AIR FORCE Boeing Satellite Systems, Inc., El Segundo, Calif., was awarded a $6,776,720.84 contract modification of the Wideband Global Satellite Communication Block II contract in support of the Military Satellite Communications Program. This mission assurance task order will provide additional on-ground testing while the SV4 spacecraft is in thermal vacuum. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. HQ SMC/MCSW/PK, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8808-06-C-0001/P00090).
LONDON — The Swedish government — in anticipation of the Nordic Battle Group’s six-month operational readiness period starting Jan. 1 — is trying to determine how to provide satellite connectivity for the potential overseas assignment. The Swedish defense armaments agency FMV says it intends to use Ku-band tactical terminals and C-band links for backhaul communications.
AIR FORCE General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., San Diego, Calif., was awarded a $94,285,469 contract modification which will provide for the MQ-1 Predator aircraft and MD-1 ground control station retrofit kits. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 703 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-05-G-3028). NAVY
The Obama White House released a new national space policy June 28 that seeks to embrace more international partnerships and focus on mission assurance in the event of a space system service disruption.
LONDON — Poland and Sweden want to become part of the Multinational Space-Based Imaging System (Musis) project, a European initiative designed to allow many countries to more closely work together on the future remote-sensing constellation.
After rejecting a contract two weeks ago because of the benefits plan, members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) in St. Louis voted 1,237 to 838 on June 27 to accept a tweaked contract offer from Boeing.
BENGALURU, India — India’s Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT) will enter its crucial spin test phase very soon. “The spin program for IJT will be conducted with an anti-spin parachute behind the fin,” a source tells AVIATION WEEK. “This is part of the Indian air force’s Air Staff Requirements. Spin is a very involved program and consists of different types of entries and recoveries. If the trainee pilot mishandles the aircraft, he must know how to recover.” Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. builds the IJT.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates on June 28 introduced a sweeping overhaul of the way the Pentagon does business, with the aim of saving $100 billion over five years starting in Fiscal 2012.
HOUSTON — The most recent arrivals to the International Space Station re-boarded their Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft on June 28 and manually relocated the capsule from the aft docking port on the Zvezda service module to a berthing spot on the new Rassvet mini research and docking module.
Moderate Democrats on Capitol Hill are increasingly eyeing the Pentagon’s budget for spending reductions or savings starting next year, in a move that further splinters support for such major weapons acquisitions as airlifters. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), in a widely promoted speech June 28 to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said defense spending can no longer be exempt from hard choices being pressed on the rest of the federal budget.
PARIS — Arianespace has successfully orbited South Korea’s COMS-1 and Arabsat 5A, putting its launch manifest back on track. The Ariane 5 ECA launch, which had been set for June 23, was rescheduled twice — the first time because of an unspecified launch subsystem anomaly, the second time due to an abnormal upper-stage cryo-pressure reading. The twin-satellite payload finally lifted off without incident on June 26.
ARMY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., was awarded on June 21 a $51,095,500 firm-fixed-price contract for the overhaul of the UH-60 main rotor blade for a quantity of 500. Work is to be performed in Bridgeport, Conn., with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2020. One bid was solicited with one bid received. U.S. Army Contracting Command, CCAM-AL-M, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-06-D-0116).
NASA DAY: NASA will reveal more details of its new Space Technology investment program and solicit feedback from industry at a forum in Adelphi, Md., on July 13-14. During the event, NASA officials also will announce three new Centennial Challenges prize programs. The first day of the forum and a media briefing will be carried live on NASA Television and streamed on the Internet.
AIR FORCE Rockwell Collins, Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was awarded a $49,000,000 contract which will develop, demonstrate, and transition the tactical targeting network technology and related interoperable technologies such a Quint network technology to support information exchange between the Tactical Edge platforms and users within the Department of Defense. At this time, $3,398,117 has been obligated. AFRL/RIKE, Rome, N.Y., is the contracting activity (FA8750-10-D-0042).
NEW DELHI — India will need more than 50 medium-sized transport planes in the medium-term, given its diverse border, homeland security and humanitarian needs, Alenia Aeronautica estimates. “India has a lot of hot borders,” says Paolo Girasole, head of Alenia parent company Finmeccanica in India, referring to airlifters required in the remote areas of eastern India occupied by local insurgents, the Naxals.
REPLICA WORKS: The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) claims the new Joint Test Assembly (JTA) for the W87 warhead works as designed following a recent Minute Man III intercontinental ballistic missile test with the Air Force. “This successful JTA test illustrates NNSA’s commitment to ensuring that all weapon systems perform as designed,” says Brig. Gen. Garrett Harencak, NNSA principal assistant deputy administrator for military application.
A Cambodian proverb holds that when elephants fight, the ants suffer. But there is a real danger of that wisdom being turned on its head as the U.S. and European Union spar in the World Trade Organization (WTO) over subsidies for large commercial aircraft. In their zeal to win, could Boeing and Airbus be teaching emerging rivals how to craft state subsidies — and inadvertently speed the end of their own duopoly?
SENSOR CHOICE: Northrop Grumman says the second and third hybrid airships planned under the U.S. Army’s Long-Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) demonstration program could have different sensors and other improvements. Air vehicle 1, planned to fly in mid-2011 and deploy to Afghanistan early in 2012, will carry available video, radar and signals intelligence payloads purchased by the Army, including Northrop’s own Vader active-array radar for detecting and tracking vehicles and individuals.
-- AEROSPACE/DEFENSE -- LIFE SCIENCES -- CLEANTECH Download the White Paper Now: www.eflorida.com/nanowp Farnboroughh 2010: Visit the Florida Pavillion: Hall 3 B20-21 Florida. Innovation Hub of The Americas. Click here to view the pdf
CAPE CANAVERAL — Florida’s space development agency will give $500,000 to a Space Coast startup that is working to parlay its parent company’s aerospace expertise into a fuel-efficient diesel-hybrid sports car designed and built in Brevard County. Avera Motors of Rockledge, Fla., an offshoot of Mainstream Engineering Corp., also of Rockledge, will turn over its first prototype to Space Florida, which plans to tap Kennedy Space Center expertise for product and manufacturing assessments under a proposed Space Act Agreement with NASA.
MRO MILITARY EUROPE 2010 ExCeL, London, UK September 29-30, 2010 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 Click here to view the pdf
INTERNATIONAL SPACE: The Obama administration’s looming National Space Policy likely will represent a return to a more international approach to space; a more balanced view of civil, commercial and military uses of space; and a greater openness to arms control and cooperative solutions to international space security issues, according to the left-leaning Union of Concerned Scientists.
Boeing wants to conduct an air launch of its ScanEagle Compressed Carriage as the next step in the demonstrator program. The company last month completed a 75-min. flight of the air vehicle, but it was launched from a truck. An air-launched flight is being targeted to take place in the next 6-12 months, says Darryl Davis, president of Boeing Phantom Works. A launch platform has not been selected, but it will likely be an aircraft with external carriage, such as the F-15.
Lockheed Martin is prepared to ship the first Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite to the U.S. Navy in the second quarter of 2011, says Mark Pasquale, a company vice president. The Pentagon prices the program, which includes six satellites, at $6.9 billion. MUOS will provide narrowband UHF communications, voice, data and video for military users.
