Fokker Technologies and the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) have signed a letter of intent to establish a highly automated manufacturing facility for composite landing-gear components. Under contract to United Technologies Aerospace Systems, subsidiary Fokker Landing Gear (FLG) is developing and qualifying a composite drag brace for the main landing gear of the F-35A conventional and F-35B vertical-lift versions of the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter.
MILAN — Alenia Aermacchi is examining new engine options for its M-345 High Efficiency Trainer (HET) aircraft. The company, which is developing the HET for a possible Italian air force requirement for a jet trainer with operating economies similar to a modern turboprop trainer, says it is looking at several U.S.-made engines for integration into the M-345, initially developed as the SIAI Marchetti S.211 back in the 1980s. The aircraft is currently fitted with the Pratt & Whitney JT15D-5C turbofan.
The U.S. Navy’s proposed fiscal 2015 budget plan underscores the service’s emphasis on precision-strike capability. “Our precision strike capabilities and capacity will be critical to success in any foreseeable future conflict,” says Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations.
HOUSTON — Significant cost uncertainty and seemingly optimistic scheduling are just two of the concerns raised over NASA’s proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) by members of the near-Earth object (NEO) community in a new report. The report is the result of the Target NEO 2: Open Community Workshop organized last year in response to the exploration initiative unveiled by the space agency in April 2013.
SOLAR ORBITER: NASA has negotiated a $172.7 million contract with United Launch Services LLC, the contracting arm of United Launch Alliance, to prepare and launch the U.S./European Solar Orbiter Collaboration mission in 2017 on an Atlas V. Under the deal, the company will handle spacecraft processing, payload integration, launch and related services for the mission, which will study the Sun and its outer atmosphere with high-resolution imagery and in-situ measurements in orbit. The mission will use an Atlas V 411 flying from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral.
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) has decided to “urgently” buy 106 PC-7 Mk. 2 Basic Trainer Aircraft (BTA) from Pilatus, pulling the plug yet again on state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which is also making an aircraft for training junior pilots. The BTAs will be acquired from the Swiss company under the “Buy & Make (Indian)” category, in accordance with India’s defense procurement policy. India is already taking delivery of PC-7 Mk. 2 aircraft from Pilatus under a contract for 75 such aircraft signed in 2012.
LONDON — AleniaAermacchi has rolled out the first of 30 M-346 jet trainers destined for the Israeli air force. The aircraft, which made its first flight on March 15, was rolled out in Israeli air force colors during a special ceremony at the company’s facility in Venegono, Italy, on March 20. AleniaAermacchi will deliver nine M-346Is to Israel this year, with the first pair due to be formally handed over in the country on July 10.
LONDON — Saab officials say they are confident Swiss voters will approve a May 18 referendum to buy JAS-39E Gripen combat aircraft. Speaking March 19 during the company’s annual Gripen seminar in Stockholm, Richard Smith, Saab’s campaign lead for Switzerland, said he was optimistic about the vote despite recent polling conducted by the Institute Leger and published in the Swiss newspaper SonntagsBlick, which suggested that around 60% of Swiss voters are against the purchase.
Justifying its decision to award Lockheed Martin follow-on work on the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (Lrasm) without a competition, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) says changing contractors would incur a 60-month delay in a program seen as responding to an urgent requirement.
NASA’s planned Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (Wfirst) would be greatly enhanced with optical systems donated by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), although such upgrades will introduce greater complexity and cost, according to a National Research Council (NRC) assessment. Wfirst is a flagship-level mission intended to follow the James Webb Space Telescope for studies of dark energy, planetary architectures of other solar systems and stellar evolution.
Commercial remote-sensing-services provider DigitalGlobe has confirmed that the satellite images it provided to Australian search-and-rescue authorities in the hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 were captured on March 16 by its WorldView-2 satellite at a panchromatic resolution of approximately 50 cm. “Working with our customers, DigitalGlobe continues to task our satellites to collect imagery of a wide area that includes the waters around where the possible debris was identified yesterday,” the company said in a March 20 statement.
The U.S. Defense Department’s proposed fiscal 2015 budget calls for a dip in rotorcraft spending compared to enacted fiscal 2014 spending, according to an exclusive Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis of budget data. The AWIN analysis shows the Pentagon spending about $9.9 billion for rotorcraft and related programs in fiscal 2015, compared to about $10.4 billion in fiscal 2014.
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Canada is to upgrade another four of its 18 Lockheed CP-140 Auroras, taking the fleet of modernized maritime patrol aircraft to 14, extending its life and delaying the need to buy a replacement multi-mission aircraft to 2030, the Department of National Defense says. Canada has been considered a potential customer for Boeing’s P-8 Poseidon, to follow India and Australia, which is also planning to buy Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft for maritime patrol. Canada has been looking at the RQ-4 Global Hawk for Arctic surveillance.
‘WAKE UP CALL’: Referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s move to annex the Crimean Peninsula as a “wake up call,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is calling on Europe to increase defense spending – particularly in areas such as missile defense, cyber and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. “Developments in Ukraine are a stark reminder that security in Europe cannot be taken for granted,” Rasmussen said at the Brookings Institution.
AgustaWestland has begun flying the first fully configured AW101 combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) helicopter destined for the Italian air force (AMI). Company officials confirm that the helicopters are the most advanced versions of the AW101 currently flying. The aircraft are being fitted with defensive aids and an electro-optical sensor under the nose. They also eventually will be configured to receive fuel in midair from the AMI’s fleet of Lockheed Martin KC-130J Hercules transports.
A Royal Air Force Airbus A330 Voyager tanker/transport plunged almost 4,500 ft. during a Feb. 9 flight from Afghanistan to the U.K. because a camera became stuck between the captain’s seat and his sidestick controller, an interim report from the U.K.’s Military Aviation Authority (MAA) reveals. The fly-by-wire aircraft—which is owned by AirTanker Services but flown by RAF crews—was in cruise mode at 33,000 ft., en route from Camp Bastion to RAF Brize Norton with 189 passengers and 9 crew on board, when it suddenly pitched nose-down.
To address concerns raised by U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the U.S. Navy has created a high-powered Small Surface Combatant Task Force (SSCTF) to set the requirements for the follow-on design to the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Hagel directed the Navy to truncate the LCS fleet at 32 ships and develop a more frigate-like successor that would be more lethal and survivable. The Navy now intends to use LCS and FFG-7-class frigates as initial templates for the new small surface combatant.
LONDON — The Indian defense ministry has said it plans to appeal against an order filed by an Italian court stopping it from collecting money paid in deposit for a fleet of VVIP helicopters purchased in 2010.
TEL AVIV — Chile is apparently a potential customer for the Airbus Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) variant of the C295 turboprop, positioned as a potential successor for the Boeing 707 Condor currently in service. “The C295 AEW would be a natural choice as follow-on to the Condor, since the aircraft is widely used in the continent,” says Avishai Izhakian, deputy general manager of Israel Aircraft Industries Elta Systems’ AEW Division, which provides the radar.
