PARIS – The five partner agencies that jointly operate the International Space Station (ISS) say they are eager to use the facility as a stepping stone for lunar and Martian exploration, but they first must find a way to sustain operations beyond the present partnership agreement.
FARNBOROUGH – BAE Systems has revised its medium-term ambition to downsize to two main air systems sites in the U.K., and instead will aim to sustain a “two-and-a half” site structure. The company has been considering its long-term industrial footprint in the U.K., given the shrinking workload – an issue recognized by the government in its 2005 Defense Industrial Strategy policy document. Mike Turner, BAE Systems CEO, said at the time that the medium-term aim was to reduce to two sites. These most likely would have been Warton and Salmesbury.
LAB DEFENSE: Embattled defense research center Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), N.M., came through a congressional audit “well,” according to a major Washington proponent, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.). “Clearly, the change in management structure has made security a top management priority,” he asserted.
FARNBOROUGH – Boeing and Raytheon have agreed to team for the U.S. Navy’s forthcoming EP-3 replacement competition for about 20 aircraft. Raytheon will handle the payload and its integration onto the 737-800 P-8 configuration, which incorporates a 737-900 wing. Argon ST is providing the low-band communications intelligence collection systems for the aircraft.
LOW TECH: The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) says the presumptive Democratic and Republican presidential nominees’ relatively scant attention toward technology specific issues so far has led the trade group to give both Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) an “incomplete” grade on their overall focus on and vision for technology-driven innovation. “Americans deserve to hear the candidates’ visions for how America will maintain its position as the world’s innovation headquarters,” said ITAA President and CEO Phil Bond.
DESTROYER SCOUT: The first-ever demonstration of an MQ-8B Fire Scout aboard a U.S. Navy destroyer has taken place, prime contractor Northrop Grumman announced July 15. The demonstration, conducted in late February aboard the USS Stethem at Yokosuka Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan, also marked the first appearance of a new production MQ-8B outside the U.S. The UAV was lifted onto the ship and maneuvered aboard, demonstrating shipboard handling. The Fire Scout operational evaluation will be conducted aboard an FFG-7 Oliver Hazard Perry-class ship in 2009.
The California National Guard (CNG) is ramping up its aerial deployment – and outreach – to fight a spate of early season wildfires. There are currently 22 rotary-wing aircraft supporting the firefighting effort, including 14 CNG helicopters and eight helicopters from Utah, Nebraska, Washington state, Arizona and Oregon, according to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office. Already, these rotary-wing aircraft have dropped nearly 3 million gallons of water.
The U.S. Justice Department has closed an investigation of Orbital Sciences Corp. related to its work on U.S. government launch vehicle programs without filing any charges against the company or its staff, Orbital announced July 17. The investigation prompted federal and DOD investigators to search company facilities in Arizona in 2005 (Aerospace DAILY, May 31, 2005).
APKWS FUNDED: Demonstrations of BAE Systems’ Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) are on track for completion now that full funding from the U.S. Navy is in place. The Navy will assume the $45.7 million APKWS development contract with BAE Systems. According to the company, plans are under way to produce and deliver the rocket-guidance capability to the field. Production is slated to begin in 2009.
Bucking recent trends, the Pentagon has focused its spending in the first half of this year on things that fly instead of those on the ground, with fixed-wing aircraft costs topping the list at $4.8 billion in DOD contracts and contract modifications so far.
U.S. commanders in Afghanistan have asked top Defense Department leaders for 25 percent more Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs), and specifically, the General Dynamics/BAE-made RG-31s. A Pentagon spokesman told reporters there July 16 that the RG-31 is desired “because it’s better suited for the unimproved roads and rugged terrain of the country.” Spokesman Geoff Morrell further said “the RG-31 is the MRAP of choice in Afghanistan.”
LAIRCM TANKERS: Under a $93 million contract, Northrop Grumman has been selected to provide its laser-based Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures Systems (LAIRCM) for the U.K. Royal Air Force’s (RAF) air-to-air refueling and transport aircraft. Northrop Grumman will provide LAIRCM system hardware and support for the U.K.’s Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) program to Thales U.K., a member of the AirTanker consortium.
GUIDING GODDARD: Rob Strain, head of the space dept. at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), will take over Aug. 4 as director of NASA’s nearby Goddard Space Flight Center. Administrator Michael Griffin, who held Strain’s post at APL before taking the top job at NASA, announced the appointment. Strain replaces Ed Weiler, who was named associate administrator for science in May following the abrupt resignation of planetary scientist Alan Stern (Aerospace DAILY, May 9)
Raytheon announced July 16 that it has completed captive-carry testing of the Joint Standoff Weapon-Extended Range (JSOW-ER) and said the test proved it can deliver on a recently awarded $4.1 million, U.S. Navy contract to conduct a free-flight demonstration of the JSOW-ER next spring. During the Raytheon-funded test, a JSOW-ER was loaded onto an A-4 Skyhawk fighter and the weapon’s engine was ignited at 25,000 feet. Test conditions met operational stresses, Raytheon asserted.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy has sent an open letter to President Bush and Congress stressing the importance of a viable energy policy and offering a 13-point plan to address current issues. U.S. national security and economic competitiveness depend on affordable and abundant supplies of energy, said U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue, who introduced the letter July 16. He said the 13 points must be addressed as a whole.
Teams led by Raytheon and Sensis have been awarded 18-month, $6 million NASA contracts to evaluate the effect that new aircraft types, from Very Light Jets to supersonic transports, might have on the next-generation air transportation system (NextGen). The two teams will use modeling and simulation to evaluate how the new classes of aircraft could effect air traffic management efficiency, aviation safety and the environment. The studies will provide NASA and its NextGen partners with research and design recommendations.
A group of analysts inside the U.S. Defense Department is trying to figure out how to extend the Cold War-era national security strategy of deterrence into space and cyberspace, a Bush administration official told a recent Washington seminar. Early results from the strategy review, which is racing against the end of the administration’s tenure, entails using “all” aspects of U.S. power to deter attacks against U.S. space assets while similarly trying to dissuade attacks on its cyber interests, according to the official. Sharing assets
FARNBOROUGH – The U.S. Air Force is considering speeding up the purchase of CV-22s, which may be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan, according to a defense official close to the program. The acceleration could add up to three aircraft annually, boosting the total number to as high as nine per year. The proposal was part of the U.S. Air Force’s fiscal 2010 budget plan, which is now being reviewed by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and will be sent to Congress in February.
MINE DETECTION: Northrop Grumman’s Airborne Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Minefield Detection System (ASTAMIDS) is on track for Low Rate Initial Production in 2009. The system first flew aboard a modified U.S. Army UH-1H Huey helicopter at Northrop’s facility in Melbourne, Fla., on April 30. On the first ASTAMIDS flight, all four first-flight objectives were achieved and ground control of the gimbal via the developmental Tactical Ground Segment software was demonstrated. ASTAMIDS is designed for the U.S.
SUPER CONDUCTOR: The Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division’s Ship Engineering Station in Philadelphia, Pa., have installed a new high-temperature superconducting degaussing coil system onboard the USS Higgins (DDG 76) at the naval station in San Diego, Calif. The new degaussing coil – the first of its kind to be installed onboard a naval vessel – went into a cold state on July 11 and will undergo a series of at-sea tests and demonstrations over the next two years.
BARRELING AHEAD: L-3 Communications MAS (Canada) said it received a $106 million contract for the production phase of the Royal Australian Air Force’s F/A-18 Center Barrel Replacement as part of the Structural Refurbishment Project Phase 2. The company said the work is worth $130 million over five years and creates more than 110 jobs at L-3 MAS Mirabel. Under this new phase, L-3 MAS will deliver four low-rate-initial-production aircraft followed by four full-rate production aircraft.
CHINOOK TEAM: Boeing and AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, signed an agreement July 16 at the Farnborough Air Show for the joint manufacture of new CH-47F Chinook helicopters for the Italian army. As prime contractor for the Italian CH-47F, AgustaWestland will be responsible for design and systems integration and aircraft delivery to the Italian army. Boeing will build the fuselage at its facility in Ridley Park, Pa.
PGS BOOST: The U.S. Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs recently added $16.7 million more to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. for the Prompt Global Strike (PGS) Medium Lift Re-entry Body (MLRB) development effort. Lockheed will perform the work in Sunnyvale, Calif., and various other locations yet to be determined, and is expected to finish in June 2009, the Pentagon said July 11.
