ISAT WORK: Three companies are studying development of an advanced antenna that could ultimately be used in the Space Based Radar project. Harris, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman have each received one-year contracts of about $2 million for the Innovative Space-Based Radar Antenna Technology (ISAT) project, intended to help solve the challenge of integrating an SBR and a Moving Target Indication from Space (MTIS) system.
LASER CONTRACT: BAE Systems Integrated Defense Solutions will produce laser warning equipment for ATK Integrated Defense Co. under a $3.5 million contract, the company announced Feb. 8. The laser warning electronics will be integrated into AN/AAR-47(V)2 Missile Warning Receivers produced by ATK Integrated Defense. The system is used on more than 3,000 U.S. Navy and Air Force helicopters and transport aircraft, according to BAE Systems.
PERSISTENT RECONNAISSANCE: As the military and intelligence community invest in new technologies, one key area that needs to be addressed is persistent reconnaissance capability, according to Peter Teets, the dual-hatted undersecretary of the Air Force and director of the National Reconnaissance Office. "One of things I think we've learned well from the conflict in Afghanistan is that while the intelligence collection capabilities have been excellent, we need to add persistence to the equation," Teets says.
The chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee said Feb. 8 that he plans to keep a close eye on a potential Air Force lease for Boeing 767 tankers to ensure the cost "doesn't break the bank."
CHALLENGE PROGRAM: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, says he plans to revive his proposal to set up a "challenge" program for defense contracts. Under his proposal, companies could make a case that they could make a system or component better or less expensively than the incumbent contractors. A challenger that made a convincing argument would replace the incumbent contractor. Although Hunter's proposal passed the House last year (DAILY, Aug.
NEW ARROW: Israel's Arrow missile defense system is not capable of defeating the Shahab III missile, Iran's most advanced long-range missile, says Amos Yaron, the director general of Israel's Ministry of Defense. The threat of the Shahab III, which has an estimated range of 1,300 kilometers, is being addressed by the Arrow System Improved Program, he says. "This will give the right answer for the Shahab III," he says, adding that the newer system should be ready within a few years.
NASA announced Feb. 7 that it has awarded a $936 million modification to Boeing's prime contract for the International Space Station (ISS), extending the company's integration and operations (I&O) work another year. The modification is a "formality," according to NASA Spokesman Kyle Herring, and represents funds that were already contained in budget runouts through 2003. "It's work that was [already] planned, but the contract ran through Dec. 31 of '02, and this basically extends that work out through the end of '03," Herring said.
The market value of U.S. commercial and military aircraft sales over the next decade will grow by more than 23 percent, according to a recently released report from the Teal Group. Teal Group analysts believe that nearly 34,879 aircraft, worth $921.3 billion, will be produced between 2002 and 2011. The military market will be worth $284.4 billion, while the commercial market will be worth about $636.9 billion, according to the report.
F-X REQUESTS: South Korea's continued request for "best and final offer" bids to build its next-generation F-X fighter spells trouble for the program and for the Boeing Co., says aircraft analyst Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group. Boeing's F-15K is still considered to be in the lead for the competition, but South Korea's refusal in January to accept any of the four submitted bids may indicate the country can't afford the program.
The Bush Administration's proposal to cut funding for the International Space Station by 13 percent in fiscal 2003 has drawn sharp criticism from the ranking Democrat on the House Science Committee. Rep. Ralph Hall (D-Texas), whose state is home to the ISS program office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, blasted the Administration's budget for "freezing the station program at a level that will cripple its ability to support research and will fail to meet our commitments to our international partners."
THE AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION and the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ROCKETRY are sponsoring the "Team America Rocketry Challenge," a rocket design and launch contest for U.S. high school students. Students are to design, build and fly a multistage model rocket, carrying two raw eggs and an electronic altimeter, to as close to 1,500 feet as possible. The fly-off competition is scheduled for April 2003 in northern Virginia.
THURAYA SATELLITE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CO. of United Arab Emirates has assumed control of a satellite mobile communications system designed and built by Boeing Space and Communications. The system uses the Boeing-built Thuraya-1 satellite launched in October 2000. The ground system and user handsets were provided by Hughes Network Systems, a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp., under a subcontract.
ALCATEL SPACE and THALES COMMUNICATIONS will provide satellite communications equipment and research work under two contracts from Delegation Generale pour l'Armament (DGA), the French defense procurement agency. The first contract calls for the development and production of a secure, high-speed modem for the Syracuse III military satellite communications system. The modem, called Modem XXI, will complement the anti-jamming functions of the active antennas carried by the Syracuse III satellites. Alcatel Space is in charge of validating the complete system.
Officials with the Aerospace Industries Association are scheduled to meet with senior officials in the State and Defense departments and Bush Administration cabinet members over the next five weeks to discuss proposed changes in the current export control system. AIA representatives, accompanied by senior executives from the largest U.S. aerospace companies, will propose a list of 18 changes in the current export control licensing process, AIA officials announced during a Feb. 7 media briefing.
Department of Defense FY 2003 Research, Development, Test&Evaluation Program Summary ($ in thousands) APPROPRIATION FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003 RDT&E, Army 6,263,162 7,052,669 6,918,494 RDT&E, Navy 9,596,201 11,389,440 12,501,630 RDT&E, Air Force 14,313,436 14,547,677 17,601,233 RDT&E, DOD wide 11,315,775 15,284,596 16,613,551 Developmental
JSF AGREEMENT: Canada has joined the Joint Strike Fighter System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase under a 10-year memorandum of understanding signed Feb. 7 by the acquisition chiefs of the U.S. and Canada. Canada will contribute $150 million to Lockheed Martin's fighter program, according to the memorandum.
THE BOEING CO. plans to launch five Iridium satellites to low-earth-orbit on a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on Feb. 8. The satellites will serve as spares for Iridium Satellite's global voice and communications network. The revitalized Iridium currently provides service to the U.S. Department of Defense (DAILY, Dec. 7, 2000) and is working with partners to sell its communications services globally.
Ongoing operations in Afghanistan underscore the U.S. military's need for the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, according to Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) commander Lt. Gen. Paul Hester. "Once again, basing restrictions [and] terrain elevations [have highlighted] our need for the capability of an aircraft like the CV-22," Hester said, speaking at the National Defense Industrial Association's 13th annual Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict symposium in Crystal City, VA. Feb. 7. "We need the technology that this platform offers."
DRS TECHNOLOGIES INC. will provide subassemblies for a Boeing 702 communications satellite under a $2.5 million contract to Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices, a supplier to Boeing Satellite Systems. DRS will manufacture, integrate, test and deliver equipment that includes electronic power conditioners that will be part of the satellite's C-band traveling wave tube amplifiers, also known as transponders. Work under the contract will be done by the company's DRS Flight Safety and Communications unit in Carleton Place, Ontario, and is expected to be finished by April 2002.
The Navy and Raytheon Co. have conducted the second free-flight demonstration of the Unitary variant of the Joint Standoff Weapon System (JSOW). The first test was conducted in December. In the latest test, conducted Feb. 4 at Naval Air Systems Command's western test range complex, the weapon used waypoint navigation and autonomous target acquisition (ATA) capability after launch from an F/A-18C/D, and then struck its target, according to Navair and Raytheon.
The Boeing Co. has received a $5 million Army contract to prepare for low rate production of the CH-47F Chinook helicopter, a modernized version of the current CH-47D that is expected to give the fleet at least another 20 years of service life.
The V-22 tiltrotor aircraft and an airplane combining the functions of AWACS and Joint STARS surveillance aircraft could be useful for the kinds of missions that American military forces have been conducting in the war on terrorism, according to Army Gen. Tommy Franks, the head of U.S. Central Command who is overseeing the campaign in Afghanistan.
A House of Lords inquiry committee unanimously concluded Feb. 5 there was no justification for a 1995 accident investigation's ruling that pilot error contributed to the 1994 crash of a Boeing Chinook HC.2 helicopter.
The Air Force plans to accelerate the development of some of the alternative technologies that could be used for the Space Based Radar program with its fiscal year 2003 budget, according to Air Force officials. As part of the Bush Administration's FY '03 defense budget request, the Space Based Radar program would receive about $91 million in funding, including $43 million added under an emergency funding account during December (DAILY, Feb. 7).
Israel will continue to seek U.S. support for a new Israeli system that could be used to attack missiles in their boost phase, according to a senior Israeli defense official. Israel has been lobbying U.S. defense officials and lawmakers for several years to gain U.S. funding for a missile defense system based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Those talks will continue, according to Amos Yaron, the director general of Israel's Ministry of Defense. "I think there is a common operational requirement," Yaron said.
