NEW DELHI - Pakistan test-fired its third nuclear-capable missile in 11 days on Oct. 13, launching a Shaheen-1 medium-range missile, which is also known as the Hatf-IV. A Shaheen-1 also was tested last week, shortly after Pakistan tested a short-range Ghaznavi missile (DAILY, Oct. 10). "The test concludes, for now, the series of planned tests," a Pakistani diplomat said here. He said a longer-range version of the Hatf missile series will be tested in the future.
AIR SUPPLY: Boeing will use air transportation as the main method for delivering supplier parts for its new mid-sized 7E7 passenger aircraft, the company said Oct. 13. The company projects savings of 20 to 40 percent compared with traditional shipping methods, Boeing said, and will cut delivery times to as little as one day. The company plans to use at least three modified 747-400s to move the 7E7 components.
Tactronics, a prime contractor to Special Operations Command (SOCOM), is undertaking an internally funded effort to create a handheld computer for special operators that can run a full 32-bit operating system, according to company president Billy Silhan.
Operation of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles that work together to carry out missions as part of the Future Combat Systems (FCS) is the subject of an exploratory development program being run by the U.S. Army's Aviation Applied Technology Directorate at Fort Eustis, Va.
NEW DELHI - The Indian government is looking to international markets for beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles to be installed on the Sea Harrier fleet on the country's only aircraft carrier, INS Viraat. Defense ministry officials said the purchase of 20 BVR missiles and training missiles is part of a project to upgrade India's Sea Harrier fleet. The ministry has invited Israel's Rafael and Elbit Systems, the United Kingdom's BAE Systems, South Africa's Denel, Russia's Rosoboronexport and France's MBDA to submit offers for the missiles.
Gripen International has opened the production line for 28 Gripens ordered by South Africa, the company said Oct. 13. Jacob Zuma, the deputy president of South Africa, opened the line at an Oct. 10 ceremony at the Saab Aerosystems plant in Linkoping, Sweden.
HONEYWELL BUY: Honeywell International will acquire video monitoring company Silent Witness of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, Honeywell said Oct. 10. The company plans to buy all outstanding shares of Silent Witness for CDN$11.27 ($8.6) per share. The buy will broaden Honeywell's capabilities in the video surveillance market, the company said.
Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control has received a $119 million contract from the U.S. Army to develop and demonstrate a Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) variant with a unitary warhead. Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will develop 86 rockets, 71 of which will be flight articles. The remainder will be used for tests and other activities.
HONEYWELL TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS INC. (HTSI) has been awarded NASA's Near Earth Networks Services (NENS) contract, with an estimated maximum value of $785.2 million. HTSI will support NASA's Space and Ground Networks managed by Goddard Space Flight Center's Mission Services Program. Major elements of the work include administration of an integrated contract team for Space and Ground Networks operations and maintenance; hardware and software development; and systems engineering.
Major aerospace and defense contractors are expected to post strong earnings for the third quarter, according to senior aerospace and defense analyst Christopher Mecray of Deutsche Bank. "We expect most aerospace and defense companies to meet or beat expectations, with lingering concerns [about the commercial sector] lying mostly beyond 2004 and defense names benefiting from the ramp-up in budget outlays," Mecray says in an investor's report released last week.
MBDA CONTRACT: The French defense ministry has awarded MBDA a contract to integrate the ASMPA medium-range air-to-ground missile on the next-generation variant of the French air force's Mirage 2000 N, the 2000 N K3, the company said. ASMPA, which has a tactical nuclear warhead, will replace the current ASMP missile, which has been in service on the Mirage 2000 N since 1988, the company said.
On Oct. 15 the U.S. Air Force will make its third attempt since early 2001 to launch an upgraded Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft atop a refurbished Titan II missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. A series of technical issues and schedule bumps have plagued the $450 million spacecraft, which was removed from the launch pad twice in 2001 and 2002 (DAILY, Jan. 24, 2001). Launch is now set for a 10-minute window opening at 9:17 a.m. PDT Oct. 15.
SUPPLEMENTAL DEBATE: The full House and Senate are expected to consider their versions of the $87 billion fiscal 2004 supplemental appropriations bill during the week of Oct. 13-17. Among the matters that could come up during those debates is a proposed amendment by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) that would provide $655 million to install anti-missile devices on the 300 aircraft in the Civil Reserve Aviation Fleet (CRAF) (DAILY, Oct. 1).
As NASA awaits the final mishap report on the loss of its Helios solar-electric unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the agency is mulling the scope and future of its high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAV research programs.
Pratt & Whitney is almost ready to begin testing the first production-configuration F135 engine for the Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), government and industry sources said Oct. 10. Pratt & Whitney spokesman Mark Sullivan told The DAILY that the testing will begin "within the next few days," as early as late Oct. 10.
SPOTTING MOONS: The European Space Agency is planning Eddington, a space telescope with a precision photometer that it predicts not only could find planets outside our solar system, but could detect moons orbiting those planets. Eddington, named after astrophysicist Sir Arthur Eddington, is scheduled to launch in 2008 and will seek planets by detecting the drop in light when a planet passes in front of its parent star.
IRAQ BOUND: The U.S. Army's new Stryker vehicles are being shipped to Iraq for their first operational assignment, where they will support 3,600 soldiers from I Corps' 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, the Army says. The troops will begin their assignment in Iraq in the next few weeks. The vehicles, from the Fort Lewis, Wash.-based Stryker Brigade Combat team, began rolling onto ships Oct. 9 for transport to Iraq.
