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.
NO ARMS: The Air Force will not arm the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, according to Air Force Lt. Col. Doug Boone, who oversees the program. That decision is final for now, he adds. The main reason for keeping the Global Hawk as a pure reconnaissance vehicle is to ensure basing rights. "The U-2 for years has enjoyed a bit of access to friends and quasi-friends because it's not a combat asset," he says. Some countries don't want combat vehicles stationed within their borders but perceive reconnaissance aircraft as less threatening, he says.
The European Space Agency (ESA) plans to release its new science program and implementation plan May 27 in Paris. David Southwood, ESA's director of science, said last year that the agency would have to revamp its science program to fit within budgets that are going to be smaller than the agency had hoped. ESA officials and members of European industry and scientific communities were consulted to find ways to maximize the agency's science value for its money.
Experts in aircraft aging from across the military and government have formed a joint council to coordinate and leverage their efforts to keep the country's fleet of legacy aircraft flying safely. The Joint Council on Aging Aircraft's (JCAA) purpose is to identify, investigate, and implement programs that will field products to improve the availability and affordability of aging aircraft systems. Its members include specialists in aging aircraft from the Navy, Air Force, Army, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), and the FAA.
Orincon Corporation International has won a contract in the Air Force's Targets Under Trees (TUT) program. The San Diego company's defense unit beat General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman for the Intelligence Fusion System (IFS) portion of the four-part program, intended to defeat mobile targets hiding under foliage.
Lockheed Martin's U.K. Integrated Systems aims to provide the technologies at heart of Project Watchkeeper, in which unmanned aerial vehicles linked to ground stations could provide British forces real-time imagery. The company said May 14 that it had submitted a bid for the Systems Integration and Assurance Phase of the program. This phase involves system design definition and risk reduction. Lockheed Martin is one of four companies competing. Downselection is expected in September.
Putting new engines on the Air Force's KC-135E Stratotankers might increase the operational capability of the Boeing air refuelers but would fail to remove other age-related deficiencies with the aircraft, including corrosion, "technical obsolescence," and supportability problems, according to the service.
The Bush Administration soon will send a fiscal 2003 budget amendment to Capitol Hill to shift funds from the Army's canceled Crusader artillery program to precision munitions and rocket systems, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said May 16. The Administration is putting the finishing touches on the proposed legislation and plans to give it to Congress by May 20, as promised earlier, Wolfowitz told the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing on the Crusader.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The U.S. Army again is interested in an intratheater transport aircraft as part of its future force, after nearly discarding it as a requirement.
In the latest consolidation of aerospace suppliers, LMI Aerospace and Versaform have joined forces. LMI Aerospace, based in St. Charles, Mo., which makes, finishes and integrates aluminum and specialty alloy components for aircraft, has acquired Versaform Corp. and affiliates, which are privately held aerospace metal forming companies based in Southern California and British Columbia, Canada. LMI acquired the common stock of Versaform, but no detailed terms were released.
Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems Co. announced May 16 it has begun work on a contract awarded in 2000 to build two geosynchronous satellites for SES Americom. But the company's future may be in doubt, in light of comments this week from Lockheed Martin Chairman and CEO Vance Coffman, who said the company might sell the unit. The Ku/Ka-band satellites, designated AMC-15 and AMC-16, will provide video channel distribution and broadband data and Internet services across North America.
The Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry issued a draft interim report May 16 that included several recommendations for near-term action on issues related to space, the industrial base and the aerospace workforce. The commission's recommendations included: * The Defense Science Board should review the long-term viability of the nation's fighter aircraft and solid-rocket booster development design capability.
DAYTON, Ohio - The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is working "extremely actively" to develop aerial refueling technology that could be incorporated into the X-45 Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV), according to David Lanman, focus area lead for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology at AFRL. The lab is working closely with X-45 manufacturer the Boeing Co., the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Aeronautical Systems Center, Air Mobility Command, Air Combat Command, the Navy, and NASA on the effort, according to Lanman.
GUARD CONFIRMATION: The Senate has confirmed Lt. Gen. Daniel James III as director of the Air National Guard. James has been adjutant general of the Texas National Guard.
BUYING RAM: The Navy has awarded Raytheon two Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) production contracts worth more than $75 million. One, worth $39.7 million, is for the production of 10 RAM launcher systems for the German Navy. The other contract, worth $35.7 million, is for RAM missiles for the U.S. Navy.
Lockheed Martin Chairman and CEO Vance Coffman said his company is exploring the possibility of managing a portion of the Defense Department's operations and maintenance work. Roughly 35 percent of DOD's proposed budget for FY '03 goes for operations and maintenance (O&M), as compared with 18 percent for procurement and 14 percent for research and development.
DAYTON, Ohio - The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's network of systems for time-critical targeting will mandate true joint operations, according to DARPA Director Tony Tether. The agency is developing several interoperable weapons systems to provide global strike at moving targets, including the Advanced Tactical Targeting Technology (AT3) system, the supersonic HyFly munition, and the Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement (AMSTE) system.
A Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) missile successfully intercepted an MQM-107 drone aircraft target May 15 in a test from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Personnel and equipment for the test were provided by the Alabama Army National Guard as part of annual proficiency training. Personnel from the Army's White Sands Missile Range, N.M., also participated. "Preliminary data indicate the test was successful," the Army Program Executive Office (PEO) for Air and Missile Defense said in a statement.
Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael C. Kostelnik has been named NASA deputy associate administrator for International Space Station and space shuttle, a new senior management position within the Office of Human Space Flight. Kostelnik will manage program safety, budget, performance and schedule requirements for the two big-budget programs. He previously was commander of the Air Force Development and Test Center and Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
PRAGUE - BAE Systems has sent a team of production and engineering specialists to aircraft manufacturer Czech Aircraft Works to help boost the south Moravian company's production of light aircraft. The move is part of the offset program undertaken by the BAE Systems/Saab consortium as it bids to supply 24 Jas-39 Gripen fighters to the Czech Republic. It follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Czech Aircraft Works in September 2001.
NEW DELHI - India's army will be equipped with the nuclear-capable, shorter-range variant of the Agni-II missile, Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes said May 15. "The government has approved in principle the raising of [an] Agni missile group for [the] Army," Fernandes said in a written statement to the upper house of parliament. The Army will get the Agni-II with a range of 700 kilometers (435 miles). The Agni-I has a range of 1,500 kilometers (932 miles), and the intermediate-range Agni-II has a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles).
