General Atomics is targeting U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) as a major customer for its proposed homeland security package in which the company's unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) would perform surveillance over the borders and coasts of the U.S. The package involves the company's RQ-1 Predator or smaller I-GNAT UAVs beaming surveillance data to command centers that would distribute the information to other agencies (DAILY, Aug. 13).
SES Astra's Astra 1K satellite was de-orbited over the Pacific Ocean Dec. 10, less than two weeks after a launch failure left it stranded in the wrong orbit. The Block DM upper stage of a Proton K launch vehicle failed during the launch. The satellite, the largest commercial spacecraft built in Europe, separated from the upper stage while still in the parking orbit (DAILY, Nov. 27).
GE Aircraft Engines (GEAE) and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) have signed an agreement to begin integrating GEAE's F414 engine with EADS' Mako family of advanced fighters and trainers. Under the agreement, GEAE and EADS will complete the technical definition of the Mako aircraft and the F414M installation. The F414M is a variant of the F414-GE-400 engine that powers the U.S. Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
Northrop Grumman Corp. said Dec. 10 it has reached an agreement with the Justice Department on the terms to acquire the remaining business units of TRW Inc. The announcement comes a day before shareholders of the two companies are scheduled to vote on the acquisition. TRW shareholders are expected to vote on the transaction at 8:30 a.m. EST on Dec. 11 at a special shareholders meeting at TRW headquarters in Cleveland. Northrop Grumman shareholders are expected to vote on the transaction at 9 a.m. PST on the same day.
The National Imagery and Mapping Agency has delayed awarding contracts for its new production services program from mid-December to early to mid-January, according to an agency spokesman. No reason was given for delaying the contract awards for the Global Geospatial Intelligence (GGI) program, which is expected to replace NIMA's Omnibus Geospatial Information and Imagery Intelligence Solicitation (Omnibus) program and the NIMA Production Prototype (NPP) effort.
General Dynamics Decision Systems is probing the roughly $250 million bomb fuze market for a re-entry opportunity almost nine years after the unit's former owners abruptly abandoned the business, company officials and industry sources say. "We do have 30 years in the fuze business and have capabilities and significant domain knowledge," said John Cole, vice president and general manager of the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company. "So it's only natural for us to evaluate potential opportunities, such as re-entry into the fuze market."
JSF DIAGNOSIS: The Dutch Prognostic Health Management Consortium will provide self-diagnostic technology to Lockheed Martin for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, the consortium said Dec. 9. The consortium, led by Perot Systems of Plano, Texas, is performing the work under an $8 million contract. The technology will be integrated into the JSF's Autonomic Logistics Information System, which will help locate problems that are complex and difficult to isolate.
Air Force contracts to Raytheon Co. and TRW Inc. mark the first significant funding for research and development on solid-state laser weapons, putting this class of lasers on the road to someday catching their more mature chemical laser relatives, officials of both companies said. The companies on Dec. 6 received Air Force Research Laboratory awards to demonstrate 25-kilowatt lasers in 2004.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) has avoided becoming the fifth member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) to lose re-election this year. Landrieu, whose state is home to Barksdale Air Force Base, defeated Republican challenger Suzanne Haik Terrell Dec. 7 after pre-election polls showed them running a close race.
A story on the F/A-22 Raptor program in the Dec. 9 issue of The DAILY failed to specify that Boeing is the integrator for the aircraft's avionics system, not just an avionics supplier.
Encouraged by the performance of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey military tiltrotor aircraft since its return to flight, Bell/Agusta Aerospace Company is moving forward with the development and production of its BA609 civilian tiltrotor. Despite significant differences between the two aircraft, the future of the BA609 had been in doubt after the V-22 was grounded after two fatal accidents in 2000. Bell/Agusta elected to slow production of the civilian version, pending the results of the V-22's return to flight (DAILY, April 17).
PRAGUE - The Czech cabinet has decided to bring ZVI, an ailing privately owned arms producer, into state hands. ZVI signed a $65 million contract in September 2001 to supply 144 20mm Plamen (Flame) cannons and ammunition for the Czech army over the next 15 years, for use in Aero Vodochody's subsonic L-159 aircraft. But development stalled at a late stage this year after ZVI's owners, the Trustfin group, ran into serious financial difficulties. It is now temporarily under the management of the state bailout agency, CKA.
Arianespace has chosen Dec. 11 to make the second try to launch the Hot Bird 7 and Stentor satellites atop a new version of its Ariane 5 launcher that can carry 10 metric tons. Originally scheduled for Nov. 29, the first launch attempt was aborted in its final seconds when an anomaly was detected with two external chill-down igniters. The igniters burn off accumulated hydrogen used to chill down the launcher's Vulcain 2 cryogenic main engine before it begins operation.
BAE Systems North America has completed its acquisition of Condor Pacific Industries, Inc., the company said Dec. 9, a buy it says will strengthen its position in the precision munitions market. Condor Pacific Industries (CPI), of Westlake Village, Calif., builds sensors and electronic subsystems for control and stabilization; position, attitude and heading reference, navigation and guidance; and fire control applications.
LONDON - Technical issues over type certification procedures and acceptance of the Eurofighter will delay initial delivery acceptances of the aircraft for up to six months, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MOD) confirmed last week.
Raytheon engineers have found an answer to the severe vibrations encountered by the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) on some configurations of the Air Force F-16, according to a senior Air Force official. Raytheon is strengthening the weapon's control section fin mechanism to fix the problem, said Judy Stokley, Air Force program executive officer for strike weapons. JSOW is managed by the Navy, but the Air Force is a large customer.
DEFENSE PAC: The National Defense Political Action Committee, which backs military veterans who run for Congress and are deemed to favor a strong national defense, said 57 of the 75 congressional candidates it endorsed this year were elected to office last month. Both numbers are several times higher than comparable figures for 2000, the PAC's first year of operation, but the committee said it still has plenty of work to do, as military veterans continue to retire from Congress at a faster pace than they take office. One of this year's successful candidates, incoming Rep.
SHARE THE UCAV: Boeing probably should not be the sole supplier of Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs) to the Department of Defense, according to Merluzeau. Already the prime contractor for the Air Force's UCAV program, the company also is competing with Northrop Grumman to build the carrier-based Navy UCAV. "We believe that the acquisition of [only] Boeing platforms ... might be a problem, due to the acquisition cycle of UCAVs," Merluzeau says.
HIMARS ACCELERATION: A potential move to speed up production of the U.S. Army's C-130-deployable High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) would be decided within the fiscal 2004 budget, a Lockheed Martin spokesman says. The wheeled artillery launch system was on a list of acceleration targets this fall, and the company briefed the possibility to the Pentagon's deputy acquisition chief Michael Wynne.
The Defense Department's proposal to transfer $104 million from various programs to the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) account is running into resistance from the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, a source said Dec. 6.
Dec. 10 - 12 -- Association of the United States Army Space and Missile Defense Symposium Exhibition - "Integrated Air and Missile Defense in a Transforming World." For more information contact Christine Ferraro at (703) 907-2687 or [email protected]. Dec. 10 - 12 -- 2002 USAF Aircraft Integrity Program Conference. Harbor Resort, Savannah, Ga. For more information call (937) 255-5458 or go to www.asipcon.com.
