The first of six sites selected by the FAA in December to conduct unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) research has become operational and plans to begin flying a small quadcopter in early May in support of precision agriculture research. The Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft Systems test site won the race to be the first of the six to become operational when the FAA awarded the North Dakota Department of Commerce a certificate of authorization (COA) to operate the Draganflyer X4-ES small UAS.
With sophisticated autonomous capabilities under development for unmanned aircraft, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) wants to bring high levels of automation to existing manned aircraft to reduce pilot workload while increasing mission capability and safety. The agency has scheduled a proposers’ day for May 14 in Washington to brief potential bidders on the new Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation System (Alias) program, which aims to demonstrate a drop-in, removable kit that would enable operation with fewer crew on board.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. ( Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Apr. 30 - May 1 — SpeedNews 12th Annual Aerospace & Defense Industry Suppliers Conference, Mobile, Ala. For more information go to www.speednews.com/all/conferences
HOUSTON — Cooperation between the U.S. and Russia in oversight of the International Space Station (ISS) is unfolding without interference from external tensions over the Ukraine, according to NASA’s Mike Suffredini, the ISS program manager. Station personnel are preparing for an urgent American spacewalk repair and looming commercial re-supply mission, as well as the delayed validation of software upgrades to a Russian cargo capsule.
NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (Ladee) crashed into the far side of the Moon early April 18, in a planned impact set up after the orbiter spent 140 days collecting data on the structure and composition of the thin lunar atmosphere before dipping to an altitude of less than 1 mi. for close-up measurements. Earlier this month, controllers at Ames Research Center commanded the probe to the lower altitude, where natural orbital decay took it on down to the surface. The spacecraft hit the surface at a speed of 3,600 mph.
A “problem” found recently in orbit with Hispasat’s Amazonas 4A communications satellite has cost manufacturer Orbital Sciences Corp. tens of millions of dollars in first-quarter 2014 charges, executives said April 17.
The U.S. Defense Department is still banking on so-called class justifications for sole-source contracts, especially for weapon systems, a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel dismissed assertions this week by Russian President Vladimir Putin that building ballistic missile defense (BMD) sites such as Aegis Ashore in Poland, Romania and any other countries in the region will start a new arms race.
Development of the Long Range Land Attack Projectile (Lrlap), Advanced Gun System (AGS) and SPY-3 radar system for the DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer is on track, U.S. Navy officials say. Calling Lrlap and the AGS “the crown jewel” of the Zumwalt during a briefing at the recent Navy League annual Sea-Air-Space conference, Navy officials touted the systems’ test performance thus far.
Raytheon is on track to develop an improved Sea Griffin missile with an extended range, new dual-mode seeker and expanded communications, says Steve Dickman, the company’s Griffin program director. Seeking to capitalize on its success in mating Griffins with U.S. Navy Patrol Coastal (PC) ships, Raytheon is developing improved missiles for the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program as well as for international naval forces, Dickman tells the Aviation Week Intelligence Network.
Showing pilots current and future sonic boom impact areas and intensities so they can adjust trajectories is expected to play a key role in securing regulatory approval for low-boom supersonic flight over land, and NASA is seeking proposals to flight test a suitable cockpit display. The contract is one of several to be awarded as NASA continues to prepare for a hoped-for flight demonstrator that would allow the agency to collect the data on community response to low booms that is needed to persuade the FAA to lift its ban on civil supersonic flight over land.
The U.S. Air Force is looking to its prime contractors to help the armed service press their subcontractors and supply chains under Pentagon-wide cost-cutting efforts known as Better Buying Power—to the point of rewriting long-running deals, according to one official.
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SINGAPORE — Airbus Defense and Space has signed a deal with Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for a trial of its Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based mobile closed circuit television (CCTV) monitoring system. The trial, part of Singapore’s “Safe City Test Bed” (SCTB) implementation, will use a vehicle-mounted CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) monitor that can be moved rapidly to “specific areas and persons of interest associated to crime,” the company says.
LONDON — The first Airbus A400M for the Turkish air force has arrived in country following protracted handover negotiations that delayed its delivery since late 2013. The aircraft, MSN09, was delivered to Kayseri air base on April 16 from Airbus’s A400M final assembly line in Seville, Spain, according to the country’s undersecretariat for defense industries (known as SSM), and is the first of two planned for delivery to Turkey this year. Airbus Defense and Space formally handed MSN09 over to Turkey on April 4.
