Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

The V-22 Osprey program is studying ways to fine-tune how it operates its airborne de-icing equipment after a rotor blade on a test aircraft was damaged, apparently by a piece of ice that formed on the tiltrotor transport and broke off during flight, a program spokesman said Nov. 30.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is urging the Pentagon to give the RAND Corp. more time to finish a study of options to modernize the Air Force's aging fleet of tanker aircraft.

The U.S. Defense Department has endorsed building a prototype of the Missile Defense Agency's High Altitude Airship (HAA), but has decided to slow the program in the face of budget constraints and technical hurdles, DOD sources said Nov. 30.

MTC Technologies Inc. of Dayton, Ohio, will try to improve the systems interface between F-15 aircraft Fighter Data Link (FDL) and Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) transmission signals, the company said Nov. 30. ARINC of Annapolis, Md., and Sensor Systems Inc. of Chatsworth, Calif., will support the work, which is being done under an Air Force task order that could be worth up to $6 million, MTC said.

London-based Rolls-Royce and Lufthansa Technik of Hamburg, Germany, will locate their 100 million euro aero engine overhaul facility in Thuringia, Germany, the companies said Nov. 29. The plant eventually will employ about 500 people. Construction is set to start in late 2005 and be finished in late 2006.

As part of the U.S. Marine Corps' logistics modernization program, the service plans to put out a request for proposals for an information technology systems integrator for logistics "any day now," said Col. Bob Ruark (USMC), head of logistics enterprise integration. The systems integration work is for the Global Combat Support System (GCSS), the modernization's key technology enabler, he told The DAILY. The IT integration contractor will be selected in early 2005, he told The DAILY. Oracle Corp. was chosen as the GCSS software supplier this fall.

NASA and Northrop Grumman will spend the next few weeks refining the details of their codesigned Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) spacecraft, before turning their attention early next year to devising firm cost estimates for the ambitious mission in anticipation of its first major program review.

Armored vehicle maker Force Protection Inc. of Ladson, S.C., has been awarded an $11.8 million contract by the U.S. Army to provide 15 Buffalo mine-clearance vehicles for use in Iraq, the company said Nov. 29. The Buffalo can clear anti-tank mines and smaller anti-personnel mines and can be repaired quickly in the field, the company said. The Army Corps of Engineers already is using the Buffalo in Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S. commanders want the number of armored utility vehicles in Iraq doubled to 8,000 to help defeat the insurgency, the company said.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has reached an all-time high of 30 operational satellites following the checkout of GPS IIR-13, which launched on Nov. 6 from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The constellation now includes 18 Boeing-built Block II and IIA spacecraft and 12 new-generation Block IIR spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin. GPS requires a minimum of 24 satellites.

Continuing a string of recent acquisitions, New York-based L-3 Communications said Nov. 30 that it will buy General Dynamics' Propulsion Systems business unit for $185 million in cash. Propulsion Systems engineers, designs and builds engines, transmissions, suspensions and turret drive systems for combat vehicles.

LMI Aerospace Inc. of St. Louis has entered into a three-year financing agreement with Wells Fargo Business Credit Inc., the company said Nov. 30. The agreement includes a revolving note of up to $18 million secured by accounts receivable and inventory, a $4.7 million equipment term note secured by all of LMI's machinery and equipment, and a $3.6 million real estate term note secured by some of the company's land and buildings.

Northrop Grumman Corp. has won a five-year, $65.3 million contract to support electronic systems on U.S. Navy ships and submarines, the company said Nov. 30. The contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman's Charlottesville, Va.-based Sperry Marine business unit by Naval Inventory Control Point of Mechanicsburg, Pa. The agreement contains three one-year options, Northrop Grumman said.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is moving forward with the first phase of its Organic Air Vehicle II (OAV-II) program, with the ultimate goal of developing a prototype Class II unmanned aerial vehicle for Units of Action in the Army's Future Combat Systems.

Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc. and Rheinmetall Defence Electronics GmbH of Germany are teaming up to market unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems to the U.S. government, the companies announced Nov. 29. Teledyne Brown will adapt Rheinmetall's UAV technology into two UAV battlefield surveillance systems - Prospector and Thunder. Both UAVs will be produced at Teledyne Brown manufacturing facilities in Huntsville, Ala. The first U.S.-made system is expected in 2005.

Montreal-based CAE Inc.'s military simulation and training operation in Australia has moved to new facilities in Sydney to handle its growing business in the country, the company said Nov. 25. The new headquarters was officially opened last week in ceremonies attended by Australian Defence Minister Robert Hill and Donald W. Campbell, CAE's group president for military simulation and training, the company said.

The United Kingdom is halfway through its Defence Technology Centers' initial three-year contract that is investing in future technologies research. The contracts have potential extensions to six years. The DTCs were launched 18 months ago and will see about 200 million euros ($265.6 million) invested over the next six years by industry, academia and the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The MOD alone has committed 90 million euros ($119.5 million) to DTCs, the MOD said Nov. 26.

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is trying to determine the fate of programs exploring new and upgraded nuclear weapons, now that its fiscal 2005 budget request for those efforts has been denied by Congress.

Northrop Grumman Corp. has won the first unrestricted competitive solicitation task order under the Network Centric Solutions (NETCENTS) program for technical support for computer hardware and software updates and upgrades. The U.S. Air Force is the contracting agent. The task order is valued at about $1 million over five years, the company said Nov. 29. The Air Force NETCENTS program is a five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to provide information technology products and services.

Sweden-based Saab AB and Airbus of Europe have signed an agreement for the development and production of the crew entrance door for the A400M military transport aircraft. The contract's value could reach 400 million kronors ($59.6 million), Saab AB said Nov. 29. Swedish high-technology company Saab Aerostructures will be responsible for development, production, and support of the crew door for the A400M. The first unit will be delivered to Airbus in 2006.

OAV II: DARPA has awarded contracts for Phase I of the Organic Air Vehicle II program to Aurora Flight Sciences Inc. of Manassas, Va., BAE Systems Aircraft Controls Inc. of Los Angeles, Calif., and Honeywell Defense and Space Electronics Systems of Albuquerque, N.M. The OAV II program is preparing the technology of ducted-fan unmanned aerial vehicles for inclusion in the Army's Future Combat Systems.

BODY ARMOR: Ceradyne Inc. of Costa Mesa, Calif., has received two orders worth $6.4 million to provide elite U.S. military personnel with ceramic body armor, the company said Nov. 29. The orders are set to be shipped in the first nine months of 2005.

Fairfield, N.J.-based research and engineering firm Science Applications International Corp. has completed its purchase of ProcureNet Holdings Inc., SAIC said Nov. 29. Financial terms were not disclosed. ProcureNet Holdings, also of Fairfield, N.J., provides logistics, electronic procurement, and supply chain management services for the Defense Department and other federal agencies.