MEDIUM UPGRADE: U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command awarded Oshkosh Defense a $44 million award for more than 5,750 upgrade kits for the Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR), with a cap on the contract of $89 million. Work is expected to be completed in September 2010. Oshkosh will deliver more than 950 weapons-mount kits, 2,000 door-upgrade kits, and MTVR Troop Carrier upgrades that include new dual ladders, seatbelts and lift-point kits for improved transportability.
The Non-Line of Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS) industry team has unveiled a plan to offer a family of missiles that would provide the U.S. Army a more flexible set of capabilities, according to Raytheon Missile Systems.
U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus says he’s confident that the three agencies involved in the presidential helicopter program — the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the U.S. Navy and the White House Military Office (WMHO) — will work well together on the second attempt to produce a new helicopter. “They have similar expectations and aspirations in terms of what they’re looking for,” Mabus said of the three government entities.
The first full flight of India’s 5.5-ton Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) is expected in May after unspecified modifications are made. Developed by government defense manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), the two-seat variant of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) made a 20-min. initial flight on March 29 that allowed pilots to carry out low-speed and low-altitude systems checks using hover, clockwise and counter-clockwise maneuvers, and four circles of HAL’s home base at Bengaluru.
Higher military aircraft and services revenues at Boeing offset most of a double-digit decline in the company’s Network & Space Systems business during the first quarter of 2010. Network and space revenues declined 13% from the same period a year earlier, to $2.3 billion, due to “expected” lower volumes in network and tactical systems and strategic missile and defense systems, the company said April 21.
Iran has packed its “Army Day” parade displays with new equipment, fantasy forces and some worrying hints at the development of advanced capabilities. “Both the surface-to-air missile equipment and stealth aircraft mock-ups [in the parade] are judged to be bogus,” a senior Pentagon official says. “During the parade they displayed two stealth aircraft mock-ups, one manned and one remotely piloted aircraft. They are likely [variants of] the Safreh Mahi (Flatfish or Stingray) [design], which Iran announced it was testing last February.
It is only a matter of time, according to experts in U.S. military parts procurement, before a fake component in a major piece of Pentagon equipment leads to catastrophe because the Pentagon lacks the ability to track or identify the counterfeits. “One of these days, we’ll have a real problem,” says Mark Snider, founder and president of ERAI, formerly known as the Electronic Resellers Association, which operates a global database of counterfeit parts and vendors. “Something is going to cost lives that’s going to be traced back to a counterfeit component.”
Lockheed Martin’s first-quarter results raised few surprises, as the company reported modest sales growth of 3% for the period, compared with the same period in 2009. The company was encouraged by President Barack Obama’s Fiscal 2011 defense budget request, and CEO Bob Stevens notes that the Quadrennial Defense Review showed a “solid level of support” for Lockheed Martin programs, particularly the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Littoral Combat Ship.
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The Austrian government is about to kick off an extensive modernization program for its fleet of AB-212 utility helicopters to extend their service life another 25 years. The government expects the €63 million ($84 million) project to be completed within four years. The fleet, based at Linz-Hoersching, consists of 23 helicopters, which are the backbone of Austria’s military rotorcraft fleet.
PALMDALE, Calif. — NASA is moving closer to the start of science missions using the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (Sofia) airborne telescope upon the imminent completion of envelope expansion flights with the aircraft’s telescope cavity door open.
NEW DELHI — India’s Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) is evaluating Indian air force requirements for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). The weight of the AMCA will not exceed 25 tons. The twin-engine configured aircraft will have a higher thrust being in the bigger weight category than the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
The high-profile Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle physics experiment to be mounted on the International Space Station will be outfitted with a magnet flown in 1998 on the STS-91 prototype AMS.
The name of Jeff Zweber, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s Pathfinder program manager, was incorrectly spelled in an April 12 story on plans to mature technology for the Reusable Booster System.
LONDON — The flight test program required for certification of the Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) hose-and-drogue refueling system has been completed by Airbus Military. The conclusion of the tests clears the way for Spain’s National Institute For Aerospace Technology (INTA) to certify the aircraft for daylight refueling operations during the summer, according to Airbus. INTA is the military certification agency for the MRTT.
Boeing plans to complete a second X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle for the U.S. Air Force, but its launch, scheduled for 2011, will not occur until the first of the reusable spaceplane demonstrators returns from an orbital mission that could last as long as 270 days. “We may be ready to launch the second one before that, but we won’t until the first bird is back on the ground in case we need to make changes to the vehicle [based on the first flight],” says Gary Payton, Air Force deputy under secretary for space programs.
Unfavorable weather on the East and West coasts of the United States has pushed back the launch of two key military tests of technology for future space and hypersonic vehicles.
USAF Air Combat Command has approved the use of the Block 9 upgrade for the Boeing Small Diameter Bomb. The improvement includes software designed to improve the direct-attack attributes of the 250-lb., GPS-guided weapon. SDB was originally designed for about 40 mi. of standoff. The flight profile was designed to fly at high altitude for long distance and then turn downward, attacking a target from overhead, says Jim Brooks, Boeing’s SDB program manager.
The Discovery astronauts touched down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida early April 20, ending a weather-delayed, 15-day mission to the International Space Station that now has shuttle program managers re-evaluating how they intend to fly out the three missions remaining before the shuttle’s retirement and whether there may be time and resources for an additional flight.
VXX EXTENDS: The U.S. Navy, at the industry’s behest (according to the service), has extended its request for information for the new presidential helicopter until mid-June. The 60-day push will provide enough time for all comers to respond. Sikorsky announced it would pair up with former rival Lockheed Martin to offer the H-92. Competitor AgustaWestland has not made public any teaming arrangements of its own, although the company has said it will certainly propose its EH-101 again (Aerospace DAILY, April 20).
After failing to secure a major U.S. prime contractor, EADS North America is leading a bid to build the U.S. Air Force KC-135 replacement. But company officials say they will continue to look for additional U.S. companies to join the team.
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The Obama administration immediately will begin a three-phase push to overhaul the U.S. export controls regime within a year, with the final goal a Washington system that streamlines and consolidates licensing review over a fraction of the current requests.
