U.S. European Command Headquarters (EUCOM) improperly used – or managed the use of – government purchase cards (GPCs), the Pentagon Inspector General (IG) says in a recent report. EUCOM personnel misused the cards for such purchases as computer equipment and commemorative coins that were eventually given away as gifts or sold at local snack bars, according to the IG report, released late last month. Irregularities
AHEAD OF SKED: Lockheed Martin delivered the core propulsion module for the third space vehicle (SV-3) of its Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications system six months ahead of the planned schedule, the company announced July 24. The core propulsion module contains the integrated propulsion system as well as panels and other components that serve as the structural foundation of the satellite.
The U.S. Defense Department is allowing misperceptions about future warfare needs to color its view of the importance of F-22 Raptors to U.S. military strategy, Lexington Institute analyst Loren Thompson says in a recent brief. The DOD and next presidential administration need to bolster the production plan for the jet fighter, according to Thompson.
Fiscal 2009 spending bills, already bogged down in the House, have also hit a snag in the Senate. Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) halted work on the three remaining spending bills, including defense appropriations, in a political wrangle with Republicans over oil drilling.
Lockheed Martin and Aerojet report success in a demonstration of the High Power Hall Current Thruster electric propulsion system to be used for orbital transfer and station keeping for the Lockheed/Northrop Grumman Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT). Hall thruster technology is seen as a major step forward for orbital thrusters because its operational lifetime is measured in thousands of hours – the comparison is to a light bulb – instead of the minutes that conventional chemical thrusters provide. AEHF tech
Boeing’s earnings per share dropped 14 percent to $1.16 during the second quarter of 2008, in part due to the $248 million charge the company incurred as a result of delays in the Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) program. Boeing’s overall revenue for the quarter stayed relatively steady at $17 billion, and was affected by both the Wedgetail charge and lower profitability “due to mix and timing in Commercial Airplanes, partially offset by lower centralized costs,” the company said in announcing its results July 23.
UNMANNED ASSISTANCE: General Dynamics Robotic Systems said the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) recently awarded it a contract to develop the Common Launch and Recovery System (CLRS) for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The effort will seek robotics and automation technologies to develop a method for launching and recovering unmanned maritime systems, such as unmanned boats and other watercraft, from the LCS. Such seaborne launch and recovery capabilities are crucial, and one of the most challenging aspects to the Navy’s seabasing and remotely operated strategies.
Phoenix Mars lander spacecraft controllers at the University of Arizona are preparing for a quick series of maneuvers as early as this weekend that they hope will allow them to collect a sample of what they believe is icy soil and get it into one of their test ovens for analysis before it sublimates in the thin Martian atmosphere.
TRANSPONDERS LOST: Eutelsat says power output on its W5 communications satellite has been stabilized following the loss of a solar panel, but that the spacecraft will have to operate with just 20 of its 24 Ku-band transponders. The Paris-based fixed satellite service operator said the four transponders had to be switched off following the glitch, which occurred on June 16-17, and that attempts to recover their use in collaboration with the satellite manufacturer, Thales Alenia Space, were not successful. Launched in 2002 to a position at 70.5 deg. E.
SATURDAY JTRS: Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics John Young, senior advisors and the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) board of directions will meet on Saturday, July 26 to discuss the program, a Pentagon spokesperson says. The conversation is part of an ongoing review, and the reason for the weekend gathering is to provide the group an uninterrupted stretch of “time for a more in-depth review” of JTRS, the spokesperson says.
HARTFORD, Conn. – NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Ohio is refurbishing its open-rotor wind tunnel test stand to support joint research with General Electric into reducing the noise levels of the fuel-saving engines. Last used in the 1980s during the development of geared propfan and direct-drive unducted fan designs, the drive system allows 1/6th-scale models of open-rotor engines to be tested in the anechoic wind tunnel at Glenn.
Inmarsat says it has broken off talks with Harbinger Capital Partners, initiated earlier this month, that could have led to a takeover proposal from the U.S. hedge fund. The London-based mobile satellite service (MSS) operator says the discussions had focused principally on the regulatory processes relating to a possible offer, and that no offer or indication of a potential offer price was made.
QATAR LIFT: Boeing said it signed a deal with Qatar on July 21 for an undisclosed number of C-17 Globemaster III airlifters. Qatar will sign a Foreign Military Sales agreement for contractor logistics support with the U.S. Air Force, the company further said. Boeing will begin deliveries from its Long Beach, Calif., C-17 factory in summer 2009. The sale was expected and follows Boeing’s recent success in finding new customers – or invigorating existing ones like the U.S. military – to buy the airlifters (Aerospace DAILY, July 14).
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MINISTER’S NOTEBOOK: The Australian Minister for Defense Science and Personnel, Warren Snowdon, said his visit last week to Washington was fruitful because he learned how the government and private sector can cooperate. “It has been useful to discuss the U.S. experience in encouraging innovation between defense, academia and industry, and learn more about their models of rapid science and technology development through to acquisition,” Snowdon said in a prepared statement. He also promoted bilateral cooperation between the Pacific allies.
The USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) became the U.S. Navy’s first dock landing ship to begin its comprehensive midlife modernization availability last week. The major rework – called “availability” in naval terms – at Metro Machine Corp. in Norfolk, Va., is expected to last nine months, and will include major upgrades to the ship control system, local area network and machinery control system, as well as replacement of the ship’s boilers and evaporators with an all-electric services system, according to Naval Sea Systems Command.
SEE GLIDER: The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has signed a sole licensing agreement with iRobot and UW TechTransfer to commercialize Seaglider technology, which was originally supported by ONR. Seagliders are autonomous underwater vehicles that rely on a buoyancy-based propulsion system that allows them to “glide” slowly through oceans for weeks or months at a stretch. The technology was developed in 1995 by a research team at the University of Washington, led by Dr. Charlie Erikson.
After a six-year working relationship, Boeing has acquired Insitu in a move that will open the unmanned air, ground and underwater vehicle market to both companies. Al Jackson, Insitu’s vice president of sales and government relations, said he was “ecstatic” about the acquisition. With Boeing’s help, Jackson said, Insitu will now have the resources to expand beyond unmanned aerial vehicles to other autonomous platforms like ground and underwater systems. “The agreement is mutual,” he said. “We’ll both benefit.” ScanEagle
HARTFORD, Conn. – The U.S. Army is planning to demonstrate a 6,000-7,000 shaft horsepower (shp) turboshaft engine to power a future growth version of, or replacement for, the CH-47 Chinook. The Future Affordable Turbine Engine (FATE) technology demonstration is planned to begin in four years, says Ming Lau, propulsion director with the Army’s Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD), speaking July 21 at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Joint Propulsion Conference here.
HARTFORD, Conn. – After two unsuccessful attempts to reach orbit, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is preparing to launch its third Falcon 1 booster, but says the flight is “not make or break” for the privately funded startup company. Flight 3 is on the pad at Kwajalein in the Pacific being prepared for a launch “in the coming weeks,” says Larry Williams, the company’s vice president of strategic relations, adding: “We don’t have a firm date.”
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a senior policy advisor to Republican presidential contender John McCain, has stressed to Aerospace DAILY that the Arizona senator has not settled on possible defense spending changes, despite recent press reports.
MOVING MAPS: The U.S. Navy’s Air Combat Electronics Program Office marked the 1000th production delivery of the Tactical Air Moving Map (Tammac) system computer developed by Harris Corporation on July 22. The Tammac Digital Map Computer (DMC) provides aircrew with a graphical representation of the aircraft’s current position and incorporates a Terrain Avoidance Warning System (TAWS).
