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Leonardo DRS Lands $120M Navy Contract to Develop Air- craft Countermeasures Replace-
able Package
Leonardo DRS has secured a potential four- year, $120M contract from the U.S. Navy to design representative development and pro- duction models of an aircraft countermeasure weapons replaceable assembly.
Work involves the development, integration and testing of Distributed Aperture Infra- red Countermeasure WRAs, the Department of Defense said.
The AN/AAQ-45 DAIRCM system is equipped with a laser technology and designed to pro- tect rotary-wing platforms against infrared missile threats.
Naval Air Systems Command awarded the contract on a sole-source basis and will obligate $23.5M from the branch’s fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds at the time of award.
Contract work will take place in Califor- nia, Florida and Texas through June 2024.
Denver-Area Supersonic Jet
Maker to Roll Out Prototype
This Fall
Denver based start-up Boom Supersonic has announced it will roll out XB-1, a 1:3 scale prototype of its upcoming supersonic commer- cial jet Overture, on October 7, with test flights beginning in 2021.
The move will help to pave the way for the first commercial supersonic flights since the legendary delta-wing passenger airliner made its last flight in 2003.
“XB-1 is the first step in bringing su- personic travel back to the world,” Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, said in a statement on the company’s website.
Honeywell Opens Facility for
Maintenance in Phoenix
Honeywell has opened a new facility near its Honeywell Aerospace headquarters in Phoe- nix, AZ dedicated to maintenance for the U.S. military T55 turboshaft helicopter engines.
The new Center for Excellence was estab- lished after Honeywell secured approval from the U.S. Army through a product verification audit. It brings together engineering, pro-
duction, repair and overhaul work for the T55 engine to optimize operations, the com- pany said.
By putting repair and overhaul work to- gether in the same space as new engine pro- duction, the company said its trained tech- nicians can more easily share knowledge and speed up repair and overhaul work. It also improves troubleshooting and will help with future upgrades
SpaceX Hits Key Milestones
With Latest Launch
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. achieved two milestones with the July 20 launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Anasis- II, a South Korea military satellite.
The mission marked the fastest turnaround use of a booster rocket by the Hawthorne- based aerospace company. It was also the first time SpaceX managed to catch both halves of the rocket’s nose cone, or fairing, follow- ing a launch.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, following a 30-minute delay due to weather conditions.
Following stage separation, the company successfully landed the Falcon 9’s first- stage booster on Just Read the Instructions, a droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. The Anasis-II spacecraft deployed about 32 minutes after liftoff.
The first-stage booster was previously used fewer than than 60 days ago to launch the Crew Dragon capsule that carried NASA astro- nauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station.
Soon after the July 20 launch, SpaceX ships caught both halves of the Falcon 9’s nose cone, according to a tweet from company founder and Chief Engineer Elon Musk.
SpaceX had previously only caught single halves of the nose cone or had collected them from the ocean. The ability to catch the nose cone halves will reduce launch costs for the company, which is already able to save money by reusing its booster rockets.
SpaceX is also preparing for its second crewed flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, which is planned for September.
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CNC WEST August/September 2020