ASYMMETRIC DIALOGUE

Orbital ATK unveiled two new vehicles in early March that would help extend the life of satellites at the 2018 Satellite conference held in Washington D.C. The aerospace manufacturing company touted their rendezvous vehicles as the latest step in the ongoing revolution within the field of on-orbit servicing technology. As industry leaders at the conference boasted technological advancements, policy experts gathered on the other side of the convention center to discuss their role in this new rapidly developing market. Commercial satellite operators are particularly interested in this field of technology because it may allow them to keep one satellite on orbit longer than expected. It would also allow operators to shuffle their fleet and provide more flexible services, which could benefit the Department of Defense. Dawkins said five American companies have received licenses for on-orbit servicing. Under current law, operators need approval from multiple gov

Destroyers Maxed Out, Navy Looks To New Hulls: Power For Radars & Lasers

Navy DDG-51 Flight III modifications. SOURCE: GAO ARLINGTON: The Navy has crammed as much electronics as it can into its new DDG-51 Flight III destroyers now beginning construction, Rear Adm. William Galinis said this morning. That drives the service towards a new Large Surface Combatant that can comfortably accommodate the same high-powered radars , as well as future weapons such as lasers , on either a modified DDG-51 hull or an entirely new design. Rear Adm. William Galinis “It’s going to be more of an evolutionary approach as we migrate from the DDG-51 Flight IIIs to the Large Surface Combatant ,” said Galinis, the Navy’s Program Executive Officer for Ships. (LSC evolved from the Future Surface Combatant concept and will serve along a new frigate and unmanned surface vessels ). “(We) start with a DDG-51 flight III combat system and we build off of that, probably bringing in a new HME (Hull, Mechanical, & Engineering) infrastructure, a new power architectur

Turkey to exhibit at Army-2018 - Russian MoD

Turkey and seven more foreign countries have already confirmed participation of their national expositions in the Army-2018 international defense technology forum, deputy department head of the Russian Defense Ministry Major General Roman Kordyukov said on Saturday on the air with the Ekho Moskvy radio station. "Participation of eight foreign displays has been confirmed to date: these are Armenia, Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Pakistan, and Turkey," the official said, stressing that he refers to expositions and not to delegations. The Russian Defense Ministry earlier sent formal invitations to defense ministries of 128 countries. High attendance of foreign colleagues at the event is expected, Kordyukov noted. Representatives of 114 foreign countries and 65 official military delegations visited the Army-2017 forum last year, Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu said earlier. The Army-2018 international defense technology forum will be held