A commission appointed by Congress to study the threat of high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attacks believes the U.S. federal government “does not today have sufficient human and physical assets for reliably assessing and managing EMP threats,” the commission’s chairman told the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) last week.
FARNBOROUGH – Alenia North America and Boeing “continue to have discussions” about teaming to establish a stateside C-27J final assembly facility, according to Boeing Integrated Defense Systems President Jim Albaugh. Alenia, however, is not waiting on the discussions to proceed with the construction plans. The company’s U.S. CEO, Giuseppe Giordo, says he is moving forward with plans to break ground on the facility in Jacksonville, Fla., pending approval from local development authorities.
NEW DELHI – A German spectrometer is set to hitch a ride on the unmanned Indian lunar probe Chandrayaan-1 in September when it blasts off from the Satish Dhawan launch center aboard India’s four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. Designed by an independent, non-profit Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Lindau, the SIR-2 spectrometer will examine and map the moon’s surface and help in understanding the evolution of the solar system.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is asking the Defense Dept. to flesh out its Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) concept more fully to meet requirements from the battlefield. According to a new report, GAO found that both the intelligence and military communities are unclear about the ORS concept and “concerned about DOD’s lack of consultation and communication with them.”
VADER SENSOR: Under a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Northrop Grumman has completed the first test flight of a new Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation Radar (VADER) system. VADER is a radar sensor being developed for use with Sky Warrior, an extended-range multi-purpose unmanned aerial vehicle under development by General Atomics.
SAUDI AWACS: Boeing announced July 15 the completion of a major communications upgrade on the first of five Saudi E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft as part of a $49.2 million contract. The enhancement, know as Link 16, is a secure, jam-resistant, digital data link that also supports text messaging and imagery data along with additional channels for digital voice. The remaining four aircraft will be upgraded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by Alsalam Aircraft Co. The fleet upgrade is scheduled to be completed in December 2009.
FARNBOROUGH – Two years after it was first unveiled, the U.K. Defense Ministry and industry have signed off on the partnering agreement to sustain and develop the U.K. guided-weapons sector, while also launching a raft of missile upgrade and research programs to support the restructuring effort. The Team Complex Weapons (CW) initiative is aimed at supporting the U.K.’s national missile sector. The effort initially emerged as a result of the recognition of the down-turn in planned Defense Ministry spending on missile systems in the near term.
When Colorado-based FreeWave Technologies formally announces the launch of its high-speed Ethernet radio July 21, it will be the smallest data radio in its class, the company says.
The U.S. Air Force is promoting Lockheed Martin’s F-16 fighter as a “bridge” to eventual F-35 purchases by former Soviet satellite states now allied with the U.S., according to Bruce Lemkin, deputy under secretary of the Air Force for international affairs.
SUITABLE ENVIRONMENT: Northrop Grumman recently completed a battery of tests designed to prove the new radar units developed for the U.S. Air Force’s B-2 Radar Modernization Program (RMP) will perform properly under all environmental conditions the aircraft is likely to experience. The environmental qualification testing “exercised” the radar units – an antenna, a power supply and a receiver/exciter module – in a lab environment under extreme temperature, altitude, humidity, shock and vibration conditions.
The director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency is touting the still-developing deal to base U.S. missile defense interceptors in Poland, saying that the two sides have reached another milestone in their negotiations. U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Trey Obering told a group of reporters at the Pentagon July 15 that the two countries’ negotiating teams have approved the text of a potential agreement.
SECURED BIRDS: General Dynamics C4 Systems said it received a $9.2 million contract option to continue development and certification of a National Security Agency (NSA)-approved encryption module that will be used to secure telemetry, tracking and control of Defense Department satellites. The option modifies a contract initially awarded in July 2006, which brings the total value to $19.3 million, according to the company. The contract is through the U.S.
Saab plans to sell is space business, including its subsidiary Austrian Aerospace, to Swiss company RUAG Holding for SEK335 million ($56.3 million). The deal requires approval from competition authorities. Saab announced late last year it was considering selling the space business because it was unable to achieve sufficient synergies with other businesses to provide the desired growth and profit.
TARGETED COMMENTS: The top economic adviser to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee says the Arizona Sen. John McCain’s plan to balance the federal budget would dramatically scale back high-profile or high-priced defense procurements. Douglas Holtz-Eakin told The Washington Post editorial board that as much as $160 billion could be taken out of the Pentagon’s procurement plan through 2013, according to a July 14 report.
NO SMALL AGENDA: The United States is allowing other nations to dominate the global small arms agenda by not participating in the U.N. small arms process now underway at U.N. headquarters, Washington critics assert. “The absence of the United States, one of the world’s largest arms exporters, undermines the global nature of the U.N. process and will likely be a topic at the meeting,” declares the World Security Institute (WSI) think tank. Countries are meeting for the first time since the failed U.N.
PATH FINDER: In preparation for the Pathfinder pilot sensor system developmental and limited-user evaluation by the U.S. Army’s Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD), Lockheed Martin’s Pathfinder flight team set up shop at Felker Army Airfield in Ft. Eustis, Va. The evaluation phase is expected to last through November, and will assess Pathfinder’s performance integrated on board a U.S. Army Reserve HH-60L Black Hawk Medevac helicopter.
COUNTER MEASURES: BAE Systems has been awarded a $32 million low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract by the U.S. Navy to build hundreds of countermeasures systems for the Navy’s F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet aircraft. The AN/ALE-55 towed decoy is part of the Navy’s Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures (IDECM) radio frequency countermeasures system. This provides military aircraft with electronic warfare defense against RF-guided missiles.
TIME TO REFLECT: The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee has started taking to his chamber’s floor to deliver a series of speeches calling for a “comprehensive strategy to advance U.S. interests.” Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton (Mo.), long noted for his historical perspectives as a congressman, said the world’s regional power balances are shifting and traditional security arrangements are fading. “We must acknowledge that much of the world does not necessarily see us as we would see ourselves,” Skelton said.
BEST FREND: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) announced July 14 the completion of development and testing of an advanced robotic arm for spacecraft servicing. California-based Alliance Spacesystems built the robotic manipulator to use in integrated mission rehearsals, which include a full-scale autonomous grapple of representative space hardware. The robotics testing is part of the Front-end Robotics Enabling Near-term Demonstration (FREND) program.
HAMPSHIRE, U.K. – EADS CEO Louis Gallois says commercial subsidiary Airbus’ strategic plans to develop a U.S. footprint for commercial aircraft “are not linked to one deal or another.” This appears to open the door for Boeing’s commercial rival to proceed with a move into the U.S. regardless of the timing and outcome of the Pentagon’s plans to recompete a deal potentially worth $35 billion to replace its aging KC-135 refueling tankers.
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the aerospace and defense sector reached $30.8 billion in 2007, its highest level since 2000, and is unlikely to be dampened by the U.S. election or any new administration, says a new report by consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Heads of the partner agencies that jointly operate the International Space Station are scheduled to meet in Paris July 17 for status reports and discussions on the future of the orbiting facility. Attending the session at European Space Agency (ESA) headquarters will be the top officials and senior managers of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), ESA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
PROPPED UP: The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command said Hawker Beechcraft has won a $48 million Marine Corps program for six new UC-12 aircraft contract. The new C-12 will be the military version of the Hawker Beechcraft King Air, a twin turboprop aircraft that can carry a mix of passengers, cargo or transport medical patients. Certified by FAA, it has a range up to 1,500 nautical miles, a maximum speed of 312 knots and a payload of up to 2,650 pounds. It will replace existing UC-12 Huron twin-engine utility aircraft, whose fleet is more than 25 years old.
FARNBOROUGH – In a long-anticipated management shake-up, Boeing has shifted some of the key players who will lead the company’s charge to win the U.S. Air Force’s aerial refueling contract. Dave Bowman, the company’s C-17 program manager, will now take over as vice president of the Boeing tanker enterprise. As an entirely new and separate business unit, the tanker program will report directly to Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) President Jim Albaugh and to John Lockard, chief operating officer for IDS.
