B/E AEROSPACE INC., which builds aircraft cabin products, announced it has a cockpit security system that could be ready for installation as early as January. The system features an anti-ballistic cockpit door and a camera system enabling the flight crew to monitor the passenger cabin.
INTEGRAL SYSTEMS, INC., of Lanham, Md., has signed a long-term agreement with global satellite telecommunications company New Skies Satellites N.V. to expand the New Skies ground control system that it delivered in December 2000. Under the terms of the five-year agreement, Integral Systems will be the preferred supplier of ground systems for New Skies, and will offer New Skies preferred pricing for ground systems.
The new congressionally mandated aerospace commission, whose formation was delayed by several months, is finally gearing up to begin its work, and is doing so in an environment that has changed dramatically since legislation creating the panel was passed last year. The Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry is assembling a staff and has set up an office in Crystal City, Va. It is scheduled to hold its first meeting, an organizational session, on Oct. 2 and its first public meeting on Nov. 27.
FORCE DIVERGENCE: "If the United States builds strategic missile defense, and does so unilaterally ... that means that the predictability of force structures in the United States and Russian arsenals begins to diverge," says Stephen Blank, a professor of strategic studies at the U.S. Army War College. "Whether or not the [Anti-Ballistic Missile] Treaty is the cornerstone of strategic stability, for the Russians and the United States government it meant, at that time, that American and Russian force packaging bore a similarity to each other.
Northrop Grumman Corp. was selected Sept. 28 to supply the Air Force's Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) system, intended to protect transports from shoulder-fired heat seeking missiles The company's Rolling Meadow, Ill., unit won a $66.5 million contract from the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. In announcing the contract, the Pentagon said $31.5 million was being obligated at this time.
A Sept. 14 draft of the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) emphasizes homeland defense as the primary mission for the Defense Department's military strategy (DAILY, Sept. 28), but the programs favored prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - such as missile defense and long-range strike capabilities - remain very much the same. Unlike the 1997 QDR, the draft 2001 QDR provides no specific numbers for major procurement programs.
(Editor's note: The following is excerpted from the written responses by Gen. Peter Pace, nominated to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee. Pace testified Sept. 25. He was confirmed by the Senate Sept. 26.)
Aerospace and defense analysts with Moody's Investors Service are considering downgrading the short- and long-term debt rating for Rockwell Collins Inc. The move comes after a Sept. 25 announcement from the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based company that it will reduce its workforce by about 15 percent, or 2,600 jobs, during the next fiscal year in anticipation of lower revenues.
DEEPWATER PROJECT: Competitors for the U.S. Coast Guard's 15-year, $10 billion-plus Deepwater aircraft and ship modernization program, having submitted proposals Sept. 28, must wait until next spring before a winner is announced. Boeing, a team of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, and SAIC submitted a total of about 100 cases of documents for Phase two of the effort. "Each box has multiple binders, so it's going to take some time for us to go through all the proposals," says a Coast Guard spokeswoman.
YEMEN ARMS: The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks may put on hold the sale of MiG-29 fighters to Yemen, according to Russian media reports. The Russian company MiG allegedly concluded a deal to export 15 MiG-29 fighters to Yemen right around the time of the attacks. But Yemen has been criticized frequently by the U.S. government for not cooperating fully with investigations into the USS Cole bombing, and after the attacks in New York and Washington the Yemeni president said he would not allow U.S. troop deployments in Yemen for any military actions.
BMD COOPERATION: House Armed Services Committee member Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) is leading a bipartisan congressional delegation to Russia to discuss possible U.S.-Russian cooperation on ballistic missile defense and other issues. Joining Weldon on the trip, which also includes stops in Italy and Turkey, are Reps. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), Bob Clement (D-Tenn.), Bud Cramer (D-Ala.), Brian Kerns (R-Ind.), Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas), Todd Platts (R-Pa.), Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas), Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), Nick Smith (R-Mich.) and Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.).
Northrop Grumman Corp. has again extended its tender offer to purchase all outstanding common stock shares of Newport News Shipbuilding Inc. Northrop Grumman officials announced Sept. 28 the company would extend its offer to midnight Oct. 4. The previous offer expired at midnight Sept. 27.
INTEL FUNDS: President Bush on Sept. 28 released $1.7 billion in emergency funds for intelligence upgrades, improved readiness and other needs at the Defense Department. The money accounts for most of the second installment of a $40 billion supplemental spending measure passed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Spacehab, Inc. and RSC Energia are still awaiting an answer from NASA on whether the space agency is interested in purchasing a "package deal" for both extra habitation and crew return capability for the International Space Station (ISS). The deal would allow the use of the companies' multipurpose "Enterprise" commercial module as living quarters for three more crewmembers - bringing the total ISS crew to six - as well as an additional Soyuz vehicle for crew return.
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is calling for replacing two aging signals intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft - the Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint and the Navy EP-3 Aries - with a single fleet of Boeing 767-sized aircraft, instead of two separate fleets as currently envisioned. In its newly released report on the fiscal 2002 intelligence authorization bill, the committee asserted that replacing the two types of aircraft with two new fleets "is not the right direction."
NO F-16s: The Bulgarian government approved a plan Sept. 20 to upgrade the air force's fleet of MiG-29 fighters to meet NATO standards, effectively scrapping a previous plan to acquire F-16s. Bulgaria, a NATO partner country, still intends to meet NATO interoperability requirements, but the defense ministry concluded that this could be achieved by retrofitting the MiGs - a plan that will be a fraction of the price of even the cheapest F-16 lease deal.
DEFENSE DEBATE: The Senate plans to continue debating the fiscal 2002 defense authorization bill the week of Oct. 1. Senators have proposed more amendments than expected, preventing the chamber from achieving its goal of passing the bill the week of Sept. 24. Pending aerospace-related amendments include a proposal by Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) to provide federal loans and loan guarantees for the development of commercial reusable space vehicles (DAILY, Sept. 26).
The Global Hawk high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle could be among the aircraft the Defense Department is considering using for a possible military conflict in Afghanistan, according to a congressional analyst.
Problems with the power systems of six Boeing-built 702-series satellites currently in orbit won't significantly affect their operations, a spokesman for Boeing Satellite Systems said Sept. 28. Spokesman George Torres acknowledged that a flaw in the solar arrays is causing the satellites to lose power more quickly than expected. The satellites, launched between December 1999 and May 2001, transmit radio, video, voice and data.
Textron Systems will conduct experiments gauging the effectiveness of aircraft self-protection laser systems against advanced anti-aircraft missile threats under a $13 million Air Force Research Laboratory contract, the company announced Sept. 28. The experiments will be part of the Aircraft Directed Energy Laser Applications (ADELA) program. Textron will use infrared sensor technology to develop aircraft-mounted laser beam projection control systems.
LONG-TERM VIEW: Undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller) Dov Zakheim thinks that during the flurry of military activity and spending necessitated by the war on terrorism, it will be essential to maintain long-term perspective. "It's not just a matter of, 'We've got an operation and it may be an extended one,'" says Zakheim. "It is a question of what direction does our military take over the next decade. The decisions we make today are going to influence that direction.
Dear Colleagues: I am pleased to announce that we are proceeding with Aerospace Expo 2001 (Los Angeles, Oct. 16-18) with a change of focus to address specific ways you and the industry can deal with a radically changed landscape.
Two satellite radio companies providing commercial-free radio programs to paid subscribers are set to begin full operation soon. XM Satellite Radio Inc., founded in Washington in 1992, launched the first radio satellite service on Sept. 25., with 100 digital channels of music and information for listeners in the Dallas/Fort Worth and San Diego areas. XM will expand the service to the rest of the country in November.
THE WINGS CLUB's 59th Annual Dinner is proceeding on schedule for Oct. 16 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. For more information about the black tie event, which will honor Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher, contact the Wings Club at 212-867-1770 or e-mail [email protected].
