Page 2 - Aerotech News and Review, July 7 2017

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July 7, 2017
Briefs
Air Force drone crashes in remote California area
BISHOP, Calif.—An Air Force drone the size of a small airliner crashed in a remote section of California near Mount Whitney.
Edwards Air Force Base said in a statement that the RQ-4 Global Hawk, an unmanned surveillance aircraft, was making a routine trip June 21 afternoon from Edwards to its usual home at Beale Air Force Base when it crashed for unknown reasons.
The Inyo County Sheriff’s Department said the crash caused a small wildfire that was quickly under control.
The aircraft with a 130-foot wingspan is designed to fly at high altitudes for long distances. It’s slowly replacing the manned U-2 spy planes used for decades by the Air Force.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. AP
Air Force photograph
U.S., Philippine navies patrol troubled waters in Philippines
U.S. and Philippine navy ships have patrolled waters in the southern Philippines, where kidnap- pings by ransom-seeking Abu Sayyaf militants have sparked a regional security alarm.
U.S. Navy Lt. Commander Arlo Abrahamson says a Navy combat ship, the USS Coronado, and the Philippine navy frigate BRP Ramon Alcaraz completed the four-day patrol in the Sulu Sea July 1, adding that the operation was carried out at the request of the Philippines.
Abrahamson says the coordinated patrol was aimed at detecting and deterring threats in the Sulu Sea.
U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Don Gabrielson said “our at-sea operations with the Philippine navy demonstrate our commitment to the alliance and deter piracy and illegal activities.”
Abu Sayyaf gunmen have kidnapped crewmen from passing tugboats and cargo ships in the re- gion in recent years. AP
Pentagon OKs 6-month delay in trans- gender enlistments
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is giving the mili- tary chiefs another six months before they begin allowing transgender individuals to enlist in the armed services.
Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White says Mat- tis made the decision June 30.
A Mattis memo obtained by The Associated Press says he wanted to give the services time to insure the change won’t affect the readiness and lethality of the force.
His decision endorses an agreement hammered out last week by the military service leaders. That plan rejected Army and Air Force requests for a two-year wait and reflected the broader worry that a longer delay would trigger criticism on Capitol Hill.
Transgender service members have been able to serve openly in the military since last year, but not allowed to enlist as new recruits. AP
Finland, Sweden join British-led rapid action military force
Sweden and Finland have joined a British-led military rapid reaction force that can either operate alone or jointly with the United Nations, NATO or the European Union.
The two non-NATO members joined the Joint Expeditionary Force June 30 when Sweden’s Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist and his Finnish counterpart Jussi Niinisto signed a deal in Stock-
2
holm in the presence of British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon, who called it “a force of friends.” The unit can consist of up to 10,000 troops from Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Nor- way, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It can be used
in combat, deterrence or humanitarian support. In recent years, Finns and Swedes have strength- ened their military cooperation with NATO and bilaterally with London and Washington, mainly due to neighboring Russia’s behavior in the Baltic
region. AP
Recovered SpaceX booster arrives in LA
harbor
The recovered first stage of a SpaceX rocket that launched satellites from California last weekend has been brought to the Port of Los Angeles.
The Daily Breeze newspaper reports the boost- er arrived June 28 aboard the drone ship on which it landed in the Pacific Ocean.
Southern California-based SpaceX is recover- ing first stages of its Falcon 9 rockets in an effort to bring down launch costs by reusing hardware.
The latest recovered booster was launched June 25 from Vandenberg Air Force Base with a payload of 10 new satellites for Iridium Com- munications. AP
NATO chief: U.S. allies to spend $12 bil- lion more this year
NATO’s chief says U.S. allies are projected to spend around $12 billion more on defense this year, after President Donald Trump berated them for failing to boost military budgets.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said June 28 that “we have really shifted gears. The (spending) trend is up and we intend to keep it up.”
Unveiling new figures, Stoltenberg said Euro- pean allies and Canada have increased spending by almost $46 billion over the last three years.
He said 25 of NATO’s 29 allies aim to raise defense spending in 2017.
Only the United States, Britain, Estonia, debt- burden Greece and Poland met NATO’s spending targets last year. Romania says it will meet the 2 percent of GDP guideline this year, while Latvia and Lithuania plan to in 2018. AP
China navy launches latest generation destroyer
China’s increasingly powerful navy has launched its most advanced domestically-pro- duced destroyer at a time of rising competition with other naval powers such as the United States, Japan and India.
Aerotech News and Review
See BRIEFS, Page 4
The official Xinhua News Agency says the first 10,000-ton Type 055 entered the water at Shang- hai’s Jiangnan Shipyard June 28.
It says the ship is equipped with the latest air, missile, ship and submarine defense systems. China is believed to be planning a total of four of the ships. AP
Iridium says newly launched satellites are functioning well
Iridium Communications says its 10 new satel- lites launched from California during the weekend are functioning normally.
The McLean, Va.,-based company said June 26 the satellites will undergo about 45 days of testing to ensure they can be integrated into its operational constellation that provides mobile voice and data communications around the globe.
The June 25 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base carried the second batch of 10 satellites that are being used to replace Iridium’s entire original fleet of satellites.
Iridium plans six more launches aboard SpaceX rockets to place a total of 75 new satellites into orbit, including nine spares.
The satellites also carry payloads for an Aireon LLC service that will allow real-time tracking of aircraft everywhere on the globe. Aireon says its testing is also underway. AP
Russian navy test-fires submarine- launched missile
The Russian military says it has successfully test-fired a submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile.
The Defense Ministry said the Yuri Dolgoruky nuclear-powered submarine launched the Bulava missile June 26 from a submerged position in the Barents Sea. The ministry said the missile’s mock warheads reached their designated targets on the opposite side of Russia — the Kura shooting range on the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula.
The Bulava, which has been commissioned by the Russian navy after a long cycle of devel- opment, carries six nuclear warheads and has a
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BOEING, from 1
Port, due to its longer taxiway.
Other testing at Fox Field will include a
converted MD-87 jetliner and a former C-130.