The Senate agreed Sept. 21 to reverse a $1.3 billion cut in the Bush Administration's missile defense request while signaling that it wants President Bush to use some of the restored money to fight terrorism. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and ranking Republican John Warner (Va.) announced the agreement shortly before the Senate approved it as an amendment to the fiscal 2002 defense authorization bill.
Ronald D. Sugar has been named president and chief operating officer of Northrop Grumman, company Chairman and CEO Kent Kresa announced. "With our recent acquisition of Litton Industries, Northrop Grumman is now a $15 billion top-tier global enterprise with 80,000 employees," Kresa said in a company statement. "Ron's appointment provides our company with additional management depth, experience and expertise at an important time in our company's history."
GO: After a successful Sept. 21 launch readiness review, Eutelsat's Atlantic Bird 2 satellite is on track for launch on Sept. 25 from Kourou, French Guiana, atop an Ariane 4 rocket. Liftoff of Flight 144 is scheduled to take place during a 57-minute launch window opening at 7:32 p.m. local time.
DEFENSE FUNDS: The Bush Administration plans to use $2.5 billion for defense from the first installment of recently enacted $40 billion supplemental appropriations, the White House says. Of that, $1.8 billion will go to upgrade intelligence and security, enhance force protection, improve command and control and increase readiness, and the rest will go to Pentagon repairs and other recovery needs. A senior Senate aide told The DAILY he expects little of the overall supplemental to go toward military procurement or research and development.
The Titan Corp. of San Diego announced it will acquire information services company BTG Inc., which a Titan official said will expand Titan's reach into the military and intelligence operations market. The purchase price, which includes Titan's assumption of about $32 million of BTG debt, is $114.9 million in Titan common stock and $27 million in cash.
ATK Tactical Systems Co., of Rocket Center, W.Va., has successfully completed two static-fire tests of a developmental solid rocket motor for the U.S. Army's Line-of-Sight Antitank (LOSAT) Weapon System, the company announced Sept. 21. The test firings clear the way for qualification tests for the motor last this year, according to the company, a subsidiary of Alliant Techsystems (ATK). The company plans to produce 42 motors for missile flight qualification tests in 2002.
INDIAN SUKHOI: India will soon begin producing the Sukhoi Su-30 MKI, Russia's most advanced fighter. Russia is expected to deliver the fighter's designs by early 2002 so India can start indigenous production in December 2002, according to a New Delhi newspaper. The chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. - the Indian company that will produce the fighter - tells reporters that the first fighters should be completed in 2004. The deal to produce the fighter under Russian license is worth an estimated $1 billion.
U.S. air power will likely be used to provide cover for Special Forces operations in Afghanistan rather than serve as the principal means of attack, according to two former national security advisers. Speaking Sept. 20 at a forum sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser to President Carter, said the initial U.S. response must be credible and set the tone for future actions.
B-2 BOOST: The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington underscore the argument for building more B-2 stealth bombers than the 21 the Air Force already has, according to Michael Vickers, director of strategic studies at the Center for Strategic&Budgetary Assessments. The B-2's long range is valuable for missions in such remote regions as South Asia, where the U.S. can expect to face problems basing aircraft. While the B-2 is more expensive per plane than shorter-range fighter aircraft, it actually provides more firepower per dollar, Vickers says.
REBOUND: The Boeing Co. may be down but not out, according to a report from Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, the investment-banking arm of Deutsche Bank. Although Boeing revised its numbers for commercial aircraft deliveries last week as a result of decreased air travel following the Sept. 11 attacks, the impact of the downturn will likely bottom out in 2003 with the help of improved space and defense sales, says Christopher Mecray, aerospace analyst with the investment firm.
The White House and Congress, in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, have taken actions intended to better organize government efforts to deal with the terrorist threat to the nation.
The Defense Department should implement a Defense Science Board task force's recent recommendation that DOD pay more attention to fuel efficiency in producing weapons systems, according to a newly approved amendment to the House's fiscal 2002 defense authorization bill. The task force's report concluded that substantial performance gains, including greater range, lighter weight systems and reduced combat vulnerability, could be achieved by placing more emphasis on energy efficiency (DAILY, Aug. 9).
CASE FOR UAVs: The Aug. 27 loss of a U.S. Air Force RQ-1 Predator (DAILY, Aug. 31) is an exemplary case of how unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can offer tactical advantages while minimizing political risk, according to Daryl Davidson, executive director of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). "That is an absolute case in point of why to use UAVs in these situations," says Davidson. "How long has [Saddam] Hussein wanted to shoot down an aircraft?
PARALLELS: The terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon are prompting history to repeat itself, says one analyst. "I look at what's going on here as almost a direct parallel" with the beginning of the Reagan presidency, says Paul Nisbet of JSA Research, Providence, R.I.
ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP. announced Sept. 21 it has completed the sale of its Sensor Systems Division to the Hamilton Sundstrand unit of United Technologies Corp. The $20 million sale, announced in August (DAILY, Aug. 6), has received all necessary approvals, and Orbital said the proceeds will be used mostly to improve its balance sheet and reduce overall debt. "With the completion of the Sensor Systems Division sale, Orbital has largely completed its year-long campaign to reduce debt, boost cash and improve the company's balance sheet through the sale of ...
GUARD FUNDS: The National Guard's new role in homeland defense and expanded role in international operations could mean faster modernization of the Air National Guard's F-16s. President Bush recently called to federal active duty up to 50,000 National Guardsmen and Reservists. Some of the Guardsmen called up will likely be used in any air strikes conducted overseas, according to retired Col. William Goss, legislative director for the National Guard Association of the United States.
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. will donate $2 million to victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and their families, the company announced Sept. 20. The money will go to victims of the attacks in New York and Washington, as well as to family members of those who died on the aircraft that were hijacked, according to the company.
Lockheed Martin Corp. was awarded an $818 million firm-fixed-price contract modification Sept. 19 for procurement of 10 low rate initial production Lot 1 F-22 aircraft and associated equipment, as expected (DAILY, Sept. 19). Another contract worth $222 million was awarded to United Technologies Corp. for 20 engines and associated work for the F-22.
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. announced Sept. 20 that profits before interest and taxes for the first half of 2001 rose 38 percent. EADS officials said the consolidation of Airbus Industrie's operations into the company and increased commercial aircraft deliveries contributed to the increase, but they acknowledged that tougher times may be ahead.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. plans to establish a joint venture with Shanghai Little Eagle Science&Technology Co. (SLEC) to produce light civil helicopters for the Chinese market, the company announced Sept. 20. Stratford, Conn.-based Sikorsky signed a memorandum of understanding with SLEC to form Shanghai Sikorsky Helicopter Co., which will develop civil helicopters using technology "to be determined as part of the forthcoming discussions," according to the company.
The Aerospace Industries Association has revised its estimate for U.S. aerospace industry sales in 2001, based on revised delivery projections by manufacturers following last week's terrorist attacks. Before Sept. 11, AIA officials predicted commercial aircraft and aircraft parts sales for 2001 would total more than $47.5 billion. They now believe sales will be about $2 billion less.
Another senator has voiced his objections to the proposed acquisition of Newport News Shipbuilding Inc. by General Dynamics Corp. In a Sept. 17 letter to Edward "Pete" Aldridge, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., said the proposed General Dynamics-Newport News merger would create an "irreversible monopoly" in both conventional and nuclear shipbuilding.
Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) is considering seeking funding in an appropriations bill to speed up the replacement of the U.S. military's aging 707-derivative aircraft, such as KC-135s and AWACS, with new 757s and 767s, an aide told The DAILY Sept. 20.
USA CONTRACT: The United Space Alliance (USA) will refurbish hydraulic actuators on the space shuttle under a $62 million contract modification announced Sept. 20. The actuators move a shuttle's rudder, speed brake, elevons and main engines during flight. Endeavour will be the first shuttle to have the work done.
The Defense Department is the only agency that has the resources and ability to serve as the lead for homeland defense, according to William Schneider, chairman of DOD's Defense Science Board. The Defense Science Board - DOD's standing task force on research and development - recently completed a multi-volume study on homeland defense. While the study did not specify the role of DOD in an overall homeland security strategy, it did recommend a fundamental reallocation of DOD's investment priorities to focus more on homeland defense.
