BAE Systems' Gripen team has reaffirmed its interest in buying a minority share in debt-laden Omnyx, owner of one of the Czech Republic's largest weapons trading companies, Omnipol. The British-owned company first announced in February it was in initial discussions with Omnyx over purchasing an equity stake. It declined to give further details at the time because it said the size of the participation and the cost are subject to negotiations between the parties.
Engineers with the Boeing Co. have drafted a preliminary configuration for its next-generation passenger jet, the Sonic Cruiser, according to a senior Boeing executive. Engineers will modify the design over the next two years to optimize it for speed and range, he said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said during an interview with The DAILY that the aircraft probably would go into service sometime between 2007 and 2010. Boeing won't hurry its development, he said.
MADRID, Spain - The first production Eurofighter Typhoon for the Spanish air force (EdA) is taking shape on the EADS-CASA final assembly line at Getafe air base, where it is due for completion by the end of the year. It will be joined in June by components for the second.
The Bush Administration's policy coordinating committee (PCC) for space is ramping up after an activity lull that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to an Administration source. Issues that are getting the close attention of the interagency panel include space transportation, commercial remote sensing, export controls and international activities, the source said late April 24 at a Capitol Hill space policy forum sponsored by Women in Aerospace. Some policy decisions could be made by year's end.
ACS CONTRACT: A team led by Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector will work on the U.S. Army's Aerial Common Sensor program under a $35 million, 15-month component advanced development phase contract. TRW Inc. is a member of the team. The ACS will combine signals intelligence and imagery intelligence collection capabilities and is intended to replace the Army's Guardrail/Common Sensor and the Airborne Reconnaissance Low intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems.
The Bush Administration's policy coordinating committee (PCC) for space is ramping up after an activity lull that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to an Administration source. Issues that are getting the close attention of the interagency panel include space transportation, commercial remote sensing, export controls and international activities, the source said late April 24 at a Capitol Hill space policy forum sponsored by Women in Aerospace. Some policy decisions could be made by year's end.
Facing an early June deadline for determining the U.S. military's electronic attack aircraft options, the number of manned aircraft that the Navy may buy to replace the Prowler is dropping, according to an industry official.
While there still are plans for Global Hawk to have a signals intelligence (SIGINT) capability, the Air Force has not said what payload would be used on the aircraft, according to a Northrop Grumman official involved in the program.
TOKYO - Sikorsky, which had offered a military version of its S-92 helicopter to Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, has withdrawn from the competition. This leaves EH Industries' EH-101 as the only entry to replace the Japanese navy's MH-53E minesweeper-transport helicopters. Sikorsky withdrew from the competition because work on the military version of the S-92 wouldn't be done in time for the navy's deadline, according to Mitsubishi Trading Corp., a Sikorsky sales agent in Japan.
JSF VOTE: The Dutch parliament on April 25 produced a tie vote on whether to reject the cabinet's recommendation to join the Joint Strike Fighter program, the second such outcome this week. The issue now moves back to the cabinet, which is expected to decide April 26 whether to reaffirm its recommendation to participate in JSF.
PRAGUE - BAE Systems' Gripen team has reaffirmed its interest in buying a minority share in debt-laden Omnyx, owner of one of the Czech Republic's largest weapons trading companies, Omnipol. The British-owned company first announced in February it was in initial discussions with Omnyx over purchasing an equity stake. It declined to give further details at the time because it said the size of the participation and the cost are subject to negotiations between the parties.
Tests of a regenerative energy storage system that will enable the unmanned, solar-powered Helios prototype aircraft to fly at night have been successfully completed, NASA announced. The tests, constituting "a major breakthrough," were carried out by engineers from NASA and AeroViroment Inc., which built the Helios. They capped more than two years of development work and "demonstrated the viability of a flight-configured, hydrogen-oxygen aerospace regenerative fuel cell energy storage system," NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center said.
Sikorsky, which had offered a military version of its S-92 helicopter to Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, has withdrawn from the competition. This leaves EH Industries' EH-101 as the only entry to replace the Japanese navy's MH-53E minesweeper-transport helicopters. Sikorsky withdrew from the competition because work on the military version of the S-92 wouldn't be done in time for the navy's deadline, according to Mitsubishi Trading Corp., a Sikorsky sales agent in Japan.
NEW DELHI - The Indian government has approved development of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (GSLV-3), which is intended to be able to launch satellites to geostationary transfer orbit. The GSLV-3 program, approved by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, would cost $520.8 million. The project would enable India to launch four-ton satellites by 2006. India intends to build a launch infrastructure capable of launching two satellites a year.
A second "space tourist" is slated to arrive at the International Space Station on April 27, according to NASA. South African Internet entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth is slated to arrive at the station at 4 a.m. as part of a Soyuz "taxi" mission, along with mission commander Yuri Gidzenko and flight engineer Roberto Vittorio. The mission, to swap out the Soyuz lifeboat, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome April 25.
Moving some or all of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's final assembly from Lockheed Martin Corp.'s plant in Fort Worth, Texas, to another location would result in additional costs for the Defense Department, according to a report released by the Defense Department April 24. The report says it would cost DOD $256.9 million to move final assembly to Lockheed Martin's Palmdale, Calif., plant and $656.7 million to move it to Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Palmdale plant. Moving final assembly to Lockheed Martin's facilities in Marietta, Ga., would cost $74.1 million.
Boeing Co., having completed the critical design review of the radar and identification, friend or foe (IFF) system for Australia's Wedgetail project (DAILY, April 24), is set for three more such reviews this year.
HEAVY BOOST: Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA) plans to develop the H-IIA-204, a higher-thrust version of its H-IIA, to carry future heavy payloads. The 204 version will have four large solid-fuel strap-on boosters (SOBs), compared with the current version's two large and two smaller SOBs. The 204 would be able to boost payloads of up to six metric tons into geosynchronous orbit, and is scheduled to launch the agency's ETS-8 experimental satellite in 2004.
AGREEMENT?: Lockheed Martin has reached a tentative agreement with representatives of striking workers, including those at the Georgia plant that does final assembly on the F-22 and C-130J aircraft, the company announced April 24. Union employees will have to ratify the agreement.
With concerns over escalating acquisition costs growing, Northrop Grumman officials said the Air Force has told them the company must find ways to bring down the cost of their much praised, but increasingly costly, Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle.
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree April 24 to form the Air Defense Concern Almaz-Antei, a huge integrated company that effectively would be a monopoly for supplying long- and mid-range air and antimissile defense systems, including the S-300 and S-400 missile families.
Despite recent incremental progress made in reducing the cost of launching to low-Earth orbit by programs such as the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), driving costs down further must remain a top priority for U.S. aerospace, according to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.). Rohrabacher, who has served in Congress for 14 years, is in his last year as chairman of the House Science Committee's Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee.
