BATMAV: U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) is testing the new Battlefield Air Targeting Micro Air Vehicle (BATMAV) and expects to field the system with AFSOC combat controllers by the end of the year, according to manufacturer AeroVironment. Dubbed Wasp III, the backpack-sized unmanned aerial vehicle has a wingspan of 29 inches, weighs one pound and carries forward- and side-looking color cameras. It can fly for up to 45 minutes and up to 5 kilometers from the control transceiver, manually or via autopilot.
The top U.S. Air Force general and civilian leaders have promised lawmakers that the service will give aerial refueling outsourcing a fair trial but asked them not to mandate such a move and warned of its impact on in-house service capability. Gen. T. Michael Moseley, chief of staff, and Secretary Michael Wynne told House Armed Services Committee (HASC) members Oct. 24 that even without legislative language, the Air Force would perform a so-called fee-for-service demonstration.
ORBITAL FINANCIALS: Orbital Sciences Corporation announced that its third quarter revenues increased 46 percent over 2006, to $289.5 million. The company's third quarter operating income also rose 54 percent over last year, to $23.2 million. Net income increased for the quarter 85 percent over last year, at $15.7 million. Free cash flow for Orbital was $22.4 million versus third quarter 2006, when cash flow was $21.3 million.
BCT WORK: BAE Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems will work together for the U.S. Army's heavy brigade combat team (BCT) modernization plan. They said Oct. 25 they have agreed to upgrade, modernize and achieve commonality on BAE Systems' family of Bradley Fighting Vehicles and General Dynamics M1 Abrams tanks, the brigades' primary combat vehicles. The agreement was "developed with the Army's encouragement" and defines how the companies will work with the Army's project manager for heavy BCTs, as well as the Abrams and Bradley product managers.
NO CYBER HOME: U.S. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told lawmakers Oct. 24 that the service is still unsure where - or even how - to permanently locate its nascent Cyberspace Command. Responding to an inquiry from Republican Rep. Thelma Drake, whose Virginia district is home to numerous military facilities, Wynne told the House Armed Services Committee that a major command requires 12,000 personnel or more to establish.
MOP: The Defense Dept. is trying to accelerate Northrop Grumman's effort to outfit the B-2 for the bunker-busting Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), including it in the administration's request for the off-budget fiscal 2008 supplemental appropriation (DAILY, Oct. 26).
The U.S. Air Force wants its fleet certified to fly on a synthetic fuel blend by 2011, and has begun testing in earnest, including a flight last week on a C-17. "We've developed a three-part energy strategy," William Anderson, assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and logistics, told media at a Foreign Press Center briefing in Washington Oct. 26. "We're looking to reduce demand, find alternative supply sources and change the culture of every airman so they make energy a consideration in all that they do."
Not only does he disagree with the Bush administration's new get-tough policy with Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd thinks it may reflect attempts "to justify military action against Iran." The West Virginia Democrat decries the White House designation of the Revolutionary Guard as a proliferater of weapons of mass destruction, calling it "chest-pounding rhetoric."
ABL EVENT: The industry team behind the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Airborne Laser (ABL) program is planning an Oct. 31 ceremony to celebrate the program's completion of flight tests at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Boeing is prime contractor for ABL and provides the 747-400F airframe, Lockheed Martin is providing the beam control/fire control system and Northrop Grumman furnishes the high-power chemical laser for shooting down missiles in their boost phase.
AC-130 DISPLAYS: U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command plans to use CMC Electronics' new TacView display in the AC-130 gunship with dual installation in each cockpit. TacView is a military version of the company's popular Class 2 electronic flight bag. The 5 x 7-inch display has a touch-sensitive screen and can be used by crew members wearing gloves.
International Space Station (ISS) controllers adjusted the second extravehicular activity (EVA) of the ongoing STS-120/10A assembly mission to insert a visual inspection of the 10-foot-diameter joint that rotates the 240-foot solar array wing at the starboard end of the main station truss.
As a Chinese spacecraft is ready to head to the moon, the leading U.S. democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), is calling for an increase in overall U.S. robotic exploration, but not necessarily manned exploration of the moon. A Clinton policy paper on her proposed space and technology strategy clouds the issue of whether NASA's program to return astronauts to the moon would receive the support of a Clinton White House.
TALKING POINTS: One section of the U.S. Air Force's draft revised request for proposal (RFP) for its combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter replacement program concerns a little added presentation the service wants - oral. "Both the oral presentations and presentation material shall be used to explain the organization and general content of the mission capability volume and shall not include new information," the RFP says.
A code of conduct for "responsible" spacefaring nations drafted by nongovernmental organizations in Canada, France, Japan, Russia and the U.S. would limit threatening activities in space without the difficult diplomatic task of reaching agreement on a space arms control treaty.
IT SPENDING: Delays in the fiscal 2007 defense supplemental spending bill will spell problems for non-warfighting programs late this year and early next year, according to an evaluation of federal government information technology (IT) and professional services by Stifel Nicolaus Equity Research. In addition, upcoming elections may result in delays for new initiatives in the sector, which won't be helped by anticipated sluggish growth in the near-term budget.
Legacy military aircraft are some of the big winners in the Bush administration's additions to its standing off-budget supplemental request for fiscal 2008. More than $808 million is requested for aircraft "essential to continuing" the so-called global war on terror, according to details the White House sent Congress earlier this week. New supplemental spending would go toward five EA-18G Growlers ($375 million), one F/A-18E/F Hornet ($54.5 million) and three MH-60S helicopters ($102.3 million).
Boeing has ground tested the hydrogen engine propulsion system slated for its High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft, the company announced Oct. 24. Ford Motor Co. developed the hydrogen engine in the system, which ran for nearly four days in a controlled chamber at Aurora Flight Sciences in Manassas, Va., including a total of three days that simulated conditions at 65,000 feet.
Checkmate, a cross-functional planning and analysis organization that has been around since the 1970s in various forms, is taking on a more strategic function to provide critical assessment and analysis to U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley. "The chief wants to return to a strategic perspective for airpower," Col. Steven McPherson, Checkmate's deputy director, told Aerospace Daily Oct. 25. "That's why he's reached down and moved Checkmate back to a strategic level...working directly for him."
FRENCH CARRIER: Acquisition of a 39.2 percent stake in Norwegian shipbuilder Aker Yards by South Korea's STX could complicate French plans to build a second aircraft carrier, union leaders say. Aker's French affiliate, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, has been in line to build the hull and propulsion system for the carrier. The unions fear foreign ownership could cause the defense ministry to look elsewhere.
