LONDON - The inauguration of the Swedish air force's F17 Wing with JAS 39C/D Gripen lightweight multirole fighters at Ronneby on June 14 marks the approaching end of the SAF's re-equipment program with this advanced combat aircraft. Under SAF reorganization plans approved in the spring of 2001, two squadrons at F17 will be the fourth and last Swedish wing to receive the Gripen, which will equip a total of eight squadrons. Beginning in 2004, F17 will undertake the roles allocated to the Swedish air force's Rapid Reaction Unit (SWAFRAP).
FLYING AGAIN: Less than two weeks after being grounded for inspection, the Navy's F-14 Tomcats are flying again in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. All Navy F-14s were grounded June 5 after investigators determined that a corroded component in the aircraft's nose landing gear was to blame for an earlier accident that killed a pilot. Although the Navy originally estimated it would take two weeks to complete inspections on the entire fleet, the checks were done in just five days, the Navy says.
The Senate Armed Services Committee late June 13 approved a proposal that would prevent the Defense Department from spending Crusader's fiscal 2003 funds on alternative systems until the Army finishes a study on its indirect fire support needs.
NEW DELHI - Pakistan has announced that the first prototype of its indigenous light fighter aircraft, Super 7, will roll out by the middle of 2003, and production would begin by 2005. The aircraft is being jointly manufactured by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and the Chinese Aircraft Industrial Corporation.
Key lawmakers have agreed to drop controversial language in the House and Senate versions of the fiscal 2003 defense authorization bill that could have shifted weapons systems work from the private sector to the federal government. Spokespersons for Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) and Rep. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) said June 14 that the lawmakers agreed to drop the language after receiving assurances from the Defense Department that it will strive to retain the full range of logistics capabilities needed to support key weapon systems.
Boeing's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-I (TDRS-I), which has had completion of its orbit raising delayed several months as a result of a propellant tank problem, is now on track to reach geosynchronous orbit in early August, according to Boeing. "We are raising the orbit on ... a periodic basis, just about every day," Boeing spokesman George Torres told The DAILY. "Early August is where we expect to be at geo, and everything is going along just fine."
A June 13 test of the Pentagon's sea-based missile defense system over the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii scored a direct hit, according to program officials.
NEW DIRECTOR: The Air Force Association (AFA) board of directors has approved Donald L. Peterson to become the next AFA executive director, as of Aug. 1. Peterson succeeds John A. Shaud, who will step down after seven years. A retired lieutenant general, Peterson previously served as director of plans and assistant deputy chief of staff for air and space operations at Air Force headquarters in Washington, and later as deputy chief of staff for personnel.
Australia's military plans to significantly enhance its ground-based air defense system, the government there announced June 14. During a visit to the country's 16th Air Defense Regiment in Woodside, Australia, Robert Hill, the Australian defense minister, said the government is "engaged in several programs to enhance the Army's ground based air defense capabilities."
June 17 - 19 --National Defense Industrial Association in conjunction with the U.S. Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command Armament Reserach, Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny Arsenal, presents the Seventh International Artillery and Indirect Fire Symposium & Exhibition, "Science & Technology - Transforming Fires in the 21st Century." Hilton Hotel, Parsippany, N.J. For more information contact Phyllis Edmonson at (703) 247-2588 or [email protected].
BOEING WICHITA will open a service center in Wichita to repair and overhaul aircraft nacelles and composite structures. The company traditionally has designed and built aircraft assemblies and components. "...The establishment of this new service center ... gives us an opportunity to expand into new business endeavors and utilize the expertise of our great workforce. Boeing Wichita designs and builds nacelles for 737, 747, 757, 767 and 777 aircraft, and has submitted proposals to airline operators for nacelle and composite structure repairs.
MAXIMIZING GPS: Despite public comments to the contrary, the Air Force does a good job of educating Global Positioning System (GPS) users on how to get the most out of the system, according to GPS Program Manager Col. Doug Loverro. Lt. Gen. Charles F. Wald, director of operations at Air Force headquarters in the Pentagon, has said that Air Force personnel need to be better educated on the full capabilities of the technology available to them, including GPS (DAILY, May 24).
DRIVING DEMAND: NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe says the research capability offered by the International Space Station (ISS) represents a "classic case" of technology driving demand. If NASA only developed capabilities in response to demand, "we wouldn't be doing much of anything," O'Keefe says.
SUPER DELIVERY: Boeing delivered the 100th F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to the U.S. Navy on June 14, the company announced. The two-seat F model was delivered during a ceremony at company facilities in St. Louis. The first production Super Hornet was delivered in December 1998. The Super Hornet entered operational service in November 1999 and is scheduled to deploy with the Navy later this year.
NUCLEAR TRAVEL: The European Space Agency's Guiseppe Racca, the project manager for the SMART-1 moon orbiter program, agrees with NASA that nuclear propulsion is the way to go for some space missions. Solar-electric propulsion is good for missions where the sun can power the spacecraft, but Racca says a new electricity source, such as a nuclear generator, would be needed for longer-range missions where the sun's light is weaker. "They could take us to the Kuiper Belt and even farther away," he says.
MDA PROBE: Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), a member of the House Government Reform national security subcommittee, has asked the General Accounting Office to look at whether the Missile Defense Agency is withholding information from the Defense Department's Office of Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E), which is supposed to provide independent assessments of weapons development programs.
An Army official said June 14 that he believes the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) is ready for fielding despite a recent string of launch failures for the theater missile defense system. Brig. Gen. John Urias, the Army's program executive officer for air and missile defense, told a Capitol Hill seminar that PAC-3 is far more capable than PAC-2, and that the Army has a plan to fix PAC-3's problems. He said additional testing, possibly including multiple-launch tests, will be conducted to help correct the system's shortfalls.
Raytheon Co. will supply the Korean Electro-Optical Tracking System (KEOTS) for the Republic of Korea army's Flying Tiger anti-aircraft gun system, the company announced June 13. The work will be done under a $45.5 million contract with Daewoo Heavy Industries & Machinery (DHIM). KEOTS is an advanced air-to-ground passive fire control system that will give the vehicle the capability to acquire and track aerial targets, including aircraft and helicopters, the company said.
A planet-hunting team sponsored by NASA and the National Science Foundation announced the discovery of 15 new extrasolar planets June 13, including a Jupiter-like planet in a solar system that bears similarities to our own. In the six years since astronomers discovered the first extra-solar planet, over 90 more have been found orbiting 70 different stars. However, until now none of them resembled any of the nine planets of Earth's solar system, orbiting either too close to their local star, or in highly eccentric orbits.
PRAGUE - The Czech parliament failed to reach agreement by a single vote on the purchase of 24 Jas-39 Gripen fighters from the BAE Systems/Saab consortium at its last meeting before parliamentary elections. It means the decision on the deal - worth 60 billion Czech crowns ($1.8 billion) including weaponry - will be delayed by several months as the whole legislative process must start again, or could fall through entirely.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is threatening to recommend that President Bush veto the fiscal 2003 defense authorization bill if it includes Senate provisions that would cut the Bush Administration's missile defense request by $814 million and impose new requirements on the Defense Department's anti-missile programs.
NEW DELHI - India is considering working with overseas defense companies to market its indigenously developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), which is manufactured by the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). A senior HAL official told The DAILY June 13 that there is a proposal from European companies to jointly sell the aircraft on the international market. Another source said the companies are BAE Systems of the United Kingdom, Eurocopter of France and Israeli Aircraft Industries Ltd.
THREE KILLED: Three American servicemembers were killed in the June 12 crash of a U.S. Air Force Special Operations MC-130H, the Department of Defense said June 13. The aircraft crashed in the Paktika province of Afghanistan, near Gardez. Seven other Americans on the aircraft survived.
