Raytheon Co. has won a $24.1 million Navy contract for low-rate and full production of the Tactical Tomahawk strike weapon. The contract, awarded Sept. 11 by Naval Air Systems Command, comes less than a month after the first test flight of the missile near Point Mugu, Calif. After the Aug. 23 test, Raytheon quoted Navy Capt. Bob Novak, Tomahawk program manager, as saying that the event "represents the best in industry and government teamwork and allows execution of the low-rate initial production contract."
The greatest threat to U.S. airpower in a war with Iraq will come from Iraq's air defense capabilities, not the Iraqi air force, according to military analyst Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The [Iraqi] air force, in many ways, is a cipher. The helicopter strength, while real, was largely ineffective during the Iran-Iraq war, and could be paralyzed by American air power in future operations," Cordesman said in a Sept. 12 presentation at CSIS headquarters in Washington.
The Pentagon is opposing a Senate proposal that would put a senior defense official in charge of anti-corrosion efforts for all military equipment and infrastructure, saying the provision actually would make the Defense Department's job more difficult by adding an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
MMA WORK: Boeing and Lockheed Martin received contracts of $7 million each from the Navy for the first part of the component advanced development phase of the Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) program. MMA is intended to replace current inventories of Lockheed P-3 and EP-3 aircraft, and would therefore be a multi-billion dollar production program of several hundred aircraft. Naval Air Systems Command said the contracts, originally expected by industry several months ago, are for the first five months of an 18-month component advanced development phase.
The DD(X) program is back on track following a three-month delay, and Northrop Grumman will build the required 11 engineering prototypes by 2005, according to the company. The prototypes, or engineering development models (EDMs), will be built while the DD(X) system design work continues, company officials said in a statement.
After finishing its last series of launcher tests last week, Lockheed Martin's High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) is wrapping up mobility tests at Aberdeen Proving Ground in anticipation of a low-rate initial production (LRIP) decision next March or April.
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) said late Sept. 10 that he and other advocates of tiltrotor aircraft technology and shipbuilding are planning separate campaigns to build support for their causes. The tiltrotor effort will include a formal revival of the congressional tiltrotor coalition, Weldon told The DAILY. In addition, opinion pieces will be published, members of the press will be briefed, and the Center for Security Policy will hold a Sept. 24 conference on tiltrotor aircraft, which can take off like helicopters but fly like airplanes.
Officials are working to ensure consensus within the government for a plan to spend some $3 billion to upgrade the U.S. airspace surveillance system. The result of their efforts will help decide whether the plan will be part of President Bush's $37 billion proposal to increase domestic security. The Office of Homeland Security convened an interagency meeting Sept. 6 to polish the $3 billion plan, which was spurred by the terrorist attacks of last Sept. 11.
BOEING, Washington, D.C. Maureen P. Cragin has has been named vice president of communications for Boeing's Washington operations. GENCORP, Sacremento, Calif. Kathy E. Redd has been named assistant controller. NASA James W. Kennedy has been named deputy center director at kennedy Space Center, Fla. David A. King has been named deputy center director at marshall space Flight Center, Ala.
Despite the recent loss of several large contracts, Raytheon Co.'s prospects in the aerospace and defense market remain good, according to a report from Merrill Lynch. One reason, senior aerospace and defense analyst Byron Callan says in the Sept. 11 report, is that Raytheon, along with Northrop Grumman, won the four-year, $2.9 billion design contract for the Navy's new class of DD(X) destroyers (DAILY, April 30).
NEW DELHI - The Indian air force will induct 10 multimission Sukhoi Su-30MKI aircraft at a Sept. 27 ceremony at Pune. The Su-30MKIs are upgraded versions of the Su-30s manufactured by Russia's Irkutsk Aviation Production Association (IAPO). Another 22 Su-30MKIs bought from Russia are due to be received in the next two years. The aircraft have advanced fly-by-wire controls, thrust vector technology, avionics sourced from Western Europe and electronic counterwarfare systems developed in India.
SMITH LOSES: Sen. Robert Smith (R-N.H.), a leading congressional advocate of military space programs, lost his re-election bid Sept. 10, falling to Rep. John Sununu (R-N.H.) in the Republican primary. Smith's defeat has been attributed at least partly to his temporary departure from the GOP three years ago.
The House Sept. 10 approved a bill that would give Intelsat an extension of up to 18 months to conduct a required initial public offering of stock. The Senate passed the same legislation in July (DAILY, July 30), so the bill now goes to President Bush for his signature. Under current law, Intelsat must carry out the IPO by Dec. 31. But lawmakers said the satellite communications company deserves more time due to the recent stock market decline.
The Air Force's award of a $2.15 billion contract to Lockheed Martin to restructure the Space Based Infrared Systems-High (SBIRS-High) program means the company is "ready to complete the program and has come to a good agreement with the government on how to do that," a Lockheed Martin spokewoman said.
By the end of the year, the Marine Corps will deliver one of its small Dragon Eye unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems to the Army's 1st Division in Germany for testing and evaluation. The Army's interest was piqued after the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL) traveled overseas to demonstrate the lightweight surveillance UAV for the 1st Division commander earlier this year, according to Dragon Eye Program Manager Lt. Col. Don Bruce.
LONDON - Iraq could acquire a nuclear weapons capability within months, and likely is continuing to develop biological and chemical weapons and their delivery systems, says a report published this week by Britain's independent and influential International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
MISSILES DEPLOYED: The Department of Defense has deployed anti-aircraft missiles around the Washington region, the Pentagon said Sept. 10. "This is not a response to any specific threat, but is a prudent precaution to increase the radar and air defense posture in the National Capital Region," a DOD statement said. "For security and deterrent reasons, we will not disclose exact locations of the air defense equipment."
Northrop Grumman's X-47A Pegasus demonstrator, which last week had its second low-speed taxi test, should be ready for a high-speed test and then first flight by the end of the year, according to Program Manager Dave Mazur. Originally scheduled for late last year, first flight for the Pegasus has been delayed largely as a result of upgrading the aircraft to a dual-redundant avionics system. Most of the time between the first low-speed taxi test in July and the second test on Sept. 6 was devoted to redundancy management, Mazur said.
A congressionally mandated commission is expected to tell lawmakers in about six months whether the U.S. should upgrade satellites, aircraft and other systems to protect against a nuclear blast over American territory.
TRW of Redondo Beach, Calif., was picked over Lockheed Martin to win the $824.8 million contract to build the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) for NASA, the space agency announced Sept. 10. Both TRW and Lockheed Martin have a heritage in building large observatories for NASA - Lockheed Martin with Hubble, TRW with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, the NGST has now been rechristened the James Webb Space Telescope, after NASA's second administrator.
