QUICK SALE: The U.S. Army has purchased three standard commercial Model 407 light helicopters from Bell for conversion into prototypes for the armed configuration to be supplied to Iraq. Awarded “on urgency,” the contract is worth $7 million. Army Aviation & Missile Command will fit the single-turbine helicopters with the sensors, weapons and survivability equipment specified by Iraq, which plans to buy 24 armed 407s, to ensure the helicopter meets requirements. The Army’s canceled ARH-70 Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter was a heavily modified 407.
AIR FORCE The Air Force is awarding a cost plus fixed price contract to Lockheed Martin Corp., of King of Prussia, Penn., for $25,579,895. This contract action is for the procurement of six Low Frequency Instrumentation Consoles and one Radio Frequency Instrumentation Console. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 526 ICBMSG/PKA, Hill Air Force Base, Utah is the contracting activity (FA8204-09-C-0005). NAVY
South Africa’s Denel is carrying out aerodynamic load and seeker evaluation tests of its A-Darter imaging infrared-guided air-to-air missile, now in development. A three-shot test campaign began Feb. 13 using the Denel OTB test range. The first shot was intended to examine missile maneuverability and airframe behavior under high-G stresses. Tests of the A-Darter imaging infrared seeker are also being carried out in parallel to the airframe firings. Seeker performance is being evaluated using ground and airborne test rigs.
A few allied defense ministers appear to be helping the new administration of President Barack Obama increase pressure on other NATO members to ramp up their combat contributions. The allies, deep in Afghanistan operations themselves, are echoing criticisms long voiced by U.S. national security officials. British Defense Minister John Hutton on Feb. 23 continued his campaign criticizing many NATO allies over an apparently inadequate response to force needs in Afghanistan.
NASA managers are assessing the danger if a tiny space shuttle engine valve were to crack and cause a leak of highly flammable gaseous hydrogen in the aft section of a space shuttle orbiter during ascent, and may slip the next shuttle mission until April. One of the valves failed during the most recent flight, triggering an engineering investigation that could force a slip in the STS-119 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) until after the next Russian Soyuz mission to the orbiting outpost.
2008 Pentagon Fixed-Wing Aircraft Expenses 2008 Pentagon Fixed-Wing Aircraft Expenses Contractor Number Of Contracts Or Modifications Total Amount Of Contracts And Modifications Average Per Contract Or Modification Lockheed Martin 506 $7,866,956,899 $15,547,346 B
LESSONS LEARNED: The U.S. Eighth Air Force is teaming with members of the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies from the Air University, National Defense University and other think-tank organizations such as the Rand Corp. to look at the lessons the Air Force nuclear enterprise has learned from past conflicts. An all-day seminar Feb. 19 at Barksdale Air Force Base, La.
MANAGING EXPECTATIONS: Orbital Sciences Corp. and Ball Aerospace both predict growth in 2009 will be impacted by an expected downturn in U.S. government spending. In 2008 quarter earnings posted Feb. 19, Orbital announced record revenues ($1.17 billion), operating earnings ($89.9 million), free cash flow and backlog. But pointing to the likelihood of a federal budget squeeze, it forecast flat growth for the year ahead. Ball Aerospace, in its 2008 results issued Jan. 29, also reported higher operating earnings ($76.2 million), but declining sales ($746 million).
Defense Department spending on its top 21 expenses slowed in 2008 after six years of strong growth, while spending on healthcare services cracked the top six DOD expenses for the first time since the decade began. The Pentagon nearly doubled the amount it spent on its top 21 expenses from 2001 to 2007, according to an Aerospace DAILY analysis of data supplied by the National Institute for Computer Assisted Reporting. (See chart p. 6.)
LIGHT WORK: Boeing is briefing defense officials on the initial results of internally funded studies into expanding the role of the 747-based Airborne Laser (ABL), in a bid to build a stronger case for continued funding of the program. The crucial demonstration of the megawatt-class laser’s ability to shoot down a ballistic missile is planned for later this year, but with the costly program threatened Boeing wants to prove the ABL could be used for missions beyond boost-phase intercept, shooting down aircraft, surface-to-air missiles and cruise missiles.
A Mobile, Ala., firm will install a test cell diffuser on the new A3 test stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center to permit simulated high-altitude tests of the J-2X engine for the planned Ares I crew launch vehicle. American Tank and Vessel Inc. won a five-year, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for the work, which will equip the new stand to generate steam at about 4,620 pounds per second and reduce test-cell pressure with it.
Pentagon Spending2008 Procurement Costs for Contracts and Contract Modifications Pentagon Spending2008 Procurement Costs for Contracts and Contract Modifications Type Of Product Or Service Number Of Contracts Or Modifications Total Amount Average Per Contract Or Modification Percentage Of Top 20
PIECE BY PIECE: The last newly manufactured section of the Ares I-X test rocket arrived at the Assembly and Refurbishment Facility of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Feb. 20. Called the frustum, the funnel-shaped section serves to transition the primary flight loads from the rocket’s upper stage to the first stage, and is located between the upper stage and the forward skirt extension. The part is built by Major Tool and Machine Inc. of Indiana under a subcontract with Ares I prime ATK.
MOON TALK: NASA and the Space Enterprise Council will hold a workshop on lunar surface system concepts to support human and robotic exploration on the moon on Feb. 25-27 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. The forum will provide a status of NASA’s lunar surface exploration architecture and share the results of recent lunar studies performed for the agency’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and Constellation Program.
READING KOREA: Washington may be full of new leaders and new policies, but its mystification with North Korea has not changed and neither has its stance toward missile launches there. “We have made it clear that we consider it both provocative and unhelpful,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says. North Korea has said that a widely expected launch is related to its space efforts, but Clinton stressed Pyongyang has not complied with international rules that govern notification of space launches.
NO RELEASE: Any new U.S. nuclear power reactor will have to be designed to withstand the impact of an airliner. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has agreed to a final rule requiring applicants for approval of new reactors to assess the ability of their design to “avoid or mitigate the effects of a large commercial aircraft impact.” No new reactor has been licensed in the U.S. since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, but the NRC is now processing 17 applications from manufacturers and operators for up to 26 new reactors.
LIFT NEEDED: Kaman, with partner Lockheed Martin, plans to offer its K-Max helicopter to meet a U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory requirement for a cargo unmanned aircraft system able to be deployed to “remote locations” this summer. The Marines are looking for a single air vehicle able to deliver 20,000 pounds of fuel, water, ammunition, food and other items in 24 hours over a round-trip distance of 150 nautical miles between forward operating bases.
IN NEGOTIATIONS: Aero Vodochody says it is the sole remaining bidder in the running to take over Polish helicopter maker Swidnik. Both companies are major aerostructures suppliers to Western helicopter makers, including Sikorsky and Eurocopter.
PARIS — European NATO members continue to spend, on average, well under 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, according to new figures provided by the Atlantic alliance. The average for European allies is 1.7 percent, whereas the U.S. GDP allotment in 2008 was 4 percent, NATO says. The U.S. spends by far more per-capita on defense than any other NATO members. In fact, the U.S. last year spent about 44 percent more on defense than all other NATO members combined.
A GO: The European Space Agency says it has been assured by Eurockot that the Rockot launch vehicle will be able to orbit ESA’s second Earth Explorer, the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, during a three-month window starting in July. The first Earth Explorer, Goce, is due to be launched on Rockot on March 16.
AVIATIONWEEK Defense Technology and Requirements March 11 - 12, 2009 National Press Club Washington, DC Gen. George W. Casey, Jr., Chief of Staff of the United States Army Gen. William M. Fraser, III, Vice Chief of Staff for the Air Force LTG Raymond Johns, USAF Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans & Programs
