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January 5, 2004 AIR FORCE...More

HORNET WORK: Herley Industries of Lancaster, Penn., will build microwave hardware for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet 's Automatic Carrier Landing System, the company said Jan. 12. Herley is teaming with Sierra Nevada Corp. on this system under a $2.4 million U.S. Navy contract....More

U.S. Army officers this month will brief Acting Army Secretary R.L. Brownlee on a plan to outfit the service's helicopters in Afghanistan and Iraq with the most effective missile protection devices, an Army spokesman said Jan. 12. Brownlee "has received an initial back-brief at this point and he has said, 'Okay fine, go back and finish and then come back and brief me again,' and they're in the process of doing that right now," said Maj. Gary Tallman....More

The National Composite Center (NCC) of Ohio and its partner Mutual Tool and Die Inc. have created Vector Composites Inc. to market composite components to the military and to the defense and commercial aerospace industries. Vector will offer the NCC's Rapid Fiber Preform process, which can create complex shapes at reduced costs, according to NCC. The company will pitch its composite products for unmanned aerial vehicles, commercial aircraft and other systems, the center said....More

A key Senate panel announced Jan. 12 that it will hold a hearing in early February to examine the future of manned and unmanned missions to Mars, an issue that has grown significantly in prominence in recent days. The hearing by the Senate Commerce Committee's space panel is expected to take place Feb. 2 or Feb. 3, a congressional source said....More

The French Interim Tactical UAV System (SDTI), which is to be used by French land forces beginning in mid-2004, completed its acceptance flight test campaign, UAV maker Sagem said Jan. 12. The system performed validation flights in an airspace shared with civil and military users of the Istres test center in the south of France, the first time this has been done in France, the company said. During the flights, the UAVs delivered high-resolution images, including ones of the flooded Rhone delta....More

PRAGUE - Czech aircraft producer Aero Vodochody is facing competition from minority shareholder Boeing in an anticipated tender for advanced jet trainers in Greece. Aero has expressed interest in supplying its dual-seat L-159 to Greece, which is expected to announce a tender later this year to replace its aging fleet of trainers. Greece is currently using the modern T-6A Texan II for initial training and the older T-2/CE Buckeye for advanced training....More

Honeywell's aerospace business has acquired the United Kingdom's Hymatic Group, which builds environmental control systems for the aerospace industry, the company said Jan. 12. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. "The acquisition of the Hymatic Group is an excellent technology fit with our existing environmental control systems product line," Russ Turner, president of Honeywell Engines, Systems & Services, said in a statement. "This acquisition expands our presence in Europe and brings our business closer to our customers in the region."...More

The first Remote Minehunting Vehicle (RMV), part of the AN/WLD-1 Remote Minehunting System (RMS), will be delivered to the Navy this July on the destroyer Momsen (DDG-92), Lockheed Martin business development analyst Dan Sullivan said Jan. 12. The rest of the RMS already is on the ship, he said at a media briefing in advance of the Surface Navy Association's Jan. 13-16 symposium....More

The Aegis weapon system is on track to help defend against ballistic missiles by the end of 2004, according to a representative of prime contractor Lockheed Martin....More

NEW DELHI - Indian scientists will use a new Israeli space telescope to prepare themselves to receive and analyze data from India's own astronomical satellite, Astrosat. India plans to launch the Tauvex telescope for Tel Aviv University on the GSAT-4 spacecraft, scheduled for launch in 2005 (DAILY, Sept. 16)....More

After falling in 2002, worldwide civil helicopter sales have rebounded in 2003 and are expected to total $18.7 billion over the period from 2003 to 2012, according to a new study by Forecast International. Deliveries over the next decade should rise from 934 units in 2003 to a 10-year high of 970-975 in 2004-2005, before falling off steadily to approximately 925 annual shipments in 2012, according to the forecast. The study projects total shipments of nearly 9,500 commercial helicopters from 2003-2012, including 3,600 piston-powered models....More

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