General Dynamics' first-quarter revenue in 2006 jumped 16 percent to $5.6 billion compared to the same period last year, the company reported April 19. The company recorded net earnings for the quarter of $374 million, or $0.92 cents per share on a fully diluted basis, compared to first-quarter 2005 net earnings of $336 million. Per-share earnings increased 10.8 percent.
Advanced Ceramics Research's Manta unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) recently wrapped up a series of cloud pollution study flights over the Maldives islands south of India to support research by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. The study required UAVs that could fly in tight circles. Advanced Ceramics Research wrote software to keep three of its Manta AUAVs flying within a 30-meter (100-foot) circle while stacked one above the other at altitudes of 6,000-12,000 feet.
CROSSFIELD MISSING: Famed test pilot Scott Crossfield's Cessna 210 aircraft disappeared off radar late on April 19 in Georgia. National Transportation Safety Board officials still were trying to determine the fate of the plane and its passengers as The DAILY went to press. NTSB officials said they believed 84-year-old Crossfield was on board the aircraft, which FAA officials said went out of radar and radio contact about 60 miles northwest of Atlanta. The Atlanta air traffic control center was reporting thunderstorms in the area at that time.
A 191-foot Lockheed Martin/International Launch Services Atlas V is poised at Cape Canaveral to launch the European SES Astra 1K direct broadcast satellite April 20. The overall value of the spacecraft and launch services combined approaches $300 million. Liftoff from Launch Complex 41 is planned within a 2-hour 49-minute window that extends from 4:27 p.m. to 7:17 p.m. EDT. Confirmation that the spacecraft has separated from the Centaur upper stage in the correct geosynchronous transfer orbit will not come until nearly two hours after launch.
The U.S. Air Force's analysis of alternatives (AOA) for a new long-range strike (LRS) bomber awaits formal approval by the Pentagon's acquisition chief, while the service's prompt global strike (PGS) concept's AOA is about to be published, Air Force Brig. Gen. Andrew Dichter said April 19. "This thing is hung up largely because of the complexity of the discussions of global strike," Dichter said about the new bomber, slated for 2018. "Do we want to just make this very specific and we need to develop that bomber, or do we want to take it holistically?"
The U.S. Air Force is working on a composite, graphite version of the Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) Increment I that offers "very low" collateral damage, according to Air Force Col. Richard Justice.
High-level defense acquisition, technology and logistics (AT&L) officials are looking to establish "strategic governance" over budget priorities and apply a portfolio-management perspective for determining acquisition strategies, according to Diane Wright of the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for AT&L. Wright, director for air warfare and defense systems, said top acquisition officials want to establish a balance among systems so that when the budget is pressed down, the Pentagon can better adjust while maintaining its investment strategy.
UAV CENTER: Northrop Grumman Corporation on April 18 opened its Unmanned Systems Center production facility in Moss Point, Miss., where the MQ-8B Fire Scout and parts of the RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be built. The center currently has a workforce of 24 employees, which is expected to grow to 60 by the end of this year. The facility can accommodate 250, which the company says may occur if production demands rise. Initial ground breaking on the $13 million, 101,000 square-foot facility took place April 13, 2004.
DOGFIGHTS: Add Rear Adm. Timothy Heely, program executive officer for strike weapons and unmanned aviation at Naval Air Systems Command, to the chorus of those anticipating the possible return of the aerial dogfight, "where the fighters turn off the radars" because "you can be as stealthy as you want but you flip the radar on and they're going to find you." In budget discussions "air-to-air stuff" is "not a very popular place right now" with the Pentagon focusing on destroying improvised explosive devices (IEDS), Heely says.
MESA: Sandia National Laboratories is activating the second of three planned facilities in its half-billion dollar Microsystems and Engineering Sciences Applications (MESA) complex. A formal opening of the MESA Microlab building at Sandia's Albuquerque, N.M., campus is slated for April 20. The Microlab primarily will support advanced research and development in microelectronics, photonics and computer visualization as applied to national security and nuclear weapons projects. Earlier, a new Microlab building replaced Sandia's aging semiconductor research laboratory.
United Technologies Corp. (UTC) posted first-quarter financial results April 19 that beat Wall Street's expectations, with its Pratt & Whitney and Hamilton Sundstrand units posting double-digit revenue and profit gains. Even UTC's Sikorsky Aircraft was able to eke out a small operating profit despite a six-week strike by 3,600 workers that crippled its plants in Connecticut and Florida.
A dropped spacewalk that was to have tested shuttle tile repair techniques on the orbiter's next mission won't affect NASA's upcoming decision on whether to fly a final shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, according to Administrator Michael Griffin. Griffin said yesterday NASA has taken a "forward-looking posture" on the question of a Hubble servicing mission, and will fly one unless a resumption of shuttle operations later this year demonstrates it would be unsafe.
The Swedish defense procurement agency has spelled out plans to purchase unmanned aircraft for its European Union Nordic Battle Group commitment that commences Jan 1, 2008. Sweden has long said it needs a new tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to meet its surveillance needs under the new EU deployment scheme. The system would be handled by platoons and deployed using standard ground equipment. Two vehicles would be deployed per platoon.
NASA announced April 18 the opening of registration for five Centennial Challenges competitions, in which teams will vie for cash prizes totaling more than $1 million. The prize competitions and co-sponsors that are accepting team registrations are: * Astronaut Glove Challenge, administered by Volanz Aerospace/Spaceflight America, with a total prize value of $250,000. A kick-off conference will be held at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Lock, Conn., on April 24.
WHITE HOUSE: President Bush is nominating U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman to succeed Joshua Bolton as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Bolton has been named Bush's new chief of staff. Additionally, Paul Denett has been nominated to be administrator for OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy. Denett succeeds David Safavian, who resigned before being indicted as part of the Jack Abramoff scandal.
An April 17 story about management changes within Boeing's space exploration unit contained errors. John Elbon's correct title is vice president and program manager for Boeing's Constellation. Joe Gernand previously was a deputy program manager and chief engineer. Aerospace Daily regrets the error.
