The U.S. Air Force has contracted with General Atomics for $69 million worth of unmanned aircraft work, including four Predator B Reaper MQ-9s and a Predator MQ-1B Block X prototype that would use a Heavy Fuel Engine (HFE). The awards, announced May 7 by the Defense Department, were from the Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Air Force solicitations began in January and June 2006 for the MQ-9s and MQ-1B, respectively, and wrapped up last month.
Signal Systems hopes to begin sea tests in 2008 for a proposed new continuous active sonar (CAS) system capable of detecting stealthy diesel submarines, according to company Business Development Manager Jim Meacham. The new system could help alleviate one of the U.S. Navy's worst nightmare scenarios: a diesel submarine hunting down a carrier in the straits of Taiwan and getting off a shot before being detected.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is in the final stages of defining a standard for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) air worthiness requirements. After several months of work, the so-called Stanag 4671 is now in the last period for comment. Although several NATO members have expressed concerns, so far no showstoppers have emerged, according to Dave Seagle, the U.S. delegate on the NATO group.
The U.S. Navy in March took delivery of the sixth and final Twin-line 29A Array (TL-29A) - a passive, low-frequency sensor system towed by a T-AGOS surveillance ship - and the whole T-AGOS fleet should be outfitted by September 2008, service officials said May 3.
Despite being cut from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's fiscal 2008 budget request, the High Altitude Airship (HAA) still could have a role to play in border security, coastal surveillance and cruise missile defense, thinks prime contractor Lockheed Martin. "We're being optimistic because it's such a good idea," said Ron Browning, business development director for Lockheed Martin's airship operations, during a briefing with reporters May 7.
The U.S. Air Force source selection evaluation team for the KC-X tanker replacement program is taking lessons from the combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter program acquisition in looking over industry proposals. CSAR-X losing bidders Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky launched a protest - sustained by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) - against the Air Force award of the contract to Boeing for more than 140 helicopters at a program cost between $10 billion and $15 billion.
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. - U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command's (AFSOC) top planner says he hopes for a quick resolution to an unmanned aerial system (UAS) dispute that he refers to as a "potential friction point" in a very close relationship between his command and the Army's special operations command.
Lockheed Martin has delivered the Phoenix Mars Lander to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to begin a three-month test and integration effort in preparation for a planned liftoff on a Delta II in early August.
RESIGNATION: Now that Israel's top uniform military position has reverted to the Israeli army following the recent resignation of Israeli Air Force (IAF) Lt. Gen. Dani Halutz as the Israel Defense Force's chief of the general staff, expectations among senior IAF officials are that the ground forces' acquisition priorities will be elevated. Whether that will be to the detriment of aviation modernization is not yet known, but IAF officials believe some priorities won't change.
Germany's Rheinmetall says it has set a first-quarter revenue record and also achieved strong bookings driven largely by sales in the air defense equipment market. Although this is typically a weak performance period for defense contractors, Rheinmetall notes it has logged 328 million euros (US$445 million) in revenue since the start of the year. Order intake for the period came in at 550 million euros, compared to last year's 282 million euros for the same period. Of the bookings, air defense equipment represented 300 million euros
ROME - Despite delays to the final go-ahead for the Saudi acquisition of the Eurofighter, European industry is funding long-lead items in an effort to hold to the initial delivery schedule. Agreement between the U.K. and Saudi governments on the purchase of 72 Typhoon aircraft was expected to be sealed by mid-year. This, however, is slipping toward the late third quarter or beginning of the fourth.
The U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) at Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee is seeking research proposals that will allow improved test and evaluation of hypersonics over the next ten to 15 years. "The goal is not to develop hypersonic flight systems or subsystems in this solicitation, but to investigate improved ground and flight test facilities, techniques and test methodologies that are needed to support hypersonic system/subsystem development," DOD said in an announcement. Proposals are due June 8.
PARIS - An Ariane 5 rocket has launched a pair of communications satellites that will expand video and broadband capacity at SES Astra and Intelsat. The launch, the second of six planned this year by Arianespace, carried Astra 1L, a Ku-/Ka-band spacecraft, and Galaxy 17, a Ku-/C-band satellite. The combined total payload mass of 9.4 metric tons, including integration and deployment hardware, established a new record for a mission to standard geostationary transfer orbit, Arianespace said.
Observers are watching for Israel's secret, large-payload, weapons-carrying unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to make its first public appearance at the Paris Air Show in June. The potential exhibition comes as uncertainty grows whether the recent resignation of the Israel Defense Force's chief of the general staff, Israeli Air Force (IAF) Lt. Gen. Dani Halutz, will affect the modernization plans that include the UAV, variously known as the Heron II, Eitan and Machatz II.
PAM ON: The container-launched Precision Attack Munition (PAM), developed for the congressionally protected Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System, is being eyed for the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM), formerly the Joint Common Missile. Besides the fact that it is already being pursued, the PAM is a major contender because its dual infrared and laser designator seekers make it appealing, according to U.S. Army Col. Chuck Bush, chief of force development for the Future Combat Systems.
Accurate Automation Corp. has delivered one of its 38-foot Sentinel unmanned surface vessels (USVs) to the U.S. Navy, according to company President Robert Pap. The company delivered the USV in March and it features a sensor payload and fusion capability that makes it suitable for riverine operations, Pap said May 7 during a briefing at the 2007 Navy Opportunity Forum.
Initial imagery from France's COROT planet finding probe suggest the spacecraft may be capable of detecting extrasolar planets equivalent in size to our own.
