YOU'RE BEING WATCHED: Northrop Grumman is developing a specific emitter identification (SEI) capability for the E-2C aircraft's ALQ-217 electronic support measures sensor system. SEI technology, already carried by such platforms as the P-3C patrol aircraft, helicopters and submarines, helps identify and track individual ships suspected of transporting nuclear, biological or chemical weapons by picking up on the ships' unique radio-frequency signatures.
RETHINKING SECURITY: The "fundamental need" of the government next year will be to "rethink the whole way we approach our national security," according to Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, who also chairs the subcommittee on military procurement.
Following harsh Congressional criticism of the Pentagon's approach to Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) upgrades, Raytheon is offering to take the SIGINT payload it developed for the U-2 manned reconnaissance aircraft and install it on the Global Hawk high altitude, long endurance unmanned vehicle.
Military operations in Afghanistan are proving the effectiveness of ground forces in precision targeting for air strikes, according a Pentagon official.
Congress has voted to keep alive work on a potential mobile version of the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL). The final version of the FY '02 defense authorization bill, approved by Congress the week of Dec. 10-14, contains $10 million in an Army account for research on a mobile THEL. The Bush Administration requested no funding for the program.
WHAT NEXT?: For the U.S. to maintain its industrial base for the production of fighter aircraft, program decisions will have to be made soon to prevent companies not participating in the Joint Strike Fighter program from leaving the market, says John Douglass, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association. "The first order, we think, is for the Administration to pay some attention to what comes next after Joint Strike Fighter," Douglass says. "Joint Strike Fighter is due to become operational around 2007, 2008.
NASA will likely soon go to industry seeking proposals for turning the space shuttle over to private industry, the aerospace agency's associate administrator for space flight told The DAILY. "We would like to get civil servants out from between the multiple contractors," said Joe Rothenberg, who leaves office Dec. 14. Rothenberg announced his retirement in October (DAILY, Oct. 16).
DEFENSE BILL: The Senate Dec. 13 passed the fiscal 2002 defense authorization conference report by a 96-2 vote. The House approved the measure earlier in the day.
The Defense Department is urging the House-Senate conference committee for the fiscal 2002 defense appropriations bill to reject a Senate-approved cut for development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, saying the reduction would delay several key events and "undermine confidence" among the program's foreign partners.
Political factions within the ruling coalition of the German government announced Dec. 12 they had reached an agreement on plans to purchase 73 A400M military transport aircraft. Though the agreement is subject to approval by the German Bundestag, the government is expected to sign a contract to buy the aircraft Dec. 18 with the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. A clause will be inserted into the contract specifying that it must be approved by the Bundestag to become effective.
Immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Boeing Co. created a group to inventory quickly the corporation's technologies and other capabilities for homeland security solutions and soon will launch a broader "umbrella organization" to look at long-term solutions to terrorist threats, a spokesman said Dec. 13.
While the Defense Department is working toward organizing itself to address homeland security, the Pentagon's leadership is not at the point of establishing timelines for the creation of new offices or responsibilities, according to Stephen Cambone, the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.
Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Science Committee, "can't even envision" leaving the International Space Station (ISS) with only a three-person crew capacity, rather than a full complement of six or seven. "I am working ... to make the space station what we want it to be, and not even thinking in terms of backing away from our long-range commitment," Boehlert said at a Washington briefing Dec. 13.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said Dec. 13 that he plans to consult with other Senate Democrats on whether they should push legislation in response to President Bush's decision to pull out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
Two international industrial teams competing to supply the Royal Navy with new aircraft carriers (CVFs) are expected to move to risk-reduction studies under second-stage assessment contracts awarded in November by the Ministry of Defence (MOD).
Northrop Grumman has conducted a flight test of the Miniature Air Launched Interceptor (MALI), intended to defeat cruise missiles. The Dec. 11 test at the Naval Air Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif., was the first subsonic free flight of the MALI using a new processor, the AIMS-II computer system that includes a communications data link, as well as a built-in inertial measurement unit, Northrop Grumman said Dec. 12. The vehicle was powered by the Hamilton Sundstrand TJ50 engine.
With mid-speed taxi tests taking place now at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., the Air Force's Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) program is on track to have its first flight sometime after February of next year, according to Program Manager Col. Mike Leahy. "We will fly when we are safe to fly," Leahy said, speaking at a UAV conference in Arlington, Va. Dec. 11. "We will not fly before February.
The Fiscal Year 2003 budget will help replenish the stocks of precision guided munitions, according to Adm. Vern Clark, the Chief of Naval Operations. Speaking to defense reporters in Washington Dec. 13, Clark said that while he couldn't discuss the specifics of the budget, he could say there would be an increased focus on procuring precision guided munitions.
After experiencing problems with commercial deals to import spare parts for Indian air force aircraft and weapon systems, India is now planning to build more of them domestically, Air Marshall S.S. Gupta said. The Indian air force has acquired its aircraft and weapon systems from several countries, although almost 70 percent come from Russia and former states of the Soviet Union. Gupta said that because the preparedness of the air force depends on these systems, it has become necessary to develop indigenous sources for spare part supplies.
717 CONTINUES: The Boeing Co. will continue production of the 100-passenger 717, the company announced Dec. 13. However, due to reduced demand after Sept. 11, the aircraft will have a lower production rate and revised delivery projections. Boeing had considered dropping the aircraft altogether.
Avionics and communications company Rockwell Collins Inc. announced Dec. 13 that its board of directors has authorized the buyback of up to $200 million of the company's common stock. "Rockwell Collins has a strong balance sheet with a cash position that allows us to initiate a share repurchase program while continuing our focus on supporting our business approach through strategic acquisitions," Clay Jones, company president and CEO, said in a statement.
THE BOEING CO. announced it plans cuts of between 1,000 and 1,500 jobs at its Ridley Township, Pa., rotorcraft facility due to production delays on CH-47Fs for the U.S. Army and lower production rates for the V-22 Osprey. That will result in a workforce of 3,500 to 4,000 employees at the facility by mid 2004, the company announced Dec. 13.
The U.S. military dropped two more daisy cutter bombs in Afghanistan last week, according to Pentagon officials. Originally designed to clear helicopter landing areas in Vietnam, the daisy cutter bombs, also known as Commando Vault, are 15,000 pound, unguided "dumb" bombs fitted with four-foot daisy-cutter fuses. Eleven daisy cutters were dropped from C-130s during the Gulf War (DAILY, Nov. 7).
