To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) JULY 13 - 15 — CAE Flightscape 2010 Users Conference, Hilton Lac Leamy, Gatineau, Quebec. For more information call +1 (613) 225-0070, fax +1 (613) 225-0098 or go to www.flightscape.com/about/conferences.php
NEW DELHI — Boeing Network & Space Systems is adding to its command, cyber-security and intelligence network portfolio with its second acquisition in as many weeks. For an undisclosed sum, the company is to acquire privately held Narus, a Sunnyvale, Calif., specialist in real-time network traffic and analytics software to help it expand into commercial network accounts, such as in telecoms and energy, while continuing to build its government networks and cyber-security portfolio.
HEADING GLENN: Ramon (Ray) Lugo III will be the next director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center, a position he has held on an acting basis since March. Lugo, who joined NASA as a cooperative education student at Kennedy Space Center in 1975, was named deputy director of the Cleveland field center in November 2007, transferring from his post as deputy manager of the launch services program at KSC. He replaces Woodrow Whitlow Jr., who is now associate administrator for mission support at agency headquarters.
MISSILE FLEX: A U.S. Navy team led by the NATO SeaSparrow Project Office (NSPO), a cooperative weapons development project, has created a method of consolidating missile test equipment that the service says will result in $8 million in cost savings annually. The new, flexible facility concept allows Navy surface-to-air missiles to be processed using a standard set of test equipment similar to equipment found at intermediate-level maintenance facilities.
PARIS — Sagem and French armaments agency DGA have carried out the first firing of a laser-guided AASM standoff weapon. The firing, carried out at medium altitude from a Rafale multirole fighter, struck a fixed target 25 km. (16 mi.) away illuminated by a DHY-307 ground designator. Though the target’s GPS coordinates were voluntarily shifted by about 100 meters, the weapon hit the target within one meter of the intended strike zone.
CUTTER MEETINGS: The U.S. Coast Guard will hold meetings in Washington in mid-August to discuss its Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC). The Coast Guard says it is continuing to conduct market research for the OPC and has invited U.S.
LONDON — The third Airbus Military A400M development aircraft, MSN3, took off for the first time at 13:57 (11:57 GMT) July 9 from the Seville manufacturing site in Spain. The same day Airbus Military clocked up its 100th test flight on the A400M, with the aircraft now having reached the 400-flight-hour mark. The third A400M was flown by Tony Flynn, supported by François Barre. Both are test pilots with Airbus. Five aircraft eventually will be involved in the flight test program, which is due to total 3,700 hr.
HURRICANE WATCH: For the first time since 2001, NASA will fly a six-week field campaign to gather data on how tropical storms form and develop into major hurricanes. Beginning Aug. 15, the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) mission will use the agency’s DC-8 research aircraft operating out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (Fla.) International Airport, a WB-57 flying from Ellington Field in Houston and a Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in California.
Industry and government must join forces to come up with solutions for the growing issue of cybersecurity, according to officials speaking at the the AFCEA Cybersecurity Symposium held in Washington July 8.
NEW DELHI — A failure review panel has pinpointed the untimely stopping of a Fuel Booster Turbo Pump (FBTP) as the major cause of the April failure of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) formed a multidisciplinary panel of experts to review the mishap, which destroyed the GSAT-4 experimental satellite (Aerospace DAILY, April 16).
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The state of Florida has been awarded a license from FAA to operate Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 46 for commercial use. The license, effective July 1, will clear the way for Space Florida, the state’s space development arm, to formally pursue customers, including a Lockheed Martin-Alliant Techsystems (ATK) partnership that in March announced plans to return Athena II launch vehicles to the market.
VIRGINIA CLASS: The U.S. Navy’s newest Virginia-class submarine, PCU Missouri, will be commissioned in Groton, Conn., July 31. The ship recently returned from its Alpha sea trials, during which the crew evaluated the ship’s capabilities through different test scenarios, including diving to test depth, conducting an emergency surfacing and testing the submarine’s propulsion plant. On July 5, the ship set sail again for Bravo sea trials. The Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey trials will commence later in this month, just prior to commissioning.
BIDS IN: Source selection for the latest iteration of the U.S. Air Force’s long-running quest for a KC-X aerial tanker is underway after EADS North America and Boeing submitted proposals of more than 8,000 pages last week. The KC-135 replacement contract is worth at least $35 billion. Proposals were due July 9 at 2 p.m., and a winner is expected to be announced Nov. 12. Each company must meet 372 mandatory requirements to compete. A small, California-based firm, U.S.
Florida’s Aviation & Aerospace Industry: An Engine of Innovation Learn More. Download the Market Brief! www.eflorida.com/aamb eflorida.com Farnborough 2010: Visit the Florida Pavillion: Hall 3 B20-21 Florida. Innovation Hub of The Americas.
DELAYED DEBUT: Nearly a year after launch, two Northrop Grumman Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) satellites are beginning to execute their mission of tracking ballistic missiles in flight. Launched in September, the STSS satellites had problems transmitting data, but the use of the spacecraft in a June 6 tracking mission during a Missile Defense Agency (MDA) test is a step forward. The test was a flight of the first two-stage Boeing Ground-Based Interceptor, which was designed for defunct plans to base the system in Europe.
HOUSTON — Nine astronauts, including three from NASA, five from the Russian Federal Space Agency and one from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), have been assigned to staff the International Space Station from April 2012 through early 2013 as members of Expeditions 31, 32, 33 and 34.
TATA TIE-UP: Lockheed Martin confirms it has signed a joint-venture agreement with Tata Group to make aircraft components and defense products in India. A formal announcement is expected soon. India’s Economic Times first reported the agreement, saying Lockheed Martin would invest 428 million rupees ($9.1 million) in the proposed venture and privately held industrial conglomerate Tata 1.22 billion rupees. Lockheed is bidding to sell the F-16 to the Indian air force for a 126-aircraft requirement.
It will be at least a month before verification of revised sequencing software for the Orbital Sciences Minotaur IV rocket will be in place and a new launch date can be set for the Boeing Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) System satellite from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
PARIS — Fears of a giant defense hardware spending cut in France are diminishing after a cabinet decision limiting the defense ministry’s contribution to a planned budget-trimming exercise. Press reports indicated the government on July 2 asked the ministry to cut hardware spending by only €3.5 billion ($1.8 billion) over the next three years, instead of up to €5 billion that had been feared. And perhaps €2 billion of this could be recovered via asset sales and new operating economies.
LONDON — NATO is changing its intelligence-sharing system in Afghanistan. The move is intended to improve information sharing between forces operating in the country. The details are to be spelled out July 15, although the alliance says some of the changes already went into effect July 1. The new construct is to be fully rolled out within a year. NATO says its so-called Afghan Mission Network will lead to “fundamental change in the way the NATO allies, ISAF forces and U.S. coalition troop share critical information.”
September 29-30, 2010 ExCeL • London, UK Learn to maintain military assets longer; sustain aircraft beyond forecast; recover from budget cuts, delays and program cancellations, and develop new strategies required to deliver and support equipment. Learn more at www.aviationweek.com/events
