NEW DIGS: Satellite test specialist Intespace plans to inaugurate a €3 million ($4.38 million) facility at Elincourt, near Paris, dedicated to subsystem and equipment testing. Set to open in November, the 1,000-square-meter (10,000-square-foot) test center will allow Intespace to shift work from its heavily taxed main facility in Toulouse and diversify its activities into defense and aerospace, helping compensate for satellite down cycles. It will be equipped for mechanical, thermal-vacuum and electromagnetic testing.
PARTS TO IRAN: Federal prosecutors in Washington said last week that a Dutch aviation services company, Aviation Services International, and its director and sales manager pleaded guilty to federal charges related to a conspiracy to illegally export aircraft components and other items from the United States to entities in Iran via the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus. Equipment involved had potential applications in unmanned aircraft and was ostensibly being sent to the Polish Border Control Agency when, in reality, the equipment was being sent to Iran.
INDUSTRIAL CONSOLIDATION: Defending an amendment he offered to strike congressional earmarking for more Boeing C-17s, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), ranking Republican of the Senate Armed Services Committee, pointed toward the adjoining hallways and ripped into special interests for the defense sector for the second day in a row. “You can’t walk through these hallways without bumping into a lobbyist from Boeing,” McCain exclaimed with his characteristic fervor Sept. 30.
LIMA, Ohio — In a whirlwind two-hour stopover here Sept. 30, U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway did a walkthrough of General Dynamics’ plant where the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) is built.
A force of 80,000 North Korean soldiers trained in special operations and recently schooled in the employment of enhanced, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) — whose use was refined during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan — is now among the top threats to the South Korean government in Seoul.
A Soyuz TMA rocket carrying two new crewmembers for the International Space Station (ISS) and Canada’s first private space tourist lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 3:14 a.m. EDT Sept. 30, setting up a rendezvous with the ISS Oct. 2.
LONDON — Eurofighter nations are expected to soon conclude a key radar and defensive aids support package aimed at cutting maintenance costs by a target of 50 percent. Partner-state air forces and export customers attended an availability conference Sept. 30 at RAF Coningsby, the United Kingdom’s designated main operating base for the Eurofighter Typhoon.
WITHDRAWAL PROBLEMS: U.S. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) is concerned about the U.S.’s ability to withdraw forces from Iraq as planned before 2012. At a Sept. 30 hearing, Skelton noted that “simply moving so many troops and so much equipment out of Iraq will be a significant logistical challenge. We have not conducted such a large movement over so much distance since Vietnam, and that did not go well.” At the first benchmark in August 2010, the U.S. force presence will still comprise up to six advise-and-assist brigades, with about 50,000 U.S.
With U.S. Air Force Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) units surged overseas, the service is turning to its volunteer pilots in the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) to fly simulated UAV missions to help train ground units in predeployment Green Flag exercises.
A&D Programs Conference November 2-4, 2009 Phoenix, AZ A&D Finance Conference December 2-3, 2009 New York, NY Defense Technology & Requirements Conference February 17-18, 2010 Washington, DC AVIATION WEEK Laureates Awards March 17, 2010 Washington, DC
NASA Ames Research Center said Sept. 28 that it has shifted the target for the Oct. 9 impact site for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) from the small Cabeus A1 crater to the larger, main Cabeus crater at the moon’s south pole.
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) has shipped NSS-12, the largest spacecraft yet ordered by SES World Skies, to Kourou in French Guiana for launch by an Ariane 5 later this year. Based on SS/L’s 1300 series platform, NSS-12 carries what SS/L characterizes as the equivalent of 40 C-band and 48 Ku-band transponders. Its reach for telephony, cable, network and direct-to-home (DTH) video distribution will extend over four continents and cover about two-thirds of the world’s population.
A fractionated satellite concept that replaces large satellites with clusters of wirelessly-linked modular spacecraft flying in loose formation has the potential to drive cultural change and reinvigorate a “mature” U.S. space industry, proponents say.
Only days after the release of a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the U.S. Air Force tanker competition, Northrop Grumman officials say their joint bid with EADS North America may be disadvantaged.
LIGHT AIRCRAFT: Forecast International predicts that nearly $1.7 billion will be spent worldwide on upgrades for fixed-wing aircraft weighing less than 70,000 pounds through 2018. The Newtown, Conn., consultancy says that as the electronics sector stabilizes after a spike fueled by FAA mandates, the market will be led by propulsion upgrades. Re-engining and refurbishment programs (including engine modification) also are more popular in this global market.
FLIGHT INTEL: Raytheon announced on Sept. 28 initial operating capability and flight-tests for a component of the U.S. Air Force Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS). The new intercom communications system, called Crew Communications, modernizes peer-to-peer collaboration between intelligence operators regardless of geographic location, allowing DCGS mission crew members to communicate in real time regardless of geographical distance or security boundaries.
Improvements to address what Eurocontrol safety specialists have termed serious issues in traffic alert and collision avoidance (TCAS) system software logic are poised for market introduction to business, commercial and military users by Phoenix, Ariz.-based Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems (ACSS).
The South Korean defense ministry is seeking a 29.6 trillion won ($25 billion) budget for 2010, cutting its original request because of the country’s economic problems. Nonetheless, the budget proposal that the ministry will submit Oct. 1 is still 3.8 percent greater than this year’s allocation. In June the ministry asked for a 7.9 percent increase, similar to the hike it had received this year. Still, parliament could refuse to grant even the reduced request.
MOSCOW MiG Corp. has initiated sea trials of its MiG-29K/KUB naval fighter using the Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. Test pilots from MiG Corp. and the Russian air force performed an unspecified number of landings and takeoffs from the carrier, which was cruising in Barents Sea, on Sept. 28-29. Both the single-seat MiG-29K and dual-seat MiG-29KUB were involved in flights, a MiG representative says.
The Pentagon needs to do a better job of integrating the way it buys tactical wheeled vehicles (TWVs), a new U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study says.
LONDON The British Defense Ministry and Eurocopter have — within the last week — signed the contract covering a £300 million ($478.8 million) life extension and upgrade for the air force’s Puma HC1 medium support helicopters. Bob Ainsworth, the British secretary of state for defense, said July 16 that the Puma upgrade would proceed after all following a last-minute review of the decision instigated by Quentin Davies, the minister for defense equipment and support.
