General Dynamics' win this week of an Air Force contact marks the beginning of an effort to develop the High Speed Penetrator, a weapon intended to strike deep into buried and strengthened targets. GD's Ordnance and Tactical Systems unit, St. Petersburg, Fla., won the $5.3 million Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) contract Sept. 16.
FIRST FLIGHT: The GE90-115B, an engine being developed by GE Aircraft Engines for Boeing's 777 aircraft, completed its first flight on Sept. 18 aboard the company's 747 Flying Testbed in Mojave, Calif.
The Defense Department will not make final weapons budget request decisions for fiscal years 2004-2009 until early November, a senior Pentagon official said Sept. 18. Stephen Cambone, director of Program Analysis and Evaluation, said his office is reviewing the Program Objective Memoranda submitted by the services last month to determine how well they fit with the Administration's plans to improve joint warfighting capabilities.
DELIVERY: Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Systems sector delivered the first radar antenna for the U.S. Army's RAH-66 Comanche helicopter, the company said Sept. 18.
Three senators introduced legislation Sept. 17 aimed at promoting research and development of nanotechnology, an emerging field that could have a major impact on aerospace and many other sectors. Nanotechnology, which involves the manipulation of particles or devices the size of small groups of atoms, has the potential to produce lighter materials for aircraft and spacecraft, among other benefits.
Smaller amounts of growth in defense budgets beyond 2004, and the unintended consequences of military transformation, could negatively affect Lockheed Martin Corp.'s future growth prospects, according to a report from Merrill Lynch. The report forecasts that Defense Department spending on procurement and research, development, testing and evaluation (RDT&E) for the fiscal years between 2002-2009 could peak in FY '03.
A recent contract to Boeing Co. for additional Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) brings the company's contracts for such work within the past year to over $1 billion, according to a company spokesman. "From October of 2001 to September of 2002, we have received over $1 billion worth of contracts for JDAM," said Robert Algarotti, a spokesman for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in St. Louis. JDAM is a guidance kit that converts existing unitary warheads into smart bombs.
The technology is available to integrate high-power microwave weapons onto unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or cruise missiles, and would make a good candidate for the Defense Department's Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) program, according to Lockheed Martin. High-power microwave (HPM) is a form of directed energy that sends a signal powerful enough to damage electronic components, stall automobile ignitions, and scramble computer memories.
BOEING, St. Louis Charles Toups has been named vice president, programs, at Boeing Satellite Systems of El Segundo, Calif., the satellite manufacturing arm of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. Chris Stephens will succeed Toups as head of Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices in Torrance, Calif. INTELSAT, Washington, D.C. Jon Romm has been appointed vice president, Global Video Services, to head the company's new Video Services Business Unit. ITT INDUSTRIES, White Plains, N.Y.
(Editor's note: The following is excerpted from a Sept. 17 briefing on the joint exercise Millennium Challenge 2002, held between July 24 and Aug. 15. The briefing was given by Gen. William F. Kernan, commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command). KERNAN: I must tell you that this is still a work in progress. There are literally thousands of data points out there that we ... have to assess. We're still in the process of doing that. It was a complex and very challenging environment. And first and foremost, it was an experiment.
Lockheed Martin has received an $18.6 million Air Force contract for production of GBU-10 Paveway laser guided bomb kits. The contract follows the Air Force's determination in August that the company is qualified to build kits for the GBU-10 and GBU-12. Lockheed Martin said it will begin delivering the kits in August 2003 and will complete production in November 2003.
A current shortfall in target drones used to help fighter pilots sharpen their air combat skills will only get worse in coming years, according to Lt. Col. Jeff Robertson, director of the Aerial Target System Program Office at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The number of subscale targets required per year for fighter pilot training, as well as missile testing, has historically been 40. In fiscal year 2004, there will be enough funding to buy only 35, Robertson said in a telephone interview.
The commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe said Sept. 17 that his biggest equipment shortfall is in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets, including unmanned aerial vehicles. "Those systems are our most serious concerns," Air Force Gen. Gregory Martin told the Defense Writers Group in Washington. Martin, whose command could soon support an attack on Iraq, said recent increases in the production of precision-guided munitions have allowed his forces to reduce their munitions shortage.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS' Litening Extended Range (ER) targeting and navigation pod has successfully been integrated and flight tested on the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft, the company said. The Litening ER includes a 640x512-pixel forward looking infrared camera; a charge-coupled device television; a laser spot tracker/rangefinder; an IR marker and a laser designator. The A-10 is the third U.S. aircraft to be integrated with the Litening ER pod, after the Marine Corps' AV-8B Harrier II and the Air Force's F-16 Fighting Falcon.
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) is urging the formation of new congressional panels to oversee the proposed Department of Homeland Security (DHS). At a Sept. 12 hearing of the House Rules Committee, Weldon suggested the creation of authorization and appropriations panels to provide oversight and funding for the department. Unless the current committee structure is changed, about 90 committees and subcommittees in the House and Senate will have jurisdiction over DHS.
NEW DELHI - India and Italy plan to sign their first memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation during Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes' Sept. 18-23 visit to Italy. Some cooperation between the countries already is evident. Italy has offered its MB-339FD advanced jet trainer aircraft and ATR-72 maritime aircraft to India, and India's Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. plans to build at least 80 Alenia Aeronautica ATR-42 aircraft in the next 15 years.
Lockheed Martin hopes its C-130J eventually might be adopted by the military as a new tanker for supporting special operations forces (SOF) missions, according to company officials. The C-130J is the latest version of the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, which dates back to the 1950s. Lockheed Martin has received worldwide orders for 118 C-130Js and stretched-fuselage CC-130Js so far, according to the company.
FILINGS: Northrop Grumman submitted a Certificate of Substantial Compliance with the U.S. Justice Department and filed notification with the European Commission, both regarding its planned acquisition of TRW Inc. The time period for EU review is expected to expire Oct. 16, and Northrop Grumman said the acquisition is on track to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
As expected, the Air Force has decided to rename its F-22 Raptor the F/A-22, to reflect the aircraft's envisioned future as a multirole system capable of air-to-ground strike. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper announced the designation change during a Sept. 17 keynote address at the Air Force Association's 2002 National Convention in Washington, D.C.
Northrop Grumman Corp. is moving ahead with plans to develop a variation of its Global Hawk unmanned surveillance vehicle with broader mission capabilities, according an official with the company's Integrated Systems sector. The new aircraft will feature a larger, 3,000-pound payload capacity; an enhanced wingspan for increased payload support; an open-systems communications architecture; and an improved aircraft management system, Paul Meyer, vice president of business strategy and development for Air Combat Systems, said Sept. 17.
Officials with Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector are talking with U.S. Special Forces Command about adding features to the company's RQ-8A Fire Scout tactical unmanned vehicle for special forces applications. The applications could include reconfiguring the vehicle's rotor blade system from two to four, which would increase the flight time from five hours to eight, according to Paul Meyer, vice president of Business Strategy and Development for Air Combat Vehicles.
Northrop Grumman Corp. is studying how countermeasure and targeting technology it has developed for manned aircraft could be used on unmanned aerial vehicles, company representatives said Sept. 17.
PRAGUE - The Czech Republic is interested in joining the United States' missile defense program, defense minister Jaroslav Tvrdik told reporters Sept. 16 during a visit to the U.S. Tvrdik's comments came shortly after he met with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in Washington. "I offered the United States the opportunity of deploying the missile defense system on Czech soil," Tvrdik said, adding that the program would "broaden the spectrum" of his country's air defense.
