L-3 Communications is acquiring Insight Technology, a night-vision and electro-optical equipment manufacturer based in New Hampshire, the companies announced today.
PARIS — A dark energy mission, an extrasolar planet finder and a solar probe remain in contention for the medium-sized mission portion of Europe’s Cosmic Vision 2015-25 science program.
WAYWARD MISSILE: French defense and industry officials say a Mistral air-to-air missile lost in Central France is a dummy weapon devoid of any warhead, electronics, propulsion system or any other classified components. An inquiry is underway to determine how the weapon, which is out of date and not representative of missiles now in operation, was lost.
UNMANNED MANPOWER: “It takes a lot of people to operate the [Remotely Piloted Vehicle] system and that has become part of our challenge in terms of standing up,” Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford, the Air Force’s senior military deputy for acquisition, tells defense analysts in Washington. Other USAF officials say it takes 120 people to support a single Predator on a combat mission. “We’re targeting 50 combat air patrols by 2011 and 65 by 2013. In the Fiscal 2011 budget we’re buying 36 [RPVs] from the baseline budget and 12 more as part of the contingency operations budget.
DO OVER: The U.S. Navy is gradually restarting the process to buy a new presidential helicopter after a prior effort failed over poor requirements definition. The request for information projects a buy of 23-28 rotorcraft, with an initial operational capability still vaguely defined as 2017-2023. The helo should accommodate at least 10, but preferably 14 passengers, have a range of 150-275 nautical miles, and a speed of 140 knots. Standard presidential fleet requirements, including hardening against electromagnetic pulse, also are among the desired features.
The first new fixed-wing combat trainer to enter Soviet or Russian air force service in over 50 years — the Yak-130 Mitten — arrived at Lipetsk air base Feb. 18. It landed at the base, Russia’s “Top Gun” school located south of Moscow, after a flight from the Sokol factory at Nizhnij Novgorod. It was met by the base’s commander, Maj. Gen Aleksandr Kharchevskii, flying an Su-34 Fullback. Kharchevskii won fame in the U.S. when he visited Langley Air Force Base, Va., in the early 1990s and scored “victories” in simulated combat with F-15s.
Saab President and CEO Ake Svensson has announced he will retire, effective Sept. 1, so the company is now looking for a replacement. Svensson has been CEO of Saab since 2003, prior to which he ran the aerostructures business and production of Gripen. He has been at Saab since 1976. Svensson is slated to remain a board member even when he moves over to head the Association of Swedish Engineering Industries, although that motion will require approval at the April 15 shareholder annual general meeting.
OUT OF FOCUS: Despite its recent successful shootdown tests, the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Airborne Laser (ABL) program faces a murky future. Pentagon officials have enough funding for up to three more “similar” missile engagement exercises, though a schedule has not been set, MDA Director Army Lt. Gen Patrick O’Reilly says. However, the program is being shifted under the oversight of the Pentagon’s Director of Defense Research and Engineering, which could be its death knell, according to one former Pentagon official, because it could lose its focus.
Analysts are sorting out the cause of a “beam misalignment” that occurred during the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Airborne Laser (ABL) program’s third intercept attempt Feb. 11.
SELLING TO RUSSIA: French defense officials say Russia is requesting four Mistral helicopter carriers, instead of the single carrier that was previously under discussion. The prospect of the assault ship sale has prompted protests in the Baltic countries, Georgia and the U.S. Congress, although French defense minister Herve Morin recently told U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that since Russia is now considered a NATO partner, not a hostile power, there is no reason not to collaborate on arms procurement.
LONDON — The Astor platform is being considered as the basis for a sigint/comint aircraft, as well as for long-range maritime surveillance applications. Raytheon is now looking to take advantage of the design work in fitting and clearing the aircraft with a large canoe housing, for other military applications. The gulf region and some Asia Pacific states are likely target markets for potential derivatives.
CRYOSAT DELAY: The European Space Agency (ESA) says launch of Europe’s CryoSat-2 ice monitoring mission, scheduled for Feb. 25, is being delayed due to concern about the second-stage steering engine on its Dnepr rocket. The agency says engineers worry the fuel reserve margin is not as large as desired. Although Yuzhnoye, the booster’s Ukrainian manufacturer, insists the fuel supply is sufficient to get the payload into orbit, it says the problem is being reviewed and measures will be taken to boost the margin.
GOES LAUNCH: Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-P (GOES-P) is set for liftoff on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV medium-lift rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on Mar. 2. Built by Boeing based on its 601-series platform under a NASA contract for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, GOES-P is the third in a series that includes an advanced search and rescue link for aircraft or ships in distress.
U.S. soldiers have been twice as likely to die from aviation accidents as they were from ground mishaps or incidents over the past two and a half decades, according to an Aerospace DAILY analysis of U.S. Army data. Deadly air accidents also have become more prevalent during that time, the analysis shows, reflecting the service’s growing reliance on aviation. But thanks to an Army safety crackdown in the latter part of the past decade, the number of fatal accidents has started to tail off. (See charts p. 7.)
PARIS — French armaments agency DGA says it has agreed to buy 380 Sagem AASM laser-guided precision weapon kits, enabling this version to enter series production.
PARIS — Continued strong demand for satellite leases and services is prompting Eutelsat to raise its outlook for 2009-10. In first-half results presented Feb. 18, Eutelsat said performance so far suggests revenues will reach 1.02 billion euros ($1.43 billion) for the full year, compared to 1 billion euros previously predicted. Similarly, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) are expected to top 795 million euros, vs. 780 million euros in previous guidance.
Concerns are mounting in New Zealand about delays to the C-130H life-extension and upgrade program, particularly with one of the main contractors announcing work force reductions.
Astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station (ISS) finished moving environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) racks into the new Tranquility node late Feb. 17, and prepared to close the hatches between the ISS and the space shuttle Endeavour late Feb. 18. The crew also took a call from President Barack Obama, who told them “we’re very excited about the possibilities of putting more research dollars into some of these transformational technologies” under study on the station to enable long-duration human spaceflight.
ORBITAL RESULTS: Although Orbital Sciences’ fourth-quarter and full-year revenues were down, the company ended the year by booking $660 million in new business in the quarter. In addition, Orbital got $335 million from existing contracts. New business for 2009 reached $1.9 billion, the company’s Chairman and CEO David Thompson said Feb. 18. Orbital’s fourth-quarter revenues were $282.3 million, down 8 percent from the same period in 2008. For the full year, revenues dropped to $1.13 million from $1.17 million.
TEL AVIV — As Iran’s showdown with other countries over its nuclear weapons program escalates, Tehran has unveiled a new satellite launch vehicle (SLV), which experts believe could be the basis for a future Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). A mock-up of the Simorgh (Phoenix) SLV was displayed during Iran’s “National Day of Space Technology” on Feb. 3, exactly one year after the launch of Iran’s first satellite — “Omid” (Hope) onboard a Safir SLV.
High-power electric lasers are moving out of the laboratory, with a 100kW-class electric laser to be test fired against mortars and other targets after the U.S. Army’s High-Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (HELSTF) is upgraded later this year. Located on White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the HELSTF has previously tested high-power chemical lasers, including the megawatt-class Miracl and smaller Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL), which shot down Katyusha rockets.
