The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee approved a fiscal 2003 defense spending bill July 16 that adds four Boeing F/A-18E/F fighters and three Boeing C-17 transports to the Bush Administration's budget request and would create a loan guarantee program to spur private firms to build unmanned reusable vehicles that can fix satellites in space.
With the shuttle fleet grounded until September at the earliest because of cracks discovered on the hydrogen flow liners of all four orbiters, NASA is expected to make a decision within the next two weeks as to which mission will fly next - a pure research mission, or a space station assembly flight.
L-3 Communications Corp. reported a 70 percent jump in revenues for the second quarter, driven mainly by strong sales of its explosive detection systems. Revenue for the second quarter totaled $955.2 million, compared with $561.6 million for the same period a year ago, the company reported July 16.
The European Space Agency's science program committee agreed to start work on Venus Express, a spacecraft that would reuse the design of the Mars Express spacecraft and should be ready for launch in 2005, ESA said. However, the mission's green light isn't final because Italy still has to confirm it will participate in the program. ESA has given Italy until Oct. 15 to confirm its participation, ESA said.
NEW DELHI - The Indian air force plans to induct the updated Russian-built Sukhoi Su-30 MKI multirole fighter this month. The assembly of four Su-30 MKIs is complete, according to a senior Indian air force official. Six more Su-30 MKI aircraft are expected to be delivered from Russia in the next two months.
House and Senate lawmakers on July 16 repeated calls for the Administration and Congress to include additional funding in the fiscal year 2003 defense budget for naval shipbuilding. The rate of funding for shipbuilding proposed in the FY '03 defense budget, about $6.1 billion, represents half that needed to maintain a 300-ship navy, trade experts and lawmakers said at a forum on American Power in the 21st Century, which was sponsored by the American Shipbuilding Association.
BALTIMORE, Md. - Northrop Grumman Corp. is pushing to accelerate its Space-Based Radar (SBR) program so it would be fully operational by 2010, several years sooner than currently planned. The Bush Administration's fiscal 2003 budget contains $91 million for SBR, with the goal of launching the first satellites by 2010 in anticipation of an initial operational capability (IOC) by 2012-2013. The first milestone program review is scheduled for September.
CONTROL: Operational control of NOAA-17, the nation's newest polar-orbiting environmental satellite, has been turned over to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. NASA said the satellite, launched June 24, is functioning normally, although on-orbit verification tests will continue for two more weeks.
NASA has extended its contract with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., to August 2003 to provide science and operational support for the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The 11-month extension is worth about $50.8 million, bringing the observatory's total contract value to $298.2 million. According to NASA, the extension was caused by the delay of Chandra's launch from August 1998 to July 1999 (DAILY, July 26, 1999).
Although the Defense Department intends to have an emergency missile defense capability ready as early as fall of 2004, the Missile Defense Agency is not planning to conduct a number of advanced tests until after that date, according to the head of the agency.
The Navy's future littoral ships could have information warfare capabilities designed specifically to disrupt the computer networks of a potential enemy, according to a senior Navy official. "We're focusing very heavily on networks in the development of our ships in the future," Vice Adm. Timothy LaFleur, commander of the Naval Surface Force U.S. Pacific Fleet, told reporters in Washington July 16. "If our networks can outperform the other guys' networks, we can win the battle without ever firing a shot."
Army Space and Missile Defense Command wants a system to collect telemetry from missile tests that will be conducted over wide swaths of the Pacific Ocean. Such a system "is needed to meet a critical requirement for" testing by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the command says. MDA plans, it says, "call for integrated extended range missile tests over large portions of the Pacific Ocean." But "there is no system or set of systems that will collect telemetry and provide flight termination safety over the complete trajectories envisioned."
The first AH-1Z Super Cobra prototype passed the 300-hour flight test mark on July 2 during a routine envelope expansion flight at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., Naval Air Systems Command said. The milestone came during an effort to finalize aircraft configuration and establish an envelope for all three test AH-1Z aircraft.
The U.S. should continue restricting commercial satellite shipments to China until Beijing honors its commitments to strengthen its export control system, according to the first report by the congressionally mandated U.S.-China Security Review Commission.
The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee likely will consider a fiscal 2003 defense appropriations bill July 16 that approves the Bush Administration's $7.8 billion request for missile defense, but allows up to $814 million of that money to be spent on fighting terrorism, an industry source told The DAILY July 15. The bill also is expected to make no major changes to the request for the Air Force F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the source said.
BAE SYSTEMS NORTH AMERICA will sell its Electronic Warfare Passive Expendables Division to Esterline Technologies for $67.5 million in cash, the company announced July 15. The division consists of two business lines, chaff and flares, according to BAE Systems. The businesses are located at Lillington, N.C., and East Camden, Ark. In Lillington, about 65 employees produce radar countermeasures chaff to help protect aircraft against radar-guided missiles. At East Camden, about 235 employees build aircraft-dispensable flares to protect against infrared-guided missiles.
NEW DELHI - Pakistan is acquiring $73 million worth of aircraft and other surveillance equipment as part of joint U.S.-Pakistan operations against al Qaeda. Pakistan is buying five helicopters, three fixed-wing aircraft and night-vision devices. The package also includes an unspecified number of vehicles for patrolling in hilly terrain.
LONDON - Figures revealed July 15 by Chancellor Gordon Brown in his "spending review 2002" project an overall defense budget growth of 3.453 billion pounds ($5.35 billion) from 2003-2006. Allowing for inflation, this is reduced to around 2.5 billion pounds ($3.75 billion), representing a 2.8 percent growth in the 29.326 billion-pound defense budget in 2003-04; 0.2 percent in the 30.921 billion-pound budget for 2004-05; and 0.7 percent in the 32.779 billion-pound budget for 2005-06.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has received an Air Force contract for work on the MEDUSA project, intended to negate optical- and infrared-based air defense systems (see contract listing on Page 8). BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin also have won contracts for such work (DAILY, July 12). BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman each got $35 million from the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Additional contracts may be forthcoming.
The General Accounting Office has concluded that the Airborne Laser's original cost and schedule goals were not met because the Department of Defense underestimated the ABL's technical challenges and the amount of money and time the program would need, according to a congressional document that summarizes the GAO's findings. In August 2001, the ABL fielding date slipped four years, to 2010, and the estimated cost of the laser system rose about 50 percent, the document says.
European companies may have a slight edge in the Polish government's plans to purchase up to 48 multirole fighters as part of its effort to bring its combat aircraft up to NATO standards, according to an industry analyst. Poland on July 8 issued its final request for proposals to the French, British, Swedish and U.S. governments for the purchase of up to 48 multirole aircraft, including 12 training aircraft. The contract is worth an estimated $3.5 billion (DAILY, July 10).
Aerospace companies are likely to announce financial numbers this week that are in line with previously released forecasts, says a report from Deutsche Bank. However, some executives may offer gloomier guidance for the second half of the year, according to aerospace and defense analyst Christopher Mecray.
