Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Supplies of food are getting tight aboard the International Space Station (ISS), prompting program officials to begin thinking about a possible evacuation of the station in case the next resupply by a Russian Progress cargo vehicle doesn't take place on schedule. ISS managers try to retain 45 days of margin for each of the critical consumables onboard the station, including food, water, and air. Food supplies crossed this threshold on Nov. 14, and water is expected to drop below the margin Dec. 14.

General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems has been selected by the government of Portugal to enter negotiations to provide 260 Pandur II eight-wheeled, all-wheel-drive combat vehicles, parent company General Dynamics said Dec. 9. The contract will be worth about $457 million, and deliveries could begin in 2006 "subject to successful negotiations," the company said.

NASA is holding a formal retirement ceremony Dec. 10 at Dryden Flight Research Center in California for its B-52B "mother ship," which is ending its nearly 45-year career at the agency following last month's successful X-43A flight. The retirement ceremony will include the formal transfer of the B-52B by Dryden Director Kevin Petersen to Brig. Gen. Curtis Bedke, commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center. Tentative plans call for placing the aircraft on permanent display at Edwards Air Force Base.

DELTA DELAYED: The first launch of Boeing's Delta IV Heavy rocket has been delayed to Dec. 11 due to a weather front that is expected to move into the Cape Canaveral area on Dec. 10. The flight is a demonstration mission for the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program.

TURRET SYSTEMS: Curtiss-Wright Controls has been awarded a $16.1 million contract to provide Turret Drive Stabilization Systems (TDSS) for the Spanish army's Pizarro Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle (AIFV), the company said Dec. 9. The follow-on order was received from General Dynamics Santa Babara Sistemas of Madrid, Spain, a business unit of General Dynamics Combat Systems Group. The TDSS revolves the turret, raises and lowers the gun barrel, and stabilizes the gun to keep its sight steady on a target when the vehicle is crossing rough terrain.

PURCHASE: Microwave technology provider Herley Industries Inc. of Lancaster, Pa., has agreed to buy Micro Systems Inc. of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., for cash, Herley Industries said Dec. 9. The purchase price was not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in about 30 days. Micro Systems provides systems and services for unmanned aerial, sea and ground targets and missiles. Herley Industries makes microwave technology products for the defense, aerospace and medical industries.

ITT Industries has been awarded a seven-year contract that could be worth up to $2.5 billion from the U.S. Army's Logistics Readiness Center for the production of the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS), ITT said Dec. 9. Under the contract, the Army will order SINCGARS combat radio systems and spares over the next several years to support U.S. and allied forces worldwide. The contract also permits ITT to upgrade earlier model SINCGARS with current technology. The initial order is worth $49.5 million, the company said.

IT SERVICES: SRA International Inc. of Fairfax, Va., has won a one-year, $18.1 million contract to provide information technology services to the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC), the company said Dec. 9. The contract was awarded by the General Services Administration's Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM). SRA will provide project management; administration and management of the afloat network operations center; afloat operations support; hardware and software upgrades and integration; and user training.

The House Science Committee plans to hold hearings next year on the future of the Hubble Space Telescope, according to Chairman Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.). A National Academies panel concluded in a report released Dec. 8 that NASA should send the space shuttle to service Hubble as soon as possible, directly contradicting NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe's decision to cancel future shuttle visits in favor of robotic servicing.

BAE Systems of Rockville, Md., will provide system engineering and integration support for the U.S. Navy's Trident I (C4) and Trident II (D5) Fleet Ballistic Missile Strategic Weapon System programs under a $62 million contract, the company said Dec. 8. The Navy's Strategic Systems Programs in Washington awarded the contract.

Israel's upgraded A-4 Skyhawk has successfully completed its first flight, said RADA Electronic Industries Ltd., which provided modernized avionics for the air force trainer. Flight-testing of the upgraded aircraft is scheduled to be completed within three months, with serial production and installation of the upgraded systems continuing through the third quarter of 2005, RADA said.

Acting Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Wynne said Dec. 8 that he expects to continue his duties when President Bush's second term begins in January. While Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has also indicated that he will stay in his job, several other high-level officials, including Air Force Secretary James Roche and Air Force acquisition chief Marvin Sambur, have announced their departures (DAILY, Nov. 18, Nov. 19). "I have been asked by Secretary Rumsfeld to stay the course," Wynne said. "I intend to."

Rance Walleston has been chosen to direct an intelligence and information operations initiative.

Dain M. Hancock, executive vice president and president of the aeronautics company, is retiring. Ralph D. Heath, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and general manager of the F/A-22 Raptor program, will succeed Hancock. Larry Lawson, vice president and F/A-22 deputy, will succeed Heath.

New members of the board of directors are Jean Caron, EADS DCS, France (treasurer); Andrew Chadwick, QinetiQ, United Kingdom; Dina Hyde, Boeing Co.; Bjorn Kullberg, Saab Aerosystems, Sweden; Nick Miller, Thales UK, United Kingdom; Peter van Blyenburgh, Blyenburgh & Co., France (president); Bernhard Freiherr von Bothmer, UAV DACH, Germany.

Overall sales in the aerospace industry rose 8% in 2004, jumping from $148.9 billion in 2003 to $161 billion, the Aerospace Industries Association said Dec. 8. At the end of last year AIA predicted only a $1 billion increase in overall sales from 2003, but instead it was $12 billion and could go higher still, AIA President and CEO John Douglass said at the AIA's annual year-end review and forecast luncheon. "We are clearly headed in the right direction," Douglass said.

Scott Carson has been appointed vice president, sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Laurette Koellner will replace Carson as president of Connexion by Boeing. Rick Stephens will replace Koellner as executive vice president, Internal Services. Mary Armstrong replaces Stephens as president, Shared Services Group.

Paul G. Stern, chairman of Claris Capital, has been named a board member.

William Schuster has been named chief operating officer.

Larry E. Williams has been named president and chief operating officer.

Congressional negotiators were able to come up with a compromise that overcame the objection of a powerful House committee chairman, allowing the approval of legislation recommended by the 9/11 Commission to reform the U.S. intelligence organization. The legislation would create a national intelligence director (NID) to oversee a new national counterterrorism center that would coordinate intelligence gathering and analyses.

The European Union eventually will lift its arms embargo with China, and such action could occur as early as 2005, a Dutch official said Dec. 8. "I think it's fair to say the embargo will be lifted," said Boudewijn J. van Eenennaam, the Netherlands' ambassador to the United States. "The question's not if but when."