Air Force Space Command's Space and Missiles System Center is planning to hold an industry day for its Counter Surveillance and Reconnaissance System (CSRS), according to a July 5 notice published in Federal Business Opportunities. The industry day will be used to discuss the contracts to be awarded as part of the program, the development timeline of the system, and to review current technologies. No date has been set yet for the industry day, but it will likely be held sometime in July, according to the notice.
PRAGUE - The BAE Systems/Saab consortium is appealing a fine imposed by Czech officials for advertising its Gripen fighter planes in breach of regulations banning the advertising of weapons. BAE Systems was fined in March by a Prague-based business licensing authority for publishing a full-page advertisement featuring the Gripen in Czech daily Pravo in May 2001. The size of the fine has not been disclosed.
LATEST HUEY: The UH-1Y "Yankee One," the latest version of the Marine Corps' UH-1 utility helicopter, successfully completed its first test flight at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., on July 3, program officials said. The 30-minute test flight was conducted to check the aircraft's rotor track, balance and instrumentation.
ATLAS V RESCHEDULED: The inaugural launch of Lockheed Martin's Atlas V, carrying the Hot Bird 6 satellite, has been rescheduled for Aug. 12. The original July 29 launch date was postponed to allow the engineering team to repeat a full checkout of the umbilical retraction system, which pulls various lines away from the rocket just before liftoff. The Atlas V is part of the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, along with Boeing's Delta IV.
A final accident investigation report on the crash of an RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle during Operation Enduring Freedom concluded that a nut and bolt that had mistakenly been installed backwards ultimately led to the destruction of the aircraft.
NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee dedicated India's newest communications satellite, INSAT-3C, to the nation at a ceremony here July 3. INSAT-3C was built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and was launched Jan. 24 from Kourou, French Guiana (DAILY, Jan. 25). The satellite was successfully placed in its 74 degrees East orbit, where it will stay for the rest of its service life, expected to be 12 years.
With another contract just signed for a quick-turnaround launch in August, European launch provider Arianespace is looking forward to a full schedule until an expected slowdown late next year. On July 5, the company announced it had signed a contract with Alenia Spazio to launch Atlantic Bird 1 on the company's heavy-lift Ariane 5 vehicle. The satellite will be used and operated by Eutelsat as part of its fleet.
MOSCOW - The collapse of the roof of a vast building at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan was due mainly to overloading, but the building can be restored to use and a plan for partial reconstruction has been drafted, according to a government commission's report on the causes of the accident. The May 12 collapse of the roof of the large assembly and test building (MIK) on Pad 112 killed eight people. The report found that excessive loading of the roof probably was the main factor.
The Navy has completed evaluation of one prototype arc fault circuit breaker (AFCB) and plans to begin evaluating a second next month. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the FAA and the Office of Naval Research are developing technology for the devices, designed to protect military and civilian aircraft from wiring-related mishaps, jointly. AFCB technology might have prevented tragedies such as the TWA Flight 800 and SwissAir Flight 111 disasters, which have been linked to faulty wiring.
SUPPORT CONTRACT: Veridian Corp. has won a $154.4 million contract to support U.S. Navy activities at the China Lake and Point Mugu facilities in California. Veridian, of Arlington, Va., said it expects revenues in the first year of the five-year contract to be about $15 million to $20 million. The contract, announced July 1, calls for Veridian to supply scientific and technical services involving information technology and network infrastructure. Viridian's subcontractors are SYS; Netzer Russell Consulting LLC (NRC); Vector Planning and Services Inc.
FORT WORTH, Texas--Although Lockheed Martin Corp. is unlikely to give the Boeing Co. a major role in developing the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, opportunities exist for Boeing to take part in the program, according to a Lockheed Martin official. "It's not a closed book," JSF program vice president John Fuller told The DAILY in a recent interview.
The U.S. Army and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency have picked two teams to continue work on the second phase of the Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle (UGCV) program. The teams, one led by Carnegie Mellon University's National Center for Robotics Excellence and the Boeing Co., the other led by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control-Dallas and Sandia National Laboratories, each was awarded a $1.7 million increment of a contract to build two UGCV technology demonstrator prototypes by December 2003. The entire contract is valued at $5.5 million.
July 7 - 11 -- ATCA International Technical Conference & Exhibits. Hotel Inter-Continental, Berlin. Call (703) 522-5717, fax (703) 527-7251 or email [email protected]. July 9 - 11 -- Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International presents Unmanned Systems 2002. Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Fla. For more information call (703) 920-2720 or email [email protected].
HARD TIMES: The downward slide in the telecommunications market continues to hurt satellite manufacturers like Space Systems/Loral, despite the company's best efforts to control costs, company officials say. "Across the satellite manufacturing industry worldwide, only one order for the construction of a new commercial geosynchronous satellite has been placed in the last nine months. By contrast, 25 contracts were awarded in all of 2001," Loral officials say.
NASA has selected the next two missions in its Small Explorer (SMEX) program, the aerospace agency announced July 2. The first mission, to be launched in 2005, is the Explorer for Spectroscopy and Photometry of the Intergalactic Medium's Diffuse Radiation (SPIDR). SPIDR will map the filaments of hot gas that make up half the normal matter in the nearby universe.
Thales Defence Ltd., a subsidiary of the Thales Group of France, outlined its proposal July 3 for the next phase of the United Kingdom's Watchkeeper tactical unmanned aerial vehicle program. Watchkeeper is an intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) system that would transmit imagery data to British forces on the battlefield.
When the House Science Committee considers the Bush Administration's proposal to create a homeland security department, committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) plans to add language calling for an undersecretary for research and development. The bill, which the committee intends to consider sometime after the congressional July 4 recess, will give the undersecretary "a broad but clear mission and the tools he or she will need to carry it out," Boehlert said at a recent committee hearing on homeland security.
After a successful launch, NASA's Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft is on track to fire its main engine and place itself in a comet-chasing orbit Aug. 15. The 2,138-pound (970-kilogram) spacecraft launched at 2:47 a.m. EDT July 3 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
ARROW AGREEMENT: The State Department has approved Boeing's license for co-production of Israel's Arrow missile, according to a Boeing spokeswoman. The Boeing Co. applied for a license in January to cooperate with Israel Aircraft Industries, the prime contractor for the missile defense system (DAILY, Jan. 25). "The technical assistance agreement has been signed," says Marta Newhart, a spokeswoman for Boeing's international program. The Israelis wanted a U.S.-based manufacturer to increase production of the missile and promote possible foreign sales.
MAGELLAN BUY: Aerospace supplier Magellan Aerospace Corp. of Toronto plans to acquire Haley Industries Ltd. for $2.15 Canadian per stock share, or 0.425 in Magellan shares for each Haley share. Haley produces magnesium and aluminum castings, primarily for the aerospace industry. Haley's board of directors will review the bid.
SUPER HERCS: The government of Italy has accepted the first two of 10 stretched C-130J Hercules aircraft ordered for the Italian air force, Lockheed Martin said July 2. The C-130J "Super Herc" fuselages are 15 feet longer than the standard model. The aircraft are designated as CC-130Js by the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft will be ferried to Pisa, Italy, where they will be operated by the Italian air force's 46th Air Brigade. The Italian CC-130J configuration is among the most sophisticated yet developed for the aircraft, according to Lockheed Martin.
Lockheed Martin Corp. has completed a series of tests to determine if it is qualified to compete with Raytheon Co. for Air Force buys of the GBU-10 and GBU-12 laser-guided bomb kits, and is optimistic it has met requirements, a company spokeswoman said.
