LONDON — Identifying costs and keeping track of assets continue to be issues for the British Defense Ministry, according to the latest report from the Defense Committee, which also flags difficulties with regard to overall “readiness” of the armed forces. The Defense Ministry’s inability — for the third year in a row — to be able to deliver unqualified resource accounts continues to be a source of concern for the committee.
Right now the deadliest jobs for U.S. Army ground-based soldiers would be in the United States or Iraq, enjoying some down time, picking up a truck tire, transferring chemicals, working on a vehicle, or even recruiting. That’s according to an Aerospace DAILY analysis of Army accident data spanning the last half-decade.
Analysts are joining in the discussion over the Joint Air Sea Battle concept, with special focus on China and Iran, after the concept’s emergence in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review.
PARIS — Thales expects a group-wide performance overhaul to help lift pretax earnings this year, but results could be affected by continued uncertainty in the A400M military airlifter and other troubled programs, and a sharp drop-off in orders is anticipated. The Paris-based company reported a steep decline in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for 2009, as strong results in defense and space failed to offset difficulties in the aeronautics and security businesses. EBIT was just 151 million euros, down from 877 million euros in 2008.
Details emerging about NASA’s Fiscal 2011 budget plan in advance of critical hearings on Capitol Hill this week show the agency beginning work on a new kerosene-fueled first-stage rocket engine comparable to Russia’s RD-180, and a host of other technology-development projects the Obama administration believes were slighted in the push for a return to the moon.
GOA, India — Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony has now confirmed that India will order an additional 29 MiG-29K combat jets for the Indian navy. This follows the chief of naval staff, Adm. Nirmal Verma, who in his first news conference after becoming chief last year told Aviation Week that more MiG-29Ks would be ordered in Phase Two.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Lockheed Martin officials say they are planning to “buy back” 88 to 90 stealthy F-35s that were lost in the recent restructuring of the multinational fighter program, but among the remaining hurdles for the program are questions about the likelihood of a major cost overrun declaration next month.
AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., El Segundo, Calif., was awarded a $46,213,411 contract which will provide the Heterogeneous Airborne Reconnaissance Team Program to develop technologies enabling mission-driven command and control of a heterogeneous team on uninhabited platforms for the conduct of coordinated urban operations. At this time, $9,304,633 has been obligated. AFRL/PKDB, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-10-C-7004). NAVY
LONDON — The Dutch government has no direct sway over the discussion of whether to fund one or two engines for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, but the defense ministry has come out in favor of keeping the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 alternative engine alive. In a letter to the Dutch parliament, State Secretary of Defense Jack de Vries says the Dutch position is to support the F136 program. Dutch industry has interests in the F136, but de Vries would not spell out the financial value, citing commercial sensitivities.
LOS ANGELES — Boeing will cut the production rate of the C-17 by a third in a bid to extend the life of the program beyond 2012 and give extra time for new domestic and international orders to come through. The rate reduction will be phased in by mid-2011 and will lead to job reductions at its Long Beach, Calif., assembly site, which currently operates a three-shift cycle. The 10-per-year rate, enough to sustain a two-shift system, was apparently chosen over other options including a one-per-month rate, following extensive studies over the past few weeks.
The space shuttle Endeavour glided to a safe landing on its first opportunity Feb. 21, after a cloud deck that had threatened to force a wave-off cleared and rain showers over Florida stayed away from the shuttle landing strip at Kennedy Space Center. STS-130 mission commander George Zamka and pilot Terry Virts guided Endeavour through a left turn onto Runway 15 at Kennedy, touching down at 10:20 p.m. EST.
ARMY GM GDLS Defense Group LLC., Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on Feb. 8, 2010, a $176,185,164 firm-fixed-price contract for 103 each of Stryker vehicles. The work is to be performed in Sterling Heights (60 percent), and London, Ontario, Canada, (40 pecent) with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Tank Automotive and Armament Command, SFAE-GCS-BCT-P, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-07-D-M112).
AIR FORCE Boeing Co., Newark, Ohio, was awarded a $15,533,727 contract which will provide incremental funding for the ICBM Minuteman III missile system guidance repair. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 526 ICBMSG/PKE, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42610-99-D-0006). NAVY
PEANUT GALLERY: With the U.S. Air Force set to unveil its final request for proposals over the renewed KC-X aerial tanker competition within a week, lobbyists and politicians are raising their voices in Washington. The Build Them Both group claims that building both the Northrop and Boeing-led tankers would support 100,000 long-term jobs in the U.S. while providing the tankers quicker. On Feb. 22, governors Chris Gregoire of Washington state and Mark Parkinson of Kansas appeared at the National Press Club to advocate Boeing’s proposal.
TRANSFORMING NASA: President Barack Obama says his “commitment to NASA is unwavering.” But in his first public comments on the subject, he makes clear that change must come at the space agency, which is still reeling from his decision to cancel the Constellation program and hand transport to low Earth orbit over to the private sector. “If we want to get to Mars, if we want to get beyond that, what kinds of technologies are going to be necessary,” he asks the combined space station and shuttle crews during a student call last week.
TEL-NOF AIR FORCE BASE, ISRAEL — In yet another effort to enhance its long-range capabilities, the Israel Air Force (IAF) took delivery of its first Eitan (Heron TP) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), described as “capable of reaching Iran.”
Astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station (ISS) and the space shuttle Endeavour said their farewells and closed the hatches between their two spacecraft Feb. 19, after wrapping up nine days and 52 minutes of joint operations. The hatches were closed at 3:08 a.m. EST, and the crews began configuring the station and shuttle for independent operations. Endeavour was scheduled to undock at 7:54 p.m. EST, setting up a return to Kennedy Space Center as early as 10:16 p.m. EST Feb. 21.
SUBORBITAL OPPORTUNITIES: The Southwest Research Institute is ready to spend more than $1 million to buy its researchers — including a former NASA associate administrator — tickets on private suborbital human spacecraft so they can tend experiments at the edge of space. And NASA-sponsored researchers may not be far behind. Alan Stern, who was associate administrator for science in 2007-08, plans to fly on one of the space tourism vehicles in development “over the next three years,” along with his co-investigator, Daniel Durda.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Feb. 28 - March 1 — AVIATION WEEK MRO Middle East 2010, Dubai Airporot Expo Centre, Dubai, UAE. For more information go to http://www.aviationweek.com/events March 3 - 4 — ADTS Aerospace & Defence Training Show, Airport Expo, Dubai, UAE. For more information go to www.adts.aero/
SES says strong investment in new satellite capacity, including a stake in satellite broadband network O3b, should boost annual revenue by some 30 percent within five years. In presenting 2009 results on Feb. 12, SES Chairman/CEO Romain Bausch noted that with 15 new satellites currently in construction — including four ordered from EADS Astrium in December — the company will be in a position to raise capacity by 28 percent by 2014, equivalent to 313 transponders.
LETHAL LASER: Textron Defense Systems has achieved average power exceeding 100 kilowatts in laboratory tests of its Joint High Power Solid-State Laser (JHPSSL) demonstrator. This completes Phase 3 of the $100 million U.S. Army-led JHPSSL program, as Northrop Grumman exceeded the 100 kilowatt target in March last year.
