THE PENTAGON — U.S. defense officials are putting their money where their mouths have been with the fiscal 2015 budget request to Congress, which emphasizes the pursuit of new and critical military technology over the size of the military, or even how it is compensated and trained.
ARLINGTON, Va. — Flight restrictions that stop the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter from flying within 25 nm of a lightning storm could be lifted next year, senior program officials have said. The restrictions, partly the result of a 2006 bid to reduce weight in the short takeoff and landing (STOVL) F-35B, could be lifted thanks to changes in the onboard inert gas generating system (Obiggs) that are due to be flight tested in the coming weeks.
THE PENTAGON — Putting to rest—for now—questions about the U.S. Navy’s support for the nation’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier fleet, the service’s fiscal year 2015 budget includes money for next-generation models, as well as funding to anchor the overhaul of existing ships.
The U.S. Navy recently awarded about $359 million in contract modification work involving V-22 Ospreys to the Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas and to Rolls-Royce of Indianapolis, Ind. The bulk of the award—about $351 million—was for a Feb. 28 modification to a previously awarded, cost-plus-incentive, fixed-price incentive-fee contract for the Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office for V-22 joint performance-based logistics support. The work is expected to be completed in November 2016.
NEW DELHI — India has put all defense contracts with engine maker 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), a defense ministry official says.
A seven-camera video system has confirmed deployment of a 9-meter mesh antenna on the Sirius FM-9 satellite-radio spacecraft, setting the Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) platform for service from geostationary orbit. Designed and delivered by Ecliptic Enterprises Corp., a Pasadena, Calif.-based company that manufactures in-space video systems for spacecraft and launch vehicles, the cameras verified that the reflector and boom hinges on the large antenna deployed correctly, followed by the large, unfurlable mesh reflector.
NASA’s upcoming $17.5 billion request for funds in fiscal 2015 will include a request for “pre-formulation” work on missions to exploit recently discovered water geysers over the south pole of Europa and sophisticated techniques to gauge the effects of dark energy on the observable Universe, along with stay-the-course spending on continuing major programs.
MOORESTOWN, N.J. — To develop Aegis Ashore, a team of Lockheed Martin, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and other contractors had to discern ways across the board to do in hours what it would take days to do for previous shipboard Aegis installations. “It was such a tight schedule,” Brendan Scanlon, Lockheed Martin Aegis Ashore program director, tells the Aviation Week Intelligence Network. “We had to find ways to do things faster.”
MD Helicopters (MDHI) is studying the possibility of producing a hybrid-powered helicopter, its owner says. Speaking at Heli-Expo 2014 in Anaheim, Calif., Feb. 25, owner and CEO Lynn Tilton said company engineers were examining what options and technologies are available, and that 3D printing of components was also being considered.
USCG CHIEF: President Obama plans to nominate Vice Adm. Paul F. Zukunft as the 25th Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard to replace Adm. Robert Papp, who is slated to turn over command this spring. A 37-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, Zukunft coordinated the federal response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He now commands U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area, is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and holds advanced degrees from the U.S. Naval War College and Webster University.
With the Pentagon in its fiscal 2015 budget request beginning to put programmatic spending behind its strategy of emphasizing future military technology over near-term force structure size — i.e., capability over capacity — the military departments’ research chiefs are outlining where they want to go.
The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), a NASA-funded nonprofit, is seeking applicants for its First Award Program, which grants early career two-year research fellowships in support of competitively selected biomedical and biotechnical projects addressing health issues faced by astronauts assigned to long-duration or deep-space missions. Deadline for submissions is June 6, according to a Feb. 28 NSBRI announcement.
Turkey has begun firing trials of an indigenously produced, precision-guided, air-launched anti-tank missile. The first live firings of the Mirsak-U, also known as the Umtas—developed by Turkish missile manufacturer Roketsan—were announced by Turkey’s Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM) on March 3. The firings saw the weapon launched from a Turkish land forces AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter, and fly some 3,500 meters (11,500 ft.) to impact the target.
Japan launched the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) Earth-science spacecraft without a hitch Feb. 27, setting up unprecedented coverage from space of rain and snowfall from a slot in the sun-synchronous “A-train” satellite constellation.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Mar. 3 — SpeedNews 4th Annual Aerospace Raw Materials & Manufacturers Supply Chain Conference, Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, Calif. For more information go to www.speednews.com/all/conferences Mar. 3 — Aviation Week's Laureate Awards, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events
