A National Research Council (NRC) panel is calling on NASA to re-establish an organization like the now-defunct NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC), which would nurture “visionary, far-reaching” ideas with the potential to revolutionize how NASA does business. The original NIAC was formed in 1998. During its nine years of existence, it received $36.2 million in NASA funding, of which more than three-quarters went directly to research grants.
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) on Aug. 6 notified Congress of a possible foreign military sale (FMS) to Brazil of 28 F/A-18E Super Hornet Aircraft, eight F/A-18F Super Hornet Aircraft, 72 F414-GE-400 installed engines, a host of spare parts and munitions at an estimated value of $7 billion.
DELTA DENOUEMENT: The last U.S. Air Force launch on a Delta II rocket is slated for Aug. 17, when the United Launch Alliance-built rocket will deliver the last of eight modernized Global Positioning System (GPS) IIR-M satellites to orbit. The launch window at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., opens at 6:35 a.m. EDT, and closes 14 minutes later. The mission will mark the second GPS launch of 2009. Built by Lockheed Martin, the IIR-M satellite offers improved position accuracy, enhanced encryption, anti-jamming capabilities and a second civil signal.
WEBSTER FIELD, Md. — The U.S. Navy has pushed the first flight of its Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) out several weeks so it can examine anomalies that arose during recently completed proof-load testing.
AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Integrated Systems Western Region, El Segundo, Calif., was awarded a $57,100,000 modified contract to provide a demonstration unit of the initial parts of the MP-RTIP for the Joint Stars E-8 platform. At this time, $27,200,000 has been obligated. Multi-Sensor Command and Control Aircraft Program Office, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity (F19628-00-C-0100 P00174). ARMY
KNOW THYSELF: The U.S. Army’s Enterprise Information Systems program office has selected five prime contractors for a multiaward, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for Automatic Identification Technology (AIT) products and services. The contract vehicle, worth up to $418.52 million over as long as nine years, replaces a sole-sourced deal. AIT entails the use of handheld technologies to read bar codes, item unique identification (IUID), and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and process them in databases.
The U.S. military needs to rethink the way it does rapid acquisition and place it under a new, dedicated agency, according to a Defense Science Board (DSB) task force. “Current approaches to implementing rapid responses to urgent needs are not sustainable,” the task force says in its July report. “An integrated triage approach is required.”
MAG UAV: The U.S. Navy is tapping Boeing to flight test an air-launched version of the ScanEagle unmanned aircraft carrying a magnetic anomaly detector to locate submerged submarines and track them for up to 24 hours. The MagEagle is based on Boeing’s ScanEagle Compressed Carriage air-launched small UAV, which will undergo ground-launched flight tests this year.
TURNED OVER: The newly renamed GOES-14 weather satellite is scheduled to begin operations later this year, having just completed checkout with manufacturer Boeing and having been turned over to NASA for operation on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The spacecraft was launched as GOES-O.
MiG IN THE MIX: Russia’s air force commander, Gen. Col. Alexander Zelin, says that in addition to buying the Sukhoi Su-35S, the service will also field the MiG-35S — as the new aircraft are now designated in Russia. This is the first official confirmation of interest in the MiG-35, an updated version of the MiG-29 with extended range, increased combat payload and a radar with active electronically scanned array. It’s a boost for the aircraft as Russia tries to win India’s 126-aircraft Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft program against stiff competition.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Aug. 10 - 12 — 8th Annual Directed Energy Test and Evaluation Conference, Hyatt Regency Albuquerque, Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information go to www.deps.org or www.itea.org Aug. 10 - 13 — AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems North America 2009, Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. For more information call 703-845-9671, email [email protected] go to www.auvsi.org
Lockheed Martin/VT Group joint-venture Ascent Flight Training is taking over Royal Navy observer training under the second phase of the U.K. Military Flight Training Systems (UKMFTS) program. The company has signed a five-year, £57 million ($95 million) contract with the U.K. Ministry of Defense for Rear Crew Stage 1 training under the UKMFTS private finance initiative. Stage 1 covers training of rear crew for the Royal Navy’s Lynx, Merlin and Sea King helicopters.
DENVER United Launch Alliance (ULA) and the U.S. Air Force are planning upgrades to the Atlas V and Delta IV evolved expendable launch vehicles (EELVs) that could pave the way for their replacement after 2030 with a reusable booster system (RBS). “RBS is the cornerstone of Air Force Space Command’s space lift development plan to develop a follow-on to EELV,” says Randy Kendall, general manager of Aerospace Corp.’s launch system division, speaking at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Joint Propulsion Conference here.
GULFSTREAM GAFFE: Usually criticism across the Potomac River goes from Capitol Hill to the Pentagon, but every once in a while the Defense Dept. gets to shoot back. Last week it became clear that Georgia lawmakers in the House of Representatives were earmarking an extra $150 million for two General Dynamics Gulfstream jets under the U.S. Air Force to fly government VIPs around — including lawmakers. “Speak to Congress,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell wryly tells inquiring reporters.
HOMELAND OUTREACH: Unlike the U.S. Defense Department, which has more robust research and development funding, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must rely on the private sector to help meet its obligation to protect the civil side of the federal government’s cyber operations, according to the DHS secretary. In turn, Janet Napolitano is asking industry to help DHS with its inaugural Quadrennial Homeland Security Review, modeled on DOD’s Quadrennial Defense Review.
Winds of change have blown into Washington with the new Obama administration and Dan Murphy likes the feel of them. Murphy, a retired U.S. Navy vice admiral, is chairman and CEO of Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK), a scrappy manufacturer of ammunition, precision weapons and space propulsion and satellite systems. He believes Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s new emphasis on near-term warfighting requirements aligns well with ATK’s focus on weapons systems that are affordable and can be rapidly fielded — or, as Murphy bluntly labels them: “good enough.”
ANZAC AHEAD: Australian defense officials are claiming their Anzac-class frigates modernization effort is on track. “This challenging project has experienced delays, so it is pleasing to see this level of technical maturity and managed risk being achieved,” says Greg Combet, minister for defense personnel, materiel and science.
STIMULUS FUNDS: DOD has awarded 28 grants totaling $14.1 million as part of the fiscal 2009 Defense Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR). The grants will enhance research and engineering capabilities at 20 academic institutions in 14 states, in scientific disciplines critical to national security, according to DOD. The list of projects selected for DEPSCoR funding is available online at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Aug 2009/DEPSCOR.pdf. The fiscal 2009 program solicitation received 131 proposals.
UNMANNED MEDEVAC: Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is considering the purchase of an unmanned aircraft for evacuating injured people, with Urban Aeronautics’ ducted-fan Mule the leading candidate, according to the IDF’s Medical Corps. Urban Aeronautics is preparing a prototype for flight this year, with an operational version accommodating two stretchers and an attendant to be available in 2012. The Medical Corps says the Mule’s narrow width will allow it to land in urban areas inaccessible to helicopters.
WAAS UP?: Industry will be briefed on August 25 on U.S. Air Force plans for fielding wide-area airborne surveillance (WAAS) capabilities and invited to provide ideas on near- and far-term concepts to support a WAAS trade study. The Air Force is interested in a motion imagery-based system with the resolution and revisit rate to track vehicles and individuals day and night for forensic analysis and cueing of other sensors.
ASIASAT LAUNCH: AsiaSat 5, a Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) 1300 series, is set for launch Aug. 12 on an International Launch Services Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It will replace AsiaSat-2 at 100.5 deg. E. and serve 53 countries spanning from Russia to New Zealand. Hong Kong-based AsiaSatellite Telecommunications has ordered AsiaSat-5C from SS/L to expand its network.
