Four service members die in plane crash in Afghanistan, NATO says

Four international service members have died in a plane crash in southern Afghanistan. Initial reporting of the April 27 crash indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time, NATO said.

Pentagon steps up planning for potential military intervention in Syria

The Pentagon has in recent days stepped up planning for potential military intervention in the Syrian civil war, specifically because of growing evidence the regime may have used chemical weapons, CNN has learned.

Virgin Galactic’s spaceship makes first powered flight, goes supersonic in test over California

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo made its first powered flight Monday, breaking the sound barrier in a test over the Mojave Desert that moves the company closer to its goal of flying paying passengers on brief hops into space.

Business

Eaton first-quarter net up 22 percent on acquisition; sales miss Street view

Eaton Corp.’s first-quarter earnings rose 22 percent with the help of its Cooper Industries acquisition, but revenue growth fell short of Wall Street views as global demand continued to slow.

Lagardere to pay exceptional dividend of Euro 9 per share

French conglomerate Lagardere SCA April 29 said it will pay an exceptional dividend of 9 euros a share from the proceeds of the sale of its 7.4 percent stake in European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. announced earlier this month.

Defense

Defense cuts pose an economic quandary for liberals

Liberals are increasingly facing a conundrum as the Pentagon experiences the deepest cuts in a generation: The significant reductions in military spending that they have long sought are also taking a huge bite out of economic growth.

At Pentagon, need for furloughs varies among services

Through months of hand-wringing over automatic budget cuts facing the federal government, the Defense Department has insisted that most of its 800,000 civilian employees will feel the same pain if the department decides to furlough its workers.

Abrams tank pushed by Congress despite Army’s protests

Built to dominate the enemy in combat, the Army’s hulking Abrams tank is proving equally hard to beat in a budget battle. Lawmakers from both parties have devoted nearly half a billion dollars in taxpayer money over the past two years to build improved versions of the 70-ton Abrams.

International

United Kingdom: RAF pilots control unmanned drones on missions against the Taliban from UK soil for the first time

The RAF has carried out unmanned drone missions against the Taliban from British soil for the first time. In an escalation of the war in Afghanistan, raids on extremists were flown by 13 Squadron, operating out of RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.

The post Headlines April 29, 2013 appeared first on Aerotech News and Review.

Alabama veterans will have the option to display proof of their military service on their driver’s license.

A law sponsored by Democratic Rep. Marcel Black of Tuscumbia provided for the Veterans Driver’s License. The state Department of Public Safety says the licenses will be available beginning May 1. Black says veterans can show their status to obtain benefits, rebates and accommodations.

To get a license, a veteran must visit a Department of Public Safety license examining office and present a DD-214 form from the Department of Defense that shows a status of honorable or general under honorable conditions.

There is no additional charge for someone getting a new license or renewing a license. But a veteran seeking the license before the renewal date must pay $18.50 for a duplicate license. AP

F-15 fighter jets to be based in Fresno

Officials say one of military’s most advanced fighter jets should soon be soaring over the skies of Fresno County.

The Fresno Bee reports the 144th Fighter Wing of the California Air National Guard in Fresno will be receiving F-15 Eagle Fighter jets this summer, pending the final approval of an environmental impact study.

The jets _ described by wing commander Col. Clay Garrison as ìthe best jet for our missionî – are due to arrive after the wing escaped the federal chopping block when the U.S. Air Force broached the idea of eliminating the 144th Fighter Wing in the 2013 budget.

Officials say when the first of the 21 F-15s arrive the move will add 22 jobs with a payroll of more than $1.5 million. AP

Protesters march against first British drone base

Anti-war protesters demonstrated April 27 outside a Royal Air Force base used to control drone flights over Afghanistan.

Until this week, British drones were operated only from a U.S. Air Force base in Nevada.

The Ministry of Defense announced April 25 that a new drone-operating squadron had begun operating from RAF Waddington in eastern England.

The ministry says the Reaper drones are used for “intelligence and surveillance missions,” but also are equipped with missiles and bombs.

About 400 peace activists marched to the perimeter fence of the base, saying drones make it too easy to launch deadly attacks from a distance and out of public sight.

ìBecause of their remote nature, there is no risk to any of our forces and that makes it easier to launch weapons and makes it much easier for politicians to get involved in warfare,î said Chris Cole of the Drone Campaign Network.

The defense ministry says drone operators ìadhere strictly to the same laws of armed conflict and are bound by the same clearly defined rules of engagementî as other RAF pilots. AP

B787 first test flight in Japan since battery fire

Japan’s All Nippon Airways has successfully conducted its first test flight of the Boeing 787 aircraft since battery problems grounded the planes earlier this year.

Ray Conner, president of Boeing’s consumer airline division, and ANA President Shinichiro Ito were aboard the flight April 28.

The aircraft safely completed a two-hour flight before returning to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.

Batteries aboard two 787s failed less than two weeks apart in January, causing a fire aboard one plane and smoke in another. The root cause of those problems is still unknown.

Boeing has since developed and tested a revamped version of the battery system, with changes designed to prevent and contain a fire.

Japan’s transport ministry approved Boeing’s modifications April 26 following similar steps by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. AP

French government cuts EADS stake

The French state has cut its stake in Airbus parent company EADS to 12 percent following the latest sale of shares, the second this month.

France’s finance ministry says in a statement Friday that it raised 707 million euros ($925 million) through the sale of 17.6 million EADS N.V.
shares April 25. Together with the 12 million shares it sold April 16, the government has raised 1.19 billion euros selling EADS shares this month.

The share sales were announced in December as part of a deal to bring the French and German governments’ stakes to 12 percent each, while Spain would hold about 4 percent. Meanwhile, private sector investors Daimler AG of Germany and France’s Lagardere SCA have sold their own stakes. AP

Pentagon to deploy second squadron of Osprey to Japan amid ongoing safety worries there

Defense officials say the U.S. will deploy a second squadron of MV-22 Osprey aircraft to Okinawa, amid persistent local worries and community protests about the safety of the aircraft.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is discussing the deployment of about 12 more aircraft in a Monday meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera.

The Japanese government approved the deployment of 12 Ospreys last fall after receiving additional security assurances from the Pentagon. Okinawans were concerned about two Osprey crashes last year, in Florida and Morocco, particularly because the Okinawa base in in a residential area.

Military officials say the hybrid aircraft which can take off and land like a helicopter, is critical for regional security efforts. AP

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The European Space Agency mission, launched almost four years ago, revealed the universe’s “coolest” secrets by observing the frigid side of planet, star and galaxy formation.

“Herschel gave us the opportunity to peer into the dark and cold regions of the universe that are invisible to other telescopes,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington. “This successful mission demonstrates how NASA and ESA can work together to tackle unsolved mysteries in astronomy.”

Confirmation the helium is exhausted came at the beginning of the spacecraft’s daily communication session April 29 with its ground station in Western Australia. A clear rise in temperatures was measured in all of Herschel’s instruments.

Herschel launched aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana in May 2009. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., built components for two of Herschel’s three science instruments. NASA also supports the U.S. astronomical community through the agency’s Herschel Science Center, located at the California Institute of Technology’s Infrared Processing and Analysis Center in Pasadena.

Herschel’s detectors were designed to pick up the glow from celestial objects with infrared wavelengths as long as 625 micrometers, which is 1,000 times longer than what we can see with our eyes. Because heat interferes with these devices, they were chilled to temperatures as low as 2 kelvins (minus 271 degrees Celsius) using liquid helium. The detectors also were kept cold by the spacecraft’s orbit, which is around a stable point called the second Lagrange point about 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) from Earth. This location gave Herschel a better view of the universe.

“Herschel has improved our understanding of how new stars and planets form, but has also raised many new questions,” said Paul Goldsmith, NASA Herschel project scientist at JPL. “Astronomers will be following up on Herschel’s discoveries with ground-based and future space-based observatories for years to come.”

The mission will not be making any more observations, but discoveries will continue. Astronomers still are looking over the data, much of which already is public and available through NASA’s Herschel Science Center. The final batch of data will be public in about six months.

“Our goal is to help the U.S. community exploit the nuggets of gold that lie in that data archive,” said Phil Appleton, project scientist at the science center.

Highlights of the mission include:

• Discovering long, filamentary structures in space, dotted with dense star-making knots of material.
• Detecting definitively, for the first time, oxygen molecules in space, in addition to other never-before-seen molecules. By mapping the molecules in different regions, researchers are learning more about the life cycles of stars and planets and the origins of life.
• Discovering high-speed outflows around central black holes in active galaxies, which may be clearing out surrounding regions and suppressing future star formation.
• Opening new views on extremely distant galaxies that could be seen only with Herschel, and providing new information about their high rates of star formation.
• Following the trail of water molecules from distant galaxies to the clouds of gas between stars to planet-forming solar systems.
• Examining a comet in our own solar system and finding evidence comets could have brought a substantial fraction of water to Earth.
• Together with NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, discovering a large asteroid belt around the bright star Vega.

Other findings from the mission include the discovery of some of the youngest stars ever seen in the nearby Orion “cradle,” and a peculiar planet-forming disk of material surrounding the star TW Hydra, indicating planet formation may happen over longer periods of time than expected. Herschel also has shown stars interact with their environment in many surprising ways, including leaving trails as they move through clouds of gas and dust.

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Since 2008, Telair has been the single source supplier for the advanced cargo handling systems for the Airbus A330-200 and -300 and A340-300 series of aircraft, providing one-stop shopping, compatibility and ease in installation.

Pre-assembled roller trays and ball mats are secured inside reusable containers instead of wooden crates or cartons for transport, reducing the environmental impact. The containers are then able to be positioned alongside the fuselage on the Airbus production line, streamlining installation inside the cargo compartments.

Having one source reduces system installation time and speeds up delivery to the customer,î said Axel Hauner, President of Telair. ìIt also eliminates problems that can arise when systems are built with components from multiple suppliers. Within three to four months of delivery of the systems, the aircraft is ready to handle up to 30 years of daily operation.

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For years, the biggest draws at air shows have been the military’s two elite jet teams, the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels and the U.S. Air Force’s Thunderbirds, and their intricate stunts. The armed services also have provided F-16, F-18 and F-22 fighter jets and the U.S. Army Parachute Team, known as the Golden Knights. All the teams were grounded as of April 1 to save money, and the military also dramatically curtailed its help with ground displays of various aircraft.

Those cutbacks have affected more than 200 of the approximately 300 air shows held in the United States each year, said John Cudahy, president of the International Council of Air Shows. About 60 shows have been cancelled, and he expects more cancellations as the season progresses and hope for restoration of the budget cuts fades. He predicted 15 percent to 20 percent of the shows won’t return next year, even if the military begins participating again.

The worst case is that they either cancel and go out of business, or they don’t cancel and they have such poor attendance and they go out of business, he said.

Local economies also will feel the sting of the cancellations without the air shows bringing in crucial tourism dollars.

Representatives for some of the nation’s biggest air shows, such as the air and water shows in Chicago and Milwaukee and the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisc., said they didn’t expect a lack of active military jets to affect their events. The Chicago and Milwaukee shows are held along the shore of Lake Michigan, where large crowds are expected to gather for a free spectacle; the Oshkosh event is primarily a convention of pilots and aviation enthusiasts, with an air show attached.

But organizers of other events said they expected such a dramatic drop in attendance that they felt they had to cancel.

Thunder over the Blue Ridge in Martinsburg, W.Va., an easy day trip from Baltimore and Washington, won’t happen. The two-day show drew 88,000 people when the Thunderbirds performed in 2010, said Bill Walkup, one of the board members and manager of the Martinsburg airport.

ìHaving the Thunderbirds or the Blue Angels is like having the Super Bowl, it’s a household name,î Walkup said. Without a jet team, the show typically draws 15,000 or fewer.

Organizers also faced a challenge because the show had been hosted for the past few years by the West Virginia Air National Guard. After the Guard said it couldn’t do that because of budget cuts, organizers considered hosting the show at the civilian side of the airport – until the Thunderbirds cancelled.

“When this happened, it just put us out of business,” Walkup said.

Maj. Darrick Lee, spokesman for the Thunderbirds, said a typical season averages about $9.75 million and the Air Force needs to focus its resources now on its mission in Afghanistan. Team members are still doing local public appearances that have little or no cost, he said.

Would we prefer to be flying? Of course,î he said. But, he added, ìWe encourage folks to go and have a good time with or without us.

Organizers cancelled the Indianapolis Air Show in February because of concerns the Blue Angels wouldn’t participate, said Robert Duncan, chairman of the show’s executive committee. The jet team makes a 25 percent to 30 percent difference in the gate admissions, and sponsors weren’t signing up as quickly because of uncertainty about the Blue Angels. The committee is trying to reinvent the show for next year, perhaps by adding a 5k run, carnival games or more civilian aircraft, Duncan said.

Many air shows, including those in Martinsburg and Indianapolis, benefit charities. They also generate millions of dollars in tourism, benefiting hotels, rental car companies and restaurants. Economic impact studies indicate the shows are worth $1 billion to $2 billion nationwide, Cudahy said.

Bob Anderson, of Tallahassee, Fla., is among those whose businesses have been hurt. For more than a decade, he and his wife, Sandy, have sold Blue Angels and Thunderbirds T-shirts and other apparel at shows. In a typical year, they go to more than 20 of them and sales surpass $250,000.
This year, they went to two shows before the teams ended their seasons on April 1. Anderson, who is back to doing carpentry and home repair, said the loss of business also affects others- he spends about $90,000 a year on shirts, printing, embroidery and other supplies.
ìThe trickle-down effect is tremendous, he said.

Air show organizers in many communities have been scrambling to avoid additional losses.

Curt Drumm, producer and co-founder of Thunder on the Lakeshore, in Manitowoc, Wisc., said he has been talking to private owners of former military aircraft and to aerobatic performers to help fill gaps left by three smaller military teams. The event usually draws 70,000 people over three days and is an important source of income for local businesses and civic groups that run food and beverage stands.

We still have an incredible lineup of civilian performers,î Drumm said. But, he acknowledged, ìWithout those big, noisy jets, it’s not quite the same event.

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Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh and Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Ray Odierno testified April 25 before the full House Armed Services Committee regarding the “Fiscal Year 2014 National Defense Authorization Budget Request.”

The $129.7 billion fiscal year 2014 budget “allows us to plan for and mitigate risk associated with declining defense budgets,” Odierno said during his opening remarks, which followed the secretary’s.

“It is imperative we gain predictability in our budget process,” Odierno continued. “If we don’t, then we’ll be unable to effectively manage our resources and it will be impossible to make informed decisions about the future of our Army.”

The leaders emphasized to congressmen the need for a budget and the dangers of an ongoing environment of fiscal uncertainty.

“We’re at a dangerous crossroad,” McHugh said, explaining that shortfalls in the overseas contingency operation budget, coupled with sequestration, continuing resolutions and lack of a budget, are taking a toll on readiness, efforts at modernization and morale.

Capability erosion

One congressman said he was “deeply troubled” not only by the Army’s fiscal difficulties but by its shrinking force.

He asked if the end strength continues to fall – coupled with the effects of continued sequestration – would the Army be able to respond effectively were two major contingency operations to occur simultaneously, or at least one major contingency and a smaller one.

“We’d have significant issues meeting anything more than one contingency – if we can meet even one contingency,” Odierno replied.

Just two years ago the Army had 45 brigades. Soon it will be down to between 32 and 37, he said.

Also, were a conflict to break out, “we’d have to figure out how we’re able to use our National Guard brigades much quicker than we can now,” as it takes longer to get those soldiers trained.

The congressman followed up with another question, asking if the Army is as prepared today as it was on Sept. 10, 2001, a day before the terrorist attacks.

“We’re not as ready as we were in 2001,” Odierno responded.

He added that “history has taught us that if we are off balance, the enemy will seek advantage.”

Another congressman asked about the state of the organic industrial base and how the Army’s proposed budget would address concerns associated with a reduced workflow caused by budget shortfalls.

McHugh said he’s been working with the Defense Department on that issue and initiated a study a year ago, with the data now being refined and being prepared for release.

The analysis, he said, examines where the failure points are and examines the efficiency processes at the depots and arsenals. He said highly skilled workers have been identified as well.

The results of the study will help the Army “identify single points of failure” to more effectively align dollars with efforts.

The Army leaders were questioned on a number of other topics, some of which were not directly tied to budget talks.

Case for rotations

A congressmen said that the Army invests a lot of time and money in training soldiers to learn a language and train for region-specific missions. He questioned the value and wisdom of aligning a unit of Soldiers to a particular region and then later realigning that unit to a different region, given that investment.

While language is important, it’s “just one piece,” Odierno responded. “Understanding culture and the underlying socio-economic factors of countries” is the other. He added that having a high cultural awareness and appreciation can be transferrable from region to region.

Another reason to not lock soldiers into a specific region, Odierno said, is that “our young leaders want to be involved in more than one region. It’s exciting to them” and adds to their development and desire to remain in the Army.

Before a brigade rotates to a region, there’s about a year’s worth of region-specific training, as well as normal combined arms maneuver and wide-area security training, he said, adding that training at the national training centers has suffered as a result of budget cuts.

Division and corps-level headquarters will be “habitually” aligned with regions, he explained. Brigades will rotate, however. And also, Soldiers will rotate between brigades.

“The jury is still out over whether to assign brigades habitually over time to regions,” he concluded, adding that as new threats emerge globally, the rotations might have to be adjusted.

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Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine employees Kenneth R. Corcoran and Donald T. Stadtmuller were performing work on the Thresher’s gyroscope when the submarine sank during deep-diving tests approximately 200 miles off New England in April 1963. All 129 military crewmen and civilian technicians onboard perished.

Prior to his employment as a field service engineer for Sperry Marine, Corcoran was a 20-year Navy veteran who had retired as a lieutenant. Corcoran was 46, leaving behind a wife and three sons.

Stadtmuller had graduated from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., in 1958 with a bachelor’s degree and had made a number of previous trips aboard Thresher as a field engineer for Sperry Marine. Stadtmuller was 26 years old when he died aboard the submarine.

“It is our honor to contribute to the memorial recognizing our employees and the dedicated crew of the Thresher,” said Bill Hannon, vice president of Northrop Grumman Maritime Systems. “Their sacrifices serve as a reminder that there will always be dangers inherent in the vital work of maintaining global security.”

Funded by outside donors, the Thresher Memorial features a 129-foot flagpole in a memorial courtyard with granite plaques from more than 250 contributors. The memorial is in Kittery, Maine, adjacent to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard where the Thresher was based.

The Thresher was the first of only two nuclear-powered U.S. Navy submarines to go down at sea. Its nuclear fuel remained intact and has never posed any safety threat. A thorough inquiry into the likely cause of the sinking led to design changes that made subsequent nuclear submarines safer and more secure.

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“It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve with our Air Force’s great Airmen,” Donley said. “Their accomplishments have been nothing short of impressive and I’m humbled to be a part of this team. The Air Force has been a way of life for so much of my career, I know it will be bittersweet to say farewell.”

Donley was confirmed as the 22nd secretary of the Air Force Oct. 2, 2008. He served as the acting secretary since June of that year, as well as for seven months in 1993, making him the longest serving secretary in the history of the Air Force. He also served as the service’s top financial officer from 1989 to 1993.

“Mike has been an invaluable adviser during my first two months as Secretary of Defense and has been an outstanding leader of the Air Force for nearly five years,” said Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. “His leadership came during a challenging time for the Air Force, and he helped instill a culture of responsibility, initiative and professionalism to the service. Mike has been an unwavering champion for our Airmen, their families, and for American airpower. The Air Force he leaves behind is more resilient and more respected because of his leadership and personal dedication.”

Though Donley has not yet announced any future plans, he remains dedicated during his remaining time to supporting the Secretary of Defense in the many challenges that lie ahead for the service.

“In the meantime, there remains much to do,” Donley said. “This is an extraordinary and exciting time for our Air Force, filled with both challenges and opportunities. I remain confident that the strength and professionalism of our Airmen, and the commitment and determination of General Welsh, Chief Cody and our military and civilian leadership team, will continue to see us through.”

Donley’s 35 years of experience in the national security community also includes service in the Senate, White House and the Pentagon. Prior to assuming his current position, he served as the Director of Administration and Management in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

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In high-resolution pictures and video, scientists see the hurricane’s eye is about 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) wide, 20 times larger than the average hurricane eye on Earth. Thin, bright clouds at the outer edge of the hurricane are traveling 330 miles per hour (150 meters per second). The hurricane swirls inside a large, mysterious, six-sided weather pattern known as the hexagon.

“We did a double take when we saw this vortex because it looks so much like a hurricane on Earth,” said Andrew Ingersoll, a Cassini imaging team member at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. “But there it is at Saturn, on a much larger scale, and it is somehow getting by on the small amounts of water vapor in Saturn’s hydrogen atmosphere.”

Scientists will be studying the hurricane to gain insight into hurricanes on Earth, which feed off warm ocean water. Although there is no body of water close to these clouds high in Saturn’s atmosphere, learning how these Saturnian storms use water vapor could tell scientists more about how terrestrial hurricanes are generated and sustained.

Both a terrestrial hurricane and Saturn’s north polar vortex have a central eye with no clouds or very low clouds. Other similar features include high clouds forming an eye wall, other high clouds spiraling around the eye, and a counter-clockwise spin in the northern hemisphere.

A major difference between the hurricanes is that the one on Saturn is much bigger than its counterparts on Earth and spins surprisingly fast. At Saturn, the wind in the eye wall blows more than four times faster than hurricane force winds on Earth. Unlike terrestrial hurricanes, which tend to move, the Saturnian hurricane is locked onto the planet’s north pole. On Earth, hurricanes tend to drift northward because of the forces acting on the fast swirls of wind as the planet rotates. The one on Saturn does not drift and is already as far north as it can be.

“The polar hurricane has nowhere else to go, and that’s likely why it’s stuck at the pole,” said Kunio Sayanagi, a Cassini imaging team associate at Hampton University in Hampton, Va.

Scientists believe the massive storm has been churning for years. When Cassini arrived in the Saturn system in 2004, Saturn’s north pole was dark because the planet was in the middle of its north polar winter. During that time, Cassini’s composite infrared spectrometer and visual and infrared mapping spectrometer detected a great vortex, but a visible-light view had to wait for the passing of the equinox in August 2009. Only then did sunlight begin flooding Saturn’s northern hemisphere. The view required a change in the angle of Cassini’s orbits around Saturn so the spacecraft could see the poles.

“Such a stunning and mesmerizing view of the hurricane-like storm at the north pole is only possible because Cassini is on a sportier course, with orbits tilted to loop the spacecraft above and below Saturn’s equatorial plane,” said Scott Edgington, Cassini deputy project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. “You cannot see the polar regions very well from an equatorial orbit. Observing the planet from different vantage points reveals more about the cloud layers that cover the entirety of the planet.”

Cassini changes its orbital inclination for such an observing campaign only once every few years. Because the spacecraft uses flybys of Saturn’s moon Titan to change the angle of its orbit, the inclined trajectories require attentive oversight from navigators. The path requires careful planning years in advance and sticking very precisely to the planned itinerary to ensure enough propellant is available for the spacecraft to reach future planned orbits and encounters.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team consists of scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

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Successful completion of Exercise 2 is a key milestone demonstrating that Raytheon’s OCX software meets mission requirements and is on track to support the first GPS III satellite launch.

Completed over a three-day period in late February, the joint industry and government exercise demonstrated OCX mission software capability. The exercise, building on the functionality tested in Exercise 1, simulated a liquid apogee engine burn to insert the GPS III vehicle into transfer orbit and evaluated vehicle telemetry, maneuver planning and execution.

The Lockheed Martin-built GPS III satellites and Raytheon’s OCX are critical elements of the Air Force’s plan to affordably replace aging GPS satellites while improving capabilities to meet the evolving demands of military, commercial and civilian users worldwide.

“Successful completion of Exercise 2 is a clear indicator that the solid design and strong command and control and mission planning capability meet the requirements to support the GPS III launch,” stated Ray Kolibaba, a vice president of Raytheon’s Intelligence, Information and Services business and GPS OCX program manager. “The entire government-industry team is working hand-in-hand to successfully deliver the OCX ground system and GPS III space vehicles for a successful first launch.”

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