The U.S. Air Force will sharpen the perimeter security of 10 of its installations in the U.S. with man-portable radars, a service official said. "The primary purpose is homeland defense," Gary Van Gorder, contracting officer of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, said in an e-mail response to a question from The DAILY. The Air Force plans to buy AN/PPS-5C Man-portable Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar (MSTAR) systems from Systems and Electronics Inc. (SEI) of St. Louis.
DAB APPROVAL: The $10 billion Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) program won a crucial green light from the U.S. Defense Department's Defense Acquisition Board on July 30, an Army spokesman told The DAILY July 31. This allows the U.S. Army to launch a system development and demonstration phase, the spokesman said.
DELTA LAUNCH: A Boeing Delta IV rocket is scheduled to launch the final spacecraft for the U.S. Air Force's Defense Satellite Communications System on Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the company said July 31. A Delta IV Medium vehicle is to launch DSCS III B6 from Space Launch Complex 37B. The launch window opens at 6:58 p.m. EDT and lasts for 83 minutes. The Air Force said last week that Boeing will lose seven launch contracts under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program due to fraud committed by employees (DAILY, July 25).
The U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater program received a political boost July 31 as Senate support solidified for a fiscal 2004 budget increase and a key lawmaker proposed starting a program acceleration in FY '05.
AURORA SENSORS: L-3 Communications WESCAM will provide MX-20 sensor systems for the Canadian Department of Defence's CP-140 Aurora Incremental Modernization Program (AIMP) under a $19 million contract, L-3 said July 31. The electro-optic/infrared video reconnaissance systems are in production and will be delivered in 2003 and 2004, the company said.
A key Pentagon leader has endorsed a yearlong push by a team of researchers to develop a fresh analysis on an emerging combat theory called "swarming," U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) officials say.
The Defense Department is opposing a House-passed proposal to review the U.S. nuclear arsenal, saying a major study of nuclear matters already has been done and that a new examination would be "disruptive and redundant."
General Dynamics on July 30 announced plans to acquire privately held Digital Systems Resources (DSR) Inc., a provider of surveillance and combat systems for submarines and surface ships. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The sale is expected to close in 60 days, pending regulatory approval, company officials said. DSR, based in Fairfax, Va., employs nearly 450. It will become part of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a unit of the company's Information Systems and Technology group.
Around mid-November, NASA's Hyper-X demonstrator, the X-43A, will make a second attempt to fly at Mach 7 after being released by a modified Pegasus booster rocket in the skies over Edwards, Calif. The 12-foot Hyper-X is a scramjet-powered test aircraft designed to advance hypersonic (i.e., faster than Mach 5) air-breathing engine technology. The Orbital Sciences-built Hyper-X Launch Vehicle (HXLV), based on the company's Pegasus XL, boosts the X-43A to its release altitude of 95,000 feet after being dropped from the wing of a B-52.
Boeing, Arianespace and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) announced July 29 they are forming an alliance to provide a joint launch service for international commercial customers. Under the arrangement, customers will be given the choice of launching from launch sites operated by Sea Launch, Arianespace and MHI.
LONDON - BAE Systems has won a $1.3 billion order for Hawk trainers from the U.K. Ministry of Defence, beating Italy's Aermacchi M346 in a competition that BAE officials say will save some 2,000 British jobs. The MOD is said to have been under pressure from the Treasury to save money by selecting a foreign company, but such a choice would have threatened BAE's plant in Brough, Yorkshire (DAILY, July 30). BAE Systems will build 20 Hawk Mk. 128s, with an option to build another 24.
A report to Congress July 30 offers new details of China's growing military power, including a fresh assessment of surface- and air-launched missile inventories. The report by the U.S. Defense Department, titled "Annual Report on the Military Power of the People's Republic of China," dated July 28, was released to the public and was delivered to lawmakers, who required the yearly assessment beginning in 2000.
NEW DELHI - India has decided to phase out its older MiG-21 fighters and license production of Mirage 2000-5 aircraft from France's Dassault, an official of the Indian Ministry of Defense told The Daily July 30. The decision comes in the wake of a long series of crashes involving India's MiG-21 aircraft. The decision to phase out the MiG-21s was disclosed to the Indian Parliament July 30 in a written statement by Defense Minster George Fernandes.
S-Band Radar: The Navy said July 30 that S-Band radar technology will be used in the volume-search radar aboard the DD(X) destroyer rather than L-Band radar technology. Higher frequency S-band technology improves the destroyer's ability to track aircraft and missiles and counterattack shore-based gun or missile batteries, the Navy said.
BAE Systems North America has filed a lawsuit against Lockheed Martin Corp. seeking reimbursement of $40 million that BAE paid five years ago to settle a lawsuit. The case stems from a June 1997 lawsuit filed against Lockheed Martin by Cable and Computer Technology Inc., which was based in California. CCT and the former Lockheed Martin Sanders unit were competing for a subcontract that involved upgrading the mission control system on the B-1B bomber.
The U.S. Marine Corps is seeking to enlist other parts of the government to help it spur the development of a space vehicle that could transport troops from the U.S. to any point on the globe within two hours, a Marine general told a congressional panel July 30.
Spacedev's CHIPSat microsatellite, launched last January for NASA, was an "eye opener" for other government agencies interested in the promise of small satellites, according to Jim Benson, CEO of the Poway, Calif., company. The suitcase-sized CHIPSat (Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer satellite) is examining the interstellar medium - the very hot, low-density gas found in the space between the stars - for clues about the formation and evolution of galaxies (DAILY, March 7).
President Bush's nominee for Army chief of staff has told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he plans to keep a close eye on the troubled RAH-66 Comanche program to ensure the Boeing-Sikorsky armed reconnaissance helicopter stays on track. "If confirmed, I will conduct my own assessment and work hard to ensure that the Comanche program continues forward on a solid path," Gen. Peter Schoomaker said in written comments to the committee, which held a hearing on his nomination July 29.
Raytheon Co. hopes to receive approval later this year to begin full production of the AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile, according to Jim Turecek of the company's Missile Systems unit in Tucson, Ariz. Full production is "coming up," said Turecek, who is manager of air-to-air business development. Raytheon is waiting for the operational test report, which will detail performance of the missile during operational testing.
QUANTICO, Va. -- No U.S. Marine Corps attack helicopters was shot down during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), but the fleet was so heavily damaged in combat that service officials are expressing doubt about two fundamental wartime roles for rotor-wing aircraft, a senior commander said July 29.
A senior special operations official is suggesting a possible new role for the Pentagon's growing fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs): psychological operations, or "psyops." Psyops units, composed of Reserve and Guard personnel, are tasked with disseminating propaganda leaflets and broadcasting messages to discourage or intimidate opposing forces or civilians.
The Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Directed Energy Directorate has awarded Boeing a $23 million contract to develop a mobile test bed for tactical laser beam control technologies. Dubbed the Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated eXperiments (MATRIX) test bed, it will allow for the evaluation of new beam control algorithms as well as sensors for aiming, target acquisition, and target identification.
