The value of unmanned aerial vehicles produced over the next 10 years could reach $7.5 billion, largely because of their successes in Afghanistan, according to a report from Forecast International/DMS that was released last week.
Three co-chairmen of the congressional Electronic Warfare Working Group have asked House Armed Services procurement subcommittee Chairman Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) to hold a hearing on the military services' plans for an airborne electronic attack capability to replace the EA-6B Prowler. "This will be a major acquisition decision that will affect the services' budgets for the next 20 years," Reps. Joseph Pitts (R-Pa.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) wrote in a June 20 letter to Weldon.
OBSERVATORY FUNDING: U.S. lawmakers from New Mexico are seeking $30 million in the fiscal 2003 defense appropriations bill to finish work on the Magdalena Ridge Observatory in central New Mexico. The observatory, which will be located on the main ridge of the Magdalena Mountains, is designed to improve the tracking of daytime missile tests at White Sands Missile Range by providing coverage from an additional direction. It also will serve as an astronomical observatory at night, providing sharper images than existing observatories.
NEW DELHI - India and the United States will share information on air operations against terrorism during Indian air force Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy's visit to Washington, which begins June 24. A senior Indian ministry of defense source said the U.S. Air Force will brief Krishnaswamy and Indian delegates on Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and the delegates will reveal information on Indian defense actions in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir.
HILL ACTION: Congress hopes to make progress on several defense-related bills the week of June 24-28. In the Senate, consideration of the fiscal 2003 defense authorization bill will resume June 24. Debate could last much of the week, with a fight expected over Republican attempts to reverse an $814 million cut in the Bush Administration's missile defense request. In the House, the Appropriations Committee plans to take up the FY '03 defense appropriations bill late June 24. The full House is slated to consider the appropriations bill June 27.
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Defense companies are beginning preliminary work to develop a more advanced exo-atmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, according to the program director. The Boeing Co. awarded three contracts last month to begin work on a "complementary" EKV, Army Brig. Gen. John Holly, the GMD program director, told an audience June 20 at a conference here. The complementary EKV program is designed to provide more advanced capabilities and would not be ready for use until after 2004.
A team from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) has conducted the first ground test of the engine that will power the HyFly hypersonic cruise missile demonstrator. The test, which took place late last month at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., was the first ground test of a full-scale, fully integrated hypersonic cruise missile engine using conventional liquid hydrocarbon fuel, according to APL.
The lightweight ScanEagle prototype unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had its first autonomous flight June 19, flying for 45 minutes before being recovered by hooking itself onto a hanging piece of rope. The Insitu Group of Bingen, Wash., built the ScanEagle for the Boeing Co. under a 15-month cooperative agreement signed by the two companies in February. Insitu specializes in lightweight, long-endurance UAVs such as its Seascan and Aerosonde. In 1998, the Aerosonde flew 2,000 miles from Newfoundland to Scotland using only 1.5 gallons of gasoline.
The Air Force and the Boeing Co. are nearing the end of negotiations on a proposed lease of tanker aircraft, according to a Boeing official involved in the program.
Wall Street ratings analysts reacted negatively to Goodrich Corp.'s plans to acquire the Aeronautical Systems unit of TRW. In a report released late June 19, aerospace and defense analysts with Standard & Poor's announced they had placed Goodrich on CreditWatch with negative implications, and said they may lower the company's credit rating if the transaction (DAILY, June 20) goes ahead as planned.
Heartened by two successful intercepts in the Sea-based Midcourse Defense (SMD) program, the Missile Defense Agency is considering restructuring its test program to achieve more results, or prepare it for possible emergency deployment, the director of the agency said June 20.
The creation of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) in October will not affect the operation of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), Air Force Gen. Ralph Eberhart said June 20 at his nomination hearing to become commander-in-chief of the new command. Eberhart, who also is the commander-in-chief of NORAD, told Senate Armed Services Committee members that NORAD'S mission can be changed only by agreement between the U.S. and Canadian governments.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has proposed legislation that would split the position of director of central intelligence into two jobs in an effort to improve the coordination of intelligence activities.
NORWAY JOINS: Norway became the fifth country to join the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program on June 20. E.C. "Pete" Aldridge Jr., the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, signed memorandum of understanding documents with Lief Lindback, the Norwegian national armaments director, committing Norway to the JSF's system development and demonstration phase.
The House Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee has trimmed roughly $60 million from the Missile Defense Agency's $598 million fiscal 2003 budget request for Boeing's Airborne Laser, sources told The DAILY June 20.
LOCKHEED MARTIN AERONAUTICS CO. has inducted the first C-5B aircraft into the C-5 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP), an effort to modernize the Air Force's C-5 airlifter fleet. "This will be followed by a C-5A in July, which means we will be installing the new digital cockpit systems on both major C-5 configurations," Blair Marks, Lockheed Martin's strategic airlift deputy for AMP, said in a statement. The company will prove out its kit designs and installation plans in preparation for the eventual modification of the entire C-5 fleet, Marks said.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Although a request for proposals was to be issued this August for the Global Positioning System III, an industry official said the date has been pushed back and no new deadline has been established.
The Senate June 19 approved an amendment to the fiscal 2003 defense authorization that would bar the Defense Department from spending the Crusader artillery system's funds on alternative systems until the Army finishes an assessment of its indirect fire support needs.
NEW DELHI - India's defense ministry and the Russian arms export agency, Rosoboronexport, signed an agreement June 18 to establish a Sukhoi Su-30 MKI aircraft maintenance facility center at Nasik, near Mumbai, at a cost of $50 million. A senior Indian defense ministry official told The DAILY that a memorandum of understanding was signed a year ago but the agreement was not completed until June 18. The Su-30 MKI maintenance facility will be set up by India's state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL).
At the request of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Stephen Cambone, the current deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, soon will take up a new position as director of program analysis and evaluation (PA&E), Cambone told a group of defense reporters June 19. Describing the office as the "connective tissue" between defense guidance and budgeting, Cambone said the leadership change is part of an effort to change the way PA&E operates.
NEW DELHI - Pakistan is acquiring a Turkish satellite for military and commercial use for about $15 million, to ensure it doesn't lose an orbital slot at 38 degrees East. The satellite's coverage footprint would include Europe, the Middle East and South Asia. Funds have been made available for the satellite under the project designated PAKSAT.
