The Pentagon's chief weapons tester is raising concerns about the Air Force's Space-Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High), warning in a report that recently revised schedules provide little room for error.
Although the Pentagon's new six-year spending plan supports all three tactical aircraft programs, critical deficiencies and risk areas remain unresolved for the F/A-18E/F, F/A-22 and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), according to a new Defense Department report. Thomas P. Christie, director of operational test and evaluation (DOT&E), on Feb. 20 released his office's fiscal year 2002 annual report, which is forwarded to Congress. The report covers most major unclassified DOD acquisition programs, including the tactical aircraft fleet.
CONNEXION: British Airways passengers were able to go online in the air when the Connexion by Boeing broadband system went live Feb. 20, Boeing said. The trial is taking place for three months on one British Airways 747-400 operating between New York's JFK and London's Heathrow airports.
SIMULATORS: Cubic Defense Applications has introduced a new line of electronic warfare (EW) simulators that test an aircraft's ability to detect "virtually all" known radar threats, the company said Feb. 20. The High Density Simulation System (HIDESS) emulate the radar signals of surface-to-air, air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, among others.
PRAGUE - Slovakia is poised to sign a maintenance contract with Russia that would dramatically cut operational costs for its fleet of MiG-29s, according to the head of the Slovak air force. Maj. Gen. Jozef Dunaj told the DAILY Feb. 19 that the contract to maintain the fighter aircraft, which is being undertaken as partial payment for Russian debts, is ready to be signed "very soon."
SUPERSONIC: The T-50 Golden Eagle trainer achieved supersonic flight for the first time on Feb. 19, Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries said. "I was able to hold the target speed of Mach 1.05 with plenty of excess power available, so I have no doubt this aircraft will be able to achieve its maximum design Mach of Mach 1.5," Maj. Choong Hwan Lee of the Republic of Korea air force said in a statement. The one-hour flight occurred from the air base at Sachon, South Korea.
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - The task of certifying the weapons store configurations for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter already is drawing major interest even though the fighter is years away from conducting its first live-fire tests. The issue is complicated by the multiple certification standards used by the U.S. armed services and at least one foreign military, the United Kingdom. It is among several compatibility hurdles confronting a program that is tailored for a community of widely different customers.
NEW DELHI - George Fernandes, India's defense minister, told parliament on Feb. 20 that no deadline has been set for completing a procurement contract for advanced jet trainers (AJTs). However, Fernandes told lawmakers that India wants to buy the aircraft as soon as possible. India has been negotiating with the United Kingdom's BAE Systems for 66 Hawk 100 trainers for six years, although the deal has gotten bogged down over a price dispute.
LONDON - Defence Procurement Minister Lord Willy Bach said the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and BAE Systems have agreed to restructure the fixed-price contracts for the Nimrod MRA.4 maritime patrol aircraft and Astute nuclear-powered attack submarine, which are over budget and costing the company money.
LONDON - The four partners in the Eurofighter consortium have announced they have conducted initial flights with their first series production aircraft (SPAs). These aircraft follow the first seven development prototypes - one of which recently crashed in Spain (DAILY, Nov. 25, 2002) - and three instrumented production aircraft (IPAs), which began their flight-clearance programs in the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy last spring.
Fleet pilots are beginning the first operational assessment of the Marine Corps' new AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) said. NAVAIR said crews will conduct five sorties of each aircraft, with the sorties representing tactical missions. The AH-1Z SuperCobra and UH-1Y Huey are being developed under the H-1 Upgrades Program, which is modernizing the aging fleets. The assessments are intended to confirm that the revamped helicopers are suitable for fleet operations. 'On the right track'
DIRECTORY: The McGraw-Hill Companies will release a print and electronic directory of governments, companies, people, products and services in the $138 billion homeland security market. The directory will be released in May at the second annual McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Summit & Exposition in Washington, D.C. May 14-16.
Even as the U.S. Defense Department resolves a projected crisis in tactical aircraft production later this decade, a new fighter industry threat is emerging, this time across the Atlantic Ocean, according to an aerospace analyst.
NEW DELHI - India has agreed to invest about $150 million in the development of the Arrow-2 anti-missile system, according to an official with the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The United States, which is developing the system with Israel, must approve the investment.
LAUNCH: Arianespace successfully launched an Intelsat 907 communications satellite on Feb. 15, on the last flight of the Ariane 4 booster, the company said. The flight marked the 116th launch of the booster, which is being replaced by the Ariane 5, the company said. The Intelsat 907 will provide Ku-band spot beam coverage for Western Europe and West Africa and C-band capacity to the Americas, Europe and Africa, according to Intelsat.
Ronald D. Sugar, the newly appointed chief executive officer of Northrop Grumman, also is expected to assume the role of board chairman eventually, a company spokesman said Feb. 19. The company's board of directors voted Feb. 19 to name Sugar, 54, who had been president and chief operating officer, to the CEO job effective April 1. Kent Kresa, the company's chairman and CEO for 13 years, retires from the CEO post at the company's mandatory retirement age of 65 in March, the company said in a written statement.
GOODRICH, Charlotte, N.C. Ron Frederick has been appointed president of the company's Turbo Machinery Products division in Chandler, Ariz. INTEGRATED DEFENSE TECHNOLOGIES, Huntsville, Ala. Barth Pitchford has been appointed president of ZETA-IDT Inc., a subsidiary in Morgan Hill, Calif. NORTHROP GRUMMAN, Los Angeles Philip A. Odeen, the former chairman of TRW Inc., has been elected to the company's board of directors. PARKER HANNIFIN, Cleveland
Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co. will share a $2 billion contract for production of laser guided bomb kits over several years. The Department of Defense announced Feb. 18 that Raytheon was getting the entire Air Force contract (see contracts on Page 8), but spokeswomen for Raytheon and Lockheed Martin said Feb. 19 that this was incorrect.
NASA released the initial, level one requirements for its Orbital Space Plane (OSP) Feb. 18, specifying that the vehicle must be capable of carrying at least four passengers while being safer than the space shuttle and Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
The Missile Defense Agency has decided to revamp the High Altitude Airship (HAA) program following consultations with private industry, an MDA official said Feb. 19. "The latest on the HAA project is that the acquisition strategy is being revised," the official wrote in response to questions from The DAILY.
NEW DELHI - The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has decided to set up a second master control facility at Bhopal to help monitor the country's satellites. The Indian National Satellite System (INSAT) has five satellites, INSATs 2C, 2dt, 2-3E, 3B and 3C, making it one of the largest satellite systems in the Asia Pacific region.
