NEXT-GEN JAM: ITT Corporation and Boeing Aircraft company have partnered on a proposal for the Technology Maturation Phase of the U.S. Navy’s Next-Generation Jammer competition. In this phase, contractors refine their system concepts and equipment in preparation for a downselect in 2011. The Navy is expected to award two technology demonstration contracts in 2011 that will incorporate the best proposed technologies. The Next-Generation Jammer program will provide the Navy’s EA-18 Growler with new electronic attack capability.
Lockheed Martin has rolled the first Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) geosynchronous (GEO-1) satellite out of its dual-entry thermal vacuum chamber, setting up the final testing hurdle before delivery late next year. While data from the tests are analyzed, technicians will complete rework early next year on faulty spacecraft components that were identified prior to the beginning of the thermal vac tests. A Lockheed Martin official said the components are not part of GEO-1’s early warning missile detection system.
The British Royal Air Force on Dec. 1 finally received the first of eight Boeing Chinook helicopters originally intended to enter service more than a decade ago. A botched procurement program meant the Chinook Mk3s could not be accepted into service. A further two helicopters will be handed over in the next few weeks, with all eight in service by the end of 2010. The Mk3 Chinooks were originally meant to be used to support special forces operations.
Advocates of a switch from NASA’s Ares I crew launch vehicle to a human-rated commercial launcher for post-shuttle missions to the International Space Station found little comfort in testimony before a key House subcommittee Dec. 2.
U.S. Army program developers should focus earlier on lifecycle costs when making weapon systems acquisitions, a recent RAND Corp. report says. By ignoring lifecycle costs early – even when considering desired capabilities for equipment and platforms its buys – the Army is often adding more costs to the overall program, said the report, “Toward Affordable Systems Portfolio Analysis and Management for Army Science and Technology Programs,” released late last month.
NEW YORK – One day after Northrop Grumman threatened to not submit a bid for the hotly contested U.S. Air Force KC-135 replacement competition, the company’s chief financial officer is now saying it is inappropriate to publicly comment any more on Northrop’s demands.
In an article on China that ran Dec. 1, a local newspaper report was incorrectly attributed as China Daily in reference to Chinese officials’ comments on a new fighter. It was a different newspaper that cited the official People’s Daily in quoting an unnamed official referencing modified J-10 fighters.
SAN FRANCISCO – Major U.S. government initiatives are expected to level off in the coming decade, but Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Space Systems/Loral are counting on a steady stream of orders for new and replacement voice, data and broadcast satellites for the next 10 years.
MUNICH, Germany – Germany is finalizing talks for the sensor-to-shooter demonstration phase of the Agile UAV project, which has been built around the Barracuda unmanned aircraft demonstrator. The flight trials of the next phase are due to unfold in 2011.
MUNICH, Germany – French, Spanish and German government officials will convene early next year to forge an agreement on jointly pursuing a medium altitude long-endurance unmanned aircraft development program, EADS officials believe.
DUBAI, UAE – China, France and Russia are increasingly aggressive in courting customers for their military products, but it is the U.S. that is raking in the big dollars — and increasingly so. What’s more, the U.S.’s improving relationship with India could signal that record high levels of military exports are not just an aberration but are sustainable. This prospect would bring relief to U.S. defense companies, which face the possibility of shrinking modernization projects when Washington starts focusing on cutting its massive budget deficit.
MOSCOW – Russia’s rotary industry is revamping its helicopter plans and extending them to the end of the next decade as it pursues government subsidies and grapples with engine supply problems. Russian Helicopters, which consolidated the country’s helicopter manufacturers, is now pursuing a three-stage strategy to sustain the sector throughout the coming decade. The revised plan sits within the government’s civil aircraft and defense procurement program that is scheduled to go into effect in 2011.
Boeing has shipped DirecTV 12, the last satellite in its 2009 delivery book, to Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in anticipation of a late-December launch on a Proton/Breeze M. A model 702, the satellite is the eleventh Boeing has built for DirecTV, although it varies slightly from DirecTV 10 and 11, which were launched in 2007 and 2008, Program Manager Steve Schmitt said.
NIGHT VISION: The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in Patuxent River, Md., awarded Vision Systems International (VSI) a $6.7 million contract for Night Vision Cueing and Display (NVCD) units Dec. 1. VSI will provide image intensified night vision with symbology insertion, expanding the capability of the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) for 24-hour operations. The NVCD system provides 40 degree field-of-view night vision capability in a lower profile and lighter weight package than traditional aviator night vision goggles.
The International Space Station – home to a dozen space travelers only last week – is down to two crew members after Soyuz TMA-15 safely returned to Earth early Dec. 1 with three long-duration Expedition 21 crew members onboard. The space shuttle Atlantis landed Nov. 27 with seven more – Expedition 21 flight engineer Nicole Stott and the orbiter’s original crew of six. That leaves only NASA’s Jeff Williams, the Expedition 22 commander, and Maxim Surayev of the Russian space agency to man the space station until another Soyuz arrives in three weeks.
Russia’s United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) is aiming to merge the combat aircraft business under its control, bringing Sukhoi and MiG together in a single unit in 2012. Control of fighter manufacturer MiG was finally achieved following an additional share issue in October. According to the restructuring strategy approved by the UAC board in late November, the 2010-12 period will see it establish commercial aircraft, special missions aircraft, and combat aircraft business units.
Intelsat 15, a high-power Ku-band spacecraft built by Orbital Sciences Corp., is beginning several weeks of in-orbit checkout after launch Dec. 1 on a Land Launch Zenit-3SLB from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Based on Orbital’s Star spacecraft bus, the 2,484-kilogram (5,477-pound) satellite will relay video and data to Intelsat users in Russia, the Middle East and Indian Ocean regions. Liftoff came at 4 p.m. EDT, and the mission lasted about six and a half hours before spacecraft separation.
IED TEST: The U.S. Army and Boeing announced Dec. 1 that a September test was completed during which a laser system mounted on an Avenger combat vehicle destroyed 50 improvised explosive devices (IEDs). During the laser firings Sept. 22-24 at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., Laser Avenger neutralized multiple types of IEDs, including large-caliber artillery munitions, smaller bomblets and mortar rounds. The system operated at safe distances from the targets and under a variety of conditions, including different angles and ranges.
SWISS ARMS: Swiss voters have massively rejected a proposal to ban weapons exports. The Group for a Switzerland without an Army had gathered the necessary 100,000 signatures to force a referendum on the issue, but 68% of those voting Nov. 29 were against such a ban.
AIR GROUNDED: Australian military forces have marked the formal end of the army’s fixed-wing aircraft fleet. A ceremony at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Townsville Nov. 20 noted the handover of three King Air 350 aircraft from the army to the air force. The aircraft, formerly operating under Army Aviation’s No. 173 Air Surveillance Squadron, will now be flown by RAAF’s No. 38 Squadron.
