UAV CARRIERS: Future Combat Systems (FCS) Lead Systems Integrator Boeing-SAIC is exploring the concept of using ground vehicles as "carriers" for autonomously transporting, deploying, and recovering unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Although the hardware platforms that will make up FCS are in flux, Robert Finkelstein, president of FCS subcontractor Robotic Technology Inc., believes the carrier concept will play an integral role. "My opinion at this point is that some portion of these UAVs would be organic to individual vehicles," Finkelstein says. "They ...
CINC HEARING: The Senate Armed Services Committee plans to hold a hearing July 26 on the nomination of Army Lt. Gen. James Hill to be commander in chief (CINC) of U.S. Southern Command and Navy Vice Adm. Edmund Giambastiani to be the CINC of U.S. Joint Forces Command. Hill is currently commanding general, I Corps and Fort Lewis, Wash., while Giambastiani is senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
July 22 - 26 -- MIT Security Studies Short Course. "Military Innovation: Technology, Strategy & Security Future." Cambridge Marriott Hotel, Cambridge, Mass. For more information call (617) 258-7608 or email [email protected]. July 22 - 28 -- Farnborough International 2002. Society of British Aerospace Companies, Ltd. Farnborough Aerodrome, England. For more information call +44 (207) 227-1043 or fax +44 (207) 227-1039.
The House-Senate conference committee on the fiscal 2002 supplemental appropriations bill has rejected a House proposal that would have given U.S. Special Operations Command $93 million to buy three Boeing MH-47 Chinook helicopters to replace aircraft destroyed in the anti-terrorism war, according to sources. But the report on the final bill, which has not been publicly released, does include language directing the Department of Defense to give Congress a plan to buy more Chinooks.
PRODUCTION DROP: The persistent weak demand for commercial aircraft could hurt the Boeing Co. more than expected, according to senior aerospace and defense analyst Christopher Mecray of Deutsche Bank. Boeing last week said it is on target to deliver 380 jetliners this year, and between 275 and 300 next year. "The delivery forecast is essentially sold out for 2002 and is now more than 90 percent sold for 2003 at the lower end of the range," Boeing officials said in statement.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has joined the House in eliminating most of the fiscal 2003 funding the Army requested for the Brilliant Anti-Armor (BAT) submunition.
SHIP PROGRAMS: Northrop Grumman is focusing its attention on several ship-related contracts expected to be awarded in the next two years, company Chief Operating Officer Ronald Sugar says. The first is the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), a smaller, mission-specific variant of the next-generation class of DD(X) destroyers. "There's some discussion the Navy may initiate some initial [research and development funding] for that next year," Sugar says.
LESSONS LEARNED: The military will "immediately" use anything it learns during this week's Millennium Challenge '02, the largest warfighting experiment in history, says Gen. William Kernan, commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command. The exercise, which runs from July 24-Aug. 15, will involve 13,500 people in a combination live-action and simulated exercise, meant to mimic a regional conflict that could escalate into a major theater war. "Information operations is a big piece of this - a major piece of it," Kernan says.
NASA faces "significant challenges" in reforming its management of International Space Station costs, according to a new report by the General Accounting Office.
AEROSPACE LEGISLATION: The Senate Appropriations VA-HUD-NASA subcommittee plans to take up its fiscal 2003 spending bill July 23, and the full committee is scheduled to take up that legislation July 25. Several other aerospace-related bills could see action in Congress the same week. The full House and Senate could pass the conference committee version of the FY '02 supplemental appropriations bill, which includes $14.5 billion for defense.
NEW DELHI - Malaysia is interested in buying eight MiG-29s from Bangladesh, according a Bangladeshi diplomat here. Dhaka has decided to sell the aircraft because it cannot afford the maintenance, according to the diplomat. Bangladesh bought eight MiG-29s in 1999 for around $11 million each, plus $36 million for training and spares.
ABL FLIGHT: The first Airborne Laser (ABL) aircraft, a 747-700 modified to house the ABL boost-phase missile defense system, had its first flight July 18, Boeing said. The flight was the beginning of a summer-long flight worthiness test schedule, the company said. The ABL's laser and tracking systems are to be installed on the aircraft later this year at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA) plans to launch its third H-IIA launch vehicle on Sept. 10, according to the agency. The vehicle, to be launched from the Tanegashima Space Center, is to launch NASDA's Data Relay and Tracking Satellite and the Unmanned Space Experiment Recovery System, developed by the Institute for Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer.
Northrop Grumman's X-47A Pegasus unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) completed its first taxi test July 19 at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at China Lake, Calif. The test was intended to exercise the vehicle's command and control, steering, brakes and navigation. After verifying the start and stop commands, the Pegasus moved down the runway in increments of increasing length from 20 to 300 feet. All test objectives were met, according to Northrop Grumman.
NATO APPOINTMENT: Marine Corps. Commandant Gen. James L. Jones Jr. has been appointed by NATO to succeed Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston as Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the Department of Defense said July 19. Jones also will serve as commander, U.S. European Command.
As part of its National Aerospace Initiative (NAI), the Department of Defense may push to accelerate NASA's X-43B hypersonic demonstrator program, currently scheduled for first flight in 2010. "NASA's still working towards a 2010 schedule," ISTAR engine Project Manager Craig McArthur told The DAILY. However, "as we work to coordinate with DOD and the National Aerospace Initiative, you might see some of those dates moving. I think DOD would like to see [it] moved forward."
Lockheed Martin Corp. announced last week the final formation of its team to compete in the next phase of the U.K. Ministry of Defence's Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle program. The team, led by Lockheed Martin U.K. Integrated Systems, includes the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS); INSYS Ltd.; Meggitt PLC; QinetiQ PLC; Supacat Ltd.; Aerosystems International Ltd.; and Systems Consultants Services Ltd.
NEW DELHI - India's Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) has been given approval to begin work with Russian companies on the Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA). A July 17 Indian ministry of defense statement said HAL officials signed an agreement with Ilyushin Aviation Complex, Irkutsk Aviation Industrial Association and Rosoboronexport in June, and that "a joint detailed product report is under preparation."
MAGAW RESIGNS: John Magaw, the undersecretary of transportation for security, resigned July 18 and will be replaced by his deputy, former Coast Guard chief James Loy, the Department of Transportation announced. Magaw has headed the Transportation Security Administration since Jan. 28. DOT did not give a reason for his resignation.
MOSCOW - Sukhoi fighters will not fly to the Farnborough air show to avoid being impounded by the embittered Swiss firm Noga, the company's director said July 17. "For the first time in the last 12 years, Russian combat aircraft will not be represented at the Farnborough air show," Pogosyan said at a news conference. "We are not going to take the risk of our planes' arrest, so the AVPK Sukhoi leadership made a decision not to participate in the flight demonstrations in Farnborough."
Within the next four to six weeks, NASA's long-anticipated Strategic Resources Review (SRR) should be released, although it will be more "modest" in its recommendations than Congress was led to believe, according to Administrator Sean O'Keefe.
