COLLISION COURSE: The U.S. spends about $4 million a year searching for near-Earth objects (NEOs), according to a new National Academies report, but that remains “insufficient” to detect the majority of NEOs that may present a tangible threat to humans. The majority of this funding supports the operation of several observatories that scan the sky searching for NEOs, rather than on so-called mitigation capabilities to avoid or minimize collisions.
SDB II: Raytheon has been selected over a Boeing/Lockheed Martin team to develop the Small Diameter Bomb Increment II (SDB II) under a $451 million U.S. Air Force contract. A follow-on to the Boeing-produced, GPS-guided GBU-39 SDB Increment I, the 250 lb.-class GBU-53/B SDB II is designed for use against moving targets in all weather and is equipped with a tri-mode radar/infrared/laser seeker. The SDB II will be integrated initially on the F-15E and F-35B/C Joint Strike Fighter.
The U.S. Air Force is reintroducing its stealthy, unmanned RQ-170 to operations in Afghanistan, and Israel is using its strategic-range UAVs to observe, target and strike smugglers in the Red Sea. The latest twist is that the U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel flying wing either has returned or is returning to Afghanistan with a full-motion video capability that ground commanders have been demanding as part of the continuing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) buildup in the country.
NEW DELHI — The Indian Air Force (IAF) and Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) have signed an agreement for series production of a computerized pilot selection system (CPSS). Trial runs are being facilitated by the IAF, with the system expected to be functional in three years. Twenty CPSSs will be installed at pilot selection centers in Dehradun, Varanasi and Mysore. Another 10 will be put on stand-by.
DARK HORSE: The mysterious Antonov An-112KC offered by U.S. Aerospace in its rejected bid for the U.S. Air Force KC-X tanker contest (Aerospace DAILY, Aug. 5) has been revealed as an An-70 airlifter with two large turbofans replacing its four propfan engines, and equipped with a fuselage-mounted refueling boom and wing-mounted refueling pods. No prototype exists and no fewer than four engine options are listed: General Electric GEnx-1B, Pratt & Whitney PW4070, Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 and GE/Pratt Engine Alliance GP7200. The ability to carry 183,000 lb.
NASA is seeking industry feedback on its plans for a new five-year, $150 million research program to help integrate unmanned aircraft into civil airspace. The program is planned to begin in Fiscal 2011 and would focus on separation assurance and collision avoidance, pilot-aircraft interface, certification requirements and communications, involving a series of increasingly complex flight demonstrations.
In a bid to drive down the size and weight of laser weapons, the U.S. Defense Department has awarded contracts to demonstrate more efficient electric lasers that can be scaled to lethal power levels. So far, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have received contracts under the Robust Electric Laser Initiative (RELI). A fourth contract is expected to be awarded to Northrop Grumman.
The International Space Station’s mission management team approved a two-spacewalk strategy on Aug. 6 to repair the cooling system that was partially disabled by a July 31 electrical short in an external pump module assembly. The first spacewalk by Expedition 24 flight engineers Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson was scheduled to get underway on Aug. 7 at 6:55 a.m. EDT and last about 7 hr.
MOVING LASER: Northrop Grumman’s Joint High-Power Solid-State Laser (JHPSSL) system is being moved from the laboratory to the High-Energy Laser Systems Test Facility at White Sand Missile Range, N.M., for field testing against rockets, mortars and unmanned aircraft. A ruggedized 15-kw. version of JHPSSL will be tested at sea against small boats this year under the Office of Naval Research’s Maritime Laser Demonstration program. Northrop also is participating in the Robust Electric Laser Initiative, which is just getting underway.
POINT AND SHOOT: The U.S. Army plans to award Boeing a contract to integrate Radiance Technologies’ WeaponWatch gunfire detection system onto the AH-64D Apache. The 18-month contract is planned to be awarded at the end of August by the Aviation Applied Technology Directorate. WeaponWatch is an infrared sensor and high-speed processor that can detect, locate and classify, and respond to ground fire.
MOON SHOTS: NASA is looking for industry data on robotic lunar lander technologies. The Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data broad agency announcement (BAA) is expected to lead to multiple contracts with a total value up to $30.1 million through 2012. The BAA asks for information about the design and demonstration of an end-to-end lunar landing mission, including data on hardware design, development and testing; ground operations and integration; launch; trajectory-correction maneuvers; lunar braking, burn and landing; and enhanced capabilities.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) AUG. 16 - 19 — National Defense Industrial Association’s 13th Annual Space and Missile Defense Conference and Exhibition, Huntsville, Ala. For more information call (256) 382-5823, or go to www.smdconf.org Aug. 24 - 27 — AUVSI’S Unmanned Systems North America 2010, Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Colo. For more information go to www.auvsi.org
DIVESTING: SES confirms it will sell off its non-performing European government service unit, ND Satcom. In recently announced first-half results, the company says it is taking a €38.5 million ($50.8 million) charge for the German-based unit and will exclude it from future results. ND Satcom is a partner in Germany’s SatcomBW-2 secure milsatcom network, alongside Astrium, which is considered a potential buyer. Without the troubled unit, SES would have added nearly three points to its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, the company says.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has proved to be a master at divesting the services of their most beloved programs. He stopped the U.S. Air Force’s longer-term production of the F-22 and killed its combat search-and-rescue replacement (CSAR-X) plans. The Army’s Future Combat System is now just a hollow cave filled with the echo of spinoffs. But Gates may have met his match when taking on the U.S. Marine Corps and its expeditionary fighting vehicle (EFV), which Gates has started to speculate — quite publicly — might not be worth the risk and cost.
INFLUENCE: U.S. aerospace and defense companies have increased congressional lobbying by more than 7% in the first half of 2010 compared with the same period last year, according to analysis by the watchdog Center for Responsive Politics. A National Journal report citing unidentified lobbyists noted that A&D firms are looking to Congress to help protect favored programs, while also reacting to a “difficult legislative cycle” where even popular defense bills are getting held up by partisan wrangling.
STRATEGIC SCIENCE: The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is standing up a Defense Programs Science Council to “explore cross-cutting issues.” The move follows President Barack Obama’s vision to better utilize nuclear weapons technology to help tackle other challenges, as NNSA has increasingly opened up to doing in the last decade.
Plans to acquire aircraft for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Deepwater modernization program remain underfunded due to rising program costs, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says.
BENGALURU, India — In a major setback to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.’s (HAL) efforts to market its flagship Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), India’s Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has issued a report portraying the helicopter in a very poor light. CAG’s observations are part of its report on public sector undertakings (PSUs), which was presented to the Indian Parliament on Aug. 5.
UAE A&D: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is expected to significantly increase the level of its defense and aerospace procurements and investments over the next five years, as well as greatly expand the level of spending in homeland security and critical national infrastructure-related services and capabilities, according to the U.S.-UAE Business Council. The growth has helped spur the National Defense Industrial Association to organize a trade mission there in early October.
The Senate approved a NASA authorization bill late Aug. 5 that accelerates development of a heavy-lift launch vehicle and clears the agency to fly one more space shuttle mission beyond the two remaining on the manifest.
Inmarsat will create a global Ka-band broadband system to complement its L-band system, the company announced Aug. 6. As expected, Boeing will supply three 702HP spacecraft for the space segment of the system, which will be known as Inmarsat 5. Each satellite will be equipped with 89 fixed spot beams and have some in-orbit processing (Aerospace DAILY, Aug. 6).
BENGALURU, India — Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony, a staunch supporter of homegrown projects, says the country’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is totally focused on enhancing India’s self-reliance in developing military hardware.
