Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

A senior U.S. Defense Department position should be established to jumpstart the DOD's failing financial management system, the head of the Government Accountability Office told members of Congress Nov. 18. "DOD needs a chief management officer, a chief operating officer to deal with basic business challenges," U.S. Comptroller General David Walker said at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee's readiness subcommittee.

C-130 PROTESTS: BAE Systems and L-3 Communications have filed protests with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) over Boeing's selection to be prime contractor for the U.S. Air Force's C-130 avionics modernization program (AMP). Lockheed Martin's protests over the C-130 AMP and the Air Force's Small Diameter Bomb were announced earlier (DAILY, Nov. 15). The GAO plans to rule on all of the protests by February.

The United States and Australia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to support, produce and continue to develop the AN/BYG-1 Combat Control System, Australia's defense department said Nov. 19. The combat system will complement the new advanced capability torpedoes for the Collins-class submarines that were approved by the Australian government in late 2002 and also are being developed and produced under an agreement with the U.S. Navy, the defense department said.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the chief congressional critic of a U.S. Air Force attempt to acquire Boeing 767 tankers, launched a new attack on the proposal Nov. 19, saying newly released documents undermine the Air Force's claims that it has been willing to consider other aircraft. Although Air Force Secretary James Roche testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February 2002 that he was willing to consider alternatives to the 767, e-mails recently delivered to Capitol Hill by the Defense Department suggest otherwise, McCain said.

Engineers have concluded the testing of the Space Shuttle Discovery's robotic arm as it continues to prepare the vehicle to return to flight next year, NASA said Nov. 19. Installation of instrumentation on the shuttle's leading wing is halfway done, NASA said. The aerospace agency is planning to try to return the shuttle fleet to space beginning net May or June (DAILY, Nov. 8).

Jacksonville, Fla.-based Armor Holdings Inc., which manufactures vehicle armor systems and security products, has completed its acquisition of the Specialty Group Inc. to prepare for "significant opportunities" for Army buys of soldier protection equipment, the company said Nov. 19.

PREDATOR UPGRADES: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems will upgrade six RQ-IL Block 5, four MQ-IL Block 1 and four MQ-IL Block 5 Predator unmanned aerial vehicles to the MQ-IL Block 10+ configuration, the U.S. Department of Defense said Nov. 19. The work will be done under a $14.4 million Air Force contract.

HARVEY'S SWEARING-IN: Former Westinghouse Corp. executive Francis Harvey was sworn in Nov. 19 as the 19th secretary of the U.S. Army, three days after receiving Senate confirmation (DAILY, Nov. 18). Harvey will oversee the Army's annual budget of $98.5 billion.

The Boeing Co. is teaming with Paris-based Alcatel to provide satellite communication subsystems for Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS), Boeing said Nov. 18. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The alliance will focus on projects including the development of spacecraft that will provide digital audio radio, Boeing said. The agreement "will provide Boeing customers unrivaled access to the expertise of both companies," Pascale Sourisse, chairman and CEO of Alcatel, said in a statement.

Nov. 30 - Dec. 2 -- Aircraft Survivability 2004, "Surviving in the Networked Battlespace," Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. For more information go to www.ndia.org. Dec. 1 - 2 -- Light Armored Vehicles, "Supportability and Survivability in War Zones," Hilton Washington, Washington, D.C. For more information call 1-800-882-8684, email [email protected] or go to www.idga.org. Dec. 2 - 3 -- The 14th Annual Aircraft Acquisition Planning Seminar, Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort, Scottsdale, Ariz. For more information go to www.conklindd.com.

German Defense Minister Peter Struck favors the sale of German Leopard II tanks to Turkey, five years after his country rejected a similar request because it feared the tanks could be used against civilians in eastern Turkey, a German radio and television network has reported. "If Turkey makes a request [to purchase the tanks], as minister of defense, I would give a favorable opinion to the chancellor and the foreign minister," Struck told Deutsche Welle radio and television on Nov. 18.

DEFENSE FUNDING: U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, is questioning the Bush Administration's defense priorities. The congressman says that while the nation spends the relatively large sum of $10 billion a year on missile defense, it underfunds equipment to protect U.S. troops in Iraq, such as devices to jam insurgents' improvised explosive devices (IEDs). "We haven't lost any Americans to an intercontinental ballistic missile, but we're losing Americans every day" to IEDs, Taylor says.

DIVIDEND: BEI Technologies Inc.'s board of directors has declared its 29th consecutive quarterly dividend, the company said Nov. 18. The company builds electronic sensors, motors, actuators and other equipment for military, aviation and space systems. The dividend, of one cent per share, is payable Dec. 15.

Although the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) has a broad business portfolio, including helicopters, missiles, space systems, fighter aircraft and other defense systems, its performance is "very dependent" on its Airbus commercial aircraft unit, Standard & Poor's said Nov. 18. "Airbus has been able to withstand challenging market conditions, with its target of 300 Airbus deliveries annually being continuously met since the events of Sept. 11, 2001," S&P said.

General Dynamics Decision Systems (GDDS) offered a "superior design and better long-term solution" for the U.S. Army's Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Cluster 5 than did rival ITT Industries Inc., the Government Accountability Office said. ITT Industries protested General Dynamics' win on the $295 million contract (DAILY, July 20). GAO denied the bid on Oct. 20, and the Army lifted a stop-work order five days later (DAILY, Oct. 25).

Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation began testing an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) on Nov. 19 to demonstrate its latest research technology for mine warfare and undersea navigation, the Australian defense department said. The trial, which will continue through Nov. 21 at Portland Port in Portland Victoria, Australia, involves navy reserve divers placing dummy sea mines at known positions for the UUV to hunt.

RETURN TO SERVICE: Arianespace plans to delay the return to service of its heavier-lift Ariane 5 ECA until January to allow more time to get it ready, Arianespace says. The vehicle's first flight failed in late 2002, prompting a redesign of part of its Vulcain 2 main engine. The mission, which had been planned for October, is to carry the XTAR-EUR governmental telecommunications satellite, the Sloshsat experimental satellite and the Maqsat B2 imaging package.

SPACE COUNCIL: Ministers in charge of European space issues, markets, industry and research plan to meet Nov. 25 in Brussels for the first "space council," a joint meeting of the European Space Agency Council and the European Union Competitiveness Council. The event marks a first step toward developing, defining and implementing an overall European space policy, ESA said.

SPENDING INCREASE: Ireland plans to spend 904 million euros ($786 million) on defense in 2005, an increase of 6% from 2004, the country's defense ministry says. Major equipment buys, including two light utility and four utility helicopters, will proceed, and "further progress can be made on the defense forces' building and modernization programs," says Willie O'Dea, the defense minister. O'Dea says he also intends to begin buying light tactical vehicles.

AgustaWestland Inc. and AgustaWestlandBell will relocate and consolidate their operations to Fairfax County, Va., in January 2005 and hire 300 new workers, the companies said Nov. 19. The companies, currently located in nearby Arlington, Va., will occupy 30,000 square feet at the Plaza America complex in the Reston area.

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. will add the Large Aircraft Countermeasure (LAIRCM) capability to 18 additional C-17 aircraft under a $13 million Air Force contract modification, the U.S. Department of Defense said Nov. 19. The company was tapped last month to add three LAIRCM systems to Special Operations Command C-130s (DAILY, Oct. 5). The LAIRCM uses a laser to dazzle a missile's guidance seeker (DAILY, April 9).

DEFENSE HIKE: South Korea gradually will increase its defense budget by 99 trillion won ($92.5 billion) over the next four years to fill the possible security vacuum caused by planned U.S. troop reductions, the South Korean defense ministry says. By 2008, the country's defense budget is to grow to 3.2% of gross domestic product, from the current 2.8%. The additional money will spent on weapons for independent surveillance and command, control, communications, computers and intelligence, says Maj. Gen. Bang Hyo-bok, a strategic policymaker.