Raytheon Co. projects the production of 350 to 400 more AN/ALR-67(v)3 radar warning receiver systems after receiving a $33 million Navy contract for additional production of the systems for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The production will run "probably over the next five or six years," said Raytheon spokesman Ron Colman. The contract, awarded June 10, brings to $268 million the amount the company has received to date for production of the system, which detects threat radar emitters and thereby enhances the survivability of aircraft carrying it.
With a final decision on Austria's fighter selection expected by mid-July, the Defense Department's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) believes the competition is a "long shot" for the U.S.-made F-16, even though it says the United States has the most financially competitive offer.
DATA TRANSFER: The European Space Agency's Envisat spacecraft, the largest satellite build to monitor the Earth's environment, has transferred a terabyte of data, ESA said. A terabyte of data is equal to the text contained in about one million books, according to ESA. Envisat transmits its data through the Data Dissemination System (DDS), a satellite-based network that includes two Ku-band uplink stations and 20 receiving stations located throughout Europe.
MISSILE SALE: Canada is seeking to buy 12 SM-2 Block IIIA Standard missiles, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress June 25. The Canadian navy plans to install the missiles on Destroyer-class ships for defense against air and cruise missile threats. The total value of the sale could be as high as $19 million, according to DSCA.
The Senate has endorsed an ongoing Air Force study aimed at developing a strategy to sustain the U.S. space launch industrial base. The Senate June 21 approved an amendment to the fiscal 2003 defense authorization bill urging Air Force Undersecretary Peter Teets, the Defense Department's acquisition executive for space programs, to report the study's conclusions to Congress "at the earliest opportunity practicable." Sens. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) proposed the amendment.
NASA's Nuclear Systems Initiative (NSI) is heating up on several fronts as the agency works to reopen old product lines on nuclear power systems for interplanetary probes, and explore new technologies that can better extract power from nuclear reactions. NASA's fiscal year 2003 budget calls for nearly $1 billion to be spent on the NSI in two major areas - developing radioisotope power systems, and fission/power/propulsion research.
The Department of Transportation announced June 25 it has awarded a multibillion contract to a team led by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to modernize the Coast Guard's ships, aircraft and communications systems. The $11 billion contract, which could be extended up to three decades, includes $5.91 billion for operation, maintenance and sustainment for a total cost of $16.95 billion.
The recent success of tests of the sea-based missile defense system is paving the way for accelerated acquisition and deployment of a layered missile defense system, according to Air Force Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish, the head of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).
NEW DELHI - The Indian air force has begun receiving deliveries of its long-delayed Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fourth-generation, multirole fighters from Russia. A senior Indian ministry of defense official told THE DAILY that two of the 32 contracted Su-30 MKI aircraft were received at Pune on June 25. The unassembled aircraft were sent on a cargo aircraft from Irkutsk in Siberia.
The House Appropriations Committee has approved a deep cut in the Army's fiscal 2003 request for the Brilliant Anti-Armor (BAT) Submunition, citing cost and performance problems with the Northrop Grumman anti-armor system.
PALOMAR PRODUCTS INC. will provide the Mission Intercommunications Systems to the Boeing Co. for Australia's Wedgetail 737 Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C). Palomar has developed an audio and data distribution system that uses the latest digital signal processing and network technology, the company said. Palomar also will provide the intercommunications systems to Thales Systems Canada for the Canadian CP140 Aurora Communications Management System. The CP140 Aurora is a long-range maritime patrol aircraft.
The winner among four aerospace and defense companies bidding for TRW Inc. will be determined by what approach senior TRW executives take to increase shareholder value, according to a leading aerospace analyst. Paul Nisbet, senior aerospace and defense analyst with JSA Research of Newport, R.I., told The DAILY June 25 he doesn't expect a bidding war to develop between the four companies hoping to acquire TRW.
Following eight weeks of test flights onboard a 757 research aircraft, scientists with NASA's Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) are evaluating the performance of a new enhanced radar system designed to more accurately predict turbulence. The radar carried aboard the 757 Airborne Research Integrated Experiments System (ARIES) aircraft was designed to detect turbulent conditions by measuring the motions of the moisture in the air. The system represents an upgrade to existing predictive Doppler wind shear systems, according to NASA.
NASA's Aqua spacecraft has started sending its first data and engineering images back to Earth, spacecraft builder TRW Inc. said June 24. Five of Aqua's six instruments have begun producing data, TRW said. Those instruments are the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder; the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit; the Humidity Sounder for Brazil; the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E); and Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System. The AMSR-E has provided a global map of sea surface temperatures, TRW said.
ATK (Alliant Techsystems) will continue low-rate initial production of sensor upgrade kits for the AN/AAR-47 Missile Warning System under a $9 million Navy contract, the company said. The kits will be delivered to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force for integration into multiple aircraft platforms, according to ATK. The contract was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command Patuxent River, Md., and will be performed by ATK Tactical Systems at its defense electronics manufacturing facility in Clearwater, Fla.
June 17, 2002 AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Melbourne, Fla., is being awarded a $106,954,257 contract modification to definitize the production effort for the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System Lot X aircraft. Total funds have been obligated. This work will be completed by March 2004. Negotiations were completed February 2001. The Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity (F19628-01-C-0015-PZ0004).
AVIATION POST: Former FAA attorney Holly Woodruff Lyons has joined the House Transportation aviation subcommittee as counsel, the committee announced June 21. The subcommittee oversees all aspects of civil aviation. In addition, congressional aide Charles Ziegler has been named deputy chief counsel and parliamentarian of the full Transportation Committee, whose jurisdiction includes the Coast Guard. Attorney Raga Elim has been appointed special counsel to committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska).
In a ceremony held at the Pentagon June 24, Italy officially joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, pledging about $1 billion to the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase of the program.
A Titan II rocket launched a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather satellite June 24 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., the Air Force reported. It was the last scheduled launch of a NOAA satellite by a Titan II. Launch of the satellite, NOAA-M, took place at 11:23 a.m. PDT from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex-4 west. NOAA-M, the Air Force said, is the third in the current series of five polar-orbiting satellites. They feature improved imaging and sounding capabilities and will operate over the next 10 years.
BAE Systems North America is content to remain a major subsystems supplier in the growing areas of space and missile defense systems, but would consider making an acquisition to improve its position in those sectors, company president and CEO Mark Ronald said June 24. "In missile defense, we think we have some things we can add, but we can't be a major player at the moment, and that's equally true in space," Ronald said in an interview with The DAILY.
On June 24, NASA managers temporarily suspended launch preparations for space shuttle Columbia's next mission to give them more time to analyze several small cracks that have been found inside propellant lines on other orbiters.
EAGLE DELIVERY: Boeing has delivered the first of 10 new F-15E Strike Eagles it is producing for the Air Force, the company said June 24. The aircraft, delivered June 21, was the 227th Strike Eagle built at the company's facility in St. Louis.
