Lockheed Martin officials said Oct. 8 that they are assembling a bid for the U.S. Army's Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) that would provide extensive interoperability with other Army systems and other military services. At the annual meeting of the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA), Lockheed Martin Management & Data Systems announced that Orincon Corp., which Lockheed Martin recently acquired, has joined its team in the competition to develop ACS, the Army's next-generation intelligence-gathering aircraft.
ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS, Minneapolis Dan Murphy has taken the CEO role under a previously announced leadership succession plan. Paul David Miller retains his post as chairman of the board and continues as corporate officer. Thomas R. Wilson succeeds Murphy as group vice president, Precision Systems. CONNEXION BY BOEING, Seattle Elissaveta Ivanova has been appointed communications manager for Europe. ENGINEERED SUPPORT SYSTEMS, St. Louis
Lockheed Martin will implement a similar arrangement for its team competing to design the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) as it did for the Joint Strike Fighter. "One of the things that we envision is adaptable from that program is the approach," said Carol Hulgus, vice president of programs of programs for Lockheed Martin's Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems segments. The approach will differ slightly because the Navy has a different plan for international participation, Hulgus told defense reporters in Washington on Oct. 7.
LOCKHEED MARTIN successfully completed initial testing of two key subsystems of the AN/WLD 1(V) Remote Minehunting System (RMS) during sea trials with the Navy destroyer Pinckney, the company said. The trials in the Gulf of Mexico included tests of the Data Link Subsystem and the launch and recovery system for the Remote Minehunting Vehicle (RMV). The unmanned RMV tows a depth sensor to detect and identify moored and bottom mines. Testing of the RMS will continue for the rest of this year and into 2004, with first deployment on a destroyer set for 2005.
ROCKWELL CONNEXION: Connexion by Boeing and Rockwell Collins have teamed to provide high-speed Internet connectivity to the corporate aviation market, the companies said Oct. 7. The service, "Collins eXchange," is scheduled to begin systems installations in mid-2004 and operation in early 2005.
Lockheed Martin has completed deliveries of live fire training targeting equipment to Sweden, the company said Oct. 7. The equipment was part of the company's Weight, Hit Indication, and Planning (WHIP) program, Lockheed Martin said, and was delivered to the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration. The WHIP system is a rapidly deployable, configurable, radio-controlled live-fire training package used to improve the readiness of Swedish land forces, the company said.
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) hopes to offer new products for the military market, such as new tankers and standoff strike aircraft, co-CEO Philippe Camus said after the company's first North American investor forum. "We are rapidly adapting our Airbus manufacturing base into a variety of military applications," Camus said in a statement. "Beyond developing the A400M for markets outside of Europe, we will actively market variants of the A300 and A330 aircraft as aerial refueling tankers."
NEW DELHI - The Boeing Co. has refused to transfer the technology of defensive equipment to be fitted on three aircraft that India planned to buy for executive use. A defense ministry official said the buy likely will be delayed due to the dispute. Boeing won a tender with its offer of the aircraft for $154 million, beating a rival bid by Airbus.
Army and industry officials still have not decided whether the combat vehicles in the Future Combat Systems program will be wheeled or tracked, industry officials said Oct. 7. Some of the design features for weapons and vehicles will be completed toward the end of next year, as the Army and its lead systems integrator team of the Boeing Co. and Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) begin preparing for the program's preliminary design review.
After being cut from the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) competition earlier this year, Sikorsky Aircraft now has joined Northrop Grumman's UCAR team, Northrop Grumman announced Oct. 7. Managed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the $500 million UCAR program is attempting to develop a highly autonomous unmanned combat helicopter that can work in groups, engage in close combat at the nap of the Earth, and work seamlessly with other manned and unmanned Army systems.
The U.S. Army is developing plans to test the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) against mortars for the first time later this fiscal year, according to a general who oversees the program. The test is expected to occur in fiscal 2004 if the Army can line up everything it needs to conduct the shoot-down attempt.
Coming off this summer's "weight summit," the RAH-66 Comanche program is taking steps to shed 200 pounds by the end of the year, which would bring the projected weight of the reconnaissance/attack helicopter under its target of 9,950 pounds.
DRS Technologies will produce flight control computers and power supplies for AgustaWestland EH101 helicopters under contracts worth $3.2 million, the company said Oct. 7. A contract from Smiths Aerospace in Cheltenham, England, was for flight control computers, and follows a 1997 agreement between the two companies for the delivery of that equipment. Two flight control computers will be installed on each helicopter.
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.'s new G450 aircraft will be the platform in Northrop Grumman Corp.'s bid to produce the Army's Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) intelligence-gathering aircraft, the two companies announced Oct. 7.
The 30-day period for Congress to comment on the potential sale of U.S. systems to four Middle East countries to protect their VIP airliners from attack by shoulder-fired missiles has passed, and the U.S. Air Force is cleared to submit letters of offer and acceptance to the countries, a government official said Oct. 6.
The U.S. Army and the developer of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) have begun discussing the possibility of fielding some MEADS equipment early to address shortcomings in the Army's Patriot system, an industry official said Oct. 6.
KUWAITI APACHES: The Boeing Co. has signed an initial foreign military sales contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to build 16 AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters for Kuwait, the company said Oct. 6. Kuwait signed a letter of offer and acceptance with the DOD for the helicopters last year (DAILY, Sept. 4, 2002). The total sale could be worth up to $2.1 billion, including options, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said when it notified Congress of the sale (DAILY, April 19, 2002).
In February the U.S. Army will receive 100 new handheld Force 21 Battle Command Brigade and Below/Blue Force Tracking (FBCB2/BFT) systems to complement the vehicle-mounted units already fielded, according to manufacturer Northrop Grumman.
