SDB DROPPED: The U.S. Air Force has for the first time dropped the 250-pound Small-Diameter Bomb from the stealthy F-22 Raptor. The test occurred recently at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Integrating the two systems has been key to increasing the F-22's ground-attack capabilities. The stealthy, twin-engine fighter, made by Lockheed Martin, was designed to carry two 1,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions. The Raptor can carry up to eight individually targeted Boeing SDBs internally.
GPS TRANSITION: The U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center has completed a four-phase transition of the new Architecture Evolution Plan for civil users of its Global Positioning System satellite network. Boeing Mission Systems led a contractor team that included Lockheed Martin which built the new system to replace a 1970s-era mainframe computer at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo. Air Force testing included three rehearsals to assure a smooth transition for civil users.
NUCLEAR IRAN: It's likely "but not inevitable" that Iran will develop its own nuclear weapons, says retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, the former head of U.S. Central Command, and the U.S. should "not preclude any option that we may have" to prevent it. But if the Iranians do succeed, Abizaid concedes there are ways to live with a nuclear Iran. "Let's face it, we lived with a nuclear Soviet Union; we've lived with a nuclear China; we're living with other nuclear powers as well," Abizaid tells an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The European Commission has proposed changes in running and funding the Galileo and Egnos satellite navigation systems, but deferred proposals on procurement competition and private sector involvement. The proposed revamp was recently submitted to the European Parliament and the European Council, which in June agreed to abandon the public-private partnership arrangement that had been set up to manage and fund deployment of the 30-satellite system.
In a move to further collaboration between civil and defense groups regarding international airspace, the U.S. Defense Department's Policy Board on Federal Aviation has joined the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO) as an associate member.
15,274 MRAPS: The Pentagon's Joint Requirements Oversight Council has certified a new requirement for 15,274 new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. Of those, the Army requested another 10,000 MRAPs, the Marine Corps 3,700, the Navy 544, the Air Force 697 and Special Operations Command 333, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said Sept. 20. The 15,274 level results from a "closer evaluation" and comes in under a nebulous 17,000 level kicked around the Pentagon earlier.
LPD 19 COMING: The U.S. Navy will take delivery of LPD 19 by the end of the month, an executive officer said. The future USS Mesa Verde completed acceptance trials on Sept. 14 and returned to the Northrop Grumman Ship Systems shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. "Mesa Verde performed very well on trials and its condition and performance is a testament to the craftsmanship of the shipbuilders," said Rear Adm. Chuck Goddard, program executive officer for ships.
IRANIAN MISSILES: An Iranian Web site associated with the national government says 600 Shahab-3 missiles are aimed at targets throughout Israel and will be launched if either Iran or Syria is attacked. Syria has not yet acknowledged, however, that Israeli aircraft bombed a military site in Western Syria two weeks ago. The Shahab-3 is Iran's top-of-the-line ballistic missile but has a spotty test record, and it's highly unlikely that anywhere near 600 of them are in inventory.
MOONWALKERS WANTED: NASA is looking for a few good people to join its next group of astronauts - Class of 2009 - for duty that could include exploring the moon. With the space shuttle fleet due to retire in 2010, astronauts selected early in 2009 under a new round of recruiting will be assigned for extended stays on the International Space Station "and missions to the moon," the agency says. Deadline for application is July 1, 2008, with selected candidates to report to Johnson Space Center for basic training in the summer of 2009.
WHO'S IN CHARGE?: Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England has rejected the Air Force's efforts to take over management of all Pentagon unmanned aerial vehicles that fly above 3,500 feet, but confusion over who is in charge appears to continue. The Defense Department is organizing a series of teams to address topics including standardizing procurement and operational processes. Perhaps the most difficult issue ahead is how to merge the Army's Warrior and the Air Force's Predator programs, a marriage England decreed must be complete by October 2008.
EP-3 FOLLOW-ON: The U.S. Navy is planning to conduct a technology demonstration for options to replace its EP-3 fleet. Specific capabilities for the EP-X include infrared search and track as well as interoperability with the yet-to-be decided Broad Area Maritime Surveillance System (BAMS) platform and the Multimission Maritime Aircraft, now in development by Boeing. The demo is slated for fiscal 2009-2010, with a development contract award to follow around fiscal 2011-2016. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are said to be in talks about a teaming arrangement.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Sept. 24 - 26 -- AFA -- National Convention & Aerospace Tech. Expo, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.afa.org. Sept. 24 - 28 -- IAC -- International Aeronautical Congress, Hyderabad International Convention Center (HICC), Hyderabad, India. For more information go to www.iac2007.org.in/index.aspx.
SHOPPING AROUND: The U.S. Air Force has issued its long-anticipated request for information (RFI) from industry for alternatives to the Lockheed Martin Joint-Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM). The stealthy cruise missile has historically encountered reliability problems, and this spring encountered a Global Positioning System-dropout glitch that was guiding the weapons more than 100 feet from their targets.
REVIEWS STALL JSF: The Joint Strike Fighter, Lockheed Martin's F-35 test vehicle, is ready to return to flight. But it will not take to the skies until the completion of technical reviews associated with an F135 recent engine test problem, according to John Smith, Lockheed Martin F-35 spokesman. Lockheed Martin officials were previously planning to resume flight-testing by the end of September. The aircraft was undergoing preplanned modifications as well as a fix to the electrical management system, which malfunctioned during its last flight in May.
LONG BEACH, Calif. - As U.S. dependence and reliance on space grows, the development community has a "serious obligation" to deliver on its commitments, an Air Force lieutenant general told the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics space conference on Sept. 19.
The STS-120 Space Shuttle Discovery mission remains targeted for launch Oct. 23 following replacement of hydraulic seals in its right main landing gear strut that originally threatened the target date. Managers were concerned that replacement of the seals by Goodrich technicians could take longer than it actually did. With the seals replaced at a fast pace, managers planned to roll Discovery into the Vehicle Assembly Building as early as Sept. 23 for stacking on its tank and solid rocket boosters.
A 300-acre special economic zone for the precision engineering of aerospace products is expected to be established in southern India. Called Quest SEZ Pvt Ltd, the zone will be located in Belgaum in the South Indian state of Karnataka. It is set to be approved within a month and be operational by 2008. Four companies plan to set up facilities for landing gear manufacture and engine components by next year.
ROTORCRAFT DEAL: NASA and the Army have formed an aeronautics research partnership covering rotorcraft aeronautics, including flight dynamics and control, vehicle structures, propulsion, avionics, aeromechanics, safety and airspace management. The deal is designed to ensure free exchange of research information while cutting duplication and enhancing long-term research planning for both organizations, NASA and Army officials announced late Sept. 18.
Democrats are spotlighting problems with Iraq-related contracting while the Defense Department is beginning to take action on what even Republican boosters have acknowledged are apparent problems, according to comments made Sept. 20 on Capitol Hill. While the House Armed Services Committee hosted a hearing on contingency contracting concerns, the Senate Democratic Policy Committee announced similar moves and promoted whistleblower protections for employees of federal defense contractors.
SPACEDEV DEAL: Bremen, Germany-based OHB Technology has acquired a 19 percent stake in SpaceDev, a Poway, Calif. manufacturer of space components and systems with annual sales of $30 million. The deal, for $4.4 million in stock, will allow the two companies to increase product penetration in European and U.S. markets. OHB recently acquired German scientific instrument specialist KayserThrede after earlier purchasing a former launcher component company, now called MT Aerospace.
Military services should change the way they account and plan for their resetting costs, say reports released this month by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
A recent memo from John Young, acting Defense Department acting undersecretary of acquisition, technology and logistics, to address program protest prevention is likely aimed at the current protest of the Air Force's combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter and the competition for the service's tanker replacement fleet, industry analyst James McAleese said.
