AUDIO/VIDEO SERVICE: The French government's new agency for industrial innovation (AII) has approved 38 million euros ($46 million) to help develop technology for a European mobile digital audio/video service. The 98 million euro project, led by Alcatel Alenia Space and supported by France's national space agency, Cnes, aims to validate the basic system architecture and terrestrial technologies needed to offer a hybrid mobile service for automobile radio and cell phone users.
Foster-Miller Inc. announced May 1 that it has received an additional $28 million from the U.S. Navy for about 200 more Talon robots, as well as replacement parts to fix robots damaged while used against roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan. Foster-Miller and iRobot Corp. provide robots to the Defense Department to work under the Navy's Man-Transportable Robotic Systems (MTRS) program. In March, iRobot said it received an additional $26 million order to build 213 more robots (DAILY, March 30).
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Aeronautics unit has won two U.S. Navy contracts related to the Air Force's F-35A Joint Strike Fighter conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant, the Pentagon announced April 28.
SALE NEAR: Finmeccanica chief executive Pier-Francesco Guarguaglini says the sale of Alcatel Alenia Space and Telespazio, partly owned by the Italian company, to Thales is likely to close shortly, suggesting that efforts to condition its approval on expanded ties in defense electronics have not been successful. Thales chief Denis Ranque confirmed that reinforcement of ties beyond existing joint ventures is not on the immediate horizon.
The 13th crew of the International Space Station (ISS) continues unpacking more than 5,000 pounds of new supplies that arrived via the Progress resupply ship last week and is preparing to reboost the station's altitude on May 4. The Russian Progress 21 unmanned cargo spacecraft, which arrived at the station April 26 after launching from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, was the first supply shipment for Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams. The two have been in space about a month.
The U.S. Air Force's Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has completed a series of congressionally directed test flights in U.S. Southern Command's (SOUTHCOM) area of responsibility to demonstrate how it could support counter-drug surveillance operations, manufacturer Northrop Grumman announced May 1.
ARMY AM General L.L.C., South Bend, Ind., was awarded on April 25, 2006, a $16,132,265 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for M1152P1 chassis for the high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle. The work will be performed in South Bend, Ind., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on July 17, 2000. The Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (DAAE07-01-C-S001).
ASTRONAUT LEAVING: Astronaut Eileen Collins, who led the space shuttle Discovery's return to flight mission last year and is the first woman to command a space shuttle, said May 1 that she is leaving NASA. Collins became an astronaut in 1990 and flew on four space flights. "Eileen Collins is a living, breathing example of the best that our nation has to offer," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said in a statement.
WEAPONS DELAYS: Although French armaments agency DGA says delays in major weapon programs like the Tiger and NH-90 helicopters are now under control, the length of the delays continues to grow. The average lag was close to three months in 2004 and surpassed the three-month figure last year, a level Director General Francois Lureau calls "unacceptable." The agency plans to use a stricter application of penalty clauses, improved risk management and closer cooperation with suppliers to bring the figure down to two months by year's end.
NEW SPACECRAFT: SES Americom has selected Alcatel Alenia Space and Orbital Sciences Corp. to supply a new spacecraft, AMC-21, to serve PBS-affiliated TV stations throughout the U.S. and the Caribbean. To be deployed in mid-2008, the 24-transponder Ku-band spacecraft will use an OSC Star-2 bus, whose 2.5-metric ton launch mass is below Alcatel's own satellite line. The in-orbit delivery contract was the third for Alcatel so far this year, after Ciel, in which SES is a partner, and Turksat -3A.
The April 28 story "HASC panel sets own air, naval force structure" incorrectly said that Lockheed Martin Corp. makes the C-17 aircraft. Boeing makes the C-17.
Lockheed Martin is readying itself to leap into the U.S. Army/Air Force Joint Cargo Aircraft program with the first four-engine offering in what had been considered a contest between twin-engine designs. Meanwhile, Boeing plans to announce an alliance with Alenia and L-3 to market the C-27J, which Lockheed Martin also has a stake in.
NASA has decided to fly shuttle Discovery on its next mission without modifying the ice/frost ramp on the shuttle's external tank, which engineers have targeted as the next area of concern for foam debris shedding. The ice/frost ramps are ice-preventing buildups of foam that cover metal brackets connecting pressurization lines to the external tank. There are 34 ice/frost ramps on the tank - 12 on the liquid oxygen tank, 16 on the liquid hydrogen tank, and six on the inter-tank area.
TERRORIST DESTINATION: Once conditions settle in Afghanistan and Iraq, U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Richard Hunt, commander of Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa, says he fully expects terrorists to try to escape to the often lawless region. "That requires us to be ready, to see these things coming and adjust resources accordingly," he says. Hunt hopes coalition partners will join the effort there, but he acknowledges that the colonial legacy of some European partners could be problematic.
IT'S A START: Lawmakers and congressional staffers on Capitol Hill were blitzed by dozens of aerospace-supplier executives last week to lobby for the Aerospace Industry Association's legislative agenda. No. 1 on the list is easing a law that requires suppliers to certify U.S.-made metal content, including every bolt and screw they sell the government. Members of industry say overly strict Pentagon enforcement of the requirement - even on parts that cost less than 1 cent - has hurt their businesses and delayed deliveries.
ARMY ANGST: Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker is very unhappy about talk among Republicans that taxpayers worried about Bush administration deficits might be mollified by new budget reductions for the service. Schoomaker doesn't agree with his ex-colleagues' complaints about how Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has conducted the Iraq war, but he's "not just accepting the fact that there will be a $25 billion cut" in Army spending.
INTERNATIONAL SALES: Boeing continues negotiations with a number of potential international customers for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jet, including India, Japan, Bulgaria and Malaysia. India's Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) program, with its requirement for 126 aircraft to replace aging MiG 21FLs and MiG 23s, remains the biggest potential plum. The MRCA request for proposals is expected later this year. Boeing's expected competitors are Saab, EADS, Dassault, MiG builder Rosonboronexport of Russia, and Lockheed Martin with its F-16.
ALLOWING PMAs: The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center (ALC) at Tinker Air Force Base and Air Force Materiel Command are "looking at the possibility of using PMAs [Parts Manufacturer Approval] on jet engines, especially on commercial engine derivatives," says Bob Conner, executive director of the Oklahoma City ALC. He says they are conducting "cost versus risk" studies of using PMA parts and "we hope to make a recommendation by the end of summer." The move would permit suppliers other than the engine supplier to furnish replacement engine parts.
The House Armed Services terrorism, unconventional threats and capabilities subcommittee expressed concern April 27 over wear and tear on the Special Operations Command's aviation fleet, particularly C-130s, and cut $341 million from the overall Defense Department information technology request for fiscal 2007. The subcommittee's markup of the fiscal 2007 defense policy bill is not yet available, but members and their staff said at a hearing that their bill expresses support for a more rapid conversion to C-130Js and CV-22 Ospreys.
SWISS HELOS: Switzerland has ordered 20 Eurocopter EC625 helicopters for utility, training and VIP transport needs to replace aging Alouette 3s. Swiss defense contractor Ruag will assemble 16 of the units, which are to be delivered in 2008-09, and handle maintenance for the fleet. Switzerland is the second customer for the EC135 military derivative, after Jordan.
May 8 - 9 -- SpeedNews Fourth Annual Aerospace & Defense Suppliers Conference, Park Hyatt, Century City, Los Angeles, Calif. For more information call (310) 203-9603 or go to www.speednews.com. May 8 - 9 -- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' 12th AIAA/CEAS Aeronautics Conference (27th AIAA Aeronautics Conference), Hyatt Regency, Cambridge, Mass. For more information call (703) 264-7500 or go to www.aiaa.org.
SPACE WEATHERMAN: Starting in May, Thomas J. Bodgan will take the helm as director of the Space Environment Center (SEC) in Boulder, Colo., which monitors space weather as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. Bodgan recently spent eight years as the senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Sparked by solar activity, space weather can affect terrestrial communication and navigation systems, electrical power grids and space systems.
