With an eye toward future crewed vehicles such as the Orbital Space Plane (OSP), NASA has released its first agency-wide policy document specifying top-level requirements for human-rating its space flight systems. The new document will serve as a blueprint "for providing the maximum reasonable assurance [that] the design and operations of future human space flight systems present minimum risk to the flight crew and occupants," according to NASA.
EGYPT REQUESTS: Egypt has asked to buy two C-130 Hercules-based airborne electronic intelligence (ELINT) systems for about $60 million and 414 AIM-9M-1/2 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and related equipment for about $50 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said July 17. The ELINT systems would give Egypt's air force the ability to build, maintain and update threat radar data, DSCA said in a notification to Congress. Lockheed Martin ISR Systems, Plano Microwave Inc. and Mission Research Corp. would be the principal contractors for that sale.
The Senate late July 17 approved its version of the fiscal 2004 defense appropriations bill after four days of debate, clearing the way for a conference with the House after the August congressional recess. Earlier in the day, the Senate defeated an amendment by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) that would have shifted $1.1 billion from procurement and research and development to anti-disease programs.
The joint investigation by DOD and the Air Force into alleged misconduct by Boeing during the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) competition has resulted in a criminal indictment against two former Boeing managers, DOD announced July 18. Kenneth Branch, 64, and William Erskine, 43, have been charged with conspiracy to conceal and possess trade secrets by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles, for the misuse of proprietary Lockheed Martin documents during bidding for Air Force EELV launch contracts.
Former Sen. Warren B. Rudman of New Hampshire will lead an independent review of the Boeing Co.'s policies and procedures in the wake of allegations the company misused a competitor's information for a key Air Force space launch program.
An experimental upgrade for missiles aimed at reducing targeting mistakes and improving battlefield damage assessment (BDA) operated successfully in a flight test debut, company officials say. The Alliant Techsystems (ATK) Quick Bolt capability is a U.S. Navy AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) equipped with a transmitter that collects refined targeting data and sends a near-real time picture of the target to a battlefield controller to assist with BDA.
The Missile Defense Agency is defending its boost-phase anti-missile programs in response to a report questioning the feasibility of developing such systems to protect U.S. territory. "MDA is confident we are headed in the right direction," the agency said in a statement. "We continue to believe that boost-phase technology has great potential for playing a vital role in a layered missile defense."
HUGHES ELECTRONICS will pay Boeing $360 million in cash to settle Boeing's claim that Hughes had overvalued its satellite-building arm, which Boeing bought in 2000 and renamed Boeing Satellite Systems. The payments will not have a large impact on Boeing's 2003 earnings, the company said. "We are pleased to put these matters behind us and look forward to our continued productive partnership with Hughes, including next year's launch of the Hughes Spaceway satellite," Dave Ryan, the vice president and general manager of Boeing Satellite Systems, said in a statement.
SIMULATOR SUPPLY: CAE of Toronto will provide six full-flight simulators to JetBlue Airways for a total of $61.2 million under the terms of a letter of intent (LOI) signed by the companies, CAE said July 17. The company is to provide four Airbus A320 simulators and two Embraer 190 simulators. Under the LOI, CAE would become JetBlue's exclusive provider of full-flight simulators for 10 years.
An interagency expert panel is being formed to examine technical and budget lapses plaguing the Alliant Techsystems (ATK) Hard Target Smart Fuze (HTSF) program, a critical component for advanced penetrator weapons, sources told The DAILY. The panel, described as a "red team" of U.S. Air Force, Defense Threat Reduction Agency and Sandia National Laboratory experts, may open the door for alternative technologies, such as the abandoned Multi-Event Hard Target Fuze (MEHTF), to replace the troubled FMU-159A/B HTSF capability, sources said.
BALTIMORE, Md. - As military unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems proliferate rapidly, U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) is taking a lead role in experimenting with and promoting joint UAV operations, according to a JFCOM official. "The UAV force structure is really on the verge of explosive growth, and DOD funding for UAVs is escalating three- or four-fold per year for the next few years," said Christopher Jackson, deputy director of intelligence for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) integration at JFCOM.
BALTIMORE, Md. - The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is sponsoring an effort to develop or identify data standards to govern mission planning for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to Dyke Weatherington, head of the UAV Planning Task Force at OSD.
UCAR: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected Northrop Grumman as one of the two contractor teams that will proceed into Phase II of the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) program. Work is to be completed by April 2004. Another Phase II contractor will be chosen from the remaining Phase I competitors - Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Sikorsky.
U.S. Army officials are discussing how much funding they will try to get to purchase additional Force 21 Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2)/Blue Force Tracking systems for the service's combat vehicles. FBCB2/Blue Force Tracking is a tactical command-and-control system that links satellites, sensors, communications equipment, vehicles, aircraft and weapons in a seamless digital network to provide a continuous, all-weather picture of the battlefield.
Thailand's Korat air base has received the final three of 16 refurbished F-16 Fighting Falcons, aircraft builder Lockheed Martin said. The country has modernized its air force, and the July 11 delivery completes the Thai air force's third F-16 squadron, the company said. The U.S. Air Force refurbished and delivered the aircraft.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes said July 17 that it will reduce employment by an additional 4,000-5,000 people by the end of this year due to a continued weakness in the commercial airline industry. The reductions will be made through layoffs and attrition. The job cuts are in addition to the reduction of 5,000 employees the company had forecast in November 2002, and the company now predicts its year-end employee total will be between 55,000-56,000 people.
A House-Senate conference committee is trying to wrap up negotiations on the fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill by the end of next week, but many tough issues still need to be resolved, including the House's controversial Buy American provisions.
General Dynamics and Rockwell Collins are negotiating to jointly build the Integrated Computer Systems (ICS) for the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. Negotiations are taking place with the Army's lead systems integrator (LSI) team of the Boeing Co. and Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC).
The U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) plans to move forward on a proposal to integrate Litening Extended Range (ER) targeting pods on a small number of F/A-18Ds, according to new acquisition documents. Marine Corps' officials began evaluating the Litening ER capability in the aftermath of Operation Iraqi Freedom, launching a demonstration program with the Northrop Grumman/Rafael targeting pod, which combines a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor, a camera and a laser designator. (DAILY, April 4)
The multi-national Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) has taken a big step forward with the development of a key program plan. MEADS International Inc., an Orlando, Fla.-based joint venture that includes Lockheed Martin, MBDA Italia, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) and Germany's LFK, announced July 16 that it has completed its proposal for handling the upcoming design and development phase, an 83 1/2-month period scheduled to begin in April 2004.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has completed the Critical Design Review for the Navy's BQM-74F, an upgraded version of the BQM-74E aerial target. The review will lead to rollout early next year and first flight later in 2004, the company said July 15. The three-day CDR was conducted during the last week in June at Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems' Unmanned Systems facility in San Diego, said Cynthia Curiel of Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems.
Any future Czech Republic tender for supersonic fighter aircraft will be a transparent process, Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla assured U.S. Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a meeting in Washington July 15. Spidla, who is on a six-day visit to the United States, said Rumsfeld has not shown "the slightest tinge of doubt" that the process would be open. U.S. officials criticized a previous Czech tender - won by BAE Systems but canceled last year after the Czech senate blocked the buy - as being non-transparent.
Assembly starts Aug. 11 on the first of 18 RAH-66 Comanche helicopters to be produced in the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase, despite lingering doubts about the program's schedule and final design. Unveiling details of the manufacturing plan for the U.S. Army's future scout and attack helicopter, Boeing Sikorsky officials said in a briefing July 16 that a newly remodeled assembly line opening next month will dramatically reduce the manufacturing schedule and footprint for production.
