The Senate July 26 approved a bill that would give Intelsat an extension of up to 18 months to conduct a required initial public offering of stock (DAILY, July 26). Current law calls for the satellite communications company to carry out the IPO by Dec. 31. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), who offered the bill, said Intelsat should be allowed to delay the offering due to the recent steep decline in the stock market.
Computer Sciences Corp. has been named program manager of the Land Warrior Consortium, a group of companies working to develop the Army's next-generation suite of integrated electronics, battle dress and weaponry. Their goal, CSC said, is to increase the survivability and effectiveness of Army infantry, Ranger and special operations forces.
MOSCOW - Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) and the Russian arms export company Rosoboronexport signed an agreement July 24 to launch SSTL satellites using Cosmos launchers provided by Rosoboronexport.
TRACKING TEST: AeroAstro and Globalstar have demonstrated a new, low-cost simplex modem that can be used for business applications that require remote sensing or tracking data to be sent from remote locations, the companies said July 29. The basic modem unit should be available by the fourth quarter.
The number of military-related deals signed at this year's Farnborough International Air Show suggests that aerospace companies on both sides of the Atlantic are looking to defense sales as a way to offset the slump in commercial sales, according to two reports from Deutsche Bank. Aerospace companies in Europe also are looking to expand their operations into North America as a result of declining European defense budgets, according to senior aerospace and defense analyst Christopher Mecray.
SILO FATE: Although the Department of Defense has decided to decommission its 50 Boeing Peacekeeper ICBMs and transfer their warhead re-entry vehicles to Boeing Minuteman III ICBMs, it is still debating what to do with the Peacekeeper silos, says Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "That [decision] is in the future," Myers says. The decommissioning is being done as part of a reduction of the nation's strategic arsenal (DAILY, Feb. 20).
ARROW RESISTANCE: If the Bush Administration endorses Israel's proposed sale of the U.S.-Israeli Arrow missile defense system to India, it will encounter "a lot of pushback" on Capitol Hill, according to a congressional source. Some lawmakers are concerned the sale could increase tensions between India and Pakistan and push the two countries toward war. "There will be some hell to pay" if the Administration approves the potential deal, the source says.
NON-CORE DISPOSAL: BAE Systems is likely to continue refining its existing company portfolio by divesting some non-core businesses, according to senior aerospace and defense analyst Christopher Mecray of Deutsche Bank. In particular, he says, "BAE is pursuing the disposal of some further non-core North American businesses to take advantage of the current high multiples willing to be paid for U.S. defense business." The assets likely to be sold are those that don't fit the company's plans to develop its system-of-systems capabilities, he says.
SMART ANTENNAS: SkyTower, Inc., which plans to begin offering commercial telecom services using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying over urban areas within the next few years (see related story on page 6), will be using "smart" antennas to maximize use of scarce bandwidth, says company vice president of strategy and business development Stuart Hindle. Similar antennas recently were pressed into service by technicians during a UAV telecom demo over the island of Kauai, Hawaii.
Computer simulation will change the world of materials testing for the aerospace and defense industries as it becomes more reliable, but it won't do away with the need for testing, according to industry experts. "I don't think we're near the end of the road [for testing], said Dick McManuis, product manager for Instron Corp., a Canton, Mass.-manufacturer of mechanical testing equipment. Instron manufactures a variety of testing systems to test carbon-fiber composite materials and metals used in making aircraft components.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has cut NASA's $125.5 million fiscal 2003 budget request for the Nuclear Systems Initiative (NSI) by $13 million, or 10.4 percent, because it "believes that the necessary technology will be slow to ramp up," according to a report released July 26 to explain the committee's FY '03 VA-HUD-NASA appropriations bill.
MOSCOW - A Proton K launcher delivered the Arkon-1 remote sensing satellite to orbit on July 25. The launch was considered important for the Russian military space program, and was attended by Yuri Koptev, head of the Russian space agency Rosaviakosmos, Anatoly Perminov, commander of the Space Troops, and other high-ranking officials.
THERMOBARIC HELLFIRE: The Defense Department's Defense Threat Reduction Agency is almost done with integrating its new thermobaric warhead on the Hellfire missile, according to Stephen Younger, the agency's director. "We were asked to do a thermobaric warhead on the Hellfire and we've done a number of experiments which have been quite successful, and we expect to deliver that in fairly short order," he says.
The maiden launch of Lockheed Martin's Atlas V from Cape Canaveral, Fla., has slipped from its Aug. 12 date as a result of processing problems with the Eutelsat spacecraft payload, Lockheed Martin announced July 26. "A new launch date will be determined based on the revised spacecraft processing schedule and range availability," the company said in an announcement. "The launch is still expected to occur in August."
Aug. 6 - 8 -- DPMO and USJFCOM presents 2002 DOD Personnel Recovery Conference - A National Imperative. Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington, Va. 22202. For more information call Christina Buck at (703) 247-9478 or email [email protected]. Aug. 7 - 9 -- Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association presents 2002 Annual Satellite Conference and Expo. Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev. For more information go to www.sbca.com.
ENGINE DECISIONS: The Boeing Co. has yet to select the engine it will use for the 100 Boeing 767 tanker aircraft it plans to lease to the Air Force. "The Air Force has asked Boeing to select the engine," says John Sams, Boeing's program manager for 767 tankers. Boeing has put out a request for proposals and expects to announce a decision soon. All 100 aircraft will be equipped with the same engine. The only major engine manufacturer that did not respond was Rolls-Royce.
FARNBOROUGH, England - Saab is getting ready to deliver to the Swedish Air Force the first in a new line of JAS 39 Gripen aircraft being produced under a schedule that has accelerated many of the aircraft's planned technology enhancements.
TANKER: The Italian ministry of defense, Boeing and Alenia Aeronautica have agreed to develop, produce and support four 767 Tanker Transport aircraft for the Italian air force, Boeing announced July 26. The Italian air force will get the first of these aircraft in 2005, Boeing said.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said July 26 that he plans to ask the General Accounting Office to review an Air Force proposal to lease four Boeing C-40 passenger aircraft.
SkyTower Inc., which hopes to offer commercial telecommunications service using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) within the next three years, is planning a series of flight demonstrations next summer that will build on successful tests completed last month in Hawaii.
DECISION TIME: Orbital Sciences Corp. Chairman and CEO David Thompson says a decision about the sale of the company's Electronic Systems group likely will be made in about a month. Robinson says the performance of Electronic Systems has improved substantially over the past year, and the unit now wins 60-65 percent of new orders in its market. "Over the long term though, we are considering whether that business would be better off under a different ownership, and have had a process underway to explore its sale," he says.
PERFECT MATCH: The European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS) is looking at the Washington-based Carlyle Group as a potential partner for a U.S. acquisition, according to a senior EADS official. EADS has said it would like to follow BAE Systems' example and buy a U.S. defense company to get a foothold in the American market. However, more recently the company has switched tracks somewhat and begun looking at making an acquisition together with a U.S. partner.
ITT Industries has received a $113 million contract to provide earth terminals for the Wideband Gapfiller satellite system. The contract, which will support the Army's Project Manager Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems (PM DCATS), has a base value of $17 million but includes options that bring it to more than $113 million, ITT said. The work will be carried out by the company's Systems Division in Colorado Springs, Colo.
NEW DELHI - India's Agni-1 short-range ballistic missile requires one more test before it goes into serial production, Indian defense minister George Fernandes told parliament July 24. Development work on the 700-kilometer-range (435 mile) variant of the Agni-1 is complete and "the government proposes to go ahead with one more test of the missile before its induction," Fernandes said.
