Raytheon is preparing to submit a bid to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to build the first batch of SM-3 Block IIA ballistic missile interceptors while gearing up for the first flight test next year. The proposal will include the sale of 22 of the missiles, which are now being developed, says Mitch Stevison, SM-3 program director for the company. They would be purchased by MDA with research and development funding.
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) and navy are worried that the decision to temporarily halt all dealings with engine maker Rolls-Royce may affect future operations and acquisitions of several aircraft. India on March 3 put all defense contracts with Rolls-Royce on hold following allegations that the British company paid bribes to win lucrative contracts to supply Hawk advanced trainer jet engines to state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL).
LONDON — The Czech government has approved a renewed lease agreement for its Saab JAS-39C Gripen combat aircraft fleet. The deal will be confirmed in the coming weeks. Prague’s leasing of 14 Gripens — 12 single-seat and two twin-seat aircraft — will be extended to 2027, with a possible option for two extra years until 2029. The deal between the Czech and Swedish governments will begin in late September 2015.
BUDGET NEWS: With the release of the Obama administration’s fiscal 2015 budget request last week, the Aviation Week Intelligence Network’s budget digest page is your one-stop source for news, data and analysis of programs and priorities as the request makes its way through Congress. AWIN subscribers can access the page at www.aviationweek.com/awin/USBudget2015.aspx
When it comes to a follow-on design for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program, it may be easier to discuss what is not under consideration than what is. The Navy will consider modifications to existing designs, variants of other ship classes, foreign or domestic hulls, or something brand new, says Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations.
HOUSTON — NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, home to Mission Control for the International Space Station and lead installation for development of the Orion/Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, would be the highest funded agency field center in 2015 and second ranked in number of civil servants, according to additional information on the agency’s budget request released this week. The rankings in both categories fall in line with previous spending and employment trends.
Astronomers are finding that rocky planets in the same size range as Earth are extremely common in the Universe, and a better understanding of what it takes for a planet to be habitable suggests more of them may be able to support life than previously thought, at least in theory. Work is ongoing to develop spacecraft able to test that theory, but for now it remains to be seen whether extraterrestrial life exists and can be detected by humans.
North Korea’s continued missile testing and its aggressive geopolitical posture in the Asia-Pacific region make the country a major force for the U.S. to be concerned with, a recent Pentagon report says. “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) remains one of the United States’ most critical security challenges for many reasons,” says the report, “Military and Security Developments Involving the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea,” released earlier this month to Congress.
HOUSTON — NASA’s Human Research Program has selected 10 medical and psychological studies of identical astronaut twins Scott and Mark Kelly as Scott launches in March 2015 on a one-year mission to the International Space Station—the longest spaceflight ever by an American, and a voyage intended to establish a health care baseline for future missions beyond Earth orbit.
New green propulsion technology developed by Swedish Space Corp.’s Ecaps division will help enable Skybox Imaging to sell black-and-white images at resolutions well below 1 meter, positioning the Mountain View, Calif.-based startup to compete with established remote-sensing service providers in the U.S., Europe and Israel.
For years, patrol ships have been the forgotten stepchildren of the U.S. Navy. As noted naval historian, analyst and author Norman Polmar writes in his most recent edition of the Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet: “Historically, the Navy’s leadership has not supported the operation of these ships and on several occasions has attempted to discard the ships.”
A program to develop packages that can lie dormant on the ocean floor for years—then release unmanned vehicles on command—is moving toward a demonstration, with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) to brief potential bidders on the next phases of its Upward Falling Payloads (UFP) program in Washington on Mar. 24.
With its study of future air dominance systems set to produce prototyping recommendations later this year, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) is seeking ideas for distributed battle management concepts. The broad agency announcement (BAA) is one of several expected to emerge from the air dominance study, led by Darpa but also involving the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy. The study is seeking to identify what is needed to maintain U.S. air dominance beyond 2030.
HOUSTON — U.S. and Russian crewmembers departed the International Space Station late March 10, leaving the six-person orbiting science laboratory with its first Japanese commander in charge. The returning astronauts descended safely to Earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft for a touchdown on the frigid, snow-blown plains of southern Kazakhstan.
THE PENTAGON — The U.S. decision on whether to refuel or decommission the aircraft carrier CVN-73 USS George Washington promises to leave a mark on the fleet size, the U.S. Navy’s aircraft needs and the nation’s overall combat ship force.
LONDON — Airbus Defense and Space has rolled out a new version of the PZL 130 Orlik turboprop training aircraft. The Orlik Multi-Purpose Trainer (MPT) was rolled out from the company’s facility at Warsaw-Okecie Airport in Poland on March 7, and features a modernized glass cockpit and other systems to allow operators to carry out more basic tactical training and a lead-in to combat training. The aircraft is a variant of the Orlik TC II, which is already in service with the Polish air force as their basic training aircraft.
JEJU, South Korea — The Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) plans to launch a one-off rocket in 2017 to test its Woorae-1 rocket engine, the key technology of its forthcoming KSLV-II space launcher. The KSLV-II, a largely indigenous successor to the much smaller Russo-Korean KSLV-I launched between 2009 and 2013, is due to make its first flight in 2020.
International Launch Services (ILS) is poised to benefit from new satellite export loan guarantees to be made available through the new Export Insurance Agency of Russia (Exiar), which will operate similarly to France’s Coface, ILS President Phil Slack said March 10.
A NASA-backed team is at work on advanced space-telescope technology that may allow researchers to measure the atmospheric composition of extra solar planets directly, by blocking the instrument-blinding direct light of a target star. NASA and Orbital Sciences Corp. are developing a spacecraft, set for launch in 2017, that is designed to add to the catalogue of exoplanets generated by NASA’s Kepler space telescope and by ground-based instruments.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) will kick off the program to demonstrate the Tactical Boost/Glide (TBG) hypersonic weapon on March 26 with a briefing in Washington for potential proposers. TBG is one of two new high-speed strike weapon programs Darpa plans to pursue with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The other is the Hypersonic Air-Breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) program.
BUDGET NEWS: With the release of the Obama administration’s fiscal 2015 budget request last week, the Aviation Week Intelligence Network’s budget digest page is your one-stop source for news, data and analysis of programs and priorities as the request makes its way through Congress. AWIN subscribers can access the page at www.aviationweek.com/awin/USBudget2015.aspx
