The federal government should spend more on research and development to help suppliers counter threats from international competitors, officials with the Supplier Management Council (SMC) of the Aerospace Industries Association told U.S. Commerce Department officials last week. The suppliers expressed concern about growing competition from suppliers in developing countries and suppliers that get financial assistance from their governments.
Space Systems/Loral, the satellite manufacturing division of Loral Space & Communications Ltd., likely would be sold or shut down if EchoStar Communications Corp. acquires all of the company's assets, according to some analysts. It's unlikely EchoStar would want to enter the satellite manufacturing market given the downturn affecting the U.S. telecommunications industry, analysts said. EchoStar, based in Littleton, Colo., provides direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television products and services to customers worldwide via its Dish network.
The U.S. Air Force is preparing a $350 million proposal for a contractor to design and install a "dramatically improved" maintenance depot system for KC-135s and at least five jet engines. The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center (ALC) at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is in the early stages of developing the plan. Dozens of interested contractors are expected to attend an Aug. 28 industry day at the center for an early glimpse of the program.
San Diego-based defense contractor Cubic Corp. will acquire ECC International Corp. of Orlando, Fla., in a deal the company said would broaden its training businesses to include virtual simulation. Cubic will offer to buy all outstanding shares of ECC common stock for $5.25 a share, in a deal expected to reach $42.3 million. ECC's board of directors unanimously approved the deal and is recommending stockholders tender their shares, Cubic said. ECC designs and builds simulators and training programs for crew, operator and maintenance training.
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) will publicly release its final report on the Feb. 1 shuttle disaster on Aug. 26. The multi-volume report will be made available on the board's website (www.caib.us) at 10 a.m. EDT. At 11 a.m., CAIB Chairman Adm. Hal Gehman and other board members will review the contents of the report and answer questions during a press conference in Washington. The briefing will be open to press only.
Investigation of an Aug. 7 explosion at Pratt & Whitney's rocket plant near San Jose, Calif., is continuing at a deliberate pace, with officials "collecting all the data that could in any way pertain to the incident," said Webb Harwell, head of business development for the operation.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The head of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) said Aug. 21 that he wants to improve the "convergence" of NIMA's geospatial intelligence with the signals intelligence (SIGINT) produced by the National Security Agency (NSA). The interaction of geospatial intelligence and SIGINT "helped kill a lot of bad people" during recent military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, but "it needs to be a lot more pervasive," NIMA Director James Clapper said here at the Sixth Annual Space and Missile Defense Conference.
New reports indicate the Textron-made CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon's (SFW) combat debut in Operation Iraqi Freedom pleased U.S. Air Force munitions developers. A military news report described the first SFW strike as a two-bomb packaged dropped by a B-52 at high altitude on an Iraqi tank column advancing on a Marine Corps unit.
BOMB RELEASES: EDO Corp. will produce additional BRU-46 and -47 bomb release units for the F/A-22 Raptor under a $2.6 million contract modification from the U.S. Air Force, the company said Aug. 21. The modification increases the contract's value to $6.7 million and extends the work to August 2004, EDO said.
The Department of Defense's (DOD) multi-billion dollar effort to solve its bandwidth problems is heating up as competing contractors await several critical awards and requests for proposals (RFPs).
Northrop Grumman's RQ-8A Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle completed its first three flights under the control of Raytheon's Tactical Control System software, Northrop Grumman said Aug. 21. The tests will kick off a series of flights to verify the TCS' ability to control the Fire Scout air vehicle and payload, provide operator displays and disseminate data to the command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) architecture.
In the second major organizational change announced in as many days, four U.S. Air Force test and evaluation centers are being merged into a new organization for a one-year trial period. The Air Force Development Test and Evaluation Center (DTEC) opens on Oct. 1 to manage the Tennessee-based Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) and the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. In addition, landing gear and live-fire test facilities based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, will report to the new center.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The U.S. Army expects to get additional fiscal 2003 funding to replace the 22 Patriot missiles it used in the Iraq war, a service official said Aug. 21. The new missiles will be the Lockheed Martin-built Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) version and will replace PAC-3s and older Raytheon PAC-2s used in Operation Iraqi Freedom, said Army Col. Tommie Newberry, the Army's Lower Tier project manager. Newberry spoke at the Sixth Annual Space and Missile Defense Conference here.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN has received the first test terminal for the U.S. Defense Department's next-generation Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite system from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory. The company's Space Technology division is developing satellite communications payloads for the system, which is intended to replace the military's Milstar satellite communications system.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has agreed to pay $80 million to settle two lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. The settlements stem from lawsuits filed in January 1998 and February 2003 under the False Claims Act. The first lawsuit alleges that Newport News Shipbuilding improperly charged the Navy more than $72 million for research and development work on two commercial double-hulled tankers. Newport News was acquired by Northrop Grumman in November 2001 (DAILY, Nov. 9, 2001).
BUYBACK: Northrop Grumman Corp. will repurchase up to $700 million worth of its outstanding common stock over the next 18 months, the company said Aug. 20. CEO and President Ronald D. Sugar said the move "reflects our high degree of confidence in the company's operations, financial performance and outlook." The buyback will be financed mostly with cash from operations.
Two weeks into a competitive selection process, Northrop Grumman unveiled a nine-member team Aug. 20 that is vying to win a $400 million developmental contract for the battle management suite of the future E-10A Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A).
Various technical issues continue to delay the first flight of the X-50A Dragonfly unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which remains in ground testing at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. A joint effort of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Boeing, the Dragonfly is a hybrid helicopter with an unusually wide rotor that can be slowed down and stopped in flight, allowing the UAV to fly as a fixed-wing jet (DAILY, April 12, 2002).
The U.S. Air Force is reshuffling authority for nearly all non-space acquisition programs, centralizing management mostly within the three product centers. The actions, unveiled in an announcement issued late Aug. 20, consolidate the duties of program executive officers (PEOs) with the heads of the Air Armament Center (AAC), Aeronautical Services Center (ASC) and the Electronic Systems Center (ESC). The new policy takes effect Oct. 1, an Air Force spokeswoman said.
NEW DELHI - Pakistan plans to buy 36 F-16 Fighting Falcons from Belgium and has completed negotiations with the U.S. over the purchase of six C-130 Hercules transports, a diplomat with the Pakistani embassy here said. The move comes shortly after President Bush said F-16s would not be part of a $3 billion aid package to Pakistan (DAILY, June 26), but that C-130s would be included. The diplomat said the transports would improve Pakistan's defense capabilities and would enhance its ability to conduct humanitarian relief missions in the region.
Growth through consolidation likely will remain a key business strategy for small and mid-sized companies like L-3 Communications, DRS Technologies, and EDO Corp., according to analysts. DRS Technologies reaffirmed its commitment to that strategy earlier this week when it announced plans to acquire Integrated Defense Technologies for nearly $550 million. The merger of the two companies, said DRS Chairman and CEO Mark Newman, will create "the industry's leading mid-tier defense technology company."
