British Prime Minister Gordon Brown confirmed Nov. 30 that an additional 500 U.K. personnel will be sent to Afghanistan, and said that another eight coalition nations – besides the U.K. and the U.S. – are willing to provide further military support for the operation.
OMAHA, Neb. – Goodrich and ATK are beginning to manufacture a one-of-a-kind reconnaissance satellite that will be launched by the end of next year to support urgent needs from military leaders overseeing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Called Operationally Responsive Space-1 (ORS-1), the spacecraft is needed to provide a new layer of electro-optical and infrared reconnaissance to airborne collectors, such as unmanned aerial systems and high-altitude aircraft, as well as to the sophisticated national intelligence satellites overhead.
Seven NASA astronauts rode the space shuttle Atlantis back to Earth after spending 11 days in space getting the International Space Station (ISS) ready for the day when shuttles will no longer be flying. Atlantis touched down on the shuttle landing strip at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at 9:44 a.m. EST Nov. 27. The orbiter has one more mission to go — STS-132 next May — before it is retired for good as NASA wraps up the shuttle program.
ARMY GM GDLS Defense Group LLC., Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on Nov. 20, 2009 a $42,555,068 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to fund the Stryker modernization program, which will bring it to Milestone B/preliminary design review. The work is to be performed in Sterling Heights, Mich. (81 percent); and London, Ontario, and Canada (19 percent); with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2011. One bid was solicited with one bid received. TACOM LCMC Stryker, Warren, Mich., was the contracting activity (W56HZV-07-D-M112).
OSPREY UPGRADE: Bell Boeing’s V-22 Osprey benefitted from several contract announcements Nov. 30, including a $105 million contract modification to perform a Block C upgrade of 91 MV-22 and 21 CV-22 aircraft. The modification also provides for the engine particle separator upgrade and installation of a shaft driven compressor inlet barrier filter. The work is expected to be completed in October 2014.
The U.S. Army is coming up short in securing the right tenants for its manufacturing arsenals, a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report (GAO) says. “The Army has determined that, of the 44 tenants, only four are engaged in activities that have helped to strengthen the arsenals’ core manufacturing capabilities or related work force skills,” the GAO says in its report.
Japanese controllers are checking out a new optical reconnaissance satellite designed to monitor North Korea and other potential military threats after its launch on an H-IIA rocket Nov. 28. The optical information-gathering satellite (IGS) lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Southeast Japan at 10:21 a.m. local time (8:21 p.m. EST Nov. 27). The spacecraft separated nominally 20 minutes later, according to Japanese press reports.
The new-generation fighter that China will field in 2017-2019 will be an improved J-10, the Chinese air force says, seemingly ruling out a genuine competitor to the Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35. The clarification, citing an unnamed official, has appeared in a report published in English by the country’s most prestigious newspaper, the People’s Daily—which means that it is an announcement and that China wants foreigners to notice it.
SES has ordered four multimission satellites from EADS Astrium in a move that will expand its broadband and broadcasting capacity while underscoring satellite operators’ increasing reliance on bulk orders.
HOLIDAY RULING: The sanctions committee of the French stock market regulator, the AMF, is expected to issue its ruling on alleged insider trading charges against before the end of the year. Last week saw formal hearings into the accusations that EADS executives at the time sold shares knowing of A380 problems that later depressed the company’s share price once they came to light. The AMF’s case investigator exonerated EADS shareholders Lagardere and Daimler, as well as ten executives, including Airbus CEO Tom Enders.
DAMAGE CONTROL: Chinese Gen. Xu Qiliang’s recent remarks on the “inevitability” of military competition in space (Aerospace DAILY, Nov. 9) don’t sit well with the mandarins at China’s foreign ministry. “I want to point out China has all along upheld the peaceful uses of outer space,” says Ma Zhaoxu, the ministry spokesman.
An apparent blockage in the system that vents waste water from a tank below the middeck of the space shuttle Atlantis shouldn’t be a problem if the orbiter lands on Nov. 27 as expected. The normal waste-water venting after Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) early Nov. 25 didn’t go as quickly as expected — a problem noted on earlier missions — and controllers in Houston directed the crew to check the vents to see if they were frozen.
MOSCOW Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has approved a plan to restart production of an upgraded version of the giant An-124-100 freighter at the Ulyanovsk Aviastar-SP plant, although the funding of the effort is still in question. United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) is prepared to build at least 70 An-124s through 2014-2015 if the government will invest $500 million in the plant for re-tooling and manufacturing restoration.
COIN — Defense Department shorthand for counterinsurgency operations — is once again in vogue with military leaders as they battle “irregular” forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the focus on COIN is far from a new one. The resurrection of COIN has occurred every time U.S. forces have faced an unconventional enemy over the past eight decades. The reason for the resurrection — or at least the need for it — is because the military establishment refuses to take COIN seriously over the long term.
For small wars, military officers need to go back to basics. The U.S. Marine Corps’ Small Wars Manual, first issued in 1935, is considered to be the bible for irregular warfare. While it offers an array of techniques and tactics for fighting insurgents, what sets the manual apart from DOD’s current counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy is the philosophical approach to such conflicts.
AVENGER APPEAL: Boeing and General Dynamics are asking the Supreme Court to review the longstanding case between them and the Pentagon over cancellation of the U.S. Navy’s A-12 stealthy attack aircraft in 1991. The saga has focused on whether the Pentagon had the right to cancel the program for cause. This year, a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the government and last week refused to reopen the case. The verdict would force Boeing and General Dynamics pay the government $2.8 billion and interest, which has become a huge bill in the intervening time.
MERCURY MISSION: The European Space Agency’s (ESA) manned spaceflight and exploration directorate program board is moving forward with a restructured plan for the BepiColombo mission to Mercury that should make it possible to meet mission objectives without unacceptable budget risk. BepiColombo will be launched in 2014 in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Nov. 30 - Dec, 1 — Military Airlift & Rapid Reaction Operations 2009, Hilton Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany. For more information go to www.smi-online.co.uk Dec. 1 - 2 — Aerosolutions’ Business Convention for Aeronautics, Space and Defense, Palais de Congress, Bordeaux, France. For more information go to www.aerosolutions-bordeaux.com
AIM HIGH: The U.S. Air Force’s Real Property Agency will begin negotiations with Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, a solar power producer, to develop 3,288 acres of Air Force property on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. San Antonio-based officials say that once negotiations are finalized and the enhanced use lease signed, the crystalline photovoltaic solar development will be the largest in both the Defense Dept. and North America. Edwards eventually would be able to deliver enough energy to power nearly 89,000 homes, they say.
