The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Sequestering Air. The Federal Aviation Administration would be hit hard by so-called sequestration cuts of $1.2 trillion to the federal government over a decade that could start next year, a new study concludes. The research by the Aerospace Industries Association and Econsult Corporation finds the politically unpopular cuts could drain $80 billion a year from the U.S. gross domestic product, cost up to 132,000 aviation jobs, and strip nearly 2 billion pounds of freight capacity from the air-cargo system. “This study reveals the draconian effect of sequestration on the FAA,” says Stephen Mullin, vice president and principal of Econsult Corporation and author of the study. “Sequestration would force the FAA to slash operations, bringing gridlock to the skies today, or defund modernization and infrastructure work. The closer we study sequestration the more destructive it turns out to be.” Democrats and Republicans in Congress are trying to reach a plan to stop the sequestration cuts, which are slated to start in January and come as a result of the Budget Control Act of 2011.
Manufacturing Plan. President Barack Obama launches a public-private institute for manufacturing innovation dubbed the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII) on Aug. 16. The Youngstown, Ohio, consortium includes manufacturing firms, universities, colleges, and non-profit organizations in the technology belt in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. “This institute will help make sure that the manufacturing jobs of tomorrow take root not in places like China or India, but right here in the United States of America,” Obama says. NAMII was tapped through a competition, led by the Pentagon, to award $30 million in federal funding that is matched by $40 million from the winning consortium. Obama plans to invest $1 billion to help create a network of up to 15 manufacturing innovation institutes across the country. NAMII is led by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining and includes firms such as Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman.
Energized. The fiscal year 2013 budget proposal for the Pentagon will help it achieve its military-energy-security strategy, according to a report released Aug. 15. Sharon Burke, assistant secretary of defense for operational energy plans and programs, says in it that the Pentagon is budgeting $16.3 billion in FY ’13 for 104 million barrels of fuel and approximately $1.6 billion for operational-energy initiatives. That compares to last year, when the Pentagon consumed 116.8 million barrels of fuel at a cost of $17.2 billion, she wrote. The report officially certifies the Pentagon’s proposed budget is “adequate for the implementation of the DoD Operational Energy Strategy.” Burke made her first such certification last year.
NG Hosted Payloads. Northrop Grumman joins the Hosted Payload Alliance as an executive member, HPA says in an Aug. 13 statement. Robert Burke, space systems vice president and deputy general manager for Northrop Grumman aerospace systems, will serve as the company’s primary representative to HPA. HPA is the non-profit satellite industry association established to serve as a bridge between government and private industry, fostering open communication between potential users and providers of hosted payload capabilities, according to a statement.
MAFFS. North Carolina’s 145th Airlift Wing returns to flying Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) missions in the Rocky Mountain region Aug. 14, according to N.C. Air National Guard spokeswoman Lt. Col. Rose Dunlap. The 145th Airlift Wing replaces a MAFFS unit from California for three weeks while the 146th Airlift Wing’s C-130 undergoes required maintenance. The 145th Airlift Wing returns to MAFFS missions six weeks after four of the unit’s airmen were killed in a C-130 crash during a firefighting mission in South Dakota. MAFFS is a joint Defense Department and U.S. Forest Service program designed to provide additional aerial firefighting resources when commercial and private airtankers are no longer able to meet the needs of the Forest Service.
Global Hawk in Pacific. The U.S. reportedly decides to send Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft to the south Pacific to monitor Chinese activity in waters surrounding the Diaoyutai Islands as well as around Okinawa, the Taipei Times reports via Japanese media outlets NHK and Yomiuri Shimbun. A Defense Department spokesman Friday declined to comment on the reports. The Diaoyutai Islands are part of an acrimonious dispute between Beijing and Tokyo. They are known in Japan as the Senkaku Islands. The Taipei Times says at least three RQ-4s have been deployed at Andersen AFB, Guam, since September 2010.
Aerojet TDACS Huntsville. Aerojet is investigating the benefits of moving its Standard Missile-3 Block IIA Throttling Divert and Attitude Control System (TDACS) rocket motor final assembly checkout and capability facility from Sacramento, Calif., to the Huntsville, Ala., area to be closer to SM-3 prime contractor Raytheon’s final assembly area, according to an Aerojet executive. “We haven’t fully got that whole plan worked out at this point, but we’re in the process right now…we’re going to have that cost-benefit analysis done this year,” Aerojet Vice President for Missile Defense and Strategic System Michael Bright says on Aug. 16. MDA also has a facility in Huntsville.
More TRIGRs. The Army awards BAE Systems a $23.5 million delivery order for the company’s advanced, lightweight laser target locator module (LTLM), Target Reconnaissance Infrared Geolocating Rangefinder (TRIGR™) systems. TRIGR systems provide dismounted warfighters with the ability to quickly and accurately identify targets day or night, and deliver timely data to fire support, maneuver command and control, and intelligence systems. BAE’s all-weather TRIGR system consists of an integrated, forward-looking advanced infrared optic, a 7x direct-view optic, laser range finger, digital magnetic compass, and a Global Positioning System, or GPS, receiver to locate targets of interest.
New Center. ITT Exelis celebrates the grand opening of its composite design and manufacturing center last week in Salt Lake City, Utah. The new facility provides increased capacity and enhanced automation capability for advanced commercial and military composite aircraft structures. “Strong demand from our domestic and international customers has fueled this expansion,” says Jim Barber, vice president and general manager of the Exelis Electronic Systems Integrated Structures business. “This facility leverages our core strengths and capabilities as we invest in new technologies to meet the needs of our customers and the aerospace industry.” Composite structures are used increasingly by airframers as a proven alternative to metal structural parts on commercial and military aircraft, as well as on unmanned aerial vehicles.