PRAGUE - Czech aircraft manufacturer Aero Vodochody has launched preliminary talks with Indonesian officials on the possible export of L-159 fighters to that country, the company confirmed Tuesday. The talks took place during a three-day official state visit to the Czech Republic by Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who arrived in Prague on June 17. A delegation of Indonesian military officials also visited Aero's production facility just outside Prague.
Ten House Republicans, including Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), senior members of the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the House International Relations Committee, have introduced a resolution expressing support for the U.S. withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The withdrawal became effective June 13.
Congress plans a burst of activity over the next two weeks in an effort to make significant progress on three major defense-related bills before an early-July recess. The House Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee plans to meet in closed-door session June 19 to consider its version of the fiscal 2003 defense appropriations bill. Two Air Force programs that have drawn subcommittee criticism - the F-22 Raptor and the Space Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High) - are seen as possible targets for spending cuts.
U.S. allies agree that NATO needs to focus on countering weapons of mass destruction and developing advanced weapons, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said June 17. "On Friday, we returned from a trip to Europe, the Gulf and South Asia," Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon briefing. "I suppose if there's a single thread that runs through these very different parts of the world, it is that all of the countries we met with are very much in agreement with President Bush on the global war on terrorism."
METRIC SYSTEMS will refurbish 142 Tube Launched Optically Tracked, Wire Guided (TOW) Missile weapon system launcher assemblies under a $1.2 million U.S. Army contract. The contract includes options for 469 additional units, plus spares, which could boost its value to $5.9 million over five years, according to the company, a subsidiary of Integrated Defense Technologies Inc. The TOW assemblies will be integrated into the Army's Stryker Interim Armored Vehicle.
The Airborne Laser program, intended to develop a 747-mounted laser to shoot down theater ballistic missiles in their boost phase, is being restructured and transitioned to the Missile Defense Agency from the old Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, an effort that has earned Boeing Co. a $268.5 million contract.
L-3 Communications said June 17 that it has completed its acquisition of the Detection Systems business of PerkinElmer. The company received clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act without any required divestitures, L-3 reported. The new company will be named L-3 Communications Security and Detection Systems.
PORT SECURITY: Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta announced June 17 that 51 ports throughout the nation will receive $92.3 million in grants to enhance port security. Port security grants totaling $78 million will fund enhanced facility and operational security, Mineta said at a press conference near the Staten Island Ferry in New York City. Another $5 million will be allocated to assess security vulnerabilities and identify solutions, while $9.3 million will be used to explore ways of using new technology to improve maritime security, he said.
The Co-optimized Booster for Reusable Applications (COBRA) engine recently completed its preliminary design review for NASA's Space Launch Initiative, according to the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. COBRA, one of the engines being considered for the next-generation reusable launch vehicle (DAILY, Dec. 18, 2001), is a reusable, hydrogen-fueled liquid booster and second-stage engine. It has a thrust level of 600,000 pounds, according to NASA.
The Netherlands and U.S. exchanged documents on June 17 at a Pentagon ceremony, marking the country's decision to be the first Level 2 partner to join the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. E.C. "Pete" Aldridge, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, and Henk A.L. van Hoof, the Netherlands secretary of state for defense, exchanged signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) documents committing the Netherlands to participate in the JSF's system development and demonstration phase.
SHIP SWAP: The U.S. Navy signed a memorandum of understanding with Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works to transfer ship construction between the two companies' shipyards. The construction of four LPD 17-class amphibious transport dock ships will be moved from Bath Iron Works to Northrop Grumman's Ingalls and Avondale shipyards, meaning Northrop Grumman will build all 12 of the ships. The original LPD contract called for Northrop Grumman to build eight ships and Bath Iron Works to build four, according to Northrop Grumman.
The Air Force intends to modify the Enhanced GBU-28 penetrating bomb to make it more effective against deep and buried targets, according to a notice issued June 14. The Air Force wants either a new or modified warhead for the Enhanced GBU-28, a 5,000-pound bomb belonging to the "bunker buster" category of precision-guided weapons. The weapon was first used during the Gulf War against Iraq's hardened command bunkers.
ILS WIN: International Launch Services has won the 2002 Market Engineering Strategic Alliance Leadership Award from the consulting and training firm Frost & Sullivan. The company won for the strategic alliance formed between Khrunichev and RSC Energia in Russia and Lockheed Martin Corp. in the U.S. ILS has led the market with the greatest number of launches worldwide for the last three years, according to Frost & Sullivan. The company had 30.3 percent of the launch market in 2001, compared with 27.3 percent for Arianespace and 24.7 percent for the Boeing Co.
PanAmSat Corp.'s Galaxy IIIC satellite was successfully launched from Boeing's Sea Launch platform June 15, capping a 30-month, $2.0 billion modernization program by PanAmSat that has placed an additional seven satellites into space. The three-stage Zenit-3SL rocket lifted off at 3:39 p.m. local time (6:39 p.m. EDT) from Sea Launch's Odyssey platform, from an equatorial launch site at 154 degrees West longitude. It was the second launch of a PanAmSat spacecraft by Sea Launch.
LANDING DELAYED: Threatening weather at Cape Canaveral forced NASA to delay the shuttle Endeavour's landing until June 18 at the earliest. NASA said rough weather in Florida and strong crosswinds at the backup site at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., could force another day's delay. Endeavour is returning from a mission to the International Space Station.
NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) program is exploring both infrared and visible light technologies for obtaining humanity's first direct image of an extrasolar planet. Of the 90 or so extrasolar planets so far discovered, none has been imaged directly. Most have been detected through observations of gravitational "wobble" in the stars they orbit. With current technology, this method can only detect gas giants that are much more massive than terrestrial planets such as Earth.
Japan has requested a possible sale of 16 SM-2 Block IIIA Standard missiles, the Defense Department's Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress June 13. The sale, which could include 16 Mk 13 MOD 0 canisters, containers, spare and repair parts, supply support and government and contractor assistance, would be worth about $24 million.
A small Paris-based manufacturer of lighted cockpit panel and control displays could hear this week if it won a contract to build equipment for the new long-range Falcon 7X business jet. Hervé Grimaud, president and CEO of NEC S.A., said he expects to hear from Dassault Aviation "within days" about whether his 130-employee company won the $200,000-a-year contract. "We thought it might come today, but that didn't happen," Grimaud told a group of visiting aerospace and defense reporters June 14. "But we expect to hear from them next week."
The new center-right government in France under President Jacques Chirac likely will propose a modest increase in defense spending, according to several U.S. aerospace and defense analysts. Even a modest increase could go a long way toward reviving a sector that has suffered from the lack of support by past governments, the analysts said.
EXTENSION: Northrop Grumman has extended its exchange offer for shares of TRW Inc. stock to June 21, the company said June 14. The company is seeking to buy the Cleveland, Ohio-based TRW (DAILY, March 12).
NEW DIRECTOR: The Air Force Association (AFA) board of directors has approved Donald L. Peterson to become the next AFA executive director, as of Aug. 1. Peterson succeeds John A. Shaud, who will step down after seven years. A retired lieutenant general, Peterson previously served as director of plans and assistant deputy chief of staff for air and space operations at Air Force headquarters in Washington, and later as deputy chief of staff for personnel.
Key lawmakers have agreed to drop controversial language in the House and Senate versions of the fiscal 2003 defense authorization bill that could have shifted weapons systems work from the private sector to the federal government. Spokespersons for Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) and Rep. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) said June 14 that the lawmakers agreed to drop the language after receiving assurances from the Defense Department that it will strive to retain the full range of logistics capabilities needed to support key weapon systems.
FLYING AGAIN: Less than two weeks after being grounded for inspection, the Navy's F-14 Tomcats are flying again in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. All Navy F-14s were grounded June 5 after investigators determined that a corroded component in the aircraft's nose landing gear was to blame for an earlier accident that killed a pilot. Although the Navy originally estimated it would take two weeks to complete inspections on the entire fleet, the checks were done in just five days, the Navy says.
