PRAGUE - The Hungarian ministry of defense is considering trading its 30 decommissioned MiG-21s to Russia to help fund the cost of overhauling its MiG-29 aircraft. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Czesznak said the ministry is seeking ways to finance upgrades to air force MiG-29s. Hungary has called in Russian experts to help it extend the service time of the aircraft.
The first NATO Airborne Warning and Control (AWACS) aircraft upgraded by the Boeing Co. under the Mid-term Modernization Program has successfully completed initial European engineering tests and evaluation, Boeing said Oct. 24. NATO operators and Boeing Integrated Defense System crews cooperated to complete flight and ground testing in Europe during two weeks in September and October, the company said. The next phase of testing is scheduled for November, also in Europe.
Shareholders of TRW Inc. and Northrop Grumman Corp. will vote Dec. 11 on whether to approve the merger plan proposed by both companies. Kent Kresa, Northrop Grumman chairman and CEO, said in a statement his company "remains confident that this transaction provides tremendous value to both companies' shareholders." TRW Chairman Philip Odeen said, "The combined company's technology and talent will create a powerful and highly competitive enterprise with excellent growth prospects."
DIA CONFIRMATION: The Senate Oct. 17 confirmed Navy Rear Adm. Lowell Jacoby as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and as vice admiral. Jacoby has been acting director of the DIA. Also confirmed was Army Maj. Gen. Richard Hack as deputy commanding general of Army Materiel Command and as lieutenant general. Hack has been chief of staff of the command.
Third-quarter revenues for United Defense Industries (UDI) soared due to higher domestic and foreign armored vehicle-related sales and service. Company officials said Oct. 24 that revenue rose 93 percent over the same period last year, from $275.1 million in 2001 to $529.7 million this year. Net income for the quarter rose from a net loss of $18.1 million a year ago to $45.1 million this year.
NEW DELHI - In a step toward developing an indigenous cruise missile capability, Pakistan has tested technology for a sea-skimming variant of its Nishan unmanned aerial vehicle, a diplomat with the Pakistan High Commission here told The DAILY. However, the diplomat said the country still is a long way from developing a cruise missile. The official said the vehicle being developed has a top speed of more than 186 miles per hour and is capable of carrying a variety of payloads.
The Army is stocking up on the controls for a previously troublesome part on the AH-64 Apache helicopter. A $10.3 million contract to supply 122 swashplate controls for the Apache was awarded Oct. 21 to Fenn Manufacturing Co., of Newington, Conn., according to a contract announcement released Oct. 23. A swashplate assembly is designed to change a helicopter rotor blade's angle of attack.
NEW DELHI - India plans to buy more ships and aircraft to strengthen its maritime security force, the Indian Coast Guard. Addressing Coast Guard commanders Oct. 24, Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes said there is an urgent need to meet the service's needs. A senior official with the maritime force said the Indian Ministry of Defence has given the Coast Guard permission to buy more Dornier-228 aircraft, in addition to the seven Dornier-228s under production by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
The Boeing Co. and Science Applications International Corp., the lead systems integrator (LSI) team for the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, on Oct. 24 awarded 46 study contracts worth about $8.5 million to a variety of defense and non-defense subcontractors. The contracts were awarded for proposals submitted in response to the second round of broad industry announcements (BIAs), 31 in all, issued in early September.
HYFLY WORK: Goodrich Corp. will supply the control actuation system (CAS) to Boeing Phantom Works for use on the DARPA/ Navy Hypersonic Flight (HyFly) demonstration program, the company said Oct. 24. Boeing plans to test-fly 11 air vehicles during the four-year program, eight of which will fly at speeds up to Mach 6.
Solid-state laser technology is mature enough to begin moving out of the laboratory and into a variety of weapons systems for the services, according to officials with Raytheon's Directed Energy Weapons division.
The Defense Department is considering speeding up production of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) system to better protect troops against short-range missile attacks, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Oct. 24. "We are looking at ways to accelerate production of PAC-3 out of concern for near-term vulnerabilities," Wolfowitz said at a Capitol Hill defense conference sponsored by the Frontiers of Freedom Institute. Future production plans for PAC-3 are scheduled for a Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) review Oct. 31.
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS), which has been shut out of several high-profile aerospace contracts, has moved to enlarge its employment footprint in the United States by opening a new facility for its U.S. helicopter subsidiary in Lowndes County, Miss., company executives announced Oct. 24.
AMERICAN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, Billerica, Mass. Ernest J. Moniz, a professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been elected to the company's board of directors. BEARING INSPECTION INC., Los Alamitos, Calif. Drew Baker has been promoted to vice president of marketing and repair development. BOEING TRAVEL MANAGEMENT, Bellevue, Wash. Craig Saddler has been named president. BOMBARDIER BUSINESS JET SOLUTIONS, Dallas
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - U.S. government agencies seem to be getting better at sharing intelligence, but more can be done, according to Navy Secretary Gordon R. England. "I can't tell you specifically" how much improvement has been made because "I'm not in all those intel meetings," England told reporters at Peterson Air Force Base here on Oct. 22.
A crew transfer vehicle (CTV) that could allow astronauts on the International Space Station to return to Earth in an emergency cannot be built before 2010, four years after the ISS program is scheduled to run out of the Russian Soyuz capsules that now provide a crew escape capability, according to NASA.
TITAN BUY: Titan Corp., which provides information and communications systems to military and other government buyers, said Oct. 23 it has completed the acquisition of Wave Science Inc., which builds radio components and communications systems, for $8.5 million cash. The company has expertise in analog and digital systems and in cryptographic design for radio products used by the U.S. military, Titan said.
RANGE SAFETY: Honeywell will provide a second Ballistic Missile Range Safety Technology system to the U.S. Air Force, the company said. The system is for the Air Force's Rocket System Launch Program and will be operated by the Florida Air National Guard at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. The system allows flight controllers to monitor launch vehicles and destroy them if they go off course. It is transportable by C-17, land or sea.
The team of BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin plan to ask the Defense Department for about $5 million for further testing of the TRACER armored reconnaissance vehicle, a senior Lockheed Martin officials said. That amount represents the "lion's share" of the $8.5 million the Army has allocated for the testing of armored reconnaissance vehicles, said Ken McGinty, TRACER program director for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
PANAMA CITY, Fla. - Reaching back for intelligence support for front-line combat operations, demonstrated in Afghanistan by Marine Task Force 58 (MTF-58), should be incorporated into deployment planning by all the military services, a Marine Corps official said.
Members of the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry unanimously voted to approve the commission's final report Oct. 23, clearing the way for its release to the public on Nov. 18. Rather than being a compilation of the commission's interim report findings, the final report will be broader in scope and include new material on government reform, as well as more detail on workforce and research and development issues, according to commission chair Robert Walker.
The Inventus System One (S-1) unmanned aerial vehicle had a "flawless" first flight on Oct. 21 from a dry lake bed near Las Vegas, UAV builder Lew Aerospace Inc. said Oct. 22. The $269,000 Inventus S-1 system is designed to have a maximum loiter time of 30 hours, a range of 2,000 miles and a top altitude of 10,000 feet, according to the company, which is marketing the UAV for defense, law enforcement, government and other uses.
Congress likely will approve a $10 billion war reserve fund in the future, although lawmakers left it out of the $355.1 billion fiscal 2003 defense appropriations bill President Bush signed Oct. 23, an aerospace and defense financial analyst said. "Congress doesn't like having a lot of free money floating around," said Tom Baranauskas, a defense budget analyst for Forecast International/DMS. However, lawmakers likely will approve the fund down the road, especially if military action against Iraq occurs, he said.
