MTHEL TRANSFER: Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) announced Feb. 26 that it plans to hold a ceremony Feb. 28 to mark the transfer of the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) from SMDC's technical center to the Army program executive office for air and missile defense (PEO AMD). The ceremony will take place at Redstone Arsenal in Hunstville, Ala. The transfer is slated to be completed by Oct. 1.
BOEING SATELLITE SYSTEMS, El Segundo, Calif. David Ryan has been appointed president, replacing Randy Brinkley, who has resigned (DAILY, Feb. 25). BOMBARDIER, Montreal Denis Desautels, the former auditor general of Canada, has joined the board of directors. CENTRE NATIONAL D'ETUDES SPATIALES (CNES), Paris Yannick d'Escatha has been appointed president of the French space agency. MEGGITT AEROSPACE EQUIPMENT, North Hollywood, Calif.
FALLS CHURCH, Va. - The rift with France and Germany over a possible war in Iraq is provoking some Capitol Hill lawmakers to rethink their position on America's future military presence in Europe, according to Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.). "I'm very upset, and so is the Congress," Weldon said during a keynote speech at the National Defense Industrial Association's (NDIA) Space Policy and Architecture symposium in Falls Church, Va., Feb. 26. "We have a major situation developing on Capitol Hill that I have not seen in 19 years."
Government customers for satellite services must do a better job of conveying their needs to major providers, a panel of top satellite executives said Feb. 26.
A two-year program to develop and test an upgraded version of the Air Force's BLU-113 penetrator warhead for the GBU-28 "Bunker Buster" bomb could be decided by which company's product blasts the biggest crater, according to a Request for Proposals (RFP) posted Feb. 24. A Pre-planned Product Improvement (P3I) program for the warhead is designed to improve the Air Force's weapon of choice for defeating hardened targets, such as bunkers buried deeply underground.
Actions taken by launch service providers to boost demand for service, such as reducing rates, are unlikely to significantly benefit the satellite industry, according to a panel of satellite executives and analysts. Instead, launch service providers need to focus on launch vehicle reliability and ensuring that their rates remain competitive, they said.
PRAGUE - The Czech ministry of defense has grounded its fleet of 57 L-159 light combat aircraft for at least several weeks following a fatal crash in central Bohemia last week (DAILY, Feb. 24). The ministry said the aircraft, produced by Czech company Aero Vodochody, probably will remain grounded until the completion of an investigation into the incident, in which an experienced air force pilot died. The investigation, which is being carried out by a special commission appointed by the Czech army's chief of staff, is expected to take at least six weeks.
GLOBAL HAWK: Northrop Grumman has delivered the seventh Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle to the U.S. Air Force, the company said Feb. 25. The vehicle, which includes enhanced avionics, is the last to be delivered under the advanced concept technology demonstration phase. The company is scheduled to deliver the first two Global Hawk production vehicles later this year.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The Department of Defense's investments in high-energy laser research are shifting from technologies designed to attack incoming ballistic missile warheads to tactical requirements, according to a defense technology official. That trend should be confirmed by an event scheduled in April by the High Energy Laser Joint Technology Office (HEL-JTO), which coordinates the Pentagon's research on laser technology and provides about $70 million each year to fund fledgling research and development efforts.
JOINT STARS: Northrop Grumman delivered the 15th E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) aircraft to the 116th Air Control Wing (ACW) on Feb. 25, the company said. This was the fifth aircraft produced in the Block 20 configuration, which includes integrated commercial-off-the-shelf onboard computing and signal processing, Northrop Grumman said. The company also is updating the first 10 Air Force Joint STARS aircraft to the Block 20 configuration.
Initial results from the first flight test of the Navy's "Coyote" GQM-163A Supersonic Sea Skimming Supersonic Target (SSST) appear favorable, according to Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). The booster launch and separation phases performed as expected during the Jan. 23 test at Point Mugu, Calif., NAVAIR said. Data collected during the test is being analyzed to measure the rest of the Coyote's performance.
An Army official told a Senate panel Feb. 25 that the Defense Department plans to terminate the Joint Simulation System (JSIMS) due to problems in developing the computer-training tool, but the proposal drew immediate criticism from a senator whose state hosts the program.
Three companies have received Air Force contracts for early work on a payload for the projected Space Based Radar (SBR). Harris Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Raytheon Co. each got about $8.6 million to competitively "define, analyze, design and demonstrate a pre-prototype" payload for SBR, which will be able to monitor tactical targets when it becomes operational.
RADAR WORK: The Australian Department of Defence has awarded Daronmont Technologies a three-year, $15 million contract for building, operating and supporting a demonstration of an over-the-horizon, high-frequency surface wave radar. The SECAR radar can detect surface vessels and low-flying aircraft beyond the visible horizon, which will allow 24-hour surveillance of the coastline. Authorities will use the radar to monitor fisheries and offshore oil and gas equipment and deter smugglers.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The Army plans to bring image fusion to the individual soldier when it fields the next-generation of night vision goggles in fiscal year 2007, according to Lt. Col. Cynthia Bedell, product manager for sensors and lasers at Program Executive Office-Soldier. Bedell is responsible for the development of hand-held night vision devices, from image intensification and infrared goggles to low-light cameras and laser rangefinders.
Providing satellite services to the U.S. government could become an important source of revenue for satellite operators and service providers, according to satellite industry analysts. "The government has been an important bridge across these troubled waters," Richard DalBello, president of the Satellite Industry Association (SIA) said at a panel discussion at the Satellite 2003 conference in Washington, sponsored by Via Satellite. "As overall telecom buying has diminished, the government's unique needs have increased dramatically."
ManTech International Corp. of Fairfax, Va., will acquire Integrated Data Systems (IDS), a Chantilly, Va.-based software development and systems integration company that supports intelligence and Department of Defense customers. ManTech will acquire IDS for $57.5 million in cash, the company said Feb. 25. The buy is the company's third acquisition since its initial public offering in February 2002. Last year, the company acquired Aegis Research Corp. and CTX Corp.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) needs fusion technologies that will blend images from different sensors in real time to provide the most useful view of a target, according to Patrick Gardner, science adviser at SOCOM's Office of Advanced Technology. "In my assessment, probably the richest field for fusion in distributed sensors is in the area of deeply buried targets," Gardner said at the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement's (IDGA) Image Fusion conference in Alexandria, Va., Feb. 25.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A space wargame being held this week at Schriever Air Force Base here will help the Army generate space-related requirements, according to Brig. Gen. Richard V. Geraci, deputy commanding general of Army Space Command. "You start talking and you start generating requirements," Geraci said in an interview last week as the week-long game began. "You say, 'You know, if our satellites had this capability and they could perform this way, we may be able to minimize casualties, be able to execute a mission in more rapid manner.'"
Boeing achieved the first Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) launch during a flight test at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the company said Feb. 25. The SDB separated from an F-15E and flew a planned mission, Boeing said. Boeing's announcement came two weeks after Lockheed Martin said it had completed the first flight tests of its captive-carry variant of the weapon (DAILY, Feb. 13).
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has awarded the Titan Corp. of San Diego a $59.9 million contract to develop and build the Navy's X-craft, company officials said Feb. 25. The X-craft is envisioned to be a 73-meter long (about 240 feet) high-speed aluminum catamaran that features an advanced hull design to allow the ship to reach speeds of 50 knots or more.
