Raytheon Missile Systems scored a competitive coup on May 20 in picking up a contract worth at least $88 million to develop the Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD), an expendable air launched vehicle first designed by Northrop Grumman. The Air Armament Center at Eglin Air (AAC) Force Base, Fla., selected the Tucson, Ariz.-based Raytheon unit for a five-year system design and demonstration phase.
BOEING FRANCE, Paris Yves Galland has been named to the new position of president. DRS TECHNOLOGIES, Parsippany, N.J. Steven T. Schorer has joined the company as president of its Electronic Systems Group, based in Gaithersburg, Md. KEYSTONE HELICOPTER, West Chester, Pa. Stephen J. Gambone has been appointed senior vice president and chief financial officer of Keystone Ranger Holdings Inc., and all subsidiaries. NORTHROP GRUMMAN, Los Angeles
MOSCOW - The environmental inspector for Russia's Arkhangelsk region, Anatoly Minyaev, has agreed to allow preparations for a planned June 30 Rockot launch continue at Plesetsk Cosmodrome. On April 18, Minyaev halted Rockot operations due to an absence of a water treatment plant at the Rocket pad. Environmental activists have tried to halt Rockot launches for years, saying they are environmentally damaging.
100TH FLIGHT: The T-50 Golden Eagle, developed by Korea Aerospace Industries and Lockheed Martin, has completed its 100th test flight, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics said May 21. T-50 development is scheduled to continue through 2005. The advanced supersonic trainer is being developed for the Republic of Korea air force, but the companies also are marketing it internationally.
The U.S. Defense Department is launching a DOD-wide campaign to reduce aviation accidents and other types of mishaps by at least 50 percent over the next two years, according to a recent memorandum signed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. In a May 19 memo to top officials, including the undersecretaries of defense and the secretaries of the Air Force, Army and Navy, Rumsfeld said cutting the number and rate of DOD mishaps in half is an "achievable" goal and "will directly increase our operational readiness."
The U.S. Air Force has awarded ThalesRaytheon Systems Co. a $22.3 million spiral 1 contract to upgrade its Battle Control System, the company announced May 20. The Battle Control System (BCS) will provide commanders at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Pacific Command (PACOM) with an interoperable air defense command-and-control platform to support NORAD's homeland defense mission.
Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman have won small contracts to develop risk reduction proposals for developing a critical software tool for war planners at U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM). The $1.1 million contracts launch the first of two phases for the $85 million Strategic War Planning System Modernization (SWPS-M) program, an Air Force contracting officer at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., said May 20.
FINMECCANNICA TAPPED: Stephen Bryen, president of Finmeccannica Inc., which represents Italy's Finmeccanica S.p.A. in the U.S., has been reappointed to a three-year term on the U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Bryen is one of a dozen members on the commission, which Congress created in 2000 to assess the national security implications of U.S. trade with China.
The U.S. Army is moving ahead on plans to outfit unmanned aerial vehicles with signals intelligence payloads. The service's Communications-Electronics Command is soliciting industry for information on the subject and wants responses by June 20. CECOM says in a May 20 FedBizOpps notice that it wants ideas on design, development, fabrication, integration and testing of a SIGINT payload for the Future Combat System's Unmanned Air Vehicle System or the Extended Range/Multi-Purpose Tactical UAV.
A panel led by Pentagon acquisition czar E.C. "Pete" Aldridge Jr. on May 20 agreed to postpone a critical ramp-up decision for the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor's production schedule until September. The ruling by the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB), which Aldridge chairs, essentially defers the ramp-up question to the next undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. Aldridge plans to retire May 23.
BOEING SATELLITE SYSTEMS of El Segundo, Calif., has shipped the Thuraya-2 communications satellite to the Sea Launch Co. in preparation for an early June launch, the company said. The satellite is the second that Boeing has built for the Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Co. of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Thuraya-2 is to be located at 44 degrees East in a geosynchronous orbit.
The U.S. Army has identified a set of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) requirements for operations in urban environments and is calling on industry for help fulfill them, according to the director of ISR integration for Army intelligence.
The first U.S. Army Stryker Brigade will achieve initial operating capability (IOC) this month, senior Army program officials said May 20, but additional testing will have to be done before the brigade-size unit of about 3,600 troops is ready for deployment. Senior Army officials will assess the training and readiness of the first Stryker Brigade Combat Team (3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division) during an operational exercise from May 15-27 at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC), Fort Polk, La.
Congressional Democrats took aim at the Bush Administration's missile defense plans during consideration of the fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill May 20, proposing several amendments that would impose funding cuts or other restrictions on anti-missile programs. The House and Senate were expected to decide the fate of those amendments late May 20 or later in the week. The proposals appeared to face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Congress.
NEW DELHI - India will provide technical assistance to Malaysia to help maintain the Sukhoi Su-30s the country is buying from Russia. An Indian defense ministry official said a team of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) scientists and defense ministry officials is visiting Malaysia this month to develop a maintenance plan for the Su-30s. India already has agreed to train Malaysian pilots and mechanics to fly and maintain the country's MiG-29 aircraft. Malaysia is buying 18 Su-30 MKMs for about $900 million, the official said.
SHIPPED: Orbital Sciences Corp. has shipped the BSAT-2c communications satellite to the European space launch complex in Kourou, French Guiana, for a planned June launch, the company said. The satellite is the third the company has built for Japan's Broadcasting Satellite Systems Corp.
NEW DELHI - Leading engine manufacturers, including General Electric Aircraft Engines of the U.S., Turbomeca of France and Rolls-Royce of the United Kingdom, are competing to supply engines for India's intermediate jet trainer, HJT-36. An HJT-36 prototpye tested by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) last month was equipped with Turbomeca's Larzac 04H20 engine.
The U.S. Army was able to supply all fighting units during the Iraq war, although not before some units had reached the last of their food and ammunition supplies, senior Army officials said May 19. To avoid resupply problems in the future, the Army plans to speed the deployment of the Blue Force Tracking System, although the timelines still have to be determined, said Brig. Gen Jerome Johnson, director of plans, operations and readiness for the Army's Office of Logistics.
