MEETING THE DEAL: Alcatel Alenia Space has upheld its commitment to the French defense procurement agency to deliver the initial operational capability of the Syracuse 3A military communications satellite a month after its Oct. 14 launch, the company says. On-orbit testing began Oct. 22 and culminated in a test review, "which the satellite passed with flying colors," the company says. Since Nov. 10, the procurement agency has had access to two super-high-frequency channels, which are already being used by fielded troops, Alcatel Alenia Space says.
EADS North America hopes to post $1 billion in sales next year, which it will probably meet partly through acquisition, company Chairman and CEO Ralph Crosby said. It reported $800 million in sales this year, and $470 million last year, which "doesn't yet put us in the bigs" but is respectable, Crosby said in a meeting with The DAILY and affiliate Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine.
The U.S. Air Force will fight to protect the F/A-22 Raptor if it's threatened in the Pentagon's upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review, a QDR forum panelist said Nov. 18.
P-3 WORK: EDO Corp. will provide its ALR-95 tactical radar electronic support measures (ESM) and surveillance system for eight P-3 aircraft being bought by Korea's navy, the company said Nov. 17. The $10 million contract from L-3 Communications Integrated Systems calls for deliveries to begin in early 2007. The system will detect, identify and locate hostile radar signals "early and efficiently," the company said, giving the aircraft crew time to react to the threat.
WARNER WATCHING: Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says more attention should be paid to the issue of improvised explosives devices (IEDs) used against U.S. ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I will be consulting with members, but I believe the Department of Defense has to redouble its efforts to deal with this difficult situation of the IEDs," Warner says. Last week, committee members met with 10 officers from the National War College, each of whom commanded a U.S. Army or Marine battalion.
WINNER TAKES ALL: Although the head of Airbus North America Holdings said recently that the U.S. Air Force could split its decision on new tanker aircraft, awarding deals to both Boeing and a Northrop Grumman/EADS North America team (DAILY Oct. 4), the head of EADS North America says he'd rather have it all. "We're in this to win," EADS NA Chairman and CEO Ralph Crosby says. "The best that we can hope for is 100 percent."
Ammunition and defense electronics maker Allied Defense Group said it has acquired Global Microwave Systems of Carlsbad, Calif., in a cash and stock transaction. Terms of the deal were not released.
With Dec. 5 marking the 60th anniversary of the disappearance of five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo bombers, known as Flight 19, and a Martin Mariner rescue aircraft sent to search for them, the House passed a resolution Nov. 17 honoring the lost 27 naval aviators.
The Boeing Co.'s "smart tanker" proposal for the U.S. Air Force will sport an inherent Link 16 beyond-line-of-sight capability that would allow the proposed KC-767 to be another airborne node able to relay command decision-making information throughout networked military forces, team officials said Nov. 18.
CMMI: Boeing Integrated Defense Systems has achieved CMMI Level 5 ratings in all four assessed areas: software engineering; systems engineering; integrated product and process development; and supplier sourcing at seven of its major U.S. sites, the company said. CMMI, or Capability Maturity Model Integration, is a standard for benchmarking process integration and improvement.
SHIFTING PERCEPTION: Asked if there is a shift in congressional perception to awarding U.S. defense contracts to overseas-based firms, EADS North America Chairman and CEO Ralph Crosby says it's hard to tell, but the recent presidential helicopter competition could be an indicator. Concern over the EADS bid for Air Force tankers helped bump the company out of an earlier competition for the work, although it expects to be able to compete again, but "the presidential helicopter award really is the paradigm one ought to look at," Crosby says.
SUB WORK: The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics' Electric Boat Corp. of Groton, Conn., a $77 million contract modification for consolidated design agent, planning yard, engineering and technical support for active nuclear submarines. The work will be done in Groton, Conn.; Bangor, Wash.; Kings Bay, Ga.; Newport, R.I.; and Quonset, R.I. It is expected to be finished by September 2007.
Acting U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England is expected to propose killing the Air Force variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and directing the Air Force to buy the Navy's carrier variant (CV) instead, according to a well-connected defense expert.
Northrop Grumman cut the ribbon Nov. 18 on a new 110,000-square-foot facility near Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., which combines its four local Nebraska sites into a single headquarters. The facility houses about 400 employees, who will work with another 350 colleagues at the base.
PAC-3 PROBE: It may take weeks for the U.S. Army to determine why a Nov. 11 intercept test of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile system ended in failure, the Army says. Investigators are analyzing data collected during the test, in which two PAC-3 interceptors missed a short-range ballistic missile target (DAILY, Nov. 14).
Nov. 22 - 25 -- 2nd European Hydrogen Energy Conference and Exhibition. For more information go to www.ehec.info. Nov. 29 -- National Defense Industrial Association's Missile Defense Quarterly Luncheon, Sheraton National, Arlington, Va. For more information call 703-522-1820 or go to www.ndia.org. Dec. 6 - 8 -- Aerospace Defense Finance Conference, Credit Suisse First Boston Aerospace & Defense Group Headquarters, New York, N.Y. For more information go to http://www.aviationweek.com/conferences.
The last of 25 U.S. Navy Sea King helicopters to be refurbished under a multiyear contract was delivered Nov. 2, the Navy announced Nov. 18. In November 1999, IMP Aerospace of Canada won a Navy contract for overhaul, repair, engineering and flight line support services of its 60-aircraft H-3 Sea King fleet, as well as similar services for other Foreign Military Sales H-3 customers.
F-117A FATE: Will the U.S. Air Force's 52 F-117A Nighthawks be retired early? Although the stealth fighter is currently slated to stay in service until 2017, officials involved in the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review are considering moving up that date, says Diana Filliman, director of the F-117 systems squadron. According to Filliman, who spoke Nov.
KEY: Satellites are key to post-disaster communications, Futron Corp. and GVF, the nonprofit association of the global satellite communications sector, say in a new "white paper" intended to provide public and private sector response and relief agencies information about the technology. Wireless communication deployment often is a first priority in disaster response, but the terrestrial wireless infrastructure may have been destroyed, as in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, or nonexistent, as in the Pakistan earthquake.
The Senate late Nov. 17 passed a House-approved bill to authorize the U.S. Navy to contract with Northrop Grumman Corp. for the nuclear refueling and complex overhaul of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. The bill, pushed by shipbuilding advocate Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-Va.), would allow $89 million in fiscal 2006 funds to be used to start work on the contract immediately. Because the Senate adopted the House's version, the measure is ready for President Bush to sign.
The Senate on Nov. 18 passed a continuing resolution funding several federal agencies, including the Defense Department, until Dec. 17. The House did the same a day earlier. Congress is struggling to work through four remaining spending bills that account for 78 percent of government appropriations. The latest continuing resolution, actually an extension of one that ran out Nov. 18, funds the affected agencies at generally lower levels than pending fiscal 2006 spending legislation.
NAVAL RESEARCH: Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chief of naval operations, has assigned Rear Adm. William E. Landay III as chief of naval research and director of test and evaluation and technology requirements in the CNO office. Landay currently is program executive officer for littoral and mine warfare.
Authorizers from the House and Senate met late Nov. 16 to start working on an agreement for the Coast Guard's fiscal 2006 policy bill, but they adjourned after only reading opening statements and it is uncertain when they will meet again. Nevertheless, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), said he will keep pushing the Bush administration to speed up the Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization program, including further boosting annual appropriations.
