Major technological hurdles await several intelligence-gathering aircraft under development by U.S. military services, a Pentagon office contends in a new report.
The German government has awarded Helicopter Flight Training Services GmbH (HFTS) of Hallbergmoos, Germany, a 488 million euro ($632.6 million) contract to provide the country's military with NH90 helicopter pilot training, the company said Jan. 20.
As part of its work on the Global Positioning System (GPS) III program, Boeing has awarded a study contract to France's Alcatel for work that will ensure compatibility with Europe's upcoming Galileo satellite navigation system. This is the first contractual tie between the European Union and U.S. industry on future satellite navigation, according to Alcatel. "Alcatel Space sees this contract as the first concrete step toward a sound and positive cooperation between Europe and the U.S.," the company said in a statement.
The Pentagon's senior adviser on defense program operational test and evaluation did not approve the test and evaluation plan for the Navy's presidential helicopter replacement program and did not agree with the acquisition strategy, according to a fiscal 2004 annual report.
A division of New York-based L-3 Communications will provide logistics support services and program management for the U.S. Navy's C-40A Clipper aircraft fleet in 2005 under a $20 million contract, the company said Jan. 18. The contract was awarded to L-3's Link Simulation and Training division by the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command. Four one-year options could push the contract's total value to $100 million, the company said.
The U.S. Army is moving ahead with plans to acquire a multifunction sensor for its Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ER/MP) unmanned aerial vehicle. Responses to a request for proposals for the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase of the sensor program are due Feb. 28, according to a Jan. 18 FebBizOpps notice from the service's Communications-Electronics Command, Fort Monmouth, N.J.
More than seven years after it launched with NASA's Cassini orbiter, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Huygens probe touched down on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan Jan. 14 on what appears to be a patch of mud, according to program officials.
Charles H. Noski has resigned as corporate vice president and chief financial officer. Wesley G. Bush will replace Noski. Bush currently is Northrop Grumman's corporate vice president and president of the company's Space Technology sector.
To benefit its own aviation industry, the South Korean government has decided to use domestic technology to develop 300 new transport helicopters as part of a multibillion dollar project to purchase 500 new military helicopters, the Korean Information Service reported Jan. 18.
NASA has awarded a $48 million contract modification to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), broadening the company's support for NASA's Integrated Financial Management Program (IFMP). The modification to the Unified NASA Information Technology Services (UNITeS) contract provides the IFMP with expanded services, including operational and network infrastructure support. SAIC also will develop module-based software enabling NASA to add or remove interchangeable tools and systems to the program.
C-130 AMP: Boeing said the first U.S. Air Force C-130 has begun the avionics modernization program (AMP) in San Antonio. The aircraft will undergo a trial installation expected to lead to the modernization of more than 500 Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. The program is on track for first flight in early 2006, Boeing said.
Maj. Gen. Robert S. Dickman (USAF-Ret.) has been named executive director. Dickman is leaving the Air Force effective Feb. 13 as a member of the Senior Executive Service, Deputy for Military Space, Office of the Undersecretary of the Air Force.
The European Commission and Snecma Moteurs have agreed to launch a new research program, VITAL, to cut aircraft engine noise and carbon dioxide emissions, France's Snecma said Jan. 18. The four-year, 90 million euro ($117 million) program will focus on low-pressure engine parts and will evaluate engine designs including counter-rotating fans, turbines with fewer blades and other ideas.
Ian McNamee has been appointed to Saab's group management. Johan Lehander has been chosen as the new head of Gripen International, a Saab business unit. Irene Svensson, senior vice president for communications, will establish Saab's new Brussels office.
Despite possible budget cuts in the Virginia-class submarine program, the U.S. Navy and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) expect to award contracts for their joint Tango Bravo program - a phased 48-month, $97 million effort - in the spring, a DARPA spokeswoman told The DAILY Jan. 18.
This year NASA is considering releasing a third major broad area announcement (BAA) related to its space exploration plans, according to officials with the agency's Exploration Systems office. The new BAA would include the three major areas, according to Jim Nehman, the office's deputy associate administrator for development programs: exploration systems research and technology, biological and physical research, and space nuclear power and propulsion.
United Defense Industries Inc. has won a U.S. Army contract for the delivery and testing of the cannon-fired Bonus precision munition system, the company said Jan. 19. United Defense will manage Bonus, developed by Bofors Defence of Sweden and GIAT Industries of France, at its Minneapolis facility. Bonus consists of a 155mm spin-stabilized projectile that enhances cannon artillery precision by dispensing two sensor-fuzed munition submunitions designed to attack and destroy tanks and other armored combat vehicles, United Defense said.
