Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Lockheed Martin is upgrading the MH-60S Sierra helicopter with airborne mine countermeasure (AMCM) capabilities and will equip it for combat search and rescue, and is developing combat mission capabilities for the MH-60R Romeo, according to a company official. The company is under contract with the U.S. Navy to develop the common cockpit for the Sikorksy MH-60R and MH-60S.

Representatives of the Bush and Kerry campaigns held a proxy debate in Washington Oct. 14, focusing largely on the implementation of the nation's vision for space exploration. Representing Sen. John Kerry's position was Lori Garver, vice president in charge of space program development at DFI International and former NASA associate administrator for policy and plans. Frank Sietzen, journalist and author of a recent book on the creation of NASA's new exploration vision, represented President Bush.

The U.S. Defense Department probably will be ready to deploy the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system within about six to 12 weeks, a Missile Defense Agency official said Oct. 14. GMD, designed to destroy long-range ballistic missiles, is undergoing a "shakedown" to identify things that need to be tweaked. That effort is expected to take at least six weeks to finish, and "in the absence of a compelling threat," DOD is unlikely to deploy the system until it finishes the shakedown, said Army Maj. Gen. John Holly, GMD's program director.

London-based BAE Systems has won a contract to provide support to the U.S. Air Force for four F-16 flight line programs, the company said Oct. 13. The Department of Defense awarded the Support Equipment Sustainment contract on Sept. 8. It will support the Flight Line Stores Management System testers, Viper Memory Loader Verifier, Enhanced Diagnostic Aid and F-16 Stores System Testers, the company said. BAE Systems Information & Electronic Warfare Systems in Nashua, N.H., produces them all, the company said.

The U.S. Navy intends to release a request for proposals (RFP) by the end of the year to procure Shipboard Protection Systems to allow Navy vessels to identify, warn and attack potential surface threats, Rear Adm. William Landay, program executive officer for Navy Littoral and Mine Warfare, told reporters Oct. 14. The Shipboard Protection Systems are scheduled to begin deployment in 2005, Landay said.

EXPEDITION 10: The Expedition 10 crew for the International Space Station (ISS) launched into space on a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on Oct. 13. Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov will arrive at the station Oct. 15 for a six-month stay. They are accompanied by Cosmonaut Yuri Shargin, who will return to Earth Oct. 23 with the current ISS crew.

The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence has placed a $180 million follow-on order for the Raytheon-Lockheed Martin Javelin anti-tank weapon system, Raytheon Co. said Oct. 14. The Javelin purchase will provide a medium-range anti-tank missile for the British army's Armored Ground Component (AGC) program. Javelin's selection for AGC comes after a 2003 competitive win by the Javelin Joint Venture and its U.K. partners for the U.K. Light Forces Anti-tank Guided Weapon program.

Industry should start thinking about new applications for the extra data bandwidth that will be available to military aircraft in the coming years, according to Maj. Gen. Charles Croom (USAF), director of C4ISR infostructure at the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Warfighting Integration.

The U.S. Navy's Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) program has decided to hold its first major design review about a year and a half from now. The key design event, or preliminary design review (PDR), is to occur in the second or early third quarter of fiscal 2006, according to a schedule recently released by Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). The PDR will be followed by a second major design review, the critical design review, in the third or early fourth quarter of FY '07.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Airborne Laser (ABL) program has demonstrated it has solved a problem with one of the chemicals used in the ABL's kill laser, an MDA spokesman said Oct. 13. The spokesman told The DAILY that iodine flows in the kill laser were tested successfully the weekend of Oct. 9-10.

L-3 Communications will upgrade mission and communication-navigation systems for New Zealand's six P-3K maritime patrol aircraft, the New York-based company said Oct. 12. The upgrades include replacing data management systems, radars, electro-optical systems and communication and navigation systems. The work will be done under a contract worth about $200 million, L-3 said. "This win affirms our long-standing commitment to New Zealand," said Bob Drewes, president of L-3 Integrated Systems (L-3 IS), which will handle the work.

Israeli ballistic protection company Plasan Sasa won a Department of Defense contract worth more than $100 million as a subcontractor for Armor Holdings, Inc., Plasan Sasa said Oct. 12. The contract calls for Plasan to mount its advanced armor protection kit (APK) on 920 Oshkosh Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacements, which are scheduled to be fully deployed by the U.S. Marine Corps by 2005.

SUB DELIVERED: The U.S. Navy has received its first Virginia-class submarine from General Dynamics Electric Boat of Groton, Conn., the company said Oct. 13. The Virginia (SSN-774), the first naval combatant ship designed specifically for post-Cold War missions, will join the Navy's fleet in a commissioning ceremony on Oct. 23 at the Norfolk Naval Base, Va. Electric Boat and Northrop Grumman Newport News are under contract to build the first 10 submarines of a planned 30-ship Virginia class under a teaming agreement.

General Electric Co. of Cincinnati has been awarded a $12.9 million U.S. Air Force contract for a program to demonstrate a multi-megawatt power system for military applications, the Department of Defense said Oct. 13. The work is for the Power and Thermal Technologies for Air and Space Multi-Megawatt power system, DOD said.

NASA has begun a series of rehearsals for the space shuttle's return to flight, the agency announced Oct. 13. The rehearsals involve flight controllers, the astronaut crew, support engineers and training instructors simulating key portions of the mission. NASA plans roughly 200 hours of rehearsals, which will continue until just a few days before launch.

The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MOD) has selected MAN ERF for a 1.1 billion pound ($1.79 billion) contract to modernize the British military's fleet of military trucks and recovery vehicles. The Swindon, U.K.-based company, a subsidiary of Munich, Germany-based MAN has been named preferred bidder for the work, which the MOD said would create and support hundreds of jobs across the U.K.

NEW FACILITY: American Eurocopter will inaugurate its manufacturing facility in Columbus, Miss., on Oct. 20, the EADS North America subsidiary announced Oct. 13. EADS executives, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and the state's members of Congress will attend the event.

Valdosta, Ga.-based Saft America has won a multmillion dollar, multiyear contract from Northrop Grumman Corp. to upgrade lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries for the next generation Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle RQ-4B, Saft America said Oct. 13. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

EXPANSION: Aviall Inc. has expanded its Aviall Services' central distribution facility and Aviall Inc. corporate headquarters in Dallas, the company said. The project began last spring and was finished in early September. The facility has grown from 280,000 square feet to 305,000 square feet. The expansion was undertaken because of Aviall's sales increases and expected future growth, the company said.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - North American Aerospace Defense Command is working on a document to guide efforts to defend against attacks by cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, according to Maj. Gen. Angus Watt, director of operations for NORAD. The Capstone Requirements Document will "define what the nature of the threat is ... the nature of the capabilities that we have now, and ... the nature of future capabilities that we could bring to bear against ... this threat," Watt said Oct. 13 at a conference here.

The Boeing Co. has made significant progress building the first of three X-45C air vehicles it plans to assemble for the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) demonstration program, a company official said Oct. 13. The center fuselage for the first plane is nearly complete structurally, and parts for the wings are flowing in to Boeing. Within the next month, the company expects to accept the first General Electric F404 engine that will power the X-45C.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system has fired an interceptor missile to help pave the way for flight-tests to start in early 2005, prime contractor Lockheed Martin announced Oct. 13. Once the interceptor left the launch system Oct. 7 at Lockheed Martin facilities in California, a parachute deployed so the missile could land relatively intact and be used in future ground tests. Preliminary data show that all goals of the launch test were achieved, Lockheed Martin said.

Goodrich Corp. of Charlotte, N.C., has won a contract from Honeywell Engines, Systems and Services to produce torpedo launch components for the U.S. Navy's Virginia-class submarines, Goodrich said Oct. 13. The lightweight structures help control water pressure used to eject torpedoes from the nuclear-powered, fast-attack subs, the company said in a statement. Production will start immediately at the company's Jacksonville, Fla., site. The first set of hardware will be delivered in early 2005.

The Defense Department plans to release a broad agency announcement (BAA) later this fiscal year requesting ideas from industry on enabling technologies for a next-generation gunship to replace the AC-130. The U.S. Air Force recently completed an analysis of alternatives (AOA) for the next-generation gunship, which is projected to become operational by 2017. The AOA recommended a stealthy aircraft with a range of 400 nautical miles, 10 hours of endurance, and a gross takeoff weight of roughly 170,000 pounds.

Congress has agreed to drop Senate-proposed language that could have forced the Air Force to trim its next order of F/A-22 Raptors. The Senate version of the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill would have cut F/A-22 procurement in FY '05 from 24 jets to 22 unless the program met its delivery schedule. But the final version of the bill, approved by a House-Senate conference committee Oct. 7 and the full House and Senate Oct. 9, does not contain the Senate restriction.