NEW DELHI — Industry observers are wondering what effect India’s recent decision to suspend its purchase of six aerial refuelers may have on future defense procurements such as the 126-aircraft Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal. India’s tender for six aerial refuelers went out for the Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) and the Ilyushin IL-78. The IL-78, the lower-cost option, was rejected on the grounds that the proposal was incomplete since it had failed to quote for five extra engines and life-cycle costs.
LOCAL FLAVOR: Cobham India Private Ltd. will open during the first quarter of 2010 with offices in New Delhi and Bengaluru (Bangalore), the company said Dec. 7. “Cobham is committed to building a significant long-term investment in India,” said Andy Stevens, who takes over as CEO of Cobham Plc in January. “We have decided to significantly enhance our permanent presence in India in 2010. Looking to the future, we plan to increase our industrial participation, strengthening cooperation with both public and private sector companies.”
PHOENIX — Expect to see high-level aftermarket responsibility shift to the U.S. government from industry as the government takes over some national security resource allocation. This move comes as the Defense Department faces major equipment maintenance because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has less planned funding to provide for it. It also comes at a time when manufacturers rely on aftermarket revenue streams, which have been hit by the recession.
TARGETED PERFORMANCE: Completion of testing of the Aegis Combat System equipment destined for Australia’s HMAS Hobart marks a major milestone in delivery of the capability from the U.S. Navy to the Royal Australian Navy, Australian officials declared Dec. 6. The comments came as they marked a “pull-the-plug” ceremony on the combat system, symbolizing readiness for installation in the Hobart, the first of three Air Warfare Destroyers. To reach this point the system, including the radar and missile fire control equipment, had to complete a range of U.S.
PARIS — European Space Agency (ESA) science program managers are recommending that several missions, including the Lisa-Pathfinder space interferometer precursor, be given additional margin to account for growing mission risk.
Boeing engineers are in the early stage of setting up the third Wideband Global Satcom (WGS-3) communications satellite after its launch Dec. 5 on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV. Delayed on Dec. 2 by unacceptable weather at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the 8:47 p.m. EST launch was the first for a WGS spacecraft on the Delta IV. The first two WGS spacecraft flew on ULA Atlas Vs.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will this week debrief teams that competed in its Network Challenge to discuss how they used social networking tools to find red balloons deployed at undisclosed locations across the U.S. on Dec. 5. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Red Balloon Challenge Team won the $40,000 cash prize, locating all 10 weather balloons in less than nine hours. A Georgia Tech team had managed to locate nine of the balloons by the time the winner was announced.
NEW YORK — Boeing has a plan in place to meet the Pentagon’s refueling boom requirements for the KC-X aerial tanker competition, according to the company’s defense sector chief. The Pentagon’s draft request for proposals (RFP) “drives us toward a 767-based platform” for the company’s KC-X proposal, said Dennis Muilenburg, chief executive officer of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, during an interview last week at the Credit Suisse/Aviation Week Aerospace and Defense Finance conference here.
PARIS — Non-U.S. force level increases to Afghanistan will top 7,000 troops, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says. The alliance late last week already committed to adding around 7,000 non-U.S. troops from five countries to the planned buildup of U.S. force levels. The Pentagon will add 30,000 personnel to try to stabilize the country and drive back Taliban forces.
TESTING: The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced Dec. 4 that Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) fired its first double-viewpoint hydrodynamic test of a nuclear weapon component mockup. The test, under NNSA’s stockpile stewardship program, took place at the Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test facility at Los Alamos inside a specially designed double-walled containment vessel.
HELIOS 2B SET TO LAUNCH: The French defense ministry expects the launch of Helios 2B Earth observation satellite on Dec. 9 aboard an Ariane 5 launched from the European space center in Kourou, French Guyana. EADS Astrium built the satellite. Belgium, Spain, Italy and Greece also are involved in the program. Others will also have access to imagery. For instance, Germany and France have an agreement in which they exchange space-based images derived from Germany’s radar satellites and France’s EO spacecraft respectively.
EATON CORP., which used acquisitions to build up its aerospace business, is staying put on the M&A sidelines. “Right now we’ve got a recovery with zero cost of capital – that’s not a real recovery,” CEO Sandy Cutler said during a presentation at the AVIATION WEEK/Credit Suiise A&D Finance Conference in New York. “We’ll be back in the market,” he adds, “but not real soon.”
FORCE FEEDING: The U.S. Air Force chief says he is concerned about maintaining the industrial base during these lean financial times. But he is not one to be pushed around. At the Credit Suisse/Aviation Week conference, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems CEO Dennis Muilenburg said the C-17 production line at Long Beach, Calif., is a one-of-a-kind “national treasure,” the only facility suited to build large military aircraft left in the U.S. base. Boeing has lobbied hard to get funding for more C-17s from Congress each year despite a lack of funding from the Air Force.
OZZIE AEGIS: Lockheed Martin announced the completed production of the first Aegis Weapon System for the Royal Australian Navy’s Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD-1) program on Dec. 1. In a ceremony at its Moorestown, N.J. facility, the company marked the completion of a full range of acceptance tests conducted over several months to verify system performance. The milestone indicates the Aegis system is now ready for shipboard installation on HOBART, the first of Australia’s three planned Aegis-equipped destroyers.
NEW START RESTART: Amid the grim funding forecasts for defense spending in the years to come, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz says there may be a couple of new programs started. Among those under consideration are the Next-Generation Bomber (also called Long-Range Strike) and a Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) follow-on constellation to collect intelligence on satellites.
LOOSENING THE GRIP: The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) is ramping up its outreach in support of official reconsideration of the export controls system. President Barack Obama has declared his administration will review the entire system, including economic and security issues. That comes after President George W. Bush’s team managed to cut the backlog of State Dept. license applications while striking ground-breaking treaties with Britain and Australia. Hooray for all that, the AIA says.
EXPORT PIPE DREAM: U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz sent a few dark clouds Lockheed Martin’s way last week. The Air Force chief squashed the idea of an export version of the F-22 Raptor for Japan, which some had hoped would extend the production line in Marietta, Ga. Three miracles would need to happen to lead to an export version: relief on the U.S.
The U.S. Air Force has confirmed to Aviation Week the existence of the so-called “Beast of Kandahar” UAV, a stealth-like remotely piloted jet seen flying out of Afghanistan in late 2007.
