The T-50 Golden Eagle advanced jet trainer, built by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) with help from Lockheed Martin, made its debut Oct. 18 at the Korea Aerospace & Defense Exhibition in Seoul. The companies are building the aircraft for Korea's air force but also plan to market it internationally. KAI is conducting ground and flight-tests of two production T-50s for delivery to the air force later this year. Five other T-50s are in final assembly and four more in major assembly, the companies said Oct. 18.
The U.S. Navy wants industry to begin looking at ways to prevent the use of improvised explosive devices, not just counter them, a service official said Oct. 19. "You might want to start thinking of how you would go about preventing IEDs," Roger Smith, the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for littoral and mine warfare programs, told an audience at the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement's 2005 Asymmetric Warfare Conference.
The Pentagon's joint task force working to counter improvised explosive devices will host a "lab forum" for interested industry vendors Dec. 8-9 and an industry day in early January. A story on the task force's industry outreach Oct. 19 reversed the dates due to mistaken information provided by a task force official. Companies looking to participate should e-mail [email protected] or call (703) 697-7118 to be put on a list for the events.
SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM: Sweden's Saab AB said Oct. 18 that it has signed a preliminary contract to provide Pakistan with an airborne surveillance system. Financial terms were not disclosed, and several issues must be settled before the contract is finalized, the company said. The system would include Saab 2000 turboprop aircraft equipped with Ericsson Microwave Systems' airborne radar system ERIEYE.
The head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) said Oct. 19 that the Defense Department's geospatial intelligence arm is on its way to developing a sensor- and platform-neutral processing system for digesting imagery data. Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper Jr., NGA's director, told the Defense Writers Group that the agency is transitioning between the first and second major phases of its Geoscout program, the core of its transformation effort to provide a digital architecture for geospatial intelligence.
Maj. Gen. Jack A. Davis (USMC Ret.) has been named to the board of directors. Davis was most recently Vice Commander, Marine Corps Forces Atlantic/Deputy Commander Marine Corps Forces Europe.
South Africa's air force has received four AgustaWestland-built twin-engine A109 Light Utility Helicopters powered by Turbomeca's Arrius 2K2 engines, France-based Turbomeca said Oct. 19.
MD Helicopters announced it has created a contractor logistics support team to enhance its bid for the U.S. Army's Light Utility Helicopter program. Lockheed Martin recently pulled out of a partnership with MD Helicopters to pursue the work, prompting MD to go it alone after requesting a deadline extension for submitting its proposal (DAILY, Oct. 14). The proposals now are due Oct. 20.
Some operations at the U.S. Army's Kwajalein Atoll, located in the Marshall Islands, could be privatized to save money, according to Information Systems Laboratories. The atoll is home to a launch site for missile defense system interceptors, but its facilities have suffered "serious deterioration" caused by age, years of backlogged maintenance and the rugged climate, ISL said in a study for the Army.
Hi-Shear Technology Corp. of Torrance, Calif., said Oct. 18 that revenue grew 30 percent and gross margin increased 40 percent in the first quarter of 2005. But net income over the period fell 40 percent, the company reported. The company, which provides pyrotechnic, mechanical and electronic products to the aerospace and defense markets, said first-quarter revenue was $5.1 million, compared with $3.9 million the year before. Gross margin increased from $1.5 million to $2.1 million. Net income dipped from $618,000 to $368,000.
LINK-16: ThalesRaytheonSystems said Oct. 18 that Swiss defense procurement agency armasuisse has awarded it $120 million in contracts to provide the Swiss air force with advanced command and control Link-16 connectivity for their fighter aircraft. The work will be performed in Fullerton, Calif., and Massy, France. Swiss industry will also take part in the system's deployment. The award is part of the company's continuing work on the FLORAKO high-performance air defense and air space management system.
Croman Corp. of White City, Ore., has received a one-year, $12.2 million U.S. Navy contract to provide airlift and recovery functions in support of all Hawaiian military ranges. The contract was not competitively procured, according to an Oct. 17 Pentagon announcement. The company, registered as a small business, also will provide aircraft for utility and transport missions to carry passengers and cargo, as well as for range clearing operations based out of Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii.
The U.S. Navy expects to spend a sizable amount of time figuring out how best to use the wide array of capabilities that the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) promises to provide, according to an official at Naval Air Systems Command.
Hartford, Conn.-based United Technologies Corp., which provides high-technology products and support services, said Oct. 18 that diluted earnings per share grew 19 percent and net income jumped 18 percent in the third quarter of 2005. The company also increased its full-year earnings per share growth estimate. UTC reported diluted earnings per share of 81 cents compared with 68 cents for the same period a year ago. Third quarter 2005 net income was $821 million, compared with $693 million for the third quarter of 2004.
The U.S. Navy plans to begin an upgrade program for the Harpoon missile in fiscal 2007 to increase its accuracy and allow operators to retarget it after it is launched, a government official said Oct. 18. "We're expecting it to be funded" in the Navy's upcoming FY '07 budget request, said Keith Sanders, deputy program executive officer for strike weapons at Naval Air Systems Command. The FY '07 request is due to be sent to Capitol Hill in early calendar 2006.
Venus Express, the European Space Agency mission to orbit Venus, is set for launch on a Soyuz-Fregat booster on Oct. 26 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. The EADS Astrium-built spacecraft is scheduled to reach Venus in April 2006, according to ESA. It carries several scientific instruments, including the Venus Monitoring Camera, several spectrometers and the Venus Express Magnetometer. Its mission will be controlled by ESA's space operations center in Darmstadt, Germany.
Lockheed Martin and U.S. Navy and Spanish navy ships completed a three-ship, international qualification trial of the Aegis Combat System last week, part of a planned series of four joint tests between Spain and the United States. During the trial, the ships' Aegis systems were evaluated for combat readiness through surface, underwater and anti-air warfare exercises, culminating in an air defense trial in which the ships successfully engaged more than a dozen missile targets.
COMPONENTS: Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc. of Pittsburgh has been awarded a $279.2 million contract to provide the U.S. Navy with nuclear propulsion components, the Defense Department said Oct. 18. The work will be done in Schenectady, N.Y., and Pittsburgh. The contract was awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington.
