The first series production Eurofighter Typhoon has been delivered to the German air force, and Spain's air force has completed the acceptance flight of its first aircraft, Eurofighter consortium member EADS CASA said Aug. 4. Germany is the first Eurofighter partner country to accept delivery of the aircraft for service use, the company said. The aircraft, GT003, will be used for service pilot instructor training at Manching.
Leaders of two multi-service force protection acquisition efforts met for the first time last week and agreed to tailor their systems to be complementary rather than competitive. The pledge covers the U.S. Army's $1 billion Guardian program and the Air Force's $300 million Integrated Base Defense Security System (IBDSS), which is nearing the final stages of a competitive downselect.
The design of a U.S. Air Force network linking 13 command and control sensors is being shaped under a contract awarded to a Lockheed Martin-led team, the company announced Aug. 4. The Air Force's Electronic Systems Center launched the three-year program to develop the architecture for the Command and Control Constellation (C2C) with a one-year, $3 million award to the Lockheed Martin team. The contract could be worth up to $50 million.
NEW WINDOW: After another launch delay, Boeing and the U.S. Air Force will have to find a new launch window for the Delta IV slated to carry a Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) spacecraft to orbit, Boeing said Aug. 4. The launch team is replacing an antenna for the rocket's flight termination system and the work won't be done in time to meet the Aug. 5 range availability assigned to the flight. The spacecraft is to launch the DSCS III B6, but the flight earlier was delayed for insulation checks (DAILY, Aug. 4).
Boeing Air Force Systems will develop a modern a modern battle management suite to replace a 1970s-era system now aboard the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) fleet, the company said. The U.S. Air Force's Electronic Systems Center has awarded a contract to Boeing for the four-year system development and demonstration phase of the first major AWACS upgrade in 25 years, Boeing announced in an employee newsletter last week.
At a July 30 meeting, the major players in the "Access Five" initiative to enable routine unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations in the national airspace agreed to move forward, despite lingering questions over the source of the necessary funding. The meeting, which took place in Washington, involved high-level representatives from NASA, the FAA, the Department of Defense (DOD), and the UNITE (UAV National Industry Team Endeavor) group, whose members are Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics, AeroVironment and Aurora Flight Sciences.
MOSCOW - The launch of a Progress supply vehicle to the International Space Station later this year might not be possible without more money to finish building the spacecraft, an official with spacecraft builder RSC Energia said Aug. 4. Nikolai Zelenschikov, RSC Energia's first deputy general designer, said the vehicle is on the assembly line but might not be finished unless the company gets additional funding.
TRAINING DEVICES: AAI Corporation Engineering Support Inc. (ESI) will build and deliver three additional maintenance trainers for U.S. Air Force Globemaster III aircraft under a $37.7 million contract, the company said July 31. ESI will build the trainers in Charleston, S.C. and expects to deliver the first one in mid-2005.
KADISH & BUSH: Air Force Gen. Ronald Kadish, director of the Missile Defense Agency, is expected to give President Bush an in-person update on missile defense programs later this month, according to an industry source. A likely subject of the briefing, which is slated to take place at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, is the Bush Administration's plans to begin deploying the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system in September 2004.
NEW DELHI - The Indo-U.S. Defense Policy Group (DPG) plans to hold a two-day meeting in Washington beginning Aug. 6. India's defense secretary, Ajay Prasad, left here Aug. 4 to attend the meeting, along with officials from the defense and external affairs ministries, the Defence Research and Development Organization and other officials.
PRAGUE - Several national and international tenders will be called in coming months for NATO-approved projects at air bases in the Czech Republic. The move follows recent Czech government approval for a series of modernization and construction programs within the NATO Security Investments Program (BSIP). The projects, some of which were approved in principle by NATO in 1999, include the modernization of an aircraft hangar at Caslav airbase.
CryoSat, part of the European Space Agency's Living Planet program, is entering the final assembly stage on the way to being launched next year, ESA said Aug. 4. CryoSat is designed to measure changes in the Earth's terrestrial and marine ice fields, with the idea of providing "conclusive evidence" of whether polar ice is diminishing due to climate change, ESA said.
The Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Raytheon a $105 million contract modification on Aug. 1 to further define the requirements for portions of the Aegis Combat System that will be installed aboard six warships. Those portions, along with the rest of the Aegis Weapon System, will be installed on two U.S. Navy DDG-51 destroyers, three South Korean ships, and one Japanese destroyer.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has decided to amend its policies to allow for expanded and more flexible use of its Earth observation satellites for homeland security, national security, law enforcement, and humanitarian operations. The new rules, announced in the Federal Register Aug. 1, revise 1998 regulations that govern the "non-environmental" use of data collection systems (DCS) on NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES).
GLOBAL HAWK: The first production RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is entering a final series of systems tests in preparation for its first flight at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., later this month, according to Northrop Grumman. "Global Hawk Air Force 1" is the eighth Global Hawk, following seven built under the advanced concept technology demonstration (ACTD) phase of the program. After its flight test program, the UAV will be delivered to the Air Force's 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base near Sacramento, Calif.
EELV FATE: Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee's strategic forces panel, says he supports the Air Force's decision to punish the Boeing Co. for wrongfully obtaining documents from Lockheed Martin Corp., its main competitor in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The punishment includes a reduction in launch contracts for Boeing (DAILY, July 25). But Allard continues to support the Air Force's policy of sustaining both Boeing and Lockheed Martin for the EELV program.
INTEL BILL: The fiscal 2004 intelligence authorization bill, which would authorize funds for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) and other intelligence agencies, will head to a House-Senate conference committee after the August congressional recess, now that the Senate approved its version of the bill July 31. The House passed its version in June. Many of the details in the House and Senate legislation are not disclosed.
The Future Combat Systems and other Army systems could suffer if Congress approves a proposed cut in funding for the Army Evaluation Center, according to the Defense Department.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) has received a U.S. Air Force contract to develop a new weapon called Shredder that could dramatically bolster the military's ability to defeat chemical and biological weapons stored in hardened bunkers. The Air Force Research Laboratory's Munitions Directorate selected ATK for the $15 million effort after a nearly three-month competition that opened May 2. ATK so far has received a $1.9 million order for the Shredder program.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said July 31 that he is negotiating a confidentiality agreement with the Boeing Co. to obtain "sensitive" pricing information on the company's 767 aircraft, the kind the Air Force wants to lease to use as aerial refuelers.
NATO has approved the bulk of a $7.7 billion design for Europe's first integrated command and control system after a three-week review, launching the start of a development and integration phase.
Although Loral Space & Communications and Orbital Sciences Corp. have experienced financial difficulties, the business strategies pursued by each company has led to very different results, according to two space analysts. Loral, a provider of large telecommunications satellites and satellite services, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 15 and agreed to sell nearly half its satellite fleet to Intelsat for cash (DAILY, July 16).
