Jun 23, 2008

The US Air Force Research Laboratory is launching the second phase of a program aimed at demonstrating the ability to refuel unmanned aircraft in flight. It is looking for an integrator to develop and demonstrate the capability for boom and receptacle refueling of UAVs as

The Government Accountability Office's criticism of how the US Air Force handled a contract for refueling tankers highlights the DoD's procurement problems, observers say. "This is part of a pattern," said Winslow Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information. "In the military services, there's a sentiment that 'we can do whatever we want because no one serious is looking over our shoulder.' Jun 20, 2008

Unmanned aerial vehicles and other defense robotics are allowing the military to keep more soldiers off the battlefield. A DARPA report said that one-third of the military's strike force will be unmanned by 2010. The Air Force's remote-controlled Reapers and Predators will spend almost 120,000 hours in the air in 2008, up from about 80,000 hours last year. Jun 20, 2008

The USv Air Force made several serious errors during a tanker contract competition and should reopen bidding, the Government Accountability Office said Wednesday. The Air Force awarded the contract to a team led by Northrop Grumman, and Boeing protested the decision. The GAO opinion, which is not binding, may give Boeing the opportunity to recapture the contract. The GAO found the Air Force "unreasonably" favored Northrop, which partnered with European aerospace giant EADS, and "conducted misleading and unequal discussions." Jun 19, 2008

A ground search team sent to hunt for the source of a brief radio signal in the Hakalau area has been called back after finding nothing, and the aerial search was suspended for the evening for a missing tour plane with a pilot and two Japanese nationals on board. The pilot was identified as Katsuhiro Takahashi, an experienced pilot with the Island Hoppers tour company. The Coast Guard suspended the aerial search about 8:30 this evening, Petty Officer 3rd Class Luke Clayton said. The search will resume at daybreak Thursday, Clayton said. The Coast Guard will send up two C-130 patrol aircraft and two H-65 Dolphin helicopters, double the number of Coast Guard aircraft used today, Clayton said. A U.S. Coast Guard C-130 search plane flying above the Pi'ihonua area early this morning detected a brief radio signal believed to be from the missing Island Hoppers tour flight, but the transmission was too brief to allow crews to find the plane, fire officials said. Jun 18, 2008

Gen. Norton A. Schwartz began his career as a cargo pilot, writes Max Boot in The New York Times. Last week, he was named chief of staff for the US Air Force. "His resume may not raise eyebrows outside the Air Force, but among blue suits it is unique for a chief of staff," writes Boot, a senior fellow in national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. "Flying fighter jets has been the formative experience of every chief of staff for the past quarter-century." Boot says the Air Force may some day have a chief of staff who is not a pilot at all. Jun 16, 2008

Airbus, EADS

The possibility of a new tender, which must be ratified by the US Air Force, was yet another blow to investor sentiment on top of restructuring problems in the face of a weak dollar and an ongoing insider trading probe surrounding delays to the A380 superjumbo, the world's largest airliner. French brokerage CM-CIC Securities said the challenge to the contract would lead to a short-term negative reaction on Airbus parent EADS shares. CM-CIC added that EADS also faced ongoing concerns over problems with its A380 and A400M planes and the weakness of the dollar, which hurts exports from European countries. Oddo Securities said that EADS might now want to speed up its plans for takeovers in the United States, in order to recover from this setback in the important American defense market. Jun 19, 2008

Boeing, Northrop Grumman

Boeing and Northrop Grumman are waiting for the Government Accountability Office to rule on whether the Air Force properly awarded a $35 billion contract for refueling tankers to Northrop. Observers say the company that ultimately wins the initial contract will have an advantage in the competition for the entire $100 billion tanker contract. Jun 17, 2008

General Dynamics

General Dynamics is participating in an US Army contract worth $2 billion to help develop combat systems that are more agile, more lethal and less reliant on manpower. The company on Wednesday displayed a gun turret that will be attached to a manned combat vehicle that will replace the Abrams tank. Jun 19, 2008

General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman

General Dynamics on Saturday will christen the USS New Hampshire, the Navy's most advanced nuclear attack submarine. General Dynamics worked with Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding on the vessel, which is the first to be built on a time line of 72 months. Jun 20, 2008

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin's flight test plans for the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter call for 20 flights in conventional "up and away" mode. Lockheed will then replace the aircraft engine to allow short take-off and landing tests. Lockheed said Aircraft BF-1 completed its first test flight earlier this month. Jun 19, 2008

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin's KC-130J was selected for a specialized fleet of airlifters and tankers for the Air Force and Special Operations Command. The contract for six modified planes is initially worth $470 million but may allow Lockheed to sell as many as 115 more C-130Js to the military. Jun 18, 2008

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin has started work on a $1 billion contract to expand the FBI's fingerprint database. IBM also competed for the contract and protested the award to Lockheed, but that dispute is now resolved. IBM has joined Lockheed to develop a biometrics system that state and local officials will use. Jun 17, 2008

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin's F-35B Joint Strike Fighter is receiving more support from the DoD, but the future of the company's F-22 Raptor is less clear. " The JSF program is ahead of similar programs in terms of quality, software, testing and manufacturing readiness," noted Pentagon acquisitions official John Young. However, Lockheed needs more funding to continue production of the F-22; its production line will enter the final 12 months in October without additional funding. Jun 16, 2008

Northrop Grumman, Airbus, EADS

Northrop Grumman has postponed plans to break ground on two factories in Alabama where it intended to build aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force. The Government Accountability Office on Thursday said the Air Force made errors during the bidding process and sustained a protest made by Boeing. Northrop has not set a new date for groundbreaking. Meanwhile, suppliers that have contracts with Northrop are concerned that the GAO ruling may affect their revenue. Jun 20, 2008

Northrop Grumman, Airbus, EADS

The US Government Accountability Office will reach its 100-day deadline this week for reviewing Boeing's protest of a decision to award a contract for building Air Force refueling tankers to Northrop Grumman. Northrop, partnered with Airbus parent EADS, won the contract in February. Boeing's protest contends the Air Force changed the rules of the contest, among other things. Jun 16, 2008

Raytheon

Raytheon Missile Systems is automating the production of the Standard Missile-2 as part of an effort to get the missiles to the US Navy more quickly. The new automated system will replace 17 test positions and 27 environmental conditioning systems, the company said. Jun 18, 2008

Raytheon

Raytheon Delivers 1,000th Tomahawk Block IV to Navy. Raytheon Company achieved a significant production milestone with the delivery of the 1,000th Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile to the U.S. Navy. Tomahawk Block IV's innovative technologies provide an expanded array of operational capabilities and dramatically reduce acquisition, operations and support costs. Jun 17, 2008

Raytheon

An unidentified customer has deployed a small Raytheon air-to-surface missile on the Predator unmanned aircraft. The company developed the 42-inch-long, tube-launched missiles as a private venture. It is intended to give the UAV self-guided attack capability. Jun 16, 2008

Technovation

Paul G. Kaminski, a leader in defense and technology fields, has been named AIA's representative to the NextGen Institute Management Council. Kaminski is chairman and chief executive officer of Technovation, Inc., and senior partner in Global Technology Partners. He is a former undersecretary of defense for acquisition and technology and was the recipient of the 2006 National Medal of Technology. The institute provides the JPDO with access to world-class, private-sector expertise, tools, and facilities in development of the new national air transportation system. Jun 19, 2008

ZZ

Editorial eMail: edit@AirGuideOnline.com

For Air Transport & Travel Business Experts contact our Director of Content Aram Gesar eMail: bizintel@AirGuideOnline.com

To Advertise: advert@AirGuideOnline.com

Copyright [c] 2008 Pyramid Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.