THE AVENGERS: The historic legal case over the 1991 cancellation of the U.S. Navy’s A-12 stealthy attack aircraft will get its day in the U.S. Supreme Court, justices announced Sept. 28. But the Court indicated justices will focus on the state secrets element of the earlier legal case. The previously separate Boeing and General Dynamics cases will be combined under this review, scheduled for the Court’s term starting Oct. 1. If the companies win, it could allow them to reargue parts of their case in lower courts.
Kennedy Space Center engineers plan to meet Sept. 29 to evaluate data collected after five lightning strikes hit within 5 mi. of the space shuttle launch pad. Preliminary sensor readings indicate no damage to Launch Pad 39A or shuttle Discovery, which is at the pad in preparation for its last flight. Liftoff is targeted for Nov. 1. A tropical depression that brought heavy rain and wind to Kennedy Space Center is expected to pass offshore the morning of Sept. 30, forecasters with the 45th Space Wing said in a NASA status report.
SUPPORTING MARSHALL: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center has awarded Jacobs Technology, Inc., a $170 million, one-year contract extension for engineering, technical and scientific support, propulsion work, program management and business services. The extension, effective Oct. 1, raises the total value of the original contract awarded in October 2005 to Jacobs, of Tullahoma, Tenn., to $962.5 million.
MARINE MOVING: The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on Sept. 28 endorsed Marine Corps Gen. James Amos to be the next commandant, clearing the way for what should be the first aviator to hold the maritime service’s highest uniformed job (Aerospace DAILY, June 17). Amos’ and 3,272 other military nominations immediately were reported to the Senate floor for full-chamber confirmation.
LONDON — The German army is mulling upgrades to its helicopters to improve their self-protection equipment. The Afghanistan-deployed CH-53s already have benefitted from electronic warfare suite updates, but more activities are planned. One effort would involve adding a device that creates smoke around the helicopter, mirroring a self-protection device already used on ground vehicles, Lt. Col. Michael Vogt tells an airborne electronic warfare conference held by IQPC.
AIRSHIP CONTROL: AAI has received an $8.9 million contract from Northrop Grumman to provide a variant of its Universal Ground Control Station (UGCS) for the U.S. Army’s Long-Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV), an unmanned hybrid-airship demonstrator with three weeks of endurance carrying multiple sensors. A mobile launch-and-recovery ground station with multiple workstations will provide flight control of the airship from takeoff to landing.
LONDON — Eurocopter is testing a new hybrid helicopter demonstrator that aims to reach 220 kt. forward speed. The twin-turboshaft-powered helicopter uses two propellers on a short wing for forward flight, with a five-blade main rotor. Eurocopter at one point explored a tiltrotor design but later rejected that idea. The company says the X3, or H3 – for high-speed, long-range hybrid helicopter – could be used for military, search-and-rescue and other applications, including intercity transport.
Roughly 8,000 soldiers from the U.S. Army Evaluation Task Force are camped out in the New Mexico desert taking part in a training and technology experiment that pits soldiers armed with the latest surveillance gear against a “Red Team” of soldiers playing the part of Taliban fighters.
PORT BLAIR, India — The Indian navy soon will add one more floating dock to repair and refit warships at sea. The request for information (RFI) for the second Floating Dock Navy (FDN) facility was issued to shipbuilders worldwide in March. The new facility will be smaller than the existing one and will be ready by 2014. It could lift up to 8,000 tons once fully operational and is expected to cost around Rs 250-300 crore ($55-66 million).
Alenia Aermacchi and its business partner Boeing have won a contract that involves providing 12 Alenia Aermacchi advanced jet trainer aircraft, as well as associated spares and training, to the Singapore air force. Singapore government-linked company ST Aerospace will be purchasing the 12 M346 jet trainers on behalf of the air force, says ST Aerospace, which estimates the aircraft, along with associated spare parts and ground-based training system, will cost S$543 million (U.S. $413 million).
LONDON — The German defense armaments office, the BWB, has formally cleared the German air force to start operating its new tanker fleet. The move gives the Luftwaffe its first strategic refueling capability. The program dates back to 2000, when a decision was made to modify four Airbus A310 multi-role transports into multi-role tanker transports.
Final checkout of Canada’s robotic special purpose dexterous manipulator (SPDM) is expected next spring or summer, once engineers complete analysis of the force needed to remove a failed power controller on the International Space Station. The two-armed SPDM, known as Dextre, was not able to pull the unit during a July rehearsal because the engineering analysis was based on low-fidelity hardware to save money, according to Sarmad Aziz, a robotics flight controller at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
PARIS — European Space Agency officials are reasonably sure they can meet a late February docking window for the second Automated Transfer Vehicle, which is needed for an International Space Station (ISS) reboost mission. The next reboost is needed by mid-2011 to prevent the ISS from descending too low and risking atmospheric re-entry. The space shuttle and Progress resupply ship, as well as the station itself, can perform reboost maneuvers, but the ATV can move it much higher, significantly reducing drag and improving operating efficiencies.
PORT BLAIR, India — India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has decided to keep the Mysore-based Defense Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) within its stable, despite speculation that it and other life sciences facilities would be moved elsewhere. DFRL supplies ready-to-eat rations to soldiers deployed in extreme and hostile conditions like Siachen, Rajasthan and during the Antarctica expedition. All its food-processing technologies have been passed on to Indian industries under transfer of technology.
HORNET BUZZ: The U.S. Navy awarded Boeing a long-awaited $5.3 billion contract Sept. 28 for the third multi-year buy of Super Hornet twin-engine fighters and Growler electronic attack aircraft. The deal includes 46 F/A-18Es, 20 F/A-18Fs and 58 EA-18Gs, and these purchases will supply the remaining aircraft in the Navy’s planned total buy of 513 Super Hornets and 114 Growlers. The work is expected to be complete in May 2015.
LOS ANGELES — General Electric and Rolls-Royce are focusing on manufacturing records as they investigate the causes of an incident that forced the shutdown of an F136 development engine on Sept. 23. The shutdown was triggered when the F136 endurance engine, 008, “experienced an anomaly at near-maximum fan speed,” the GE-Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team says. “Initial inspection revealed damage to airfoils in the front fan and compressor area. The engine is currently being disassembled for a thorough investigation,” it adds.
AAI has received a $3.05 million contract for Phase 1 of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Transformer Vehicle (TX) program to demonstrate a “fly-drive” tactical vehicle. Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works is also expected to receive a contract. AAI is teamed with flying-car developer Terrafugia, sister companies Bell Helicopter and Textron Marine & Land Systems, and its design is based on slowed-rotor/compound (SR/C) helicopter technology being developed jointly with Carter Aviation Technologies.
ITT Corp. has completed another round of tests with its first laser missile jammer as industry awaits release of the delayed request for proposals for the U.S. Army-led Common Infrared Countermeasures (Circm) program, now expected in October. Several companies will likely bid to equip thousands of U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force rotorcraft with lightweight laser jammers, including the existing suppliers of directed infrared countermeasures equipment, BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman.
AIR FORCE United Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney, East Hartford, Conn., was awarded a contract modification not-to-exceed $279,703,743 for the acquisition for 22 priority initial spare F-119-PW-100 engines. At this time, $279,703,743 has been obligated. ASC/WWUK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8611-08-C-2896; P00040). NAVY
Nov. 30 - Dec. 1, 2010 Munich, Germany MRO ENGINES FORUM 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
In a last-ditch effort to pass a new authorization bill for NASA, the House has agreed to consider the Senate-passed NASA authorization this week, having abandoned hopes for arriving at a compromise bill between the two chambers before the current fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
PARIS — Gazprom Space Systems has finalized $731 million in financing and guarantees for the Yamal 400 program, enabling the two-satellite undertaking to enter full development and production.
