KC-390 SHARE: Aero Vodochody expects to complete talks with Embraer over its workshare on the KC-390 in the fourth quarter. Aero Vodochody has become a program partner owing to the Czech government’s decision to buy two of the tanker transports (Aerospace DAILY, Sept. 14).
The U.S. Navy is scrutinizing Northrop Grumman’s entire stable of shipbuilding holdings to make sure none of those assets will be harmed in a way that would endanger the nation’s defense needs, should the company decide to get out of military shipbuilding, says Sean Stackley, assistant Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition.
HELO GROWTH: India’s small fleet of 254 helicopters flown by 98 operators could double in five years once infrastructure and regulatory issues holding back the growth of the helicopter industry are addressed, says the Rotor Wing Society of India, which comprises more than 1,000 members.
SOLID ALLIANCE: The Pentagon has not yet notified Congress of all the details of a major new arms sale to Saudi Arabia, but “it is clear” to Center for Strategic & International Studies analyst Anthony Cordesman that this sale could have a direct value of $50 billion to $60 billion and mean maintaining a de facto military partnership with Saudi Arabia for at least the next decade. “In fact, it means the Saudi Air Force will remain critically dependent on U.S. military and contractor support,” he says.
BAD BLOOD: The ongoing impasse over the next steps in human spaceflight is not likely to be resolved this year. Backroom talks aimed at resolving differences in the House and Senate authorization bills for NASA remain stalled, with neither side willing to yield ground in advance of the toss-up midterm elections in November. Meanwhile, NASA staffers are due to spend the next three months setting requirements and technology priorities as part of round two of the Human Exploration Framework Team (HEFT).
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has thrown out some of the complaints made by would-be KC-X bidder U.S. Aerospace, though others are still being investigated. In a Sept. 16 decision, the government auditors found that “to the extent [the company’s] initial and supplemental protests allege bad faith or intentional agency misconduct, the protests are dismissed,” according to an official familiar with the decision.
PARIS — German startup RapidEye is seeking a new investor to help keep it going until its mostly privately funded remote-sensing system demonstrates its commercial viability. Brandenburg-based RapidEye was founded in 1998 to provide geo-information services and products directly to agriculture, forestry, energy, mapping, environmental and emergency users. It was formed with no government pre-sales commitments.
LONDON — Development problems are expected to cause a slight delay in the delivery of the next batch of Dutch CH-47 Chinooks. The country’s defense minister, Eimert von Middelkoop, disclosed the slip in a letter to parliament covering a range of modernization issues. The minister notes that problems linked to the helicopter’s hardware and software means delivery of the six rotorcraft will not take place as expected in mid-2011, but in the last quarter of that year.
HOUSTON — The impasse in Washington over the future of the nation’s human space exploration strategy and budget is becoming a worrisome “morale issue” at Johnson Space Center, which serves as the agency’s lead installation for the Constellation, space shuttle and International Space Station programs, Center Director Mike Coats told members of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) last week.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has completed a year-long mapping mission to scout landing spots for future robotic probes and piloted spacecraft and begun a new two-year science initiative to learn more about the Moon’s history and evolution.
KA-BAND TESTBED: Astrium Services and Avanti Communications will build a ground testbed to enable engineers to work with prospective government and defense customers to test and refine future military Ka-band broadband satellite system requirements, including unmanned aerial systems, real-time surveillance data streaming and communications-on-the-move.
Andrew Mellon Auditorium Washington, D.C. March 8, 2011 AVIATION WEEK is proud to introduce the “call for nominations” for the 2011 Laureates Awards. The AVIATION WEEK Laureate Awards recognize individuals and teams for their extraordinary accomplishments. Submit your nominations by October 4, 2010. www.aviationweek.com/events
LONDON — The first of the U.K.’s future aerial refueling aircraft completed its first flight Sept. 16 at Airbus Military’s facility outside Madrid. The Rolls-Royce Trent 700-powered aircraft took off from Getafe, Spain, at 9:41 a.m. local time and landed at 1:37 p.m. Tim Butler, the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) chief test pilot, was at the controls along with Chief Test Pilot Eduardo Cuadrado. Airbus says members of the engineering team were Test Flight Engineer Santiago Manso and Flight Test Engineers Jorge Fuentes and Alfonso Sopena.
Saying Congress cannot afford to spend money where it is not immediately needed, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) successfully led that panel’s approval Sept. 16 of Fiscal 2011 defense appropriations that would significantly trim the F-35, Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and other Pentagon programs.
BENGALURU, India — The India-Brazil-South Africa Maritime exercise (Ibsamar) is underway in the Indian Ocean, off Durban, with as many as 11 ships participating. The exercise began on Sept. 13 and is expected to end Sept. 27. This is the second edition of Ibsamar. An Indian navy spokesperson says that Ibsamar is a multidimensional exercise in which various naval scenarios are being explored. “The exercises are structured with the aim of sharing best practices in various facets of naval operations.”
MINUTEMAN TEST: U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command has rescheduled a routine test of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., to Sept. 17, between 3-9 a.m. PDT. The test, which had been set for Sept. 15, was rescheduled “to ensure data collection equipment in the impact area is fully ready,” officials said. The missile’s single unarmed re-entry vehicle is set to splash down in a target area southwest of Guam.
NATIONAL AEROSPACE WEEK Sept. 12-18, 2010 From Takeoff To Liftoff and Beyond, The Aerospace and Defense Industry is powered by people. Aerospace And Defense: The Strength Of Lift America. www.NationalAerospaceWeek.org Aerospace Industries Association Click here to view the pdf
SAN FRANCISCO — GE Aviation expects to begin ground tests in October in Peebles, Ohio, on a unique GEF414 F/A-18 fighter jet engine featuring a ceramic matrix composite low-pressure turbine blade that offers weight-savings and fuel-efficiency potential for military and commercial engines.
The short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (Stovl) F-35B Joint Strike Fighter is unlikely to conduct initial at-sea testing on schedule in March 2011 because of delays in clearing the vertical-landing envelope. The next opportunity to deploy two test F-35Bs to the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp will be in mid-2011, and if that date is missed the LHD-class vessel will not be available again until October.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has chosen Boeing’s concept for the second phase of the Vulture long-endurance unmanned aerial system (UAS) program over an offer from Lockheed Martin. The $89 million contract calls for Boeing, which is teamed with Qinetiq, to develop a heavier-than-air platform capable of keeping 1,000 lb. of payload with 5 kw. of power aloft for five years. Work on this capability, which is described as a “pseudo satellite” system, will run through February 2014.
The U.S. Navy plans to resume flight testing of the MQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned rotorcraft on Sept. 20 following a stand down since early August. The trials on the Northrop Grumman aircraft will begin first in Yuma, Ariz., “since the area is sparsely populated and range is large,” says Capt. Tim Dunigan, who manages the Navy’s multi-mission UAV programs.
CAPE CANAVERAL — The Boeing Co. has stepped up its public profile on commercial spaceflight, announcing a marketing agreement with Space Adventures Ltd. to sell seats on the company’s seven-person CST-100 capsule, which is being developed with support from NASA.
Sikorsky achieved its 250-kt. target speed for the X2 Technology coaxial-rotor compound helicopter demonstrator on a 1.1-hr. test flight from West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sept. 15. The 250-kt. target was achieved in level flight at 5,500 ft. with the engine at maximum power. The helicopter then accelerated to 260 kt. in a shallow dive and looked like it could have gone faster, says Steve Weiner, X2 chief engineer.
