SPLIT SECONDS: Industry observers say a conceptual gap is emerging as the U.S. Air Force pursues a two-way data link for its precision-guided weapons. The idea is to allow a human controller to make the final decision to attack, or perhaps redirect the munition to another target. The Air Force Research Laboratory's Munitions Directorate is accepting bids on a 30-month project to test such a capability on an autonomous attack system.
MORE FREEDOM: The U.S. Defense Department wants Congress to give military leaders more freedom to manage acquisition programs and to support allies in the war on terrorism. A legislation package drafted by the Pentagon and sent to Capitol Hill proposes changes to the government's management rulebook. One provision would release contractors from the "burden" of estimating manpower requirements for major acquisition programs.
U.S. military representatives will attend the 2003 Paris Air Show, but the Defense Department is banning flying demonstrations and limiting the number of uniformed participants. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has cleared the armed services to attend the Paris Air Show, ending speculation that the U.S. might boycott the show because of anger about France's opposition to war in Iraq.
SEAPLANES RETURN: Vice Adm. Joseph Dyer, commander of Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), thinks the Navy may return to seaplane technology to fulfill its future logistics needs. "When I was a young officer in our Navy, the old seaplane folks used to call every lake an airfield," Dyer tells The DAILY. He suspects the service may have abandoned the technology because of the problems early turbojets experienced when operating in the seaplane environment.
The Expedition 6 crew onboard the International Space Station (ISS) is preparing for the April 28 arrival of the station's first two-Aman crew, as well as a first trip back to Earth using the Russian Soyuz TMA vehicle currently docked to the ISS.
NEW DELHI- Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) has awarded a 60 million euro ($66 million) contract to Italy's Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS) for equipment to modernize the surveillance network across airports operated by the Indian air force. An official from the state-owned defense electronics manufacturer said equipment to be supplied under the contract includes a solid-state primary radar, a secondary radar, an integrated antenna, a tracking processor and a maintenance console. BEL builds a range of radars for military and civilian applications.
RATINGS LOWERED: Standard & Poor's has lowered its ratings on aviation support services provider AAR Corp., the ratings service said April 18. The downgrade, which included lowering the company's corporate credit rating to "BB-" from "BBB-," was done because of AAR's weak earnings, S&P said. The ratings also "reflect the risks associated with very difficult conditions in the airline industry."
Top Air Force officials met April 17 at the Pentagon to discuss the GPS III program, but no decisions apparently have resulted, a spokesman for Air Force Space Command said. Mike Kucharek confirmed that Peter B. Teets, undersecretary of the Air Force; Gen. Lance W. Lord, commander of Air Force Space Command; and Lt. Gen. Brian A. Arnold, commander of the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, met [April 17] in Washington to talk about the next-generation Global Positioning System program.
DESPERATE MEASURES: The absence of the space shuttle is causing the International Space Station (ISS) program to find more creative ways of solving problems on orbit, according to ISS Program Manager Bill Gerstenmaier. For example, the crew recently managed to "hotwire" a malfunctioning exercise bicycle by talking to technicians on the ground, Gerstenmaier says, instead of following the normal procedure of sending it to Earth and awaiting a replacement. "Out of a kind of desperate situation where we don't have much upmass, we're becoming creative," Gerstenmaier says.
DESIGN CHANGES: Designs submitted for the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) may have to be changed as the Navy refines its requirements, according to several program officials. The team of Raytheon and John J. McMullen Associates already has increased the length of its proposed surface effect ship by 19.7 feet (six meters) and the width by 6.6 feet (two meters). That came after the Navy changed its range requirement from 3,500 to 4,300 nautical miles, says Mary Petryszyn of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems.
DESTINATIONS: NASA has two spots in mind for its Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) to land. The solar-powered rovers are scheduled to launch in June (DAILY, April 18). The first rover will be targeted to Gusev Crater, which may once have held a lake. The second is targeted to Meridiani Planum, an area with deposits of gray hematite, a mineral that usually forms in the presence of liquid water. The sites follow NASA's "follow the water" program for Mars exploration.
April 29 - 30 -- 2003 Annual Programs Review, "Transformation Roadmaps, Future of Precision Engagement," Scott Hall, Howell Auditorium, Defense Acquisition University, Fort Belvoir, Va. Contact Leslie Mueller at (301) 475-6513 or email [email protected]. April 30 - May 1 -- EW Analysis Conference, Army Research Lab, Adelphi, Md. Call (888) OLD-CROW or go to www.crows.org. May 5 - 7 -- Aerospace & Defense Finance Conference, Grand Hyatt New York Hotel, New York City. To register go to http://www.AviationNow.com/conferences.
On April 18 Scaled Composites of Mojave, Calif., unveiled a previously secret research program that has spent the past two years developing a new commercial space vehicle designed to take three passengers on suborbital space flights. An undisclosed private customer has been funding the program, which is estimated to cost roughly as much as a single ticket on a Soyuz, or about $20 million. The program's goal is to provide safe, affordable human space flight and open up the space tourism market, according to the company.
UUV APPROACH: The Boeing Co. plans to use its systems integration expertise and experience in developing unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) to develop unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) for the Navy, says John Lockard, director of Naval Systems. "We certainly believe that is a great market for us," Lockard says.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark said April 17 that the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet helped ease fuel shortages the U.S. Navy faced in the war with Iraq. Getting enough aviation fuel to the region was a major challenge in the war, but the Super Hornet, the Navy's new strike aircraft, reduced the burden because of its extended range over legacy aircraft, Clark said in a luncheon speech at the Navy League Sea-Air-Space Exposition.
LONDON - Commenting on the British air contribution at an earlier stage in the Iraqi campaign, RAF chief of air staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Squire said the RAF was flying about 10 percent of the overall coalition total of about 1,200 sorties per day. However, he said the RAF contribution probably was greater than 10 percent in effectiveness, because the balance of U.K. combat air power deployed was offensive rather than defensive.
The Boeing Co. may decide to enter the competition for the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) after the program's design contract has been awarded, a senior Boeing official said April 17. The reason, according to John Lockard, senior vice president of Boeing Naval Systems, is that Boeing could best serve the Navy by overseeing the systems integration of the entire ship. "We were working with one of the competitors up until a few weeks ago," Lockard said in an April 17 interview at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition in Washington.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) has introduced legislation aimed at promoting the development of advanced materials for future aircraft, such as the 7E7 under development by Boeing's Renton, Wash.-based Commercial Airplanes unit. Cantwell's bill would create an FAA center of excellence at the University of Washington to conduct research on advanced structural materials, including composites and new aluminum alloys. Her legislation would authorize $500,000 in fiscal 2004 to set up the center.
ITT Industries said it will upgrade 12 Boeing Global Positioning System Block IIF satellites under a contract worth up to $31 million. In an April 17 announcement, which had been expected (DAILY, April 10), ITT said the contract calls for the addition of two new transmitters and associated power amplifiers, modulators and converters to create a flexible power system that can be used to overcome jamming.
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) is recommending that NASA develop and implement a comprehensive inspection plan to determine the integrity of all reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) system components on the space shuttle before the fleet is allowed to return to flight. The new plan, which should take advantage of "advanced non-destructive inspection technology," is needed because existing inspection techniques are insufficient to assess the integrity of the RCC panels, supporting structure, and attaching hardware, according to the CAIB.
