Germany's government has agreed to sell two Dolphin-class submarines to Israel at a discounted price, Germany's Deutsche Welle radio reported Nov. 21. Germany will pay for one-third of the EUR 1 billion (USD $1.17 billion) subs, which will be built in Kiel. Cost concerns within the German government had delayed the sale. Germany donated two other Dolphin subs to Israel's navy in the early 1990s following the Persian Gulf War and later sold a third sub to the navy at a reduced price.
In observance of the Thanksgiving Day holiday, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report will not publish on Nov. 24 and 25. The next issue will be dated Nov. 28.
EARNINGS UP: Defense training and simulation systems maker BVR Systems (1998) Ltd. said its third-quarter 2005 revenue increased to $5.9 million, from $3.7 million in 2004, and quarterly net earnings soared from $52,000 to $581,000 from 2004 to 2005. Nine-month revenue jumped from $9.1 million to $14.7 million. Net earnings were $429,000, compared with a 2004 loss of $1.2 million.
Orbit International said its Electronics Segment has received new program contracts worth more than $650,000, which the Hauppage, N.Y.-based company expects to lead to more work in the future. Orbit will supply auxiliary keypads for the Towed Artillery Digitization (TAD) Digital Fire Control Systems to General Dynamics Canada under a $150,000 preproduction order. The TAD provides onboard ballistic computation, navigation and self-location for the M777 Lightweight Towed Howitzer, Orbit said.
Loral Space & Communications said Nov. 22 that it has finished its reorganization and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The satellite maker's chairman and CEO, Bernard L. Schwartz, said Loral has spent the past two and a half years "creating a stronger, leaner and more efficient Loral. We have won new awards and customers, and we continue to seek and capture opportunities in many new and traditional markets."
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program kicked off a new flight-test program Nov. 22 by successfully launching an interceptor missile from White Sands Missile Range, N.M., according to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and prime contractor Lockheed Martin.
FIRST CUTTER: The U.S. Coast Guard has decided to name its first National Security Cutter, being built by Northrop Grumman, after its first commandant, Ellsworth Price Bertholf (1866-1921), the company said Nov. 22. A joint venture of Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin Corp. is the Coast Guard's lead systems integrator for the service's 25-year, $24 billion Deepwater recapitalization program. The Bertholf is supposed to be delivered to the Coast Guard in 2008. Eight National Security Cutters are planned by 2017.
The U.S. Navy has not fully tested and evaluated its Fleet Response Plan or developed lessons learned so far, leaving the increasingly stressed service unable to truly know whether it can meet surges and costs, according to congressional auditors.
Aerospace and defense companies are applauding the Senate's Nov. 17 approval of a tax bill with a one-year extension of a basic research and development tax credit and an Alternative Simplified Credit to extend the benefit throughout industry. "Congress recognizes that private sector aerospace R&D makes an irreplaceable contribution to the modernization of the country's military, space and air transportation systems," Aerospace Industries Association chief executive John Douglass said in a statement.
NOMINATION: President Bush will nominate Michael L. Dominguez, currently assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, to be deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, the White House said Nov. 21. Dominguez has previously served as acting secretary of the Air Force, as well as assistant director for space, information warfare, and command and control in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.
Success in the United States' global war on terrorism lies in increasing special operations forces-like skills and civilian-based pacification efforts, a panel of commentators said Nov. 22 in Washington.
Bell Helicopter and AgustaWestland have realigned their Bell Agusta Aerospace Co. joint venture, as AgustaWestland has taken full control of the AB139 medium helicopter program and boosted its stake in the BA609 civil tiltrotor. Bell has sold its 25 percent interest in the AB139 to AgustaWestland, the companies said Nov. 21.
India has donated the naval fast attack craft INS Tillanchang to the island nation of Maldives to encourage regional cooperation, India's defense ministry said Nov. 21. Technical, material and training assistance will also be provided for three years. The vessel will be delivered in early 2006.
Singapore's military has completed a 12-day exercise at a U.S. Marine Corps training base that tested the coordinated attack capabilities of its F-16 fighters, AH-64D Apache attack helicopters, artillery platforms and unmanned aerial vehicles, Singapore's defense ministry said Nov. 22. More than 300 members of Singapore's military took part in Exercise Forging Sabre at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Ground Task Force Training Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif. The exercise culminated with an attack on a mock armored column on Nov. 21, the defense ministry said.
Recent flight-tests showed that new technologies can help silence jet aircraft, both in the cabin and on the ground, NASA said Nov. 21. The three-week test program, called the Quiet Technology Demonstrator 2, was a cooperative effort of NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.; Boeing; Goodrich Corp.; and GE Transportation Aircraft Engines. All Nippon Airways, Tokyo, provided a Boeing 777 for the tests.
A data-link capability has been successfully demonstrated on the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER), according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin.
Derco Aerospace of Milwaukee said it will provide two refurbished Lockheed Martin-built C-130 aircraft to the air force of the Netherlands. Derco will provide the used aircraft, which will be fully refurbished by Marshall Aerospace of Cambridge, United Kingdom. The deal allows the Netherlands air force to double its C-130 fleet for less than the cost of a single new aircraft, Derco said.
MMA-UAV: The Naval Air Systems Command gave the Boeing Co. $24 million more in a contract modification for development of unmanned aerial vehicle control software, classification aids software and computer-assisted design models for the Multimission Maritime Aircraft. Boeing will do the work in Seattle and is supposed to be finished in September 2011, the Defense Department announced late Nov. 21.
The overarching theme for the Naval Sea Systems Command "over the next several years is alignment," Navsea's new commander, Vice Adm. Paul Sullivan, has said. Guiding principles include "practice truth in advertising" and "insist on analytical rigor," to help put "the right capability in the hands of the warfighter at the right time and the right cost," Navsea said in issuing the first part of Sullivan's commander's guidance. Meanwhile, one organizational priority is to "ensure the Navy of the future is effective and affordable."
Top Pentagon officials met most of the day Nov. 21 to provide their input for the Defense Department's Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). The meeting began in the morning and was scheduled to last until roughly 5 p.m. Acting Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England was expected to propose killing the Air Force variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and directing the Air Force to buy the Navy version instead (DAILY, Nov. 21). But a source told The DAILY Nov. 21 that all three JSF variants -- Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy -- would survive.
