Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Germany's Bundestag has approved a 23.9 billion euro ($31.7 billion) defense budget for 2005, and the budget is expected to grow gradually over the following three years, the German Ministry of Defense said Nov. 24. The largest percentage of the budget is for operating expenditures, which accounts for 73.1% of the total, the GMD said. About 12 billion euros ($15.9 billion) will go to personnel expenditures.

Sweden-based Saab Bofors Dynamics AB has signed a contract with Latvia worth 185 million kronor ($27.5 million) to provide the country's air force with the RBS 70 Air Defence Missile System, the company said Nov. 25. Latvia will receive the most modern version of the missile system, which fulfills NATO requirements and includes a night sight and aircraft identification equipment, the company said. Latvia is the 17th country to purchase the RBS 70. Finland and Australia are recent buyers.

Rainbow DBS Company LLC of Bethpage, N.Y. has awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin to build its next five geostationary telecommunications satellites, Lockheed Martin said Nov. 29. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Rainbow DBS Company LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp., also of Bethpage, N.Y.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to release a broad agency announcement (BAA) this week soliciting proposals for technologies to help satellites receive signals from ground users who are located close to multiple jammers. In phase II of the Novel Satellite Communications (NSC) program, the contractor will develop signal processing algorithms and coding techniques. The contractor also will have to consider how the processing and coding techniques used affect the rest of the satellite, according to DARPA.

DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY

Information technology services provider SRA International Inc. of Fairfax, Va., has won a $19.1 million, five-year contract from the U.S. General Services Administration's Federal Systems Integration and Management Center to provide integration management support services to the Air Force Distributed Common Ground System Formal Training Unit at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, the company said Nov. 29.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., which was recently tapped by the U.S. Air Force to upgrade a sensor that tracks laser-designated targets for the A-10 Warthog, plans to test two prototypes on the aircraft in roughly two years, a company official said Nov. 29.

A ceremony to mark the completion of the production phase of the Gripen fighter aircraft being built for the Czech Republic was held in Sweden last week by aircraft maker Gripen International, the company said Nov. 26. Saab AB of Sweden and BAE Systems of the United Kingdom jointly own Stockholm-based Gripen International. The ceremony was held at Saab's factory in Linkoping, Sweden.

Rockville, Md.-based BAE Systems Applied Technologies Inc. has won a $62.1 million contract to provide system integration support for the Trident I (C4) and Trident II (D5) Fleet Ballistic Missile Programs, the Defense Department said Nov. 24.

Bulgaria has chosen French aircraft maker Eurocopter to build a squadron of Cougar transport helicopters for the country's air force, the Sofia News Agency reported Nov. 24. Bulgaria Defence Minister Nikolay Svinarov signed an initial protocol after a 15-member panel chose Eurocopter over Stratford, Conn.-based Sikorsky and AgustaWestland, which is jointly owned by Italy's Finmeccanica and the United Kingdom's GKN, the news agency said. Svinarov declined to reveal financial terms. The contract is expected to be signed by December.

The sudden loss of Intelsat's Americas-7 satellite on Nov. 28 due to an electrical anomaly is not expected to seriously threaten the proposed sale of Intelsat to Zeus Holdings Ltd., according to a space analyst. Bermuda-based Zeus Holdings is a company formed by private equity firms Apax Partners, Permira, Apollo Management and Madison Dearborn Partners. Under the terms of the proposed sale, Zeus has the right to back out following the spacecraft's loss.

MISSILE AWARD: Raytheon Co. has won a $24.5 million contract modification from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command to produce 500 TOW 2B AERO GEN 2 missiles, the Defense Department said Nov. 24. The work will be performed in Tucson and is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2006.

Rolls-Royce has been awarded a contract worth more than $40 million to supply nine gas turbines for the South Korean navy's KDX III destroyer program, the company said Nov. 29. The AG9140RF ship service gas turbine generator sets will provide the main electrical power system and combat system power for the three ships, the company said. The AG9140RF is already in service on the U.S. Navy DDG 51 ship class. Similar equipment is also being used by the Japanese Defense Agency.

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.

CONFERENCE: NASA's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization is hosting the ninth annual Mentor-Protege Conference in Washington on Dec. 1. The program is aimed at giving small and disadvantaged businesses subcontracting opportunities with agency contractors.

2004 FMS: Deepwater-related foreign military sales activity in 2004 included selling an operations analysis and simulation study to Bahrain, receiving notice of interest in the Eagle Eye unmanned aerial vehicle from India and Australia, and a request from Israel to work on the common hull mechanical and electrical design for the Maritime Security Cutter Medium," says Danielewski. Sri Lanka also has inquired about the price and availability of the Eagle Eye and the Bofors Defence 57mm Mk3 gun, he says.

MOUS AND FMS: The U.S. Coast Guard expects to sign memorandums of understanding with Australia and the United Kingdom for collaboration on the Deepwater modernization program's Eagle Eye vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle, says Rear Adm. Patrick Stillman, the program executive officer for Deepwater. The MOU with Australia is to be signed in December, and the one with the U.K. in January. Negotiations on an MOU with France are under way. "The Deepwater Program already has MOUs with Canada and Germany to work on the Eagle Eye.

The European Space Agency's Huygens probe, which is orbiting Saturn onboard the Cassini spacecraft, successfully passed its 16th in-flight "checkout" on Nov. 23, the last one planned before it separates from Cassini in December. Preliminary analysis of the checkout data showed that the procedure went as planned, ESA said. Huygens is scheduled to dive into the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan after being released from Cassini on Dec. 24 (DAILY, Oct. 25).

STACKING BOOSTERS: Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida have begun stacking the solid rocket boosters for the shuttle Discovery's return-to-flight mission, STS 114, NASA says. The boosters are being assembled atop the Mobile Launch Platform, which is inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. The next step will be to join the external tank to the boosters, according to NASA. Launch of the shuttle is scheduled for May 2005.