The Iraqi government plans to spend billions of dollars more on equipment and increase the size of its forces, the U.S. commander in Iraq told Congress early April 8. Army Gen. David Petraeus’ comment comes as Iraqi leaders are increasingly being criticized on Capitol Hill for letting the U.S. shoulder the bulk of its security needs.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Apache AH-64 Block III upgrade aircraft is slated to perform its first flight on July 9, ushering in what the U.S. Army views as a quantum leap in capability for its most versatile attack helicopter. At a late afternoon brief at the Army Aviation Association of America (Quad A) symposium April 7, senior Army officials talked up an ongoing Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment (JEFX08) aimed at developing key networking capabilities for the Block III aircraft.
VENESAT: China is nearing launch of a Long March 3B heavy booster carrying a communications satellite designed and built by China for Venezuela and Uruguay under a $241 million contract. The mission is set for liftoff from the Xichang Space Center between September and November. The satellite will be designated Venesat 1, since 90 percent of the funding was provided by Venezuela. It is to have a service life of 15 years in geosynchronous orbit.
Advanced flight control software from Lockheed Martin Space Systems for the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) passed an April 2 integrated design review (IDR) by nearly 80 representatives of the U.S. Air Force, Aerospace Corp and the Defense Dept.
The Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, usually plagued by accusations of cost overruns, was on the list of six U.S. Army programs noted for significant Selected Acquisition Reports (SAR) cost changes, this time for decreases in the FCS bottom line.
DAGR STRIKE: Lockheed Martin’s Direct Attack Guided Rocket (DAGR) semi-active laser guidance kit for 2.75-inch/70mm rockets successfully completed a series of tests demonstrating its lock-on-before launch capability. The tests, conducted March 29 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., also demonstrated DAGR’s ability to deliver precision-strike accuracy from 10 degrees off boresight.
PETERSON AFB, COLO. – The Pentagon’s first official estimate for the Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) Block 10 satellite is $823.9 million, and the Air Force expects to launch it by early 2009. The Pentagon released the cost as the first baseline for the program, which was included in a larger list of acquisition program pricing sent to Capitol Hill April 7.
B-2 CONCERNS: A center-of-gravity problem could have caused the B-2 crash in Guam, says a U.S. Air Force general who flew the bomber and watched over its development Air Combat Command’s commander has said the bomber rotated prematurely, lifted off too early and stalled, which caused the aircraft’s destruction (Aerospace DAILY, March 28). “The fly-by-wire flight control system in the bomber is supposed to compensate for shifts in the center of gravity [CG],” says the former B-2 pilot.
The answer to finding and killing stealthy, next-generation cruise missiles from the air may be about to takeoff, although the journey so far has been a little bumpy.
THIRD BIRD: SES Americom and Orbital Sciences Corporation announced April 8 the order of a third spacecraft under the multi-satellite contract both companies announced in May 2007. The first and second satellites ordered under the contract were AMC-5R and a ground spare. The spare will now become AMC-1R, and a new ground spare will be produced for future use. Planned for launch in the second half of 2009, AMC-1R will reside in geosynchronous Earth orbit at 103 degrees West longitude.
The two most recent government reports on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) could hardly paint two more different pictures of the same program. The Pentagon’s Selection Acquisition Reports (SARs), released April 7, describes a program with a 3 percent cost decrease – to about $298 billion – with relatively “stable” unit costs compared to original estimates.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. of Littleton, Colo., is being awarded a modified firm fixed price contract for $124,100,000. This modification is issued to purchase launch services from Lockheed Martin Co. under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program and Atlas medium-plus rocket (Atlas 5510 to launch the Mobile Users Objective System (MUOS)-1 Satellite. At this time $124,100,000 has been obligated. El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8816-06-C-0004, Modification Number P00002). NAVY
INTERNATIONAL TRAINING: Northrop Grumman is creating a base of international second source suppliers for F-35 Lightning II aircraft components, offering training to Danish and Turkish manufacturing specialists in April and May. In 2006, Northrop Grumman helped DOD and F-35 prime Lockheed Martin secure commitments from eight countries to purchase approximately 25 percent of the more than 3,000 projected F-35 aircraft sales.
LESS IS LESS: DOD is trimming the overall cost of its major weapons acquisitions in its latest wrap-up report from more than $1.7 trillion to about $1.64 trillion. But the headline cut is coming from reduced production plans and changes to budgeting, while additional hardware and software engineering changes and a net increase in program cost estimates have continued to push up total estimates.
PARIS — EADS Astrium will acquire Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) in a move expected to bolster Astrium’s small satellite know-how and reinforce Britain’s position as a space systems manufacturer. Astrium announced Monday morning that it had concluded an agreement to acquire an approximately 80 percent stake in SSTL from the University of Surrey, subject to regulatory approval. With at least one other major European smallsat supplier, OHB System, available to customers, regulators are not likely to raise any objections.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – With the May 19 proposal deadline for the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) program on the horizon, industry competitors are jockeying for position Raytheon announced April 7 that it is teaming up with Boeing to pursue the program, which will provide a replacement for the Hellfire and Maverick missiles on unmanned aerial vehicles, rotary and fixed-wing platforms by 2016.
Boeing, already financing 10 additional C-17s on its own dime beyond the U.S. Air Force order of 190, is also paying for the long-lead parts to build 20 more, according to an industry source. The company began funding the extra airlifters in hopes that the Air Force would buy more. The Air Force has decided not to re-engine its entire C-5 fleet, leaving an opportunity for Boeing to continue selling the C-17 to the Pentagon. Despite an aggressive push last year for international sales, foreign buys could not carry the production line beyond fiscal 2009.
ARMY Stewart & Stevenson Tactical Vehicle Systems Limited Partnership, Sealy, Texas, was awarded on March 31, 2008, a $43,579,276.55 firm-fixed price contract for adding long-term armor strategy A1P2 cabs to 730 family of medium tactical vehicles. Work will be performed in Sealy, Texas. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Work is expected to be completed by Nov. 15, 2008. Two bids were solicited on Aug. 15, 2002 and two bids were received. U.S. Army TACOM, Warren, Mich. is the contracting agency (DAAE07-03-C-S023).
The National Academies’ National Research Council (NRC) is urging NASA to “adequately” fund its space radiation biology research program, warning that recent budget cuts could threaten efforts to protect future astronauts during long-term missions. “NASA’s space radiation biology research has been compromised by the recent cuts in funding, particularly in research addressing non-cancer effects,” the NRC panel says in its report.
COLORADO SPRINGS Space-derived revenue hit $251 billion in 2007, an 11-percent growth rate from a year earlier, according to an annual report on the global space market released April 7 by the Space Foundation. Commercial satellite products and services continued to pace the market, accounting for 55 percent of space-economy activity worldwide, or $138.8 billion, according to the foundation’s Space Report 2008. That is an increase of 20 percent over 2006 (Aerospace DAILY, Oct. 11, 2007).
NEW DELHI – India is planning to launch Cartosat-2A, a remote sensing satellite equipped with high-resolution cameras, on April 28. Identical to the mapping satellite Cartosat-2, which was launched in January 2007, the 680-kilogram (1,500 pound) Cartosat-2A will be placed in a polar orbit at an altitude of 630 kilometers (391 miles). Cartosat-2A will have a panchromatic camera capable of providing scene-specific spot imagery for cartographic and other applications at better than one-meter resolution.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Boeing announced April 7 that it expects the Italian government to issue a request for proposals (RFP) in the second quarter of 2008 for up to 20 Chinook F-model aircraft. The F-models will be produced under a special agreement with Italian helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland. “There is money in the 2008 budget to start that program,” said Jack Dougherty, Boeing’s vice president of the Chinook program. A letter of request from Turkey for F-models was received by the company in March.
