NASA has picked General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. to team with its Dryden Flight Research Center on developing an upgraded version of the company's Predator unmanned aerial vehicle that would carry heavier payloads at higher altitudes for longer missions, including a jet-powered variant. Under the teaming arrangement, which is just entering the negotiation phase, General Atomics would invest about $8 million and NASA's Office of Aero-Space Technology will spend more than $10 million on a "Predator B" vehicle.
The U.S. Coast Guard has appropriated $40 million for Honeywell International to upgrade the engines of its fleet of HH-65 Dolphin search and rescue helicopters, the company announced. The money will be used to improve the LTS101 engine control and other engine components in a phased-in plan to increase the performance of the engine.
The FAA has approved the 207-minute ETOPS (Extended Twin Operations) rule requested by the Air Transport Association but -- noting opposition expressed by the Allied Pilots Association and Airbus Industrie -- held it up for 45 days for additional comments. The current maximum amount of time a twin-engine jetliner can be out of range of an emergency landing site is 180 minutes. The 207-minute ETOPS will apply just to the North Pacific, "and then only when conditions prevent a 180-minute dispatch" and that is applied only to the Boeing 777.
Northrop Grumman, besting three foreign companies in a nine-month competition, will provide Night Vision Imaging Systems (NVIS) to upgrade the Republic of Korea's fighter aircraft under a contract with Korean Aerospace. The company announced yesterday that the newly-created Korean Aerospace, formed by the merger of Daewoo Heavy Industries Ltd., Samsung Aerospace and Hyundai, awarded it a contract for undisclosed amount to produce the upgrade kits and assist in implementing and managing the changes.
Lockheed Martin and Rockwell Collins have signed a teaming agreement to compete for the U.S. Air Force's upcoming C-130X modernization program. The U.S. Air Force has not signed an agreement with the companies, as reported in The DAILY of Jan. 24. A request for proposals for the program is due this spring or summer, and a contract award is expected late this year.
BAE SYSTEMS North America will supply parts of the mission avionics suite for Boeing's 737-based airborne early warning and control system aircraft, chosen last year by the Royal Australian Air Force. Cockpit tactical mission displays, command and control consoles and mission computers will be provided by BAE Systems.
Fairchild Aerospace reported orders for 178 aircraft in 1999, a number that it said was one-third of all regional jets and airliners with under 100 seats ordered by operators worldwide. Quoting public information sources, Fairchild said 543 jets in the under-100-seat category were ordered last year. Brazil's Embraer booked 186 orders and Bombardier of Canada came in with 172. The other seven went to British Aerospace.
Raytheon missed even Wall Street's recently lowered fourth quarter projections, but investors seem to be betting the worst is over for the defense giant as shares moved up in yesterday's trading session. "We want you to know we don't like bad news any more than you do," Raytheon Chairman and CEO Dan Burnham said yesterday during the company's earnings conference call. "And we continue to dig into the operations of the company to be sure every portion of the business is on solid footing. We take nothing for granted."
Engineers at NASA's Stennis Space Center completed a 60-second test of the Rocketdyne XRS-2200 linear aerospike engine built to power Lockheed Martin's X-33 reusable launch vehicle prototype, demonstrating for the first time the vectored thrust capability intended to steer the lifting-body aircraft during ascent.
The U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels said The DAILY's Jan. 24 report on the hushkit dispute is "incorrect and may reflect a misunderstanding of what was said at the press conference in Brussels." The report (on page 118) said European Commission officials and an American diplomat criticized the U.S. Dept. of Commerce's intention to lodge a formal complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization about the European Union's hushkit regulation.
Australia's buy of a Boeing 773-700 jetliner modified as an Airborne Early Warning&Control (AEW&C) system has sparked the interest of several other countries, according to officials of Northrop Grumman, whose company supplies the radar for the Australian plane. The 737 allows for a mid-cost air surveillance radar system, and new radar system improvement program (RSIP) upgrades the radar to a more powerful and accurate system, William Adams, vice president of Northrop Grumman's airborne surveillance systems, told reporters in Washington.
The U.S. Army this week plans to announce a simulation and technology partnership with NASA. A Los Angeles conference introducing the Army's new Simulation and Modeling for Acquisition, Requirements and Training (SMART) program will feature Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera and NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin. They will explain their agreement to share technology to facilitate the Army's transformation to a lighter force, and help NASA with its efforts to build the International Space Station.
Data Link Solutions Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa is being awarded a $8,035,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity letter sole source contract for long lead materials and non-recurring engineering effort to support first article qualification and production of 27 multifunctional information distribution system (MIDS) low volume terminals (LVT). The MIDS-LVT provides secure, high capacity, jam resistant, digital data and voice communications capability for ship and air platforms.
Klaus Steffens will be the new chief executive officer (CEO) of German engine manufacturer MTU. He succeeds Rainer Hertrich, who becomes one of the two CEOs of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS). Steffens has been a member of MTU's managing board.
Intersil Corp., Space&Defense Fabrication, Melbourne, Fla., is being awarded a firm-fixed-price contract (appropriation number and dollar value will be issued with each delivery order) with a cumulative total of $9,305,439. The contractor shall provide software licenses, maintenance support, wafers, mask sets, test fixtures, fabrication, and engineering services. Operational requirements for these items are in support of the Defense Microelectronics Activity mission and advanced microelectronics technology application programs.
U.S. AIR FORCE'S Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB, Utah, has awarded an engineering services contract to a team headed by Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC). Through the Design Engineering Support Program (DESP), the team will provide engineering and technical services for Air Force Materiel Command weapon systems, components and support equipment. The contract, with a ceiling of $450 million, will run for seven years.
Russia's Tupolev, in line with the government's plan to restructure the aerospace industry, is on the verge of creating the Tupolev Joint Stock Company. Tupolev JSC combines ANTK Tupolev, better known as Tupolev Design Bureau or Tupolev Aviation Scientific Technical Complex, and Ulianovsk-based aircraft plant Aviastar.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. said it has signed a letter of intent with offshore oil operator Cougar Helicopters that points the way to first sales of the S-92 transport helicopter. The United technologies unit announced yesterday that Cougar has signed a deposit agreement for up to five of the 19-seat aircraft from the first two production lots scheduled for the program. Deliveries would be in 2002 and 2003. "Further new S-92 order announcements will follow shortly," Sikorsky said.
Lockheed Martin tapped Solipsys for the company's expertise in sensor networking architecture to support Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics and Surveillance's (NE&SS) role in the Navy's Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) program. The alliance will provide advanced sensor netting to the CEC program, which is aimed at facilitating communication between ships and aircraft. With CEC and the sensors network, ships and aircraft can share information that will allow one vessel to fire on a target being tracked by another.
A new bipartisan House working group has been formed to encourage awareness of and support for electronic warfare (EW) capabilities. Reps. Norman Dicks (D-Wash.), John Spratt (D-S.C.), Joseph Pitts (R-Pa) and Randy Cunningham (R-Calif) formed the new EW Working Group.
Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $5,893,340 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order against a basic ordering agreement. This delivery order provides for tasks required to integrate, install, test and support the multifunctional information distribution system low volume terminal in four F/A-18C/D (Lot 12 or higher) VX-9 test aircraft in support of a government technical evaluation and operational evaluation. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed by March 2003.
Raytheon Systems Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded an $11,249,015 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-99-C-5375 for production engineering and technical services to support the STANDARD Missile Program, including design, systems support, shipboard integration, and test equipment support. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by September 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity.
The U.K.'s British Telecom has won a five-year, $10.8 million contract from the U.S. Dept. of Defense for management and maintenance of satellite gateway services. The contract includes terrestrial leased circuits for U.S. Navy ships operating on satellites in the Indian Ocean.
Despite an impending budget cut in the U.S. Air Force's Airborne Laser (ABL) program, officials of the service said they will continue work on the program until told otherwise. The ABL team on Saturday flew the first aircraft set to carry the anti-missile laser, a modified 747-400, from Boeing facilities in Seattle to the company's plant in Wichita for 18 months of work to convert the commercial freighter into a weapons platform.
