In submitting a "best and final offer" to sell F-16s to Brazil, Lockheed Martin has knocked off approximately $59 million from its initial offer price of $909 million, according to sources and government documents. The U.S. government, in cooperation with Lockheed Martin, offered Brazil 12 F-16 C/D Block 50/52 aircraft and associated equipment. The total value of the original offer was approximately $909 million, while the new offer, according to a Pentagon official, is for approximately $850 million.
TAIWAN BUDGET: Taiwan's new shopping list includes more diesel-engine submarines, long-range radar systems, attack helicopters and Patriot air defense missiles, the China Times reported. A report by the government in Taipei said Taiwan expects to spend $20.3 billion for weapon systems over the next 10 years in an effort to offset an arms buildup in mainland China, the paper said. The thrust of Taiwan's acquisition plan, the Times said, is to strengthen defenses against aircraft and ships, which would be important if China should attack Taiwan.
When STS-111 lifts off to the International Space Station (ISS) May 30, it will kick off a densely packed mission that will include an ISS crew rotation, assembly activity, and a short-notice spacewalk. "We've got one of those missions that has almost too much in it to get done," STS-111 Commander Ken Cockrell said during a press briefing May 20. "Aside from the normal excitement of launch, landing, and docking and undocking, we've got a tremendous amount of work to do while we're docked to the [ISS]."
LONDON - Austria will meet its long-standing requirements for medium-range tactical transport aircraft by purchasing from the United Kingdom three surplus Royal Air Force Lockheed C-130K Hercules aircraft. A procurement agreement will be presented for signature in Vienna on Wednesday by Sym Taylor, the chief executive of the U.K. Ministry of Defence's Disposal Services Agency.
Kaman Corp. is acquiring Dayron, a maker of bomb fuzes, in a move to will broaden Kaman's opportunities in the field. The acquisition, for an undisclosed amount, is expected to be completed in the second quarter. Dayron, which will have 2002 revenues of about $16 million, will operate as a separate subsidiary in Kaman's aerospace segment. Dayron, a division of DSE Inc., a privately held company, makes a variety of fuzes, including the new Joint Programmable Fuze, which can be programmed in flight.
Although the Air Force plans eventually to use more advanced weapons on the MQ-9A Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle, the current plan is to start testing with the Hellfire missile, according to a service official.
DAYTON, Ohio -- The Air Force's command, control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C2ISR) planners want to give future joint commanders "instant pre-play" of battlefield scenarios, according to Maj. Gen. Robert F. Behler, head of C2ISR at Langley Air Force Base, Va. Instant pre-play would involve computer analysis of the battlespace, and prediction of the enemy's most likely course of action in response to a given tactic.
NEW DELHI - A Russian-French team has offered to develop an Indian variant prototype of MiG-AT trainer as per requirements laid down by the Indian air force (IAF). "A detailed presentation on the MIG-AT trainer has been given to the IAF chief, Air Chief Marshall Sriniwaspurman Krishnaswamy, and we have sought specific laid down requirements," said a senior executive of the MiG Russian Aircraft Corp.
EXTENSION: Northrop Grum-man Corp. has extended its offer for all outstanding shares of TRW Inc. stock to May 31, the company said May 17. Although TRW officials have urged shareholders not to tender their stock, they have agreed to let Northrop Grumman officials examine the company's books (DAILY, May 7).
Czech military and aviation officials gathered at Namest nad Oslavou airbase in south Bohemia Friday to mark the beginning of pilot training for L-159 Alca fighters at their new home base. Six of the fighters arrived at the base from Caslav base in central Bohemia this week, bringing the number of L-159s at Namest nad Oslavou to 12. The air force expects to have a total of 19 L-159s there by the end of the month.
The United States would agree to sell Chile Raytheon-built AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) should the government there request it, according to the head of the Pentagon's foreign military sales agency. "Should Chile ask, yes we would [sell AMRAAM]," Lt Gen. Tome Walters, the head of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, told The DAILY in a May 16 interview. Chile has not requested AMRAAM, although it recently signed a contract to purchase 10 F-16 C/D aircraft capable of carrying the missiles (DAILY, Feb. 5).
The Senate Armed Services Committee is questioning the Army's cancellation of its Hydra-70 rocket system program, saying in a new report on the fiscal 2003 defense authorization bill that the panel "does not understand" the service's decision because the General Dynamics system has been valuable in the war on terrorism. "The committee finds that the Army may be incurring a significantly high level of risk by this action," the report says.
Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Army successfully tested the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rocket at White Sands Missile Range May 16, marking the system's final engineering and development test (EDT). After launch from an MLRS M270 launcher, the GPS-guided rocket flew more than 73 kilometers to its target and successfully dispensed its submunitions, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
The cost of Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle may have gone up, but replacing it with another surveillance aircraft and a corresponding sensor package would be even more expensive, company Chairman and CEO Kent Kresa said. Speaking at the Aerospace and Defense Finance Conference in New York last week, Kresa acknowledged that the cost of manufacturing the sophisticated sensor package for the aircraft is driving up the overall cost.
UP FOR REVIEW: The Army's Crusader artillery system isn't the only big-ticket weapon system being reviewed, says Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense. The Department of Defense announced it wants to cancel the Crusader, but Wolfowitz says other programs also are facing scrutiny, including the V-22 Osprey, the F-22 Raptor and "several" helicopter programs. Wolfowitz says the programs are "good things ... but when you make projections out to FY '08, '09 ... you start to see that we aren't going to be able to afford them all.
IAV ON C-130: Contrary to media reports, the Army's Stryker Interim Armored Vehicle (IAV) is transportable on a C-130 aircraft, according to Claude Bolton, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology. "The vehicle does fit, very neatly, but tight, on a 130, and it's not overweight," Bolton says. According to some reports, the Stryker was 4,000 pounds over the 38,000-pound requirement. "The weight stuff that has been quoted in the media is the combat weight.
LAUNCH SET: NASA has confirmed May 30 as the launch date for shuttle mission STS-111 to the International Space Station. The crew of the Shuttle Endeavour will deliver the station's Expedition Five crew, Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev, who will begin their four-month stay aboard. Endeavour crewmembers also will perform station construction work, including attaching a mobile base station to enable the robotic arm to move along a railway on the station's truss, and replacing a faulty joint on the arm.
JSF BOOST: The Dutch are more likely to join the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter program now that conservatives have won control of the Netherlands' government, according to Christopher Bolkcom, an aerospace analyst at the Congressional Research Service. Dutch conservatives are seen as much more eager to participate in JSF than the liberal-socialists they ousted from power in May 15 parliamentary elections. "I see all the cards stacked in favor of those in the Netherlands who want to participate in JSF," Bolkcom says.
ATTENTION, PLEASE: Positive and negative incentives may be the best way to get the senior executives of prime contractors to ensure performance on development contracts, says Air Force Secretary James Roche. Roche, who appeared at the recent Aerospace and Defense Finance Conference in New York, says he is considering ways to generate innovation and performance from prime contractors. "In this situation where we face duopolies, we somehow have to get the attention of the senior executives of each member of the duopoly," he says.
Eight House members have proposed legislation that would set specific goals for space exploration, including development within 20 years of a reusable space vehicle that could take people to Mars.
May 20 - 24 -- National Defense Industrial Association presents 2002 Global Demilitarization Symposium & Exhibition, Lexington Convention Center, Lexington, KY. For more information contact Christina Buck at (703) 247-9478. May 20 - 22 -- The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics presents the 1st AIAA Unmanned Aerospace Vehicles, Systems, Technologies and Operations Conference and Workshop - Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel and Waterfront Conference Center, Portsmouth, VA. For more information visit the Calendar of Events at http://www.aiaa.org.
SUPPLEMENTAL HELICOPTERS: The House Appropriations Committee has increased defense spending in the Bush Administration's fiscal 2002 supplemental request by $1.8 billion, including $93 million for three Boeing MH-47 Chinooks for U.S. Special Operations Command (DAILY, May 7). There is no guarantee the extra money would be spent, however, because the committee, in a move to appease conservative Republicans, added language giving President Bush the option not to spend the $1.8 billion.
