Electro Energy Inc. said it received a U.S. Navy Small Business Innovative Research contract to develop unconventional fabrication of electrodes for thermal batteries. The Danbury, Conn., company will work on manufacturing techniques for a power source in an effort to cut the cost of thermally activated batteries and boost their performance. Thermally activated batteries are used in missiles and other weapons and historically have had labor and capital-intensive manufacturing processes.
SpaceDev's new Mission Xcelerator Solution Program has enabled the company to make commercial launches of micro- and nanosatellites available for less than $20 million, the Poway, Calif.-based company said Dec. 12. The program combines SpaceDev's Modular Microsatellite Bus (MMB-100) with "payload integration services, launch management services and one year of mission support services at a price never before offered - less than $20 million, with an inception-to-launch target of 20 months," SpaceDev Chairman and CEO Jim Benson said in a statement.
The Missile Defense Agency's High Altitude Airship program is entering its third phase following the recent award of a $149.2 million contract to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. Under the contract, the company will build an airship prototype based on the scaled-back HAA requirements developed to address the program's weight problems (DAILY, June 21). First flight is expected in 2009, the company said.
Boeing said Dec. 12 that it has signed a contract with Singapore's defense ministry to provide the country's air force with a dozen F-15SG fighter aircraft. Financial terms were not disclosed. The agreement includes an option to buy eight additional aircraft.
Australia's defense ministry said Dec. 12 that it has agreed to an AUD 145 million (USD $109.4 million) contract to purchase a fleet of long-range tactical unmanned aerial vehicles that will provide intelligence and surveillance for the country's army. Boeing Australia was selected as the preferred company to provide Israel Aircraft Industries' I-View UAV, the defense ministry said. Boeing Australia will also provide support services that will create about 125 new jobs in the Brisbane area.
Lockheed Martin has successfully tested the Boost Test Vehicle for its Loitering Attack Missile at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, the company announced Dec. 12. Preliminary data indicate all test objectives were achieved during the Nov. 22 flight, the company said. It marked the first flight-test of the new square-body LAM airframe. Data from the flight will be used to validate analytical models of the new airframe and prepare for further tests next year.
ARMY Hellfire Systems L.L.C., Orlando, Fla., was awarded on Dec. 7, 2005, a $37,266,050 firm-fixed-price contract for Hellfire Missiles and Warhead Components. The work will be performed in Orlando, Fla., and is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on Sept. 16, 2005. The Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-05-C-0221).
DROPPING: The United States' share of aircraft, automobile and other forms of transportation exported to China fell 7 percent from 2000 to 2004, even though U.S. exports grew annually by an average of 5 percent over that time, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report. From 1995 to 1999 the United States had 28 percent of that export market, but it fell to 21 percent from 2000 to 2004. Overall, China has gone from the ninth largest to the fifth largest U.S. market for goods, behind Canada, the European Union, Mexico and Japan.
DIVIDEND BOOST: Boeing's board of directors approved a 20 percent increase in the company's quarterly dividend, to 30 cents per share, the company said Dec. 12. The board last approved a dividend increase in December 2004. The increase is payable March 3, 2006, to shareholders of record as of Feb. 10.
A Boeing-made F-15K Strike Fighter dubbed "Slam Eagle" made its first flight for South Korea recently to mark the aircraft's introduction into the country's air force, the Korean Overseas Information Service said Dec. 12. A ceremony was held at the air force's 11th Fighter Wing Squadron in Daegu, 186 miles south of Seoul.
A decision on how to move forward with the troubled National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System will be delayed as the program scrambles to survive in light of a breach of the Nunn-McCurdy 25 percent cost growth cap, according to a source close to the negotiations. At a November hearing on Capitol Hill, program representatives told lawmakers they hoped to be able to make a decision on NPOESS' future this month, but the legally required response to the Nunn-McCurdy breach will push the decision into next year, the source said.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said Dec. 12 that congressional negotiators have settled on a fiscal 2006 conference agreement for the defense authorization bill, and the measure could come up for vote in the Senate Dec. 14.
The U.S. Navy has not justified its spending on the Naval Tactical Command Support System (NTCSS) and has not effectively performed key measurement, reporting and oversight activities, according to congressional auditors. Still, the Navy expects to spend $348 million on NTCSS - a CACI International Inc. program - between fiscal 2006 and 2009, for a total of roughly $1.45 billion since its 1995 inception, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) will continue production of Mk 90 rocket propellant grains at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant in Radford, Va., the company said Dec. 12. The work will be done under a $43.5 million, multiyear contract that could be worth up to $190 million, ATK said. The grains are used in the Mk 90 Hydra 70 2.75-inch rocket, used widely by helicopters around the world.
MOWAG GmbH, part of General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems, will build Eagle IV armored patrol vehicles for the Danish army under a $38 million contract from the army's materiel command. The contract includes initial logistics support and equipping the vehicles with overhead weapon stations, communication and battle management systems and other equipment, General Dynamics said Dec. 12.
Goodrich expects its 2006 sales figures to reach $5.6 billion to $5.7 billion, and the company is continuing to find ways to shield its profits from pension and exchange rate expenses.
SUPPORT AGREEMENT: State-owned Czech Republic aircraft producer Aero Vodochody says it has signed an agreement with the Czech defense ministry to provide support services for its fleet of Aero-built L-159 light combat fighters and L-39 training aircraft for the next 25 years. Financial terms were not disclosed. Aero was allowed to be put up for sale in September after the Czech defense ministry dropped its demand that the company's military aircraft servicing wing remain in state hands (DAILY, Sept. 28).
LPD 17 UNDER WAY: The U.S. Navy's newest amphibious ship, San Antonio LPD 17, will arrive at its new homeport of Norfolk, Va., on Dec. 12. After its commissioning Jan. 14, the Northrop Grumman-built ship will continue being checked out, including full combat systems qualification testing, aircraft dynamic interface testing to measure wind envelopes, Landing Craft Air Cushioned certification, total ship survivability testing, and "dozens" more, the Navy says. The ship previously was set for commissioning this fall (DAILY, Dec. 5).
