MOSCOW — Russia replenished its Glonass satellite navigation system with three more spacecraft launched onboard a Proton M with a DM upper stage on Dec. 14. The launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan brings the constellation to 19 working satellites, with two down for maintenance and another waiting to be deorbited.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is refining some advanced concepts for the SM-3 interceptor to attack intercontinental ballistic missiles. These include designs for lighter weight kill vehicles, and possibly a new propulsion system for the kill vehicle as well as the missile’s upper stage.
GOES ACCEPTED: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has accepted GOES-14 into service following its June 27 launch. The Boeing-built spacecraft was called GOES-O before acceptance. The third in the Boeing series, GOES-P, was shipped Dec. 16 to Cape Canaveral for launch from Space Complex 37 on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV early next year.
DESIGNER FUEL: A $49.5 million U.S. Air Force grant to develop advanced jet fuels and combustion technologies has been awarded to the University of Dayton Research Institute. Work under the six-year cooperative grant from the Air Force Research Laboratory will focus on new technology and improvements to existing technologies “that will not only meet the demands of evolving aircraft systems, but will do so with minimal environmental impact,” says Dilip Ballal, head of UDRI’s Energy and Environmental division and director of the von Ohain Fuels and Combustion Center.
Scientists working with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) are using known distances at the Apollo landing sites to calibrate the orbiter’s narrow-angle cameras for future mapping, as early results from the spacecraft’s instruments are starting to come in.
LONDON — The British government will give the go-ahead for the acquisition of three RC-135V/W Rivet Joint aircraft in early January, pending finance department approval. The aircraft are to replace the electronic intelligence capability currently provided by the Royal Air Force’s two remaining Nimrod R1 aircraft. A third R1 was withdrawn from service recently, rather than fund the required major servicing.
VIETNAM BUYS: Vietnam will buy eight Sukhoi Su-30MK2 fighters and six Project 636 submarines from Russia, according to the country’s prime minister and a Russian news report. Prime Minister Ngyuen Tan Dung confirms that his country is buying warplanes and submarines from Russia. Interfax news agency separately identifies the precise equipment and numbers, adding that a further 12 of the Sukhois might be ordered. The submarines, code-named Kilo by NATO, will be delivered at a rate of one a year, Interfax says.
PRECISION TRACKING: BAE Systems’ Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS), which is supposed to add low-cost precision laser guidance to 2.75-inch airborne rockets for the U.S. Marine Corps, has entered the final phase of testing and is “nearing” a milestone decision for low-rate initial production, the contractor said Dec. 15.
Revenues on the defense side of the U.S. aerospace industry are still growing despite high-profile program cuts by the Pentagon, according to the Aerospace Industries Association’s (AIA) latest annual forecast.
PARIS — France and Italy will jointly build a high-speed dual-use telecom satellite to help military and government agencies fill a growing need for high-volume communications. Construction of the spacecraft, Athena-Fidus, was approved Dec. 16 by Yannick d’Escatha, head of French space agency CNES, and Enrico Saggese, director of Italian space agency ASI. The agreement, which had been in the works for more than a year, followed a letter of approval issued in November 2007.
The U.S. Air Force will not be allowed to fund retirement of any aircraft until it provides Congress with a federally funded independent review of its plans to restructure combat air forces, according to the Fiscal 2010 defense spending bill being passed by lawmakers. In an official explanatory statement accompanying the final bill — formally unveiled Dec. 15 and overwhelmingly passed by the House the following day — appropriators said they found a USAF plan to retire 248 legacy F-15, F-16 and A-10 aircraft to be “concerning.”
CYBER RANGE: London is funding the development of a cyber test-range to examine threats to large-scale computer networks. The program is being led by telecoms company BT. A BT team has been selected by the U.K. Technology Strategy Board for the program. Industry partners include Northrop Grumman, Imperial College, Oxford University’s Said Business School, and Warwick University. Northrop Grumman U.K. will develop the test-range under the banner of the self-organizing adaptive technology under resilient networks (Saturn) project. The range is intended to give the U.K.
Dynetics, Inc., has purchased Orion Propulsion in a linkup intended to expand the capabilities of its space systems division. Both companies are based in Huntsville, Ala., near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal. Financial details of the transaction were not revealed.
Engineers at the Alliant Techsystems’ (ATK) facility in Elkton, Md., have completed another ground test of the solid-propellant attitude control motor (ACM) designed to steer the launch abort system for NASA’s Orion crew exploration vehicle. Performed Dec. 15, the sixth test of the system appeared successful, although final results must await further analysis, ATK said.
The U.S. Air Force’s ISR chief says a new bomber design will be more about intelligence gathering and non-kinetic weapons than about bombing. The arsenal of this “long-range, ISR/Strike” aircraft may eventually include directed energy and network attack, says Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).
U.S. defense officials on Dec. 16 claimed they were about a year ahead of schedule in developing a joint program that consolidates integrated air and missile defense training across all military services and levels of combatant command. In a teleconference with reporters, representatives from U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM), Strategic Command (STRATCOM) and the Navy’s Fleet Forces Command declared success with tying together “75 percent” of command structures, from national security leaders on down.
Although the Defense Department eventually complies with most recommendations made by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the pace at which DOD implements change can be lethargic, according to GAO’s most recent findings.
ROME — Italy’s economic development ministry has approved allocating 480 million euros ($700 million) to finance 78 aerospace and defense electronics research projects.
LONDON — Responding to the critical Haddon-Cave report concerning the fatal crash of a Royal Air Force (RAF) Nimrod MR2, the British government is setting up a Military Aviation Authority to oversee safety standards. Secretary of State for Defense Bob Ainsworth told Parliament Dec. 16 that following the review led by Charles Haddon-Cave, the ministry is creating a “Military Aviation Authority to provide the leadership needed to deliver the highest safety standards.” Establishing such an agency was a key recommendation of the report.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has denied a request from Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky to make the U.S. Air Force reimburse the two contractors’ proposal expenses for the protested and canceled combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter replacement program. Any program faces a risk of being canceled, GAO said, and in the case of the $15 billion CSAR-X program, “There is no showing that cancellation was improper,” the agency said in its Dec. 15 denial.
