NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is to meet with President Bush on Sept. 24 in New York to discuss cooperation on missile defense. Vajpayee is to tell Bush that the transfer of missile defense technology to India could lead to greater stability in the region, according to senior defense ministry officials here. Since January 2002, India has been asking the U.S. to supply Patriot air defense systems and allow Israel to sell India the Arrow missile defense system.
The Missile Defense Agency is considering adding an integrated flight test before Sept. 30, 2004, to demonstrate that its upgraded Cobra Dane radar can track ballistic missiles. In a response to a General Accounting Office report released Sept. 23, the Department of Defense said MDA is considering the test, although it said, "accomplishing such testing before September 2004 would be very challenging."
LONDON - The No. 656 Squadron of the British Air Army Corps' 9th Regiment began converting from Westland Lynx helicopters to Boeing/AgustaWestland WAH-64 Longbow Apache AH Mk 1 attack helicopters on Sept. 1. The move is a step toward a planned initial operating capability (IOC) for 67 of the helicopters by late 2004. Each of the AAC's three Attack Regiments of the 16 Air Assault Brigade will be equipped with two squadrons of eight Apaches and one squadron of eight planned next-generation Battlefield Light Utility Helicopters (BLUH).
European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) company and the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MOD) should have their contract for the next-generation Skynet 5 military satellite communications system completed by October, according to Francois Auque, head of EADS' Space Systems division.
Loral Space & Communications on Sept. 22 declared the Telstar 4 communications satellite a "total loss" after repeated attempts to regain contact with the spacecraft failed. Telstar 4, a Series 7000 satellite built by Lockheed Martin, was launched on Sept. 23, 1995. Telstar 4 provided video and data services to customers throughout North America, the Caribbean, Alaska, and Hawaii through 24 C-band transponders and 16 Ku-band transponders. News networks in particular used the satellite for video relays.
A House-Senate panel has partially reversed a deep cut in missile procurement that the House and Senate versions of the fiscal 2004 defense appropriations bill had proposed for the Air Force's Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM).
NATO CHIEF: The North Atlantic Council said Sept. 22 that Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Dutch minister of foreign affairs, will succeed Lord George Robertson as secretary general of NATO. The date for de Hoop Scheffer to assume the post has not been determined.
NEW DELHI - In a major setback to the Indian air force, the only complete squadron of Russian-built Sukhoi Su-30 K aircraft has been grounded due to problems with their engine blades. An air force official told The DAILY that 18 Su-30s have been grounded for the past few weeks.
The Department of Homeland Security this week is expected to release a formal solicitation for a $100 million program to develop systems to protect commercial airliners from shoulder-fired missiles. In announcing the effort on Sept. 18, DHS said it would issue the solicitation the week of Sept. 22-26. A DHS spokesman, Brian Roerhkasse, said Sept. 22 that he didn't know when the solicitation would be released. But, he said, the overall strategy will be discussed at an Oct. 6 briefing for industry to be held in the Washington, D.C., area.
MOSCOW - Russia has grounded its Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack fleet after one of the heavy supersonic bombers crashed Sept. 18 near Engels air base in Russia's Saratov region, killing all four crewmembers. The air force blamed the crash on an on-board fire in a new engine. The aircraft, christened "Mikhail Gromov" after a prominent Soviet pilot of the 1930s, recently had taken part in exercises with Russia's Pacific fleet. After the exercises, one of its NK-32 engines was replaced because of operational problems, and this new engine apparently caught fire.
Sept. 21 - 24 -- 40th Annual AOC International Symposium and Convention, Dayton, Ohio. Call (888) OLD-CROW or go to www.crows.org. Sept. 22 - 25 -- Fall 2003 Sensors Expo & Conference, Anaheim Convention Center. For more information contact Amy Riemer at 978-475-4441. Email [email protected], or go to http://shows.sensorsexpo.com/fall03/V40/index.cvn.
SpaceDev of Poway, Calif., has been chosen to supply the major operating components for the hybrid rocket motor that will power Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne manned spacecraft, SpaceDev announced Sept. 19.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has been chosen by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to develop the Strategic Illuminator Laser (SILL), a next-generation illuminator laser that could have applications for air- and space-based systems. Although the SILL's exact role has not been defined, the solid-state laser is expected to be an improvement over existing illuminators and might someday play a supporting role in such systems as MDA's Airborne Laser (ABL). Illuminator lasers emit beams of energy to gather information about areas of activity.
The U.S. government has granted final approval for the sale of four Boeing 737 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft to Turkey, CFM International said Sept. 22. The company is providing its CFM56-7 engines for the aircraft under a contract worth $40 million. CFM International is a joint venture of General Electric Co. of the U.S. and Snecma Moteurs of France.
CHAIRMAN SUGAR: As expected, Ronald D. Sugar has been named chairman of the board of Northrop Grumman, effective Oct. 1. Company president Sugar was named CEO in February (DAILY, Feb. 20), and officials said he was expected to be named chairman after former Chairman Kent Kresa retires Oct. 1.
NEW DELHI - Pakistan is seeking to buy an undisclosed number of Mirage 2000-5 aircraft from France and build some of the aircraft under license, according to a diplomat in Pakistan's embassy here. A request for the Mirage 2000-5s was made during a French military delegation's visit to Pakistan this week.
BOEING NASA SYSTEMS, Kennedy Space Center, Fla. John Elbon has been named vice president and program manager for the International Space Station for Boeing, replacing Joe Mills, who will lead the company's Jupiter Icy Moon Orbiter program. Jim Chilton, the Checkout, Assembly and Payload Processing Services (CAPPS) Contract director of mission management, will replace Elbon. DUCOMMUN, Los Angeles David H. Dittemore has joined the company as president and chief operating officer. EADS AEROFRAME SERVICES, Lake Charles, La.
The U.S. Defense Department says its Brain Machine Interface program, which seeks to develop ways to control machines with brain signals, is in jeopardy because of a proposed congressional funding cut.
A Northrop Grumman B-2A has dropped 80 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bombs on a Utah test range, capping a six-month testing effort to introduce the 500-pound JDAM into the U.S. Air Force inventory. The Sept. 10 precision-strike demonstration, which targeted a simulated airstrip, also marks the first of several upgrades planned for the B-2 program over the next few years, including a 5,000-pound penetrator bomb, radar modernization, and stealth material upgrades, said Jeff Cliver, Northrop Grumman's director for B-2 programs.
General Dynamics Electric Boat has been awarded a $34 million contract modification by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) for work on converting four Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to cruise missile submarines (SSGNs). The award modifies a five-year, $443 million contract announced in September 2002 for the detailed design and purchase of long-lead time materials related to the conversion work. If all options are exercised, the value of the contract could total $654 million.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) criticizes the U.S. Defense Department's new space acquisition policy in a new report, saying the policy will increase program risk by having technology development and product development take place simultaneously. DOD's new space acquisition policy is similar to the one used by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), according to the GAO, and differs from DOD's acquisition policy on most other weapons-related acquisitions in several ways:
