The Defense Department on Aug. 20 released cost estimates for its major acquisition programs, reporting significant delays to its B-1B upgrade program, Global Broadcast System and Joint Simulation System. Known as the Selected Acquisition Reports (SAR), the reports are prepared annually and give Congress estimates of the cost, schedule, and technical status of the military's major defense programs. The newest SAR covers changes through June 30, 2002, and includes "quarterly exception reports" on five programs.
Possible damage to the ground-based interceptor has forced the Missile Defense Agency to push back its upcoming flight test by at least one month, the Defense Department announced Aug. 20. The test is being postponed 30-45 days so MDA can replace the rocket motors on the booster of the two-stage, ground-based interceptor. The interceptor, which uses modified Minuteman II rocket motors, houses the Raytheon-produced exoatmospheric kill vehicle used to track, target and destroy intercontinental ballistic missiles.
NEW DELHI - India will propose joining the development of Russia's fifth-generation fighter aircraft, a ministry of defense official told The DAILY. Nalini Ranjan Mohanty, chief of the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), is visiting Russia this week and will convey India's readiness to join the program, the official said. A collaboration also was discussed during Indian defense minister George Fernandes' February trip to Russia.
THAILAND'S Korat Air Base received the first five of 16 refurbished Lockheed Martin F-16s on Aug. 17, as part of the country's move to modernize its air force. The delivery marked the activation of the country's third F-16 squadron, according to Lockheed Martin. The U.S. Air Force refurbished and delivered the aircraft. Lockheed Martin provided the upgrade kits and will provide logistics support and maintenance training, the company said.
The South Korean Air Force completed the $20 million T-50 advanced fighter trainer's first flight Aug. 20, successfully overcoming two months of delays by flying a 39-minute package of performance tests. The first T-50 Golden Eagle, designed and built by Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries, was supposed to have flown in June, but software glitches and wiring problems postponed the event for more than eight weeks. No anomalies reported
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The U.S. Army in 2004-2005 plans to ramp up developmental testing and begin field use of new equipment to receive and process data from the military's missile-detecting satellites, an Army officer said Aug. 20.
NEW DELHI - India will propose joining the development of Russia's fifth-generation fighter aircraft, a ministry of defense official told The DAILY. Nalini Ranjan Mohanty, chief of the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), is visiting Russia this week and will convey India's readiness to join the program, the official said. A collaboration also was discussed during Indian defense minister George Fernandes' February trip to Russia.
The planned Aug. 20 launch of EchoStar VIII, a direct-broadcast satellite for EchoStar Communications Corp., has been delayed to Aug. 21. The delay was caused by bad weather at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, according to the company. The delay will cause no interruptions for EchoStar's DISH Network satellite TV service, the company said.
The Defense Department and State Department are having no luck in their attempts to persuade the European Union that the proposed Galileo navigation system could pose a significant security threat to U.S. and allied military forces, said a DOD official. The U.S. government complained more than two years ago that the Galileo system, as currently envisioned, would occupy part of the same spectrum as the Defense Department's Global Positioning System (GPS), a DOD official told The DAILY.
Honeywell has signed an agreement with China's Huatian Electronics Industry Co. Ltd. to distribute Honeywell aerospace products, including fasteners, seals and electrical equipment, in China. The agreement establishes a distribution center in Shenzhen, which Honeywell said would give customers in China, Taiwan, Korea, Philippines and Singapore faster access to aerospace parts.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Gen. Lance W. Lord, commander of Air Force Space Command, is pushing for cheap, assured access to space and talking with a number of officials to make sure the problem is attacked comprehensively.
Aviation will top the list of discussion topics at the fourth and final public meeting of the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry, to be held Aug. 16 at the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington. During the all-day meeting, the commissioners will hear testimony and conduct deliberations on aviation, space, aerospace suppliers, and research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) infrastructure. All prospective attendees must carry a photo identification to be admitted.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala - The Army Space and Missile Defense Technical Center (SMDTC) probably will narrow the field of contractors working on a miniature kill vehicle for missile defense from three to one within the next year, SMDTC executive director Jess Granone said Aug. 20. SAIC/Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Schafer are the current contractors for the program, now in concept development. The contractors have slightly different designs.
Northrop Grumman Corp. is holding talks with German shipbuilding giant Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft (HDW) AG about possible business ventures, according to a Northrop Grumman spokesman. "There are a number of areas of interest between the two companies," spokesman Randy Belote said Aug. 20. Talks between the companies, which he characterized as discussions relating to "business arrangements," are ongoing, he said.
Mission controllers have stopped sending commands to NASA's Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft and are waiting and listening for transmissions, after several telescopes over the weekend took images apparently showing the spacecraft broken into two pieces.
The Lockheed Martin-led Joint Strike Fighter development team is considering bids from 18 Australian companies for a share of the potentially $200 billion program, Australian government officials said Monday. Australia is hoping its $150 million investment in the JSF program's development phase provides a boost to its fledgling aerospace industry, which accounts for a mere 1 percent of the world's aerospace production, according to Australian government sources.
A key date for the military's new Global Positioning System satellite constellation, the release of a request for proposals, has been pushed back to 2003, according to a Defense Department official involved in the program. The Air Force has been discussing plans to release the RFP for GPS III "sometime this winter," the official told The DAILY. "I believe it's going to be after the first of the calendar year."
The Air Force awarded TRW Inc. an $868 million contract on Aug. 16 to develop two satellites for the Missile Defense Agency's Space-based Infrared System-Low (SBIRS-Low) program. Under the contract, TRW will design, develop, test and demonstrate two satellites that will provide booster launch detection, midcourse tracking and data discrimination of missiles in all phases of flight. The contract includes options to buy up to eight more satellites.
Air Force Space Command said it has activated the Space Situational Awareness Integration Office (SSAIO) at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. The office, which began business on March 1, is charged with creating a blueprint for all the military and government agencies that have requirements for space situational awareness. SSA includes the surveillance, reconnaissance, intelligence, weather, command, control and communications required for operating in space, Air Force Space Command said.
LONDON - Eurofighter pitch-up problems, encountered during rapid decelerations from supersonic speeds, have been cured by the refinement of air data inputs and the modification of flight control system (FCS) software, according to the consortium building the aircraft. The changes were made earlier this year after an intensive flight test program. Pitch-up, a characteristic of tailless delta-wing aircraft, can result in excessive g-loads on both pilots and airframe structures.
PRAGUE - The BAE Systems/Saab consortium's chances of selling 24 Gripen fighters to the Czech Republic appear to be receding as quickly as the floodwaters that engulfed large swathes of the country last week. The consortium came near to sealing the 62 billion Czech crown ($2 billion) deal in June, after the Czech government approved the purchase. However, the proposal failed at the last legislative hurdle when the Czech senate rejected the deal just before national elections (DAILY, June 14).
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is set to award Raytheon a contract worth as much as $20 million to provide better tracking capabilities for the Defense Department's missile defense system, according to an announcement published Aug. 16 in Federal Business Opportunities. Raytheon will provide "algorithm development and analysis for ballistic missile defense critical functions including tracking, discrimination, kill assessment and sensor fusion in support of the Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System," the notice says.
Although China has had some success in exporting conventional weapons to developing nations, it is unlikely to become a major international supplier like the U.S., Russia or Western Europe, according to a recent report by the Congressional Research Service.
