Raytheon Co. completed its initial delivery of five Patriot Guidance Enhanced Missile Plus (GEM+) forebodies to the U.S. Army, the company said Nov. 14. GEM+ missiles are Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) missiles that are refurbished and modernized at Raytheon's Andover, Mass., facility. Upgrades include a modernized fuze and a new front end, to increase the seeker's sensitivity and performance.
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) said operating earnings dropped for the first nine months of this year by 10 percent due to lower commercial aircraft deliveries and weaker space and military transport aircraft sales. However, in a Nov. 14 conference call with investors and analysts, company officials said they still expect to deliver 300 commercial aircraft in 2003, though the outlook for 2004 is less certain.
Congressional authorizers have endorsed the Army's new restructuring plan for the RAH-66 Comanche, saying it provides "some cause for hope" for getting the troubled helicopter program back on track.
NEW DELHI - The first lot of Kamov Ka-31 helicopters ordered by India have successfully completed tests in Russia and delivery will begin within a month. A senior Indian Ministry of Defence official said two of the nine Ka-31 helicopters ordered by the Indian navy were tested in the presence of Indian navy officials last month. The Ka-31 helicopters were evaluated by an Indian naval team in 1996 and an order for nine helicopters was placed by two contracts worth about $21 million each.
The Missile Defense Agency conducted the rare launch of an actual Scud missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Nov. 14 to learn more about the performance of a missile that U.S. troops could confront on the battlefield.
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. - The squadron flying the MV-22 Osprey is beginning a one-year effort to return to operational status after two fatal crashes and an unrelated maintenance investigation mothballed the unit nearly two years ago. The precise role VMMT-204 will play if the Osprey program is approved beyond its extended development phase in 2004 is unclear, but the V-22 Transition Board is set to meet here next week to start the process of making those decisions.
EW SYSTEMS: Herley Israel, a subsidiary of Herley Industries of Lancaster, Pa., will provide microwave components for electronic warfare systems under a $1.25 million contract from Indra Sistemas of Spain. Herley and Indra are partners in MRCM, an alliance formed in 2000 to provide signals intelligence and tactical EW products.
Former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) is calling for the U.S. and Russia to develop a "baseline inventory" of the tactical nuclear weapons in each country's arsenal, as a means of better safeguarding them from terrorist use. "The U.S. and Russia should insist on accurate accounting and adequate safeguards for tactical nuclear weapons, including a baseline inventory of these weapons, and ... including reciprocal monitoring," Nunn said, speaking at Carnegie International's Non-Proliferation Conference in Washington Nov. 14.
HALO-II, a Gulfstream IIB business jet modified to carry a large infrared surveillance system on its upper fuselage, is helping the Missile Defense Agency gather data during ballistic missile tests. HALO-II is being used with HALO-I, another modified Gulfstream IIB, and the Airborne Surveillance Testbed (AST), a modified Boeing 767. AST, which has been in operation since the mid-1980s, is slated for retirement this fiscal year (DAILY, Nov. 6). HALO-I also is slated for retirement in coming months.
NASA and its industry partners will report on the progress they've made in advancing aviation weather warning technology at the third annual Weather Accident Prevention (WxAP) Project Review, to be held Nov. 20-21 at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Mass. The review is part of NASA's Aviation Safety Program (AvSP), which is working with industry, universities and other government agencies to reduce the fatal aircraft accident rate by 80 percent in the next five years.
Ballistic Recovery Systems (BRS) of South St. Paul, Minn., will work on improving emergency parachutes for small aircraft under a $600,000 small business innovative research (SBIR) Phase II contract from NASA. The company will focus on improving parachutes for "personal jets," which may play a large role in NASA's Small Aircraft Transportation Systems (SATS) program, the company said.
Raytheon Co. will build four AN/ASQ-22 next-generation dipping sonars under a $16.5 million Navy contract, the company said Nov. 13. The low-rate initial production contract, awarded Oct. 11 by Naval Air Systems Command, ultimately will lead to a full-rate production contract.
The General Accounting Office is studying whether the Defense Department is doing enough to modernize its aging aircraft test equipment, according to documents obtained by The DAILY. In response to congressional concerns, the GAO hopes to determine the extent of the military's problems with aircraft test devices and whether DOD and the services are effectively managing the modernization of the equipment.
BILL DELAY: Congress is poised to leave town for the year without passing a fiscal 2003 NASA appropriations bill. With only two of the 13 annual FY '03 appropriations bills completed so far, and with Congress looking to adjourn until January, the House Nov. 13 approved a temporary spending measure, or continuing resolution (CR), intended to keep the government running through Jan. 11, 2003. The Senate may take up the CR Nov. 14.
Although it has renewed confidence in its bookkeeping, NASA plans to infuse additional reserve funding into the International Space Station (ISS) program to address unforeseen risks. In a draft of the agency's fiscal year 2003 budget amendment, dated Oct. 15, NASA says it plans to shift $660 million into ISS reserves from FY '04 to FY '07. The additions would bring the total ISS reserves from FY '02 through FY '07 up to $1.556 billion.
Canada immediately should boost one of NATO's most frugal defense budgets by one-third, or $2.5 billion U.S., clear the way for the acquisition of new fleets of airlift transports and maritime patrol helicopters, and end a chronic spare parts shortage for military equipment, a Canadian Senate committee urged Nov. 11.
MANASSAS, Va. - Lockheed Martin hopes to capture a significant share of the international combat systems market for diesel-electric submarines with its SUBICS system, senior Lockheed Martin officials said Nov 13. SUBICS, or Submarine Integrated Combat System, uses commercial off-the shelf information technologies to offer applications for surveillance, detection, navigation, enemy classification and localization, contact management and fire control.
NEW DELHI - Pakistan and the U.S. will sign a status of forces (SOFA) agreement that will accord special status to U.S. Department of Defense military and civilian personnel, a diplomat with the Pakistan High Commission here told The DAILY. Under SOFA, the U.S. defense personnel would be given a status equivalent to U.S. Embassy personnel, and U.S. vehicles and aircraft would be exempt from payment of landing or port fees, overland transit fees and other charges while in Pakistan.
Sweetening its final offer for Poland's fighter competition, expected to be worth at least $3.5 billion, Gripen International pledged to make industrial investments worth more than $8 billion to offset Poland's potential purchase of the JAS-39 Gripen.
Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems shipped the NSS-6 communications satellite, which it built for New Skies Satellites N.V., to its launch site in Kourou, French Guiana, the company said Nov. 13. NSS-6 has 50 Ku-band transponders and 12 Ka-band uplink spot beams. The satellite is slated to launch in December on an Ariane 4 booster.
CANADIAN AIR TRANSPORT SECURITY AUTHORITY, Ottawa Jacques Duchesneau has been selected as the first CATSA president and CEO. DYNCORP, Reston, Va. Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles J. Cunningham Jr. (ret.) has joined the company as director of Air Force strategic programs. EDO CORP., New York Fred Bassett will become chief financial officer and vice president, finance, effective Jan. 2. Darrell Reed, the company's chief financial officer, will retire. GENERAL ELECTRIC, Fairfield, Conn.
Members of a House-Senate conference committee unveiled a compromise fiscal 2003 defense authorization bill Nov. 13 that aims to speed up the fielding of new technology and would create new intelligence and homeland security positions. The committee finished the legislation late Nov. 12 after resolving a dispute over disability and retirement pay. The full House approved the bill that evening, and the Senate was expected to pass it late Nov. 13.
