhana is collecting high-resolution synthetic-aperture radar imagery with the sensor mounted in an unpressurized pod under the wing.
CLIP ON: Initial operational test and evaluation of the Common Link Integration Processing (CLIP) system on B-1B Lancers and B-52 Stratofortresses should be achieved by spring 2011, with initial operating capability declared by next September, U.S. Air Force officials say. CLIP translates and formats messages for crews onboard the bombers and allows them to send messages to any authorized recipient. The so-called middleware allows for real-time unit and tracking information on the Link 16 network and the Joint Range Extension satellite network.
EGYPTIAN AIRLIFT: Airbus Military is adding the Egyptian air force to its customer base with the sale of three C295 tactical transports. All three aircraft are to be delivered in 2011, the manufacturer says. The deal brings to 85 the total order book for the C295, with a backlog of 21 units. The customer base is 13 operators.
BEIJING — China is studying a rocket engine with thrust of 300-500 tons (660,000-1.1 million lb.), up to four times as powerful as its current equipment, while also working on reusable space launchers, senior leaders have told a U.S. industry delegation.
LONDON — Diehl BGT Defense may adapt its IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missile for a ship-based air-defense application. Although the concept so far remains on the drawing board, the evolution would mark the second mission expansion for IRIS-T. Diehl is already working on a ground-launched version, the IRIS-T SL (Surface Launch), which Germany wants to field as a low-end interceptor as part of the Medium Extended Air Defense System.
Two well-informed analysts on U.S. export reforms caution that bureaucratic support for Obama administration export licensing reforms could be too tepid for near-term results, and the world business climate is changing faster than the recently ratified bilateral treaties with the U.K. and Australia can adequately address.
SRM READY: ATK’s five-segment Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) is ready for flight testing, according to Charlie Precourt, vice president and general manager of ATK space launch systems. ATK announced Oct. 27 that data from the second successful Development Motor (DM-2) test Aug. 31 showed that it performed “precisely as designed.” Researchers took another month to fully digest the results. Meanwhile, company technicians have installed new insulation materials on the aft segment of the DM-3 SRM in preparation for casting. DM-3 is scheduled to take place next fall.
DEPLOYMENT CHALLENGE: The U.S. Army is increasingly challenged by a growing number of “non-deployable” soldiers who, for various reasons like injuries, cannot deploy with their units, according to an Association of the U.S. Army summary of speeches by Army leaders Oct. 26. In an average brigade combat team in 2007, about 390 of its soldiers were not deployable, said Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick, deputy chief of staff of the army, G-1. “It’s a huge issue across the army that we’ve got to fix,” the general said at the AUSA conference in Washington.
BENGALURU, India — India’s fifth limited-series production (LSP-5) Tejas Light Combat Aircraft is ready for its first flight. Indian sources confirm to AVIATION WEEK that a flight readiness review meeting was held recently and the LSP-5 will fly “soon,” weather permitting. LSP-4 had its first flight in June.
BENGALURU, India — Indian defense scientists and engineers working with the Aeronautical Development Agency for the Rustom UAV project have now turned to flying the next prototype, R1-4. Though the exact time schedule has not been revealed, R1-4 is expected to have an “identical configuration” to its predecessor, R1-3. The Defense Research & Development Organization (DRDO) successfully test-flew R1-3 Oct. 16 from a private runway near Bengaluru.
The U.S. Air Force is getting ready to integrate an airborne signals intelligence payload on the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft. The ASIP-2C is a derivative of the U-2 and Global Hawk signals intelligence payload and related to the ASIP-1C designed for the MQ-1 Predator. The U.S. Air Force is now starting to plan for the integration of the Northrop Grumman-developed sensors on the MQ-9 for an end-to-end test.
