IT'S OFFICIAL: President Bush signed the $355 billion fiscal 2003 defense appropriations bill into law Oct. 23, providing $130.2 billion for procurement and research and development, a $20.6 billion, or 15.8 percent increase, over FY '02. The legislation ends the Army's Crusader artillery program, which "was designed for a different era," but it funds "new systems" like the Air Force's Global Hawk and Predator unmanned aerial vehicles, which "we've used so effectively in Afghanistan," Bush 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.
NASA's early efforts to develop next-generation nuclear power systems for spacecraft are proceeding well, according to Nuclear Systems Initiative (NSI) Program Executive Ray Taylor, although congressional cuts in NSI's budget probably will put it behind schedule.
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.
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.
Australian companies could reap more than $150 million over the next decade from work related to the development phase of the Joint Strike Fighter [JSF], Australian government officials said Oct. 23. Terms of the Australian government's entry into the JSF's system design and development phase call for Australian companies to receive contracts worth more than the country's $150 million investment in the program, according to the freshly minted agreement.
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.
T-38 DELIVERED: The Boeing Co. has delivered the 100th T-38 Talon jet trainer modified under the T-38 Avionics Upgrade Program, the company said Oct. 22. Boeing presented the aircraft to the U.S. Air Force at Williams Gateway Airport, Ariz. Deliveries of upgraded T-38s began in November 2000. Boeing is slated to upgrade more than 500 of the supersonic trainers, extending their life to 2040.
The European Space Agency has decided to extend the mission of its Proba spacecraft for another year, and is planning a follow-on spacecraft, ESA said Oct. 22. Proba, which stands for Project for On-Board Autonomy, launched one year ago from Sriharikota, India. The small box-shaped spacecraft - it measures 24x24x31.5 inches and weighs 207 pounds - has been able to carry out many functions on its own, including guidance, navigation, control and payload management, ESA said.
Northrop Grumman Corp. is nearly done developing its Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Radar (TUAVR) and is ready to begin producing it in small quantities if someone wants to buy it, a company representative said Oct. 22. "We do have little cleaning-up things to do ... but it's ready to transition into an LRIP [low-rate initial production] type program," Northrop Grumman marketing manager Nicholas Ceradini said at a press briefing at the Association of the U.S. Army annual meeting in Washington.
Lockheed Martin has sent five of six new Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS) MK III SH-60B helicopters to the U.S. Navy, for delivery to the Spanish fleet. The sixth will be sold Oct. 31, the company said. The helicopters were bought as part of a $55.4 million program to provide Spain with new maritime helicopters for deployment on F-81 "Santa Maria" class guided missile frigates and F-100 Aegis frigates.
Accelerating the development of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) by three to five years isn't as simple as pouring more money into the program, as one of the project's sponsors once hoped, a top executive of the international joint venture MEADS International said Oct. 22. "It's not a question of [adding] more funding to accelerate it," said Klaus Reidel, MEADS' executive vice president. "You can give us more money, [but] we don't think you can significantly reduce the schedule."
Two European shipbuilders have signed an agreement with Northrop Grumman Corp. to develop a stealthy warship that could become the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship. As part of the agreement, Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG (HDW) of Germany and its Swedish subsidiary, Kockums AB, will team with Northrop Grumman's Ship Systems Sector to design, build and sell Visby-class corvettes.
DECOY TESTS: BAE Systems' AN/ALE-55 Fiber Optic Towed Decoy successfully completed a recent series of flight tests on the U.S. Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the company said Oct. 22. In the flight tests, conducted at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., the ALE-55 was subjected to combat-like flight maneuvers, including multiple exposures to the aircraft's engine afterburner plume. The decoy has been tested on the F/A-18E/F and the B-1B Lancer. After experiencing problems last year during B-1B tests, it had a series of successful tests over the summer (DAILY, Aug.
The Boeing Co., head of one of four teams competing in Phase 1 of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) program, announced its team members Oct. 22. UCAR is to be an all-weather, autonomous rotorcraft designed for low-altitude armed reconnaissance and attack missions.
ARIANESPACE held a launch system rehearsal for the next launch of its Ariane 5 booster. In the rehearsal, which took place Oct. 15-16, the company simultaneously filled the two cryogenic stages and then ignited the Vulcain main engine and operated it for 14 seconds. Passing this test milestone will allow the company to set a launch date, which will be no earlier than Nov. 20, according to Arianespace. The flight will mark the debut of the heavier-lift Ariane 5, able to carry 10 tons of payload, compared with the current booster's 6.5 ton capability.
NEW DELHI - The ministry of defense plans to expedite its decision-making for defense procurement, George Fernandes, the minister of defense, said Oct. 21. Fernandes addressed an Indian military commanders conference here and said the defense ministry has adopted structural changes recommended earlier this year by a group of ministers. Fernandes said the changes will help speed procurement decisions to meet the urgent requirements of the air force.
NASA does not know how the delay of the system requirements review for its $4.8 billion Space Launch Initiative will affect the program's schedule, an agency spokesman said Oct. 22.
A B-1B Lancer bomber fitted with the Block E upgrade had its first operational flight test from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, on Oct. 22, the Air Force said. The Block E upgrade allows the B-1B to drop three weapon types on a single pass (DAILY, Oct. 22). In the past, the B-1B could only be loaded with one type of weapon. Six more operational flight tests are to be flown from Dyess, the Air Force's Flight Test Center (AFFTC) at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., said in response to questions from The DAILY.
Northrop Grumman hopes to fire a dummy Hellfire missile from its RQ-8A Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) before the end of the year in a test that probably will be sponsored by the Army, according to a company official. The Fire Scout team already has figured out how to hang the Hellfire missile from a rack that attaches to the aircraft's skids, according to Tim Beard, Northrop Grumman's director for unmanned systems business development.
BAE Systems North America has agreed to buy Condor Pacific Industries, Inc., (CPI), to boost its work in guidance systems, the company said Oct. 22. BAE Systems will pay $58.5 million for the Westlake Village, Calif., company, funding the acquisition from existing cash. CPI builds inertial products for navigation, guidance and control, work that complements BAE Systems' business in missile systems guidance and control, the company said.
Longbow International, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp., is looking to ring up its first sale of the Cobra Radar System (CRS), which is designed for the Bell AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopter.
Failure to fully equip the six interim Stryker brigades could reduce the Army's flexibility and prevent it from transitioning to its Objective Force by the end of the decade, according to a senior Army official. "The reason for the Stryker brigades is to help fill a capability gap," Maj. Gen. David Melcher said in an Oct. 22 presentation at the Association of the U.S. Army annual meeting in Washington.
The latest restructuring of the RAH-66 Comanche program could deal a blow to the Army's Objective Force plan by delaying the roll out of the first fully modernized units by about two years, the Army's Comanche project director said Oct. 22.
