INFO SHARING: The Joint Program Executive Office for the Joint Light Tactical Radio System (JPEO JTRS) and the Software Defined Radio Forum (SDRF) have signed a formal agreement promoting collaboration and information sharing. The new team will enable commercial industry participants to have greater visibility into DOD requirements, processes and science and technology needs for JTRS programs.
U.S. Army aviation is evaluating the benefits of slowed-rotor operation being demonstrated by Boeing’s A160T Hummingbird unmanned helicopter, but its interest is mainly for manned platforms, setting up an interesting situation for the company. When Boeing acquired A160 developer Frontier Systems in 2004 it secured to rights to its optimum-speed rotor technology for unmanned aircraft applications. Frontier’s founder Abe Karen retains the rights to its use on manned platforms.
WATER PUMA: U.S. Special Operations Command will operate AeroVironment’s (AV) Puma as its All Environment Capable Variant (AECV) small unmanned aircraft system (UAS). The one-year contract, with four one-year options, has a maximum value of $200 million and provides for the purchase of aircraft, ground control systems, spares, repairs and training. The hand-launched Puma AE lands near-vertically on both land and water, and is equipped with a day- and night-capable waterproof sensor package that provides image tracking, image stabilization and high image quality.
LIGHT WAIT: Companies anxiously awaiting word on who will advance in the next round of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) competition still don’t have answers. A decision expected at the end of June has been pushed back indefinitely. The competitors, which include giants Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing, among others, have been informed by the U.S. Army that an updated schedule is forthcoming, but no formal timetable has been established for that either.
JASON FOLLOW-ON: Eumetsat has approved a 46 million euro contribution for the Jason-3 follow-on oceanography mission and okayed funds to study a further follow-on based on the European Space Agency’s (ESA) CryoSat-2 Earth Explorer. The move will put pressure on the European Commission to come up with the 46 million euros that remains to be approved for Jason-3, which is expected to ensure the continuity of critical altimetry data after the retirement of Jason-2, launched on June 20.
ALTERNATIVE FUELS: It’s called the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI), but it’s essential to U.S. Air Force plans to meet half its fuel needs from domestic sources by 2016. And CAAFI says testing of five candidate coal-to-liquid and gas-to-liquid Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthetic fuels will be completed this week. A research report is due by the end of July, providing the standards-setters the data needed to amend the jet fuel specification to allow up to a 50 percent blend of generic FT fuel and conventional jet fuel.
AT LIBERTY: BAE Systems plans to open a maritime development center in 2009 for command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) systems at Liberty Station, Calif. The 80,000-square foot complex at the former U.S. Navy training center in Point Loma, will focus on research, development, testing and integration of large-scale C4I network systems, says the company, which plans to begin opening the site in June next year.
DELTA FAVORED: Italian space agency ASI says the weak dollar is making it nearly impossible to beat a Boeing offer to launch the fourth CosmoSkyMed satellite on the Delta II, despite strong efforts by European launch provider Arianespace to meet ASI requirements, including accelerating the introduction of its new Soyuz launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, to accommodate a 2009 launch. “Unless Arianespace makes us an offer we can’t refuse, a Delta II launch now appears inevitable,” ASI President Giovanni Bignami says.
ARES ENGINES: NASA intends to buy as many as 27 J-2X engines, plus materials for 10 more, from Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) to power its planned Ares I and Ares V upper stages, according to an agency announcement of the sole-source procurement. PWR already is under contract to develop and test the cryogenic rocket engine, which is derived from the Rocketdyne J-2 upper-stage engine for NASA’s Saturn V, and to fabricate seven development and two certification engines.
LONDON – A British Royal Air Force (RAF) base consolidation program will likely see Typhoon operations restricted to two main operating sites, with the option of a third location now under review.
In observance of the U.S. Independence Day holiday, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report will not publish an issue on July 4th. The next issue will be dated July 7th.
BROAD CONCERNS: Adm. Mike Mullen, the U.S. Central Command chief, told reporters at the Pentagon July 2 that he has “broad concerns” about the overall stability of the Middle East. Mullen recently returned from visiting Israel, a trip he said had been planned long before rumors of an Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran came to the fore. As to whether the U.S.
Saab has teamed up with Rheinmetal Schweiz and Pilatus Aircraft as part of its bid to win Switzerland’s contract for an F-5 fighter replacement. The Gripen will go up against the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale. Boeing pulled its F/A-18E/F out of the race, saying the Super Hornet was too much aircraft for the requirement. Boeing officials have repeatedly indicated they think the single-seat Gripen may have the edge.
GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, Md. – Instruments, batteries, gyros and other hardware for the fifth and final space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope is ready to ship on July 14, in plenty of time for the scheduled Oct. 8 launch date. Even though the Michoud Assembly Facility has gained ground on production problems with the redesigned shuttle external tanks that forced a delay from the original plan to launch the servicing mission in August, managers here discount chances the mission may be advanced.
Although the Pentagon reports that discussions with Poland over the placement of ground-based midcourse ballistic missile interceptors are going smoothly, Lithuania may now be a favored backup option. During discussions July 1 between Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas, the possibility of Lithuania as an alternative European host for the interceptors was raised.
The Phoenix lander’s search for organic evidence of past or present life on Mars will begin in earnest around July 7 as the spacecraft’s organic chemistry instrument is fed a sample of 100 percent water ice. The Phoenix team also wants to do ice sampling as early as possible in the event an electrical short in the device prematurely halts organic oven operations. This marks a major shift in mission emphasis from the general characterization of the landing site to specific focused testing of ice and the soil/ice interface region.
Piasecki Aircraft is building a full-scale prototype of an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) designed to be launched from the weapons bay or under the wing of the U.S. Navy’s Lockheed Martin P-3 and Boeing P-8 maritime-patrol aircraft. The Turais UAV is being demonstrated under the Navy’s Wing and Bomb Bay Launched (WBBL) UAV small business research project. The aeromechanical demonstrator being built by Piasecki will be used for unpowered drop tests early in 2009, President and Chief Executive John Piasecki says.
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Pratt & Whitney have demonstrated near-instantaneous low-pressure (LP) spool power extraction from a JT15D turbofan as part of the Versatile Affordable Advanced Turbine Engine (VAATE) program.
Rolls-Royce is about to begin test runs of a new open rotor rig aimed at evaluating noise performance as a first step toward development of a full-scale demonstrator. The company’s “Rig 145” open rotor test rig is being installed in a low-speed wind tunnel run by DNW, a joint facility established by the German Aerospace Center DLR and the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory NLR.
NEW BIRD: The U.S. Air Force’s 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., took delivery of the newest RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft, a Block 20, on June 30. The new aircraft, which will join seven Block 10 models already assigned to Beale, has an increased wingspan, bigger airframe and additional payload capacity.
German-based Diehl Defence plans to stage a second live drop test of its HOPE (High Performance Penetrator) air-launched standoff weapon on the Vidsel missile test range in northern Sweden in September. The test will be performed by a Tornado IDS strike aircraft from the German flight test center at Manching near Munich, Germany, but flown out of the local Vidsel Air Base, according to Hans Peter Muller, head of test technology and system integration at Diehl BGT Defence.
The U.S. Navy plans to cut its use of oil by 1.14 million barrels in 2008 and pare $157 million out of its fuel budget with an ongoing energy conservation program that aims to cut fuel consumption aboard ships by 10 percent each year. The Incentives Energy Conservation (i-ENCON) Program, led by U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command, provides ship commanders and chief engineers with energy saving strategies along with procedures to cut fuel burn and provides quarterly awards for the most fuel efficient operations.
SEA TRIALS: In a collaboration between Northrop Grumman’s shipbuilding sector and the U.S. Navy, the amphibious dock ship Green Bay (LPD 20) successfully completed builder’s sea trials the last week of June 2008. Testing was performed on the ship’s main propulsion, communications, steering, navigational, radar and other systems. Other exercises included anchor handling, flight operations, compartment air balancing and ballasting/deballasting of the well deck, where amphibious landing craft will be launched.
The Netherlands defense ministry refuses to include Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in an evaluation of potential candidates for its next-generation fighter requirement. Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor also will not be considered, despite a direct request from the country’s Parliament to include both U.S. fighters in an evaluation of potential alternatives to the Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
