A clash between the complexity of threats facing the U.S. and the nation's shrinking resources is under way, but the Pentagon is losing the battle due to the growing cost of equipment and personnel.
As the U.S. Navy's only anti-ship missile celebrates its 40th anniversary, parallel development of two highly survivable potential replacements for the long-serving Boeing Harpoon has reached a critical stage. Two variants of the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), a joint effort by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) and Office of Naval Research, are on track for test flights beginning in late 2012, says developer Lockheed Martin, following completion of a major program review.
China's development of the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile and its first aircraft carrier has the world's attention, but weapon system advances also continue apace in less high-profile areas such as tactical missiles.
Precision weapons and unmanned aircraft technologies are two realms in which the Israeli military can rightly claim leadership positions. But just how closely the two have been linked in secret is just starting to become clear.
The winner of the Indian air force's $12 billion Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) fighter competition should soon emerge, as the government is set to formally begin the process of identifying the lowest bidder in early September.
India's ambitions to develop an active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar are stalled while the government reexamines the cooperative ties it wants as part of the technology's development. The latest delay means the government will almost certainly miss its original target of having an AESA ready to fly on the Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) in about two years.
A long and fast landing is suspected in the runway overrun of a Caribbean Airlines Boeing 737-800 (9Y-PBM) early on July 30 at Cheddi Jagan International Airport near Guyana's capital, Georgetown. All 162 passengers and crew survived the accident, which caused the fuselage to break in two, although several injuries were reported. The aircraft's flight data and cockpit voice recorders have been recovered and are being downloaded by the NTSB, which is aiding the Guyana civil aviation authority's investigation.
The FAA's two-week partial shutdown has jeopardized the timetable for introducing a new en route ATC system, a further blow to a crucial program that has already suffered major delays.
Foreign airlines may soon find it even harder to gain more access to India's fast-growing aviation market following Star Alliance's decision not to accept Air India as a future member. The decision is also likely to focus attention of Star and Skyteam executives on signing up yet-unaligned Jet Airways.
With the onslaught from foreign airlines on African markets showing no signs of abating, indigenous carriers are feeling renewed pressure to tap intra-continental markets to generate revenue they are losing on intercontinental flights.
The growing rift between Europe and Africa over aviation safety could poison the atmosphere for cooperation. On the one side are African airlines, which feel under attack from the EU's aviation blacklist. Meanwhile, European safety officials worry their counterparts are not hewing to international standards.
There is a push for member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to have a common platform for military airlift, but national differences will make this very difficult to achieve. Indonesia's defense minister, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, says he has been speaking to his counterparts in Asean about agreeing on one type of military fixed-wing transport aircraft to ensure better interoperability, particularly during joint humanitarian missions.
After years of suffering massive program delays and cost overruns, the U.K. Defense Ministry has set out an aggressive agenda to ensure procurement decisions are grounded in fiscal reality and based on program certainty.
First, deliver things to the International Space Station. Second, deliver things and bring things back. Finally, send people up and bring them back. That, in a nutshell, is the sequence that the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) wants to follow as it takes the first step, launching the HTV Kounotori cargo craft, and sets out its plans for the next two.
If it is important to have the right tools for the job, then if the job changes so must the tools. Since the size of Japan's satellites is evolving away from the capabilities of its current launchers, the country's space agency is drawing up plans for a new family of medium to heavy rockets. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) also thinks it can build launchers that are cheaper than its H-IIA workhorse. And the requirement for new development is emerging as the country moves toward its first manned space missions (see p. 48).
It is not easy to persuade scientists to let you try out your fancy new engine on their spacecraft. What if it fails? Tens of millions of dollars of instruments will float uselessly in space or burn up in the atmosphere. But until the Japanese engineers developing a rocket engine fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG, mostly methane) find a host spacecraft, they will not be able to demonstrate the reliability required to go along with its expected performance advantages.
Among JAXA's major space transportation development programs, the one with the most assured future is the Epsilon, a solid-propellant rocket that is now well into the detailed design phase and is due for a first launch in 2013.
The Russian aerospace industry has big plans for its commercial aircraft sector, but bringing them to fruition is proving difficult. United Aircraft Corp. (OAK) Chief Executive Mikhail Pogosyan argues that “in 10 years we could become one of the top three leaders in aircraft manufacturing, with balanced presence in all three main segments,” including commercial airliners. By 2025, he hopes that OAK—which combines Russia's aircraft makers under one umbrella—can capture up to 10% of the world commercial aircraft market.
Sept. 12—A&D Finance Europe. London. Sept. 14-15—Airlines/MRO/Aircraft and Engine Lessors: “The Tricky Triangle.” Dublin. Sept. 26—Aircraft Composite Repair Management Forum. Madrid. Sept. 27-29—MRO Europe 2011. Madrid. Sept. 28—MRO Military Europe. Madrid. Oct. 12-13—Fifth Edition of Lean Six Sigma for MRO Forum. San Francisco. Oct. 20-21—MRO IT Conference and Showcase. Chicago. Oct. 24-26—A&D Programs. Phoenix. Nov. 2-3—Engine MRO Forum. Istanbul.
Aug. 13-17—American Association of Airport Executives' 53rd Annual Northeast Chapter Conference. Sheraton Atlantic City (N.J.) Convention Center Hotel. See www.necconference.org Aug. 16-18—Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems North America 2011 Convention. Washington Convention Center. Call +1 (703) 845-9671 ext. 213 or see www.symposium.auvsi.org/auvsi11/public/enter.aspx Aug. 16-21—MAKS 2011 International Aviation and Space Salon. Aviasalon JSC, Flight Research Institute, Moscow. Call +7 (495) 787-66-51 or see www.aviasalon.com
The U.S. may have remedied its manufactured federal budget crisis by finally raising its self-imposed ceiling on government debt, but it has not come through unscathed. Default surely would have sent the nation and much of the world into recession again. However, had Congress not acted, it hardly would have been the only time in recent days that Washington had shot itself in the foot.
NASA is betting the $2.5 billion Mars Science Lab (MSL) mission on a “Sky Crane” landing technique that lowers the big Curiosity rover to the surface from a hovering platform. Scientists hope the rover will make important discoveries about the planet's past and present habitability. Our report on MSL and related exploration developments begins on page 38. NASA JPL/Caltech illustration by Pat Rawlings/Eagle Applied Sciences.
It was with great sadness that I read the final words on the shuttle program, “Spaceflight Interrupted” (AW&ST July 18-25, p. 68). I joined NASA when it was still NACA and experienced all the launches in one way or another. In 1971, before “shuttle” appeared in our lexicon, I attended a meeting in Boston by the former aeronautics and astronautics organization.
