Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

South Korea has developed a radar system that can take pictures of enemy terrain regardless of weather conditions, a South Korean defense ministry research institute said Nov. 23. The Korea Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (KOMSAR) can detect enemy facilities hidden in hilly terrain within a range of 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) and take high-resolution pictures, the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) said. The earth observation radar currently used by the South Korean military doesn't work properly at night and in rainy or foggy weather.

C-130J OPTION: The U.S. Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. of Marietta, Ga., a $35.2 million contract option for logistics support, technical engineering support services and spares procurement for the U.S. Marine Corps' KC-130J and other C-130J aircraft, the Navy said Nov. 22. Ninety percent of the work will be performed at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., and 10 percent at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif. The work is expected to be completed in December 2005.

The U.S. Air Force is wrapping up a few remaining activities in a key test phase for the F/A-22 Raptor, a service official said Nov. 23.

Eaton Corp. of Jackson, Mich., is expanding its work on the wing fluid delivery system of the Lockheed Martin-built F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a move that will reap a potential $1 billion in additional revenue, the company said Nov. 22. Eaton bases the revenue projection on the production of 2,600 aircraft through 2027. The work increases Eaton's total revenue on the project to almost $3 billion, including the hydraulic power generation system and general actuation, the company said.

Congress has instructed NASA not to close any wind tunnels during fiscal year 2005 and is requiring the agency to restructure its wind tunnel fees to ensure competitiveness with facilities in Europe. "Rates charged to U.S. airframe, engine and component manufacturers are significantly higher than facilities in Europe," says an FY '05 omnibus spending bill, approved by the House and Senate Nov. 20. "The conferees are concerned that the impact of such high fees will drive U.S. companies and jobs overseas and result in the closing of NASA's wind tunnels."

The U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater modernization program is making some headway in its effort to re-engine the service's HH-65 Dolphin helicopters, said Dale Bennett, vice president of Lockheed Martin Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS). The effort also got a late boost from Congress, which approved additional money for the work as part of a fiscal 2005 omnibus spending bill.

The first of four Boeing 767 tankers being built for the Italian air force is on track to take its first flight in March 2005, according to a company spokesman. The basic plane was built on a commercial aircraft line in Everett, Wash., and has been undergoing modifications in Wichita, Kan., to convert it to a refueler (DAILY, April 30). The tanker is to roll off the Wichita assembly line in February before taking its first flight the following month.

Honeywell has signed a 10-year engineering and technology services agreement with IBM to accelerate Honeywell's network-centric battlefield components and systems business, the companies said Nov. 22. Honeywell's defense electronics business will gain access to IBM's engineering expertise, technologies, research and development, and manufacturing processes and facilities, the companies said.

A competition to upgrade or replace the U.S. Air Force's aging KC-135 tankers could take as little as six months or as long as several years, depending on the option chosen, a service official said Nov. 23. Holding a competition to replace the engines on the KC-135Es, the oldest aircraft in the KC-135 fleet, would take roughly six months, while soliciting and evaluating proposals for a new commercial derivative aircraft, such as a Boeing 767 or Airbus A330, would probably take at least 18 months, said Air Force acquisition chief Marvin Sambur.

JASSM CONTRACT: The U.S. Air Force (USAF) has awarded a $112 million contract to Lockheed Martin for the next batch of Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSMs), the Defense Department announced late Nov. 22. The 288 missiles are to be built by February 2007.

Lockheed Martin will begin work installing weather data sensor stations in Romania's river basins as part of an effort to reduce severe annual flooding there, the company said Nov. 23. The company was awarded a $46 million contract in 2003 to design and build the Destructive Waters program and integrate it with Romania's National Integrated Meteorological System, which it developed under a contract awarded in 2000.

NATO has signed a memorandum of understanding with the governments of France, Italy and the United Kingdom for 15 years of satellite communications, beginning Jan. 1, the alliance said Nov. 23. The system will be used to support NATO's deployed forces, and will be provided through France's Syracuse, Italy's Sicral and the U.K.'s Skynet satellite constellations. The program will be coordinated through a joint program office in Paris, NATO said. NATO will buy upgrades to its current ground equipment through international competition.

In observance of the Thanksgiving Day holiday, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report will not publish on Nov. 25 and 26. The next issue will be dated Nov. 29.

Engineering and design firm Gibbs & Cox Inc. of Arlington, Va., has completed its Phase 1C design studies in its bid to work on Australia's SEA 4000 Air Warfare Destroyer project, the company said Nov. 22. Gibbs & Cox also has submitted a proposal to be the preferred ship designer for Phase 2 of the project. The firm said it won't release details of its offer because the design is part of a competitive selection.

Sikorsky's contract to deliver H-92 helicopters to the Canadian Air Force was signed Nov. 23, after a delay caused by an unsuccessful protest by losing bidder AgustaWestland. Canada picked a Sikorsky Aircraft-led team last summer to replace its aging Sea King helicopters. The first of 28 Sikorsky H-92s - the military variant of the company's S-92 - are to be delivered in 2008, with the rest to follow at one-month intervals. The work is worth C$5 billion ($4.2 billion), Sikorsky said.

Jordan's government has asked to buy 50 AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) from the United States, as well as 51 LAU-129 Launch Rails, captive air training missiles and associated support equipment worth $39 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Nov. 22. Congress was informed of the possible military sale on Nov. 19. The prime contractor would be Tucson, Ariz.-based Raytheon Missile Systems, the DSCA said.

A protest from Geo-Seis Helicopters Inc. of a Navy award for air logistics services was denied by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Nov. 22. Geo-Seis had been doing the work, but Evergreen Helicopters of Alaska Inc. won the new, one-year contract. Geo-Seis complained that Evergreen's proposal for the work was deficient, but the GAO concluded that the Navy's decision was "reasonable."

Northrop Grumman plans to add 100 engineering, manufacturing engineering, and manufacturing support jobs to its St. Augustine, Fla., facility, which produces equipment for the company's Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare Systems unit. Philip A. Teel, the sector vice president of AEW&EW Systems, said the move was warranted because "for the past few years, our business area has grown significantly." The jobs are expected to be filled by next summer.

Following its budget victory on Capitol Hill, NASA must turn its attention to following through on President Bush's goals for space exploration, according to Administrator Sean O'Keefe. Congress on Nov. 20 approved a fiscal year 2005 NASA budget of nearly $16.2 billion, 5% more than the agency's FY '04 total (DAILY, Nov. 23). "Any residual question about whether or not there is support necessary to continue on, I think, has been resolved," O'Keefe said during an address to NASA employees Nov. 23. "That said, it is now incumbent upon us to perform."

On Nov. 23, Arianespace transferred the Ariane 5 G rocket to be used for the Dec. 10 launch of the Helios IIA spacecraft to the Final Assembly Building at the company's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. In addition to Helios IIA, Flight 165 will orbit six small satellites - four developed by the French defense procurement agency to validate technologies for a future space-based electronic intelligence system; the French space agency's Parasol small satellite; and a Spanish small satellite called Nanosat.

INSTALLED: Boeing has installed a Multirole Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) antenna on a second 737-700 for Australia's Project Wedgetail, the company said Nov. 23. The MESA, built by Northrop Grumman, is the critical sensor on Australia's airborne early warning and control aircraft. Australia has ordered six of the aircraft.

The U.S. Army has awarded Raytheon Co. a one-year, $86 million contract option for its Live Training Program with the service's Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation (PEO-STRI), the company said Nov. 22. The original eight-year contract was awarded in 1999 and has a potential value of more than $900 million. The award is the sixth of seven one-year options.