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05 Aug 08. Lockheed Martin announced the successful on-orbit handover of the first Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO-1) payload and ground system to the U.S. Air Force in preparation for the start of certified operations later this year. SBIRS is designed to provide early warning of missile launches, and simultaneously support other missions including missile defense, technical intelligence and battlespace characterization. Announced to be on-orbit in Nov. 2006, the HEO-1 payload has been exceeding performance specifications during an extensive on-orbit test regimen necessary before it can begin on-orbit operations for the user. The HEO-1 payload and associated ground components will now undergo a final independent operational test and evaluation.
05 Aug 08. A U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter aircraft fired the newest variant of Raytheon Company’s Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile May 22 as part of developmental testing. The AIM-120D AMRAAM passed well within lethal range of the QF-4 target drone. The missile destroyed the target and met all primary test objectives. “This test is another important milestone on the road to putting the AIM-120D in the hands of the U.S. warfighter,” said Col. Scott Rumph, commander of the U.S. Air Force’s 328th Armament Systems Group. “The AIM-120D will enable our men and women in uniform to maintain air superiority, regardless of the threat.” The AIM-120D builds on the combat-proven AMRAAM family of missiles. It offers improved capabilities compared with its predecessor, the AIM-120C7.
05 Aug 08. Aonix®, the provider of the PERC product line for embedded and real-time Java developers, announces the release of PERC Ultra 5.1 cross development and target support on Wind River’s VxWorks 6.6 real-time operating system and Wind River Workbench development suite. With more than 1 million field systems in markets such as aerospace, defense, telecommunications, industrial control and robotics, PERC Ultra well suits the broad real-time market leadership of VxWorks. These joint solutions will enable developers to take advantage of Java language capabilities while ensuring that critical deterministic behavior requirements can still be met. Boasting the largest number of deployments for any commercial real-time virtual machine, PERC Ultra has proven itself as an embedded virtual machine that is scalable, manageable, reliable and secure. In addition to separating it from its competitors, these characteristics make it ideal for VxWorks developers who primarily focus on the safety- and mission-critical space. This version of PERC Ultra allows the PERC Virtual Machine to run as a real-time process, protecting Java applications from being corrupted by any errant C applications running on the same system. PERC Ultra also takes advantage of Wind River Advanced Networking Technologies, new with this port to VxWorks 6.6.
07 Aug 08. The Boeing Company announced the successful first flight of a (K)DC-10 modified with Boeing’s Cockpit Upgrade Program (CUP). A flight crew from the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF), Boeing and Fokker Services completed the four-hour flight of the RNLAF aircraft at the Fokker Services facility in the Netherlands on July 22. The CUP modification, which is being performed at Fokker Services, provides a new flight-management system, display system and improved communications. The RNLAF has a contract with Fokker Services and Boeing to upgrade three aircraft: two (K)DC-10 air refueling tankers and one DC-10 transport. The contract was awarded in May 2005. Delivery of the first aircraft is scheduled for fall 2008.
31 Jul 08. A team led by Boeing Advanced Systems has been awarded a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract for the first phase of the Fast Access Spacecraft Testbed (FAST) program. DARPA’s FAST is a multiphase effort to desig