Virgin Galactic is finally on the verge of full-duration powered test flights and the start of commercial suborbital flights in 2015. Providing a rare glimpse of progress on a second spacecraft under assembly at sister organization, The Spaceship Co., Virgin Galactic Vice President of Operations Mike Moses says, “we are ready for space.”
Raytheon’s win of USAF’s Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar competition has larger ramifications for rivals Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman
Bombardier’s CSeries test fleet is rebuilding momentum and will soon be joined by the first aircraft to be configured with a full interior, marking two welcome developments for the hard-pressed Canadian manufacturer and its engine supplier, Pratt & Whitney.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is performing system checks on the first MRJ in preparation for a first flight due in the second quarter of 2015. Nearby in the same Nagoya factory building, MHI technicians have progressed far into final assembly of the second aircraft and started working on the third.
Galileo satellite prime contractor OHB System of Germany is assessing options for salvaging the first two satellites in support of the full Galileo constellation. Kristian Pauly, deputy program manager for Galileo at OHB, says in their current elliptical orbit the spacecraft’s Earth-view sensors see the planet as overly large at the orbit’s perigee, sending their Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS) into safe mode and rendering them intermittently inoperable.
Australian composites manufacturer Quickstep will close its U.S. facility and transfer the equipment to licensee Vector Composites of Ohio. The two companies have been working on qualifying Quickstep’s economical out-of-autoclave composites process for the Lockheed Martin F-35 program. Part of Quickstep’s business is to license its technology, which is based on using glycol to cure composites, achieving faster and more controlled changes in resin temperatures than are possible with autoclaves.
An article in the Oct. 6 issue (page 22) should have stated the cost increase of the F-35 to Norway is 5.58% and the first phase for an F-35 facility will cost $96 million.
Around 353 Earth observation (EO) satellites are expected to be launched over the next decade compared to 162 in 2004-13, according to Euroconsult. This will result in $36 billion in manufacturing revenue globally, an 85% increase over the previous decade, the consulting company said Oct. 9. In 2023, the commercial EO data market is expected to reach $3.6 billion (for an 8% compound annual growth rate for 2014‑23). Asia, Latin America and Africa are expected to grow at over 10% each.
The French defense equipment agency DGA took delivery of the first of 10 modernized Dassault Rafale fighters for the nation’s navy Oct. 3. Upgraded to the current F-3 standard, the Rafales will replace Super Etendards as of 2016, when they will become the navy’s only strike fighters. Produced hastily to the F1 standard in the late 1990s in an effort to replace aging F-8 Crusaders, these 10 navy Rafales have been limited to superiority and air defense missions.
The French defense equipment agency DGA took delivery of the first of 10 modernized Dassault Rafale fighters for the nation’s navy Oct. 3. Upgraded to the current F-3 standard, the Rafales will replace Super Etendards as of 2016, when they will become the navy’s only strike fighters. Produced hastily to the F1 standard in the late 1990s in an effort to replace aging F-8 Crusaders, these 10 navy Rafales have been limited to superiority and air defense missions.
Regional Pilot Constraints Several points in Capt. Lee Moak’s Viewpoint: “Pilot Shortage? No, It’s a Pay Shortage” ( AW&ST Sept. 15, p. 58) need clarification: •There is a pilot shortage. It has led to canceled flights, dropped routes, and what Moak mischaracterizes as attempts to “roll back safety regulations.” Regional airlines and our member carriers are experiencing high attrition levels.
Pan-European cooperation in military Earth observation could see progress by the end of this year as France presses for allied contributions to the next-generation Optical Space Component (CSO) system in exchange for access to its high-resolution imagery.
Over the past decade, Pentagon plans to replace the AGM-114 Hellfire have been scaled back from joint-service development of an all-new tri-mode missile for launch from rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, fast and slow, to a dual-mode guidance section upgrade for the AGM-114R now carried by U.S. Army and Marine Corps attack helicopters. Delayed and descoped, the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) finally looks set to move into full development.
Momentum is solidly behind fielding manned-unmanned teaming technologies for Army aviation assets. Combining video feeds and weapons of manned and unmanned platforms provides significantly better situational awareness to troops on the ground and dramatically improved efficiency in focusing weapons to support ground elements.
Royal Air Force (RAF) commanders may be revisiting their strategy on the rapid removal from service of the Panavia Tornado GR4. Less than six months before the disbandment of a third squadron of the aircraft in the past year, officials have decided to postpone their plans so that Tornados and crews are available to fly missions to counter Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria.
