Raytheon Co. announced Jan. 3 that it recently completed negotiations with the U.S. Army for a $1.4 billion contract modification for system development and demonstration of the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS). System testing is scheduled to begin in 2010, with program completion in 2012. The Army once had hoped to begin equipping units with JLENS in fiscal 2010.
Of 25 countries that have provided the United States with "strategic services" in the so-called global war on terror, more than half of them received more total military assistance in the four years after Sept. 11, 2001, than in the 12 previous years combined, according to a new critique by the Center for Defense Information.
Raytheon has delivered an engineering development unit (EDU) prototype of its VIIRS instrument for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), the company announced Jan. 3. The Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) EDU will fly on the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) spacecraft, which will precede the operational NPOESS constellation. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for NPOESS.
BETTER TARGETS: The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command has extended the Sippican/Granite State Manufacturing Submarine Antenna Joint Venture almost $8 million for the MK 30 Mod 2 Antisubmarine Warfare Target System (ATS), along with associated proofing support material and replenishment spares. It will replace the existing MK 30 Mod 1 system and will feature significant improvements in reliability, maintainability, availability and affordability, the Defense Department said Dec. 29.
The U.S. Navy is tapping two of its largest contractors to work on transformational mast-related initiatives. Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors is being awarded an $8.7 million contract and options for development of the Low Profile Mast sensor system. It seeks to develop an electro-optic periscope with a smaller visual cross section for use in tactical situations. The competitively procured Naval Undersea Warfare Center contract, which received two proposals, was announced in late December and is scheduled to finish by December 2008.
SUB CONTRACT: France has awarded shipyard DCN and nuclear propulsion specialist Areva a framework contract worth more than 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) for the design and development of the Barracuda cruise missile carrying submarine. The award, which includes initial production and through-life support, will be followed by separate production contracts for the six vessels covered by the 20-year, 7.9 billion euro program.
LAUNCH ENGINE AWARD: A Snecma-led team has been awarded a follow-on contract from the European Space Agency to demonstrate Vinci cryogenic upper stage launch engine technology. One of a slate of technology demonstration projects approved a year ago under ESA's Future Launch Preparatory Program, the new-generation expander-cycle engine could power a future higher-lift version of the Ariane 5 launch vehicle capable of multiple in-flight ignitions, necessary for a low- or medium-Earth orbit constellation like the Galileo satellite navigation system.
GLONASS GROWING: Russia plans to begin offering satellite navigation services to domestic users via its updated Glonass system by the end of this year or early in 2008, following launch Dec. 25 of three more Glonass-M spacecraft. Launch of the trio on a Proton-K from Baikonur Cosmodrome brought the number of satellites in the constellation to 17, and officials told reporters in Moscow that the constellation will be able to support commercial customers worldwide beginning in 2009.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers are testing new capabilities afforded by the latest revision of their flight software as they near their three-year anniversaries on the red planet. Spirit will mark the third anniversary of its arrival on Mars on Jan. 3 and Opportunity on Jan. 24. The rovers were originally designed for baseline missions of 90 days.
The Defense Department squeezed in several command-and-control (C2) contract announcements before the end of 2006, including for the Blue Force Tracking system, a much-hailed transformational technology already proven in combat.
BETTER AIM: Pakistan has asked Raytheon Missile Systems, via a U.S. Naval Air Systems Command award under Foreign Military Sales, to convert 310 AIM-9M missiles to AIM-9M-8/9s and for 10 Captive Air Training Missiles and 20 guidance control sections. The $5.9 million contract modification was announced Dec. 28 and is expected to be completed in October 2007. Pakistan has asked for $185 million worth of Raytheon Co. missiles and other technology to help it control its "porous" border region and fight terrorists (DAILY, Dec. 20, 2006).
Sikorsky Aircraft says it has selected General Electric Aviation to provide the new CH-53K heavy lift helicopter's main engines, representing at least the second major subsystem supplier selected by Sikorsky for the huge, newly built helo. The GE38-1B engine planned for the U.S. Marine Corps CH-53K is a derivative of the CFE738 commercial turbofan engine and the U.S. Navy T407 turboprop engine, Sikorsky said Dec. 22.
The Government Accountability Office has dismissed a protest of NASA's decision to pick Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Rocketplane Kistler (RPK) for its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.
Boeing asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to dismiss protests by Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky against the awarding of the Air Force combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter program contract to Boeing, but the GAO in late December said it planned to continue its review, industry sources said. The Air Force awarded Boeing the contract on Nov. 9 to build more than 140 CSAR-X helicopters. The Boeing winner, the HH-47, is another variant of its Chinook fleet.
The Iranian government gets plenty of well-deserved criticism for operating Internet sites that promote radical Islamic views and preach hatred of the West in general (and the U.S., Israel and Jews in particular).
SKYNET LAUNCH: Arianespace has rescheduled the launch of Britain's first Skynet 5 military satellite communications satellite, initially set for mid-January, to the end of February. No reason was given for the slip, which moves the liftoff perilously close to the end of March initial in-orbit capability milestone that the operator, EADS Paradigm, must meet under its contractual obligations.
Japan's Engineering Test Satellite VIII (ETS-VIII) is on its way to a nominal mission after deploying a pair of complicated antenna reflectors, each the size of a tennis court. Telemetry and images from onboard cameras confirmed the deployment of the two identical antennas - one for sending and one for receiving.
The U.S. Navy formally is looking to replace its aging maritime patrol P-3C Orion aircraft on the East and West coasts with Boeing's P-8A Multimission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) at existing continental U.S. maritime patrol home bases now supporting P-3Cs, while maintaining a maritime patrol presence in Hawaii, according to a Dec. 27 notice in the Federal Register.
SES Global has completed a share buy-back program, allowing shareholders to cancel 25 million shares. Shareholders also authorized a new buyback program for up to 10 percent of issued share capital, and voted to shorten the name of the company to SES. The new repurchase plan, to run through June 2008, will be priced at 9.75-19.75 euros. The previous buyback program, authorized in December 2005, brought in 233 million euros, or 9.32 euros a share. The stock repurchases are part of a range of measures intended to boost shareholder value.
