Calling the Pentagon’s mismanagement of its budget a horizontal variation of a Ponzi scheme, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) said Congress needs to do more to control Defense Department spending. “We are talking about a strategy for acquisition,” and not just cutting programs, Abercrombie said March 11 at Aviation Week’s Defense Technology and Requirements Conference in Washington. He pleaded with the media not to “turn this into another drama of whose throat gets cut,” as that would detract from the nation’s strategic interest.
MOSCOW – A Russian communication satellite is experiencing in-orbit difficulties once again, begging the question of how long it will remain in service. The spacecraft, Express-AM2, was launched on March 30, 2005, and has been in operation since June 16 of that year. It was manufactured by Reshetnev ISS with a payload from Thales Alenia Space and is owned by Russian Satellite Communication Company (RSCC).
ROLL OUT: The D.C. National Guard will officially receive three of the six UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopters it has ordered on March 12 in Washington, D.C. The EADS North America-built helicopter is replacing the UH-1 Huey for the Guard. The U.S. Army began fielding the aircraft to the National Guard and active duty units in 2008. Three of the eight helicopters slated for fielding were flown to D.C. from the EADS plant in Mississippi, three more will be delivered to the National Guard unit in April and two more are expected to be fielded in 2012 to the D.C.
SHOW SOME ID: BAE Systems has completed an architecture study to improve the U.S. Army’s ability to identify hostile aircraft. The company developed an electronic support measures (ESM) sensor to improve Army air defense and reduce fratricide through real-time recognition of so-called noncooperative targets. The Army’s Common ESM Sensor for Air Defense (CESAD) system will locate, classify and identify hostile and neutral targets that cannot easily be identified by Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) systems.
HELO ORDER: Mexico’s Ministry of Defense has ordered six medium-lift EC725 helicopters from Eurocopter, the EADS unit announced March 10. The six twin-engine, Cougar-class helos, which can carry 29 passengers and two pilots, will be used mainly for transport and security missions. The amount of the contract was not disclosed. It was the first Eurocopter order placed by the defense ministry although the Mexican Naval ministry operates Eurocopter Panthers.
MELBOURNE, Australia – The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II may be redesigned to improve its ability to absorb heat from its electronics and systems. The aircraft is meeting the specification for thermal management, but the Joint Strike Fighter program’s deputy executive officer, Maj. Gen. David Heinz (select), says he is asking contractors to assess the costs of changes to give it a bigger margin over the requirement.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – NASA managers were meeting into the evening here to determine how quickly they will be able to fix a ground equipment leak on Pad 39A that forced them to scrub an attempt to launch space shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station March 11.
LONDON – Placing unmanned aerial systems requirements under a single responsible officer is one of the key recommendations of a new yearlong British Defense Ministry and industry study.
International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Yuri Lonchakov needed only four hours and 49 minutes to complete a spacewalk on the Russian side of the station March 10 that was budgeted to take five hours and 45 minutes. “We could have taken more photos,” Lonchakov said as he and Fincke prepared to close the hatch on the station’s Pirs docking compartment.
Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) is proposing a system of performance bonds be required for companies bidding on government programs, in an effort to stem cost overruns and scheduling delays. Taylor, who chairs the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces, is trying to drum up interest for a system in which industry wishing to bid on government programs would have to get bonded through a third party.
A Feb. 27 article on the U.S. Army’s Joint Air-to-Ground Missile misstated the origins of Lockheed Martin’s recent work in passive imaging infrared seeker technology. This experience came from work on the Javelin.
GREEK HORNET: Boeing is launching a campaign to offer its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet as the next-generation fighter for Greece. The Hellenic Air Force is not the only international client being courted by Boeing, according to the company. Super Hornets are already being built for the Royal Australian Air Force. Boeing has delivered more than 380 Super Hornets to the U.S. Navy.
U.S. officials have announced a conviction in an illicit arms export deal to China involving high-powered amplifiers designed for use by the U.S. military in early warning radar and missile target acquisition systems, as well as low-noise amplifiers that have both commercial and military use.
The European Space Agency is proceeding with development of its ExoMars mission with an eye toward a 2016 launch, despite questions of funding and international participation that still loom over the program.
The tallest mountain in the solar system – Olympus Mons on Mars – may conceal pockets of liquid water and perhaps even the sort of life that thrives in Earth’s deep oceans. Computer models generated at Rice University suggest the 16.7-mile-high volcano formed the way it did because its lava flowed onto a surface of sedimentary clay, which was deposited by ancient bodies of water. While friction between the clay and the lava would retard spreading as the mountain built up, on the northeast side of Olympus Mons the slope is more spread out.
NASA and the U.S. Air Force hope to boost basic research into hypersonics by jointly funding university and industry teams studying new materials, combined-cycle propulsion and boundary-layer control. The theoretical, computational and experimental research will be conducted by three national hypersonic science centers named by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR).
Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) did little to hide his displeasure while questioning U.S. Navy leadership at a hearing on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), as he pressured the service to get costs under control. “My frustration is not with your service records, it’s with your boat,” Taylor said to a trio of Navy officials, who faced an impatient House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces March 10.
AUSSIE TRAINERS: Boeing has delivered an operational flight trainer (OFT) to Australia for the Project Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) program. The OFT was accepted on Feb. 27, the first segment of the Wedgetail program to be delivered to Australia. The OFT is customized to account for the characteristics inherent to the Wedgetail AEW&C system, the company says, including controls for the communication, aerial-refueling and Electronic Warfare Self Protection systems.
Logistics support services continue to grab more money from Pentagon coffers as the U.S. Defense Department persists in its quest to become more efficient in servicing and supplying its operations. The Pentagon spent about $8.1 billion for logistic support services contracts and contract modifications in 2008, or about 26 percent more than the department spent the previous year, making it one of the fastest-growing expenses among the leading department categories, according to an Aerospace DAILY analysis of defense spending.
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NAS PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – Though the Navy hopes to field a new Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS) as soon as possible, service officials intend to put the program through the traditional acquisition process before selecting a winner, according to Rear Adm. Bill Shannon, program executive officer overseeing the program. The system, which will be ship-based, will provide short-range reconnaissance for the Navy and Marine Corps first and could later be used by Air Force Special Operations Command.
MUNICH, Germany – EADS and its industrial partners would have to repay European governments €5.7 billion ($7.3 billion) if the A400M military airlifter were terminated, although the bill is unlikely to come due with key aircraft customers remaining committed to the project.
STRATEGIC SUPPORT: The U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) has awarded industry providers a $900 million contract for technical analysis and studies for programs and strategies regarding STRATCOM’s missions, according to one of the awardees, SAIC. STRATCOM’s missions include space operations, cyberspace operations, strategic deterrence, combating weapons of mass destruction, global command and control, global strike and integration, information operations, integrated missile defense, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
