Australian ship builders Forgacs and NQEA are the preferred suppliers for structural blocks for the three Aegis air-defense destroyers of the Hobart-class for the Royal Australian Navy. The companies will build 70 percent of the modules, each fitted out with wiring and equipment and weighing about 200 metric tons. Forgacs is based in Newcastle, with NQEA in Cairns.
AgustaWestland will deliver the first of 16 Boeing ICH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to the Italian Army in 2013 under an almost €900 million ($1.22 billion) contract signed on May 13. The contract includes an initial five years of logistic support as well as an option for an additional four helicopters. The contract was expected to be signed in fall 2008, but was put off by a funding shortage that has resulted in a one-year delay in the first delivery.
TITUSVILLE, Fla. - Boeing plans to bolster support for the hard-pressed 747-based Airborne Laser (ABL) missile defense program by quickly following an upcoming first full-scale missile shootdown demonstration with laser interceptions of everything from short-range tactical weapons to intercontinental ballistic missiles.
A last-minute anomaly with the flight termination system forced controllers to scrub another attempt to launch the U.S. Air Force TacSat-3 testbed on a Minotaur 1 rocket last Friday, delaying the mission until May 19 at the earliest.
CARGO CARRIED: A new unmanned Russian Progress cargo vehicle docked to the Pirs compartment of the International Space Station at 3:24 p.m. EDT May 12, carrying 2.5 tons of food, fuel and supplies. Known as Progress 33, the spacecraft launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan May 7. It replaces Progress 32, which undocked from the station on May 6 filled with trash and other discarded items.
Nineteen U.S. senators are urging the Senate Appropriations Committee to include money for more C-17 cargo lifters when it considers the emergency wartime supplemental spending bill for fiscal 2009. The 30-member committee is slated to take up the $85.3 billion measure to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the swine flu outbreak on May 14.
The shuttle Atlantis suffered minor damage to a few ceramic tiles on a portion of its right wing as a result of launch debris during its ascent May 11, and NASA is trying to gather more imagery of the damaged area. Thermal protection system inspections by the STS-125 crew with the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) during their first full day in space May 12 revealed small “dings” in four ceramic tiles at the point at the starboard chine where the orbiter’s right wing meets the fuselage.
TITUSVILLE, Fla. - General Electric is testing a modified version of the F414 engine for the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and EF-18 Growler that could increase thrust by 20 percent while improving durability and reducing fuel burn. Although full details are not yet available, it appears the U.S. Navy-supported development is a combined product of two F414-400 upgrade efforts. One of these was originally focused on increasing the baseline durability of the engine, while the other is an ongoing study aimed at increasing overall thrust.
Military conflicts and differences in U.S. and NATO operations are making the job more difficult in Afghanistan, according to a recent report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). “The mission of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Afghanistan is a test of the alliance’s political will and military capabilities,” the report says.
The U.S. Army’s chief says the service will have a replacement ground combat vehicle for the canceled Manned Ground Vehicle (MGV) arm of its Future Combat Systems (FCS) within the next seven years.
The U.S. Army this month achieved its end-strength targets, according to Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, a goal that was set to be reached in 2012. Under the so-called Grow the Army initiative, the service wanted to accelerate the end-strength growth of all of its components — active (to 547,400 soldiers), National Guard (358,200) and Reserve (206,000). Previously, the deadline was pushed up for the Army Reserve to 2010, and the goal of reaching 73 Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) and 227 Support Brigades by 2011.
Swedish Space Corp. (SSC) has bought its partner in the PrioraNet satellite tracking service and will operate as a worldwide commercial service based in Kiruna, Sweden. The move came after SSC received approval from the U.S. government to buy Universal Space Network, which will continue to operate as a U.S. corporation.
TITUSVILLE, Fla. - Having made six acquisitions in 2008, Boeing IDS continues to be on the lookout for fresh opportunities, both in the United States and internationally.
The Senate Appropriations Committee this week is expected to take up the second war-fighting supplemental spending bill for Fiscal 2009. House appropriators approved their version of the Fiscal 2009 supplemental last week. That panel approved the measure after adding $9 billion to President Barack Obama’s request, for a total of $94.3 billion, including $81.6 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Russian government has promised to boost its pursuit of upgrades on Sukhoi Su-27SM and Su-30 fighters in a move that should support the Sukhoi design bureau and its Komsomolsk-on-Amur KnAAPO serial production facility. Sergey Ivanov, deputy prime minister, made the announcement during a visit to KnAAPO.
A congressional subcommittee is slated May 13 to hear the pros and cons of equipping aircraft from the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) with defenses against surface-to-air missiles when they fly into war-torn areas. Although most airline groups oppose equipping regular domestic passenger flights with countermeasures against man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS, saying they are too expensive and inefficient, one industry organization believes the government should launch an evaluation program that could cost about $20 million.
A story in the May 11 issue misstated how the global economic downturn is affecting EADS’ commitment to assembling A330-based tankers in Mobile, Ala., should the company win parts or all of the U.S. Air Force KC-X tanker program. With the market for freighters hurting, Airbus is evaluating the economic implications of assembling fewer of them as part of the Mobile final assembly line. The company is not retreating from its commitment to the site.
The Pentagon’s Fiscal 2010 budget includes an increased emphasis on space protection efforts, says Gary Payton, deputy under secretary of the Air Force for space. Unclassified Air Force space spending in Fiscal 2010 is estimated at about $9 billion, Payton says, up nearly $300 million compared to the Fiscal 2009 appropriation.
NEW CARRIER: The last of the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers was delivered to the U.S. Navy on May 11 by prime contractor Northrop Grumman. The USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) is the 10th ship of the class but includes innovations such as a new vacuum marine sanitation system, propellers, jet fuel distribution system, underwater hull-coating system, and other control systems and piping materials, according to the Navy and Northrop. Just more than 1,000 feet long, it weighs 97,000 tons, can carry more than 80 combat aircraft and can sail faster than 30 knots.
