COLORADO SPRINGS — Aerojet Rocketdyne has studied what it would take to replace the Russian-built RD-180 and AJ-26 rocket engines used in the Atlas V and Antares launch vehicles. The answer is at least four years, with enough money, said Julie Van Kleeck, Aerojet Rocketdyne vice president for Advanced Space & Launch Systems, when asked what it would take to develop new engines domestically if Russia shuts off the supply over the Crimean crisis.
BEIJING — The addition of Avic J-10 and Sukhoi Su-30 fighters in an annual joint naval exercise will increase the challenges for the Chinese and Russian participants, Chinese media report. Chinese ships in the May 20-25 exercise will include the Type 052C (Luyang II) air-defense destroyer Zhengzhou and the Sovremenny class surface-warfare destroyer Ningbo. The fighters will be among nine aircraft participating, National Defense University professor Li Li tells state television network CCTV.
COLORADO SPRINGS — United Launch Alliance (ULA), which manages the two launch vehicles used to loft U.S. national security payloads, is already starting contingency planning in the event that its Atlas V rocket is grounded following Russia’s decision to cut off deliveries of the RD-180 first stage amid political tensions over the crisis in Ukraine.
LONDON — Switzerland has rejected its government’s planned purchase of the Saab JAS 39E Gripen fighter aircraft. Some 53.4% of the public voted “no” in a referendum on the purhcase held on May 18, which will force the Swiss government to abandon the 3.1 billion Swiss franc ($3.5 billion) program for 22 aircraft, and re-examine its options to replace the aging Northrop F-5 Tiger. Nearly 2.9 million Swiss voters took part in the referendum, with a turnout of 55.3%.
MARS LANDER: NASA’s Insight (Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) Mars lander passed its critical design review on May 16, clearing the way for the agency and its international partners to begin construction. Insight will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in March 2016, making it the first interplanetary mission ever to launch from California, NASA says. The lander will dig beneath the Martian surface to study the planet’s interior, shedding light on how rocky planets form and develop their layered inner structure.
Six flight crews from the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC)-3 provided support to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) to help fight wildfires throughout San Diego County this month. At the request of Cal Fire, the six specially-equipped MH-60S, or Sierra, Seahawks are supporting firefighting efforts in the vicinity of USMC Camp Pendleton, Calif., by conducting aerial water drops.
Three of Europe’s largest military aircraft manufacturers are proposing a joint approach to the development of a pan-European, medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV. Airbus Defense and Space, Alenia Aermacchi and Dassault Aviation say they have delivered proposals for what the companies call MALE 2020 to the defense ministries of France, Germany and Italy, and say their plans are backed by industrial agreements on work shares as well as a cooperative agreement.
BATH, MAINE — While the current fiscal 2015 Pentagon budget proposal includes plans to cut future buys for Sikorsky MH-60 helicopters and Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout UAVs, the U.S. Navy is continuing to build and train for future operations using both, especially in tandem, off its surface-fleet ships.
After a nearly one-year delay, the European Space Agency (ESA) has approved the system design of a service module being developed by Airbus Defense and Space to fly on NASA’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) in 2017, the company announced May 19. ESA’s approval green-lights hardware development of a structural model that will be used for static tests expected to start “in the next few months,” followed by dynamic tests simulating launch loads that will be conducted within the coming year.
