General Electric and Rolls-Royce have extended their fixed-price offer on early F136s in a bid to offset projected cost figures used by the Pentagon to justify cancellation of the second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
LOADING BASES: The U.S. Air Force expects to announce candidate bases for C-27J formal training units May 10, and bases for operations June 10. Meanwhile, a list of additional C-17 candidate bases was approved by Air Force leadership: Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport, Memphis International Airport, and Stewart International Airport, N.Y. Officials expect to announce their preferred locations in November, and final basing decisions in June 2011
NEW DELHI — The Indian Ministry of Defense has extended by a year — up to April 28, 2011 — the commercial validity of bids on India’s 126-aircraft Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA). A letter from the ministry to the bidders — MiG-35, Dassault’s Rafale, Eurofighter, the Saab Gripen, Boeing’s F/A-18E/F and Lockheed Martin’s F-16 — states that vendors can extend or revise their bids, which must be resubmitted by June (Aerospace DAILY, March 26).
In a move that surprised almost nobody, Northrop Grumman has selected Northern Virginia as the location for its new corporate headquarters, passing over Maryland and the District of Columbia.
MOSCOW — Russian Space Forces on April 27 successfully launched a military communications satellite from Plesetsk Cosmodrome aboard a Kosmos-3M light booster. Designated Kosmos 2463, the satellite is believed to be of the Parus type, intended for navigation and communication. Only one or two Kosmos-3M boosters remain in the inventory. Since 1968, manufacturer Polyot has produced 768 Kosmos-3M type launchers, based on the R-14U ballistic missile design. Despite the launcher’s 97% reliability record, manufacturing of the vehicle was shut down.
BENGALURU, India — For the first time, Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) is integrating various systems for the Rs 10,000 crore ($2.6 billion) Akash surface-to-air missile (SAM) project. BEL Chairman and Managing Director A.K. Datt told Aviation Week that the first phase of deliveries to the Indian air force (IAF) would begin this year. The IAF has placed orders for two squadrons, and BEL is expecting to provide for four more squadrons soon after the initial delivery schedule is complete.
Russia’s United Engine Corp. (UEC) is restarting NK-32 jet engine production after about 16 years. The Samara-based Motorostroitel company shut down production of NK-32s for long-range Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack bombers in 1994. Since that time the plant was involved in NK-32 overhaul only and some key manufacturing technologies, as well as ties with suppliers, were lost. Due to low Tu-160 training activity since then, only 28 engine repairs were ordered.
PEAK SEASON: Consultancy Frost & Sullivan says that after 2011, new procurement of radar systems for air and missile defense for nations in the Asian-Pacific realm will drop until 2015, even as technology insertions and upgrades continue. The Asian-Pacific land-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance radar market is at its peak spending cycle due to simultaneous adoption of programs by South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
NEW DELHI — Rolls-Royce has signed Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), an IT services and outsourcing company, as its second engineering partner in India to help it expand its engineering footprint in the country. Its earlier partnership with Quest Global has been extended for another five years.
Preliminary tests of CFM International’s CFM56-7BE Evolution upgrade for the Boeing 737 and P-8A Poseidon indicate greater fuel burn savings than previously estimated, according to the General Electric-Snecma joint engine company. “We’ve tested four engines so far with the improved low-pressure [LP] turbine, and we’re seeing a better performance signature than we signed up for. We anticipate going into service with a 2.5% improvement, which is a big deal for us,” CFM Executive VP Chaker Chahrour says.
The 1st Marine Regiment of the 1st Marine Division has started testing and training this month at Camp Pendleton, Calif., on the military’s new “Gunslinger” system, which is meant to help U.S. ground forces identify friends and enhance their ability to detect threats, according to U.S. Marine Col. Patrick Kelleher.
LONDON — Continued weakness in the civil helicopter business is driving Eurocopter to bolster its restructuring efforts. Those efforts include boosting research and development spending, but also will lead to changes in the company’s industrial footprint and support costs.
The HTV-2 hypersonic test vehicle appears to have achieved controlled flight before telemetry contact was lost 9 min. after launch on April 22, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) says. The unmanned vehicle had been released from the third stage of its Minotaur IV Lite booster to re-enter the atmosphere and begin a hypersonic glide across the Pacific when telemetry signals were lost (Aerospace DAILY, April 27). The mission timeline called for the vehicle to re-enter and then climb to the correct altitude to begin its glide.
With U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets tied up in Southwest Asia, it is not a surprise that first on the list of worries for the U.S. in volatile Latin America is an ISR shortfall.
LONDON - Defense issues continue to sustain a higher profile than in recent past British general elections — and not just the concerns over the nuclear deterrent and the war in Afghanistan. The U.K.’s largest trade union, Unite, is weighing into the debate over the potential effect of defense cuts on industry with an April 26 “open letter” expressing “grave concern” over Conservative and Liberal Democrat policies.
BENGALURU, India — India’s Nishant UAV entered its last lap of confirmation trials in Pokhran April 26. Officials with India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) say that the unmanned aircraft has met all requirements. The final flight is scheduled for April 27, according to a member of DRDO’s 60-strong contingent at Pokhan.
ARMY American Science and Engineering Inc., Billerica, Mass., was awarded on April 20 a $48,818,439 firm-fixed-price contract. The contract is to procure up to 37 backscatter van military trailer scanner systems for entry control points in Afghanistan. The work is to be performed in Billerica, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 17, 2011. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Research, Development and Engineering Command, Natick Contracting Division, Orlando, Fla., is the contracting activity (W911QY-10-C-0078). NAVY
ARMY Federal Program Integrators LLC, Indian Island, Maine, was awarded on April 16 a $73,999,215 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for one transmission test system to test systems and gearboxes on AH-1, AH-64, CH-47, OH-58, UH-1N, and UH-60 aircraft. The work is to be performed in Corpus Christi, Texas (80%), and Indian Island (20%), with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2013. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Corpus Christi Army Depot, Corpus Christi, Texas, is the contracting activity (W912NW-10-C-0015).
COLORADO SPRINGS — Executives at Alliant Techsystems (ATK) are eyeing the Pentagon’s Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) program as a possible “flagship” to foster international partnerships on military space efforts.
LONDON — Saab is bringing in an industry outsider to run the company, naming Hakan Bushke to take the helm of the aerospace and defense company starting Nov. 1. Saab has been searching for a new CEO since incumbent Ake Svensson announced he would depart the company on Sept. 1 to take over as president of the Association of Swedish Engineering Industries. Bushke comes in from energy company E.ON, where he was CEO of the operation in Sweden and president of E.ON Nordic.
