Page 6 - Aerotech News and Review, Sept. 7 2018

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signed a deal with Syria to rebuild the Syrian armed forces that have been battered by years of war.
Amir Hatami, who was on a two-day visit to Syria, told the Beirut-based al-Mayadeen TV station in an interview aired Aug. 27 that the agreement is to also develop Syria’s military industry.
Iran has been an essential backer of Syria’s government in the civil war now in its seventh year, providing advisers, military sup- plies, training and thousands of militiamen to fight alongside the Syrian army.
Israel has been critical of Iran’s expanding role in Syria, saying it won’t tolerate an Iranian permanent military presence near its frontiers.
Hatami said Iran is in Syria at the invitation of its government.
AP
MALD-X project completes free flight demo
The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s Strategic Capabilities Office, with Air Force Min- iature Air Launch Decoy Program Office, and Naval Air Warfare Center Point Mugu, Calif., successfully completed a series of free flight demonstrations of the MALD-X on Aug. 20 and 22.
This innovative and collaborative project builds upon the suc- cessful MALD platform and seeks to demonstrate the operational effectiveness and tactical advantage provided by large numbers of collaborative, expendable platforms highlighted, with the comple- tion of a complex free flight demonstration of advanced electronic warfare techniques.
MALD-X’s modularity allows the Navy to rapidly inject adaptive payloads and capabilities into as yet unknown future mission sets. “MALD-X gives future war fighters the ability to focus on the nature of the emerging threats rather than being encumbered by the burden associated with making a system interact with mission ele- ments and mission supporting actions,” said Matthew O’Connell,
MALD-X program manager.
The MALD-X program is continuing to pursue multiple enhance-
ments for the vehicle that would provide additional mission sets that will be demonstrated next year.
Kremlin: China participation in war games shows interaction
The Kremlin’s spokesman says China’s participation in major military exercises in Russia demonstrates growing connections between Moscow and Beijing.
The war games in central and eastern Russia, which are billed as the largest since the fall of the Soviet Union, will involve about 300,000 Russian troops. China’s state Xinhua news agency has reported China plans to send 3,200 troops and about 900 weapons units.
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that “it indicates the broadening of interaction between these two allies in all spheres.”
Last week, military units in the east were put on a state of high alert in preparation for the games. The Defense Ministry on Aug. 27 released video of cruise missile tests by the Pacific Fleet in the Sea of Okhotsk. AP
Astronaut quits halfway through training, 1st in 50 years
For the first time in 50 years, an astronaut-in-training is quitting NASA.
Astronaut candidate Robb Kulin has resigned halfway through his two years of training at Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA spokeswoman Brandi Dean said his departure is effective Aug. 31 and that he is leaving for personal reasons that the space agency cannot discuss due to privacy laws.
Kulin was among 12 new astronauts chosen last summer from a record 18,300 applicants. Kulin, 34, was working as a senior manager at SpaceX when selected and said at the time he was hop- ing to fly on a vehicle he helped design. SpaceX and Boeing are developing NASA’s first commercial crew capsules, due to launch within the next year.
He grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and worked as a commercial fisherman in Alaska and an ice driller in Antarctica.
The last time astronauts-in-training resigned from NASA was in 1968. AP
Air Force: Engine failure caused Texas jet crash
The U.S. Air Force says a fatal plane crash involving a flight instructor last year in Texas was the result of a “total hydraulic failure” of the jet’s engine.
The San Antonio Express-News reports that investigative docu- ments were released Aug. 22 about the crash that killed Capt. Paul J. Barbour in November.
The report says the 32-year-old flight instructor also failed to arm his ejection seat during a preflight checklist and was trapped in the aircraft during the crash. He was from Van Nuys, California.
The twin-jet, two-seat T-38 Talon jet was based out of Laughlin Air Force Base near Del Rio, Texas. It was flying a routine training mission when it crashed near Amistad Reservoir, about 14 miles northwest of the base.
Capt. Joshua Hammervold was also in the jet but was able to eject. He suffered injuries in the crash but survived. AP
U.S. Navy revives 2nd Fleet as Russians patrol North Atlantic
The U.S. Navy has formally re-established its 2nd Fleet at a ceremony aboard an aircraft carrier in Norfolk, Va.
The Aug. 24 event officially intensified the military’s focus on the North Atlantic, where Russian ships and submarines now operate with a frequency not seen in 25 years.
The change is mostly organizational. It revives a command that’s dedicated to overseeing American warships as they deploy between the U.S. East Coast and the Barents Sea off of Norway and Russia.
The revived fleet also reflects a broader change in U.S. military strategy. The nation’s primary concern is shifting from terrorism in the Middle East to America’s growing competition with Rus- sia and China.
The Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral John Richardson, said the Navy is “not looking for a fight” but trying to prevent one. AP
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