The headquarters of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) has contracted with Savi Technology for a pilot project using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which will be linked with Savi's "SmartChain" platform to manage and track consignments between Europe and Afghanistan. The project, to be evaluated for possible expansion, will help determine whether NATO can leverage Savi's real-time platform and RFID technology to enhance NATO logistics collaboration, Savi said March 23. NATO offer
NASA is cooperating with the Department of Energy's Naval Reactors program to investigate space nuclear power and propulsion technologies, the aerospace agency said. The partnership is developing a NASA spacecraft, the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, that is intended to use nuclear energy to visit Jupiter's moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.
SAGEM AVIONICS INC. of Paris has acquired the assets of avionics company ARNAV Systems Inc., of Puyallup, Wash. Sagem said the acquisition will complement its existing line of LCD cockpit displays, data processing and communication systems, airborne weather services and satellite phones. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
A radar scatterometer that studies wind movements over oceans is again sending data, three years after the ERS-2 satellite carrying it began experiencing problems with its stabilizing gyros, the European Space Agency said.
GENERAL DYNAMICS C4 SYSTEMS will provide information assurance, systems engineering, payload and ground element support and logistics to the Boeing Co. for the U.S. Air Force's Transformational Communications MILSATCOM (TCM) program, the company said. The work has a potential value of $22.5 million. Boeing and Lockheed Martin each were awarded roughly $470 million contracts earlier this year to begin the 27-month risk reduction and system definition phase of the program (DAILY, Jan. 20).
The start of a key testing phase for the F/A-22 Raptor was delayed about a month to allow more time for software testing, maintenance planning and training, an Air Force official told a Senate panel March 24. Separately, the Air Force announced it has reached a tentative deal with Lockheed Martin for the purchase of another batch of F/A-22s.
BAE SYSTEMS, Farnborough, United Kingdom Dick Olver will be appointed a non-executive director on May 17 and will succeed Sir Richard Evans as chairman on July 1. GLOBALSECURE HOLDINGS, Landover, Md. Craig R. Bandes has been named chief executive officer, succeeding C. Thomas McMillen, who has resigned as CEO and from the board of directors to pursue other opportunities. NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY, Washington George T. Whitesides has been appointed executive director. OTPICS1, Westlake Village, Calif.
A Lockheed Martin-Raytheon joint venture and the U.S. Army will work out a design review and testing schedule for the Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS) over the next few months, according to representatives of the industry team. The two companies announced March 22 that their NetFires Limited Liability Co. has been awarded a $1.1 billion contract to develop NLOS-LS, formerly known as NetFires (DAILY, March 23).
EADS DEFENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS will supply additional regimental information system (SIR) command and communication systems worth 200 million pounds ($240 million) under an order from the French armaments procurement agency. The order mainly involves the production of an additional 131 command post vehicles, 230 light SIR kits used by army captains and 35 mobile kits designed for use in a vehicle or under a field shelter, the company said.
BAE SYSTEMS will deliver 54 additional units of its second-generation Advanced Aviation Forward Area Refueling System (AAFARS) to the U.S. Army, the company said. The work will be done under a $54 million contract from the Army's Tank-automotive and Armament Command and is the fifth production order under an eight-year contract. AAFARS is a modular, lightweight, portable combat refueling system designed for rapid refueling of forward-area military helicopters to support deep strikes.
RAYTHEON CO. has delivered the first Improved Thermal Sight Systems for installation on U.S. Marine Corps Light Armored Vehicles. The Marines will test and evaluate the systems' performance between now and July, the company said. If the evaluations are successful, the Marines could buy as many as 416 units.
A quote in the Feb. 27 Aerospace Daily article headlined "Industrial base decline is cause for concern" was incorrectly attributed. It should have been attributed to Rear Adm. Rand Fisher, director of naval space technology programs.
WCMD: Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control-Orlando will produce 1,677 Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) tail kits under an $11 million contract from the U.S. Air Force, the Department of Defense said March 24. WCMDs are kits designed for the precision release of cluster weapons.
U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM)'s latest NATO/Partnership for Peace Program (PFP) exercise, Cooperative Nugget 04, is using simulation and modeling to improve the handling of information and legal, medical, and procurement issues, as well as more accurately applying NATO standards, according to U.S. Army Reserve Maj. Gen. Thomas Matthews, vice commander, Joint Warfighting Center and exercise director.
ACQUIRED: Intelsat Ltd. has completed its acquisition of the North American satellites and related customer contracts of Loral Space & Communications Corporation. The acquisition included five Telstar satellites, four already in orbit and one scheduled for launch later this year. The spacecraft have been renamed Intelsat Americas (IA) 5, 6, 7, 13, and 8. The $961.1 million purchase adds full coverage of North America to the Intelsat fleet and expands its customer base in the broadcasting, cable television and corporate networking segments, according to Intelsat.
JSF ANTENNAS: EDO Corp. will design and develop landing-aid antennas for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter under a $2 million, multi-year contract from Northrop Grumman, the company said. The contract covers the JSF's system development and demonstration and low-rate initial production phases. The contract includes the design and manufacture of antennas for aircraft-carrier and runway landings and the development of a network to transfer information from external sensors to on-board communications systems.
The U.S. Navy announced March 23 that it is delaying the award of the prime contract for the VXX presidential helicopter program to allow competing contractors Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin-AgustaWestland to perform additional risk reduction work. "The current pace of source selection was determined not to allow for adequate dialogue to transpire between government and industry," the Navy said in a statement. "Specifically, the time allowed for dialogue on the specifications and the industry strategies needed to be extended."
RECOVERY: United Defense Industries will build three additional M88A2 Hercules tank-recovery vehicles for the U.S. Marine Corps under a $7.1 million contract from the Army's Tank-automotive and Armaments Command. Deliveries are scheduled through January 2005 for the vehicles.
U.S. Coast Guard equipment is failing at a higher rate than when the Integrated Deepwater System recapitalization project was conceived, forcing the service to keep repairing older, legacy ships, helicopters and cutters while buying new platforms, Commandant Adm. Thomas H. Collins told senators March 23.
