PARIS — The Australian Defense Department recently signed a US$112 million contract with Harris Corporation for Falcon tactical radio systems, part of an initial phase of battlefield networking to the Australian Army and Air Force. The order consists primarily of Falcon III AN/PRC-152(C) multiband handheld radios. Australia is also acquiring Harris Falcon III AN/PRC-117G wideband, AN/PRC-117F multiband and AN/PRC-150(C) high-frequency manpack radios.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Following the successful debut flight of its Falcon 9 launcher, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has won a hotly contested contract to put the next-generation Iridium communications satellites into orbit. The $492 million contract, announced June 16, covers an unspecified number of launches for Iridium Communications Inc., which recently announced a $1 billion contract with Thales Alenia Space to build the Iridium NEXT network, which is expected to number 72 spacecraft.
PARIS — For the first time in years, Embraer expects its military export sales to top its sales to the Brazilian defense ministry. The shift comes largely on the heels of strong activity on the Super Tucano training/light attack aircraft. Defense activity has been resurgent at Embraer in recent years. At one point it dropped to 3% of overall company revenue, but it now has rebounded to 6% and this year should reach 13% with sales reaching $650 million, according to Orlando Neto, the company’s executive vice president for the defense market.
Scientists are using ground-based telescopes and the Hubble and Spitzer orbiting observatories to begin the painstaking task of weeding out the “maybes” from false alarms in the initial data sets from NASA’s Kepler mission as they search for Earth-like exo-planets outside our Solar System.
FUZZY FORECAST: A persistent disruptive forecasting system should be built to help the U.S. intelligence community reduce the risk of being blindsided by disruptive technologies — but it will not be easy, in part because of past disruptive technologies like the Worldwide Web, according to a new report from the National Academies.
Qinetiq is preparing to launch the latest version of its Zephyr solar-powered, high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air vehicle on a flight that is expected to last two weeks, which would set a record for the longest nonstop flight by an aircraft. The previous version of the Zephyr flew for just over 83.5 hr. in August 2008, setting an unofficial record. The latest aircraft has improved batteries for increased energy storage and a new airframe with lower drag to conserve power through the night.
PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy says the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will join the allied naval force in the Arabian Sea later this year to reinforce air operations in Afghanistan. During a visit to the carrier at its home port in Toulon, in southern France, Sarkozy said it would head out to sea before the end of the year on its first mission since an 18-month shutdown for major overhaul and repair of a propulsion system defect. The vessel returned to operation last December.
PARIS — Boeing affiliate Insitu is pursuing talks to sell its ScanEagle light tactical/maritime UAV in six European countries as it prepares to bring out a more readily exportable higher-payload version.
NIGHT BIRD: The Solar Impulse HB-SIA is getting closer to the attempted through-the-night flight for the solar powered vehicle. Program officials say they expect to attempt the mission, the key milestone for the HB-SIA, between June 20 and June 30. The flight test campaign is also designed to validate the configuration for the HB-SIB, which would be used for an around-the-world flight in 2013. The first flight took place at the Payerne Air Base in Switzerland, with the aircraft reaching close to 4,000 ft. in altitude.
A recent Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report says the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) needs to take several measures to better guarantee information assurance. DTRA came up short on personnel certification, and the data it submitted to Congress may be suspect, the IG says in its report, “Selected Controls for Information Assurance at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency,” released last month.
PARIS — Contenders are eyeing an emerging French anti-armor missile requirement, although budget revisions may yet affect the shape and timing of a procurement. European missile manufacturer MBDA is continuing to try to recover its once-strong position in land-based anti-armor systems with the launch of its MMP (Missile Moyenne Portee) and the MLP (Missile Longue Portee) family of missiles. Thales also is considering whether and how it will compete for the potential business.
LONDON — France has begun flight trials of MBDA’s Scalp Naval sea-launched cruise missile to support the planned purchase of 200 of the missiles for ship- and submarine-borne applications.
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
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force’s safety woes continued June 15 with the crash of a MiG-21, marking the third loss of a combat fighter this year. The MiG-21 (Type 96) was flying near Pathankot when it crashed at around 11.25 a.m. Indian Standard Time due to what air force officials believe was a hydraulic failure. The IAF also lost a MiG-27 and MiG-21 in February. The MiG-27 crash briefly led to the grounding of that fleet. The IAF says the pilot ejected safely and no ground property was damaged.
PARIS — Navistar Defense and Tatra are partnering on a new family of trucks, marrying Tatra’s trademark swinging half-axle suspension with Navistar’s vehicles. “This is a new strategic alliance,” says Pat MacArevey, vice president of Navistar Defense. The two vehicles unveiled at the Eurosatory exposition here June 14 were the ATX6 and the ATX8. Ron Adams, chairman and CEO of Tatra, says he would not rule out a vehicle as large as a 12x12 or as small as a 4x4. The two companies formally partnered in October 2009.
PARIS — A Dnepr booster has successfully launched a pair of European technology and science satellites, Prisma and Piccard. The launch, from Yasny, Russia, had been scheduled for March-April but was held up by concerns over possible downrange damage in the event of a launch mishap.
U.K. firm Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) will design the platform for the Long-Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) unmanned surveillance airship to be built for use in Afghanistan under Northrop Grumman’s $517 million contract from the U.S. Army. Although the LEMV will be assembled and tested in the U.S. before being deployed to Afghanistan for military utility evaluation, HAV will have design authority for the air vehicle, which will be based on its 302-ft.-long HAV304 hybrid airship.
HOUSTON — A Soyuz rocket lifted off for the International Space Station June 15 with three U.S. and Russian astronauts prepared to finish outfitting the latest addition to the orbiting science lab, conduct dozens of science experiments and host the next-to-last scheduled space shuttle assembly mission. The TMA-19 spacecraft carrying Fyodor Yurchikhin, the Soyuz commander, and NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 5:35 p.m. EDT, initiating a five-to-six month mission.
PARIS — This fall, the U.S. Army will wrap up a re-evaluation of its requirements for precision fires after the mid-May cancellation of its Non Line-Of-Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS), says Lt. Gen. Michael Vane, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center.
BEIJING — A Long March 2D rocket successfully launched a Chinese scientific research satellite from the Jiuquan base in the country’s northwest on June 15, Xinhua news agency says. The satellite, Shijian 12, “was designed for carrying out scientific and technological experiments,” Xinhua says, adding that its equipment includes a space environment probe. There were no details as to the spacecraft’s precise function. The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, part of the China Aerospace Science & Technology Corp., developed the satellite.
HOUSTON — Ad Astra Rocket Co., led by former NASA astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz, reports new strides in the performance of its experimental 200-kw. Variable Specific Impulse Magneto-plasma Rocket (Vasimr), the VX-200, which the company is developing as a commercial propulsion source for a range of future deep space and possible near-Earth missions.
U.S. military officials are unable to account for millions of dollars because of lapses in oversight of funding for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) in Iraq and Afghanistan, a recent Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report says. While U.S. military officials found that FMS funds in combat zones were generally used for what the money was meant for, investigators still identified oversight issues.
PARIS — The U.S. Army is turning to a seemingly unlikely source — the race car industry — for tips on streamlining requirements and future production of its Ground Combat Vehicle, says Lt. Gen. Michael Vane, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center.
