While senior Department of Defense officials debate the overall responsibilities of the new homeland defense command, an interagency working group is trying to come up with better ways to monitor air threats to U.S. territory. So-called "air breathing" threats, such as cruise missiles and aircraft, have long been a concern to Pentagon planners. But before Sept. 11, little was done to monitor such threats originating from within the United States.
Airbus is focusing its exhibit here on its ultra-long-range aircraft, the A340-500 and A340-600. The A340-600 made its first flight on April 23, and the shorter-bodied, longer-range A340-500 made a five-hour, 52-minute maiden flight Feb. 11.
ATK AWARD: Alliant Techsystems (ATK) has been selected by the Air Force as the sole-source producer of the DSU-33B/B precision proximity sensor, used on the Joint Direct Attack Munition and other ordnance. The company was awarded two contracts, worth a combined $15.5 million, to continue production of the sensor, which initiates detonation above the ground.
Against a background of the Korean and Australian future fighter requirements, the Republic of Singapore air force has launched its own Next Fighter Replacement (NFR) program. In November 2001 Singapore issued an RFI (request for information) for the NFR, and potential candidates submitted their responses this month, just before Asian Aerospace 2002.
After a delay of several months, the European Space Agency's enormous Envisat-1 satellite has now been mated to its Ariane 5 rocket and is in final preparations for launch the evening of Feb. 28. Requiring more than 10 years of development by nearly 100 companies in 14 European countries, the 18,700-pound Envisat-1 is the largest environmental satellite ever built, according to ESA. The spacecraft stands nearly 30 feet tall and has a wingspan of 75 feet with its solar arrays deployed.
The Navy's proposed five-year plan for ship construction and procurement is not executable and will not result in the service achieving its operational goals, General Dynamics Chairman and CEO Nicholas Chabraja said Feb. 26.
One of the highest priorities for military space is to get some major acquisition programs back on track, according to Peter Teets, the undersecretary of the Air Force for space and director of the National Reconnaissance Office. "I don't want to say that all space programs and acquisition is in trouble, but I can say there are some serious problems right now," Teets said Feb. 26 at a space symposium sponsored by the National Defense Industrial Association. "I'm very intent to getting to the bottom of those problems."
Commercial engine shipments will likely decline 20-25 percent at GE Aircraft Engines (GEAE) this year as the aerospace industry struggles with the downturn in the wake of September 11. "We expect at least another 20 percent decline in '03, and we've pretty much dialed in those adjustments to our schedules," GEAE president&CEO Dave Calhoun said. However, this year's shipments might be down closer to 20 percent than 25 percent, as shipments of the CF34 small commercial engines have held up pretty well, he said.
Department of Defense releases top 50 contractors for Air Force in FY 2001 The top 50 aerospace and defense companies ranked by the net value of prime contract awards from the Air Force are listed in the following table, released by the Department of Defense. Department of the Air Force Fiscal Year 2001 Contractor RDT&E Other Services LOCK MARTIN CORP $2,979,985,029 $1,245,652,197 BOEING 1,309,069,517 433,340,766 NORTHROP GRUMMAN 567,304,575 361,451,154
Europe's share of the world combat aircraft market will nearly double over the next 10 years, according to a report released by the Teal Group at the Asian Aerospace 2002 show in Singapore. According to the group's World Military and Civil Aircraft Briefing, Europe's share of the fighter market will increase from 18.9 percent in 1992-2001 to 35.4 percent in 2002-2011 as production of the Eurofighter and Rafale series begins.
A system of ground sensors that would monitor caves and other underground facilities is being considered by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Proposals and white papers are being solicited from industry, and a classified bidders' conference is set for Feb. 27.
The U.S. military plans to conduct a series of experiments with the joint High Speed Vessel (HSV-X1) over the next several months to gather data that will help guide the requirements process for next-generation shipbuilding efforts, such as the Navy's DD(X) destroyer, according to a Navy official.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Feb. 26 he will try to add money to the Bush Administration's fiscal 2003 defense budget so the Navy can procure a second Virginia-class attack submarine, while Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), a member of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, pledged to seek more funding for the Navy so it can buy a third DDG-51 guided-missile destroyer.
Despite the cancellation of the Fire Scout ship-based rotorwing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the Marine Corps remains committed to developing a ship-launched UAV, according to Lt. Gen. Emil R. Bedard, deputy commandant for plans, policies, and operations. "The requirements for a higher-end tactical UAV for the Marine Corps is certainly one that is there, and we will continue to work [toward] it," Bedard said at a defense reporters breakfast in Washington Feb. 26.
AMP CONTRACT: Rockwell Collins Flight Dynamics will develop dual head-up display (HUD) systems for the U.S. Air Force C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) under an $11 million contract from the Boeing Co. Boeing was selected by the Air Force as the prime contractor to upgrade the avionics systems for more than 500 C-130 aircraft (DAILY, June 6, 2001). Rockwell Collins' initial contract is for development and delivery of the first 16 HUD shipsets, with first delivery slated for October 2003.
Industry is due to submit preliminary ideas next month for a replacement for the Air Force's AC-130 gunship The replacement, which might not even be an aircraft, would do what the AC-130 does now - loiter over a battlefield and provide precise, intense firepower on demand - but do it better, according to the Air Force.
Aerospace and defense industry analysts are divided over whether Northrop Grumman's proposed acquisition of TRW Inc. represents the beginning or the end of a new wave of consolidation in the industry. DFI International Vice President William Lynn, who served in the Clinton Administration as undersecretary of defense and comptroller, said Northrop Grumman's bid to acquire TRW (DAILY, Feb. 25) represents the first in a series of vertical and horizontal mergers that will begin this year.
Although regulators probably will not object to the proposed merger of Northrop Grumman Corp. and TRW Inc., the deal could bring surprises for the fourth largest U.S. defense contractor, analysts said. Unlike its rivals Boeing and Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman hasn't been a strong player in military space systems, said Paul Nisbet of JSA Research Inc. [Northrop Grumman] "was very much after TRW's military space operations and military IT (information technology)," he said. "The rest, I think, is expendable."
Northrop Grumman Corp. is aggressively pushing to expand the sale of its unmanned aerial vehicles to take advantage of growing domestic and foreign interest in UAVs, a company representative has told a congressional panel.
February 19, 2002 Bell-Boeing Joint Program Office, Patuxent River, Md., is being awarded a $36,000,000 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00019-93-C-0003) to provide additional funding for the MV-22 Engineering and Manufacturing Development Program. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (50%) and Philadelphia (50%), and is to be completed by December 2005. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
February 22, 2002 Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga., is being awarded a $7,700,000 (not-to-exceed) firm-fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract modification to provide for undefinitized contractual action for upgrading the communications system for the C-37A aircraft. At this time, $5,775,000 of the funds has been obligated. This work will be completed by September 2006. The Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F34601-97-C-0231, P00060).
While testing on the Air Force's F-22 Raptor shows it is meeting its required capabilities, the director of the Pentagon's office of Operational Test and Evaluation warns in his 2001 annual report that the air-superiority fighter still faces some developmental risks.
