Boeing CCiCap. Boeing completes the phase two spacecraft safety review of its CST-100 spacecraft and the critical design review (CDR) of its integrated systems for its Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) program, according to a company statement. The reviews were Boeing’s final two milestones in the current phase of its partnership with NASA. Completed in July, the CDR milestone marks a significant step in reaching the ultimate design that will be used for the spacecraft, launch vehicle and related systems. The CST-100 is being developed as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which aims to make crew transportation systems available for low-earth orbit (LEO) destinations such as the International Space Station (ISS) by 2017. An award for CCP is expected the week of Aug. 25 or Sept. 2. Along with Boeing, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada (SNC) are participating in CCP.
XTAR-Leidos.
XTAR signs an agreement with Leidos to support testing of manned airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) serving Defense Department missions around the world, according to an XTAR statement. The contract provides Leidos access to XTAR’s Mount Jackson teleport located in western Virginia and allows XTAR to provide secure co-location space to house Leidos’ own X-band antenna as well as terrestrial connectivity. This will allow Leidos to engage in testing various manned airframes, including the KingAir 350 aircraft. The testing will leverage X-band space segment capacity on the XTAR-LANT satellite. The contract began at the end of 2013 and continues through July 2015, with an additional one-year option held by Leidos.
AFSMC Visits SpaceX. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (AFSMC) chief Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves meets with SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell Aug. 7 at the company’s Hawthorne, Calif., facility, according to a service statement. The visit begins with a 20-minute tour of SpaceX’s rocket development and launch systems, followed by an update session between Shotwell and Greaves, who took over as AFSMC commander in June. SpaceX is working with AFSMC to be certified as a national security space launch provider as part of the service’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. SpaceX is also suing the Air Force to force it to compete its 36 block buy of launch cores awarded to United Launch Alliance (ULA). SpaceX spokesman John Taylor says Aug. 18 the company is on pace to complete EELV certification “later this year.”
VT UAS. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) declares Virginia Polytechnic and State University’s unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) test site program ready to conduct research vital to integrating unmanned systems into airspace, according to an FAA statement. The site is the last of six nationwide to be declared operational. The FAA granted Virginia Tech seven certificates of waiver or authorization (COA) for two years. UAS operations will occur at test areas in Virginia, New Jersey and Maryland. Research in the three states will eventually include agricultural spray equipment testing, development of aeronautical procedures for integration of UAS flights in a towered airspace and developing training and operational procedures for aeronautical surveys of agriculture.
NG Solar Probe Plus. Johns Hopkins University’s (JHU) Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) awards a $3 million contract to Northrop Grumman to supply its space inertial reference system for NASA’s Solar Probe Plus program, according to a company statement. Northrop Grumman will provide its Scalable Space Inertial Reference Unit (Scalable SIRU) for the Solar Probe Plus mission, which APL manages for NASA. By supplying critical rotation rate data that enable the stabilization, pointing and attitude control of satellites and space vehicles, the Scalable SIRU will play a vital role in the Solar Probe Plus spacecraft’s unprecedented mission to fly through and examine the sun’s atmosphere. The Scalable SIRU delivery is expected in May 2016 while the Solar Probe Plus, expected to launch in 2018, will explore the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, for the first time.
Black Hawks For Saudi Guard. Sikorsky receives a $30.3 million foreign military sales contract modification for 12 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters for the Saudi Arabian National Guard. Fiscal 2014 Army other procurement funds were obligated at the time of the award. The work is expected to be completed by August 2017.
More Unmanned Helo Subsystems. CybAero receives another subsystem order from Airbus–formerly known as Cassidian, a subsidiary of EADS/Airbus. The $198,000 order is a follow on to the orders that CybAero received in May and October 2013. The sub-system will be used in Airbus’ flying demonstrator, the TANAN 300 unmanned helicopter. CybAero has previously been involved in the development of prototypes, powertrain integration and the delivery of sub-systems for the TANAN 300. Delivery of the sub-system will take place during the autumn.
Exercise And Training Ops. Rheinmetall AG wins a $92 million service contract from the German Bundeswehr that runs through 2018. The group will be responsible for providing contractor support for the complete exercise and training operations of one of the world’s most advanced military training facilities, the German Army Training Centre (GÜZ) in the Altmark region of Saxony-Anhalt. Key reasons for continuing the company’s work were cost-effectiveness its conceptual proposal approach. The current contract expires Aug. 31. The total value of the contract depends on the level of Bundeswehr use.
China Buzzes a P-8. A Chinese fighter jet engaged in an intercept of a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft flying in international waters Tuesday over the South China Sea, Pentagon spokesman Rear. Adm. John Kirby tells reporters on Friday. Kirby says the fighter–he did not identify the type–came within 20 to 30 feet of the P-8 and made several passes, calling the Chinese maneuver “aggressive and unprofessional.” “We expressed our concerns through diplomatic channels,” he says. The Navy’s new Boeing-built P-8s are replacing the Orion aircraft. In 2001, a Chinese fighter jet intercepting an Orion caused a collision, forcing the American crew to land their damaged plane on Chinese soil. The crew was detained for more than a week before the standoff ended diplomatically.
Indy’s special trials. The second of the Littoral Combat Ships, the USS Independence (LCS-2), recently completed “special trials,” a series of at-sea tests done under a name different than the more traditional final contract trials, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) says. NAVSEA says because the Independence, the first trimaran-hulled LCS-variant, was an R&D ship and was commissioned more than four years ago, it only had to undergo the special trials because any deficiencies or problems have been corrected through numerous maintenance availabilities since its delivery. Special trials were also performed on the monohull variant USS Freedom (LCS-1). The trials also took place after the Independence participated in multinational Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises earlier this summer. “This was a well-executed trial and a positive validation of the capability embedded in this ship. With this good RIMPAC and INSURV performance, our Navy should rightly be bullish on the LCS,” says Rear Adm. Jeff Harley, president of INSURV.
More LCS. The mine countermeasure mission package, one of three under development for the LCSs along with anti-submarine and surface warfare, took a step forward toward becoming operational following a demonstration hosted by the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, Fla. to certify sailors on operating the system, NAVSEA says. They were able to do so without the assistance of civilian engineers, NAVSEA says. “The purpose of the S-Demo is to identify gaps in training, processes, and procedures to make sure gaps are minimized for future operations and support,” said Michelle Parker, NSWC PCD S-Demonstration Test Team.
Fully Digital. The FBI says its next-generation biometric identification system will be fully operational next month, fully completing the conversion of millions of fingerprint cards and other records into electronic format. The Next Generation Identification System, which is being developed and delivered in increments by Lockheed Martin, will store fingerprint and other biometric records, criminal history folders, and civil identify files that once filled up cabinets. NGI is incrementally replacing the FBI’s electronic Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, providing the FBI’s agents and its partners in law enforcement with faster, more accurate biometric checks against suspected criminals.
Cyber Threat Exchange. Two regional cyber security consortiums that hope to create a larger cyber federation that provides a neighborhood watch model to the cyber domain have successfully demonstrated the secure exchange of cyber threat messages using leading analytic tools. The Boston-based Advanced Cyber Security Center and the Colorado Springs-based Western Cyber Exchange say the exchange demonstrated the possibility of a national and global network of organizations sharing cyber threat information to help secure computer networks and protect critical infrastructures. The two consortia teamed with The MITRE Corp. and the Department of Homeland Security on the project.
Fla. Primaries on Tuesday. Residents from Arizona, Florida and Vermont will head to the polls on Tuesday for their primary elections, and Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.) may face one of the strongest bids of the day to unseat an incumbent, according to local media reports. Crenshaw, who represents Naval Station Mayport and Naval Air Station Jacksonville, serves on the House Appropriations Committee and has steered not just money but also additional ships and aircraft to his district in recent years. His primary opponent is Ryman Shoaf, a retired Navy captain. Crenshaw has received several endorsements, including from the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and the Tea Party of Florida, according to the Sunshine State News, but several local news outlets have still called Shoaf’s challenge “serious.”