Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

The Force Application and Launch from the Continental U.S. (FALCON) program is adjusting to congressional restrictions placed on it for fiscal year 2005, dropping for now the development of a penetrating munition for the Air Force's Common Aero Vehicle (CAV).

A new Ranging and Integrity Monitoring Station for the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) has been set up in Warsaw, Poland, a critical point for EGNOS satellite navigation service in Eastern Europe, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). EGNOS, Europe's first satellite navigation system, is accurate to within two meters (6.6 feet). Poland's EGNOS RIMS station was inaugurated on Sept. 27, and is located in the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Science.

Herley Industries Inc. has completed the acquisition of certain assets of Reliable System Services (RSS), Herley said Sept. 29. The entity will operate as Herley-RSS, a Delaware corporation and a subsidiary of Herley. "The satellite communication capabilities of Herley-RSS and Herley-Lancaster's command and control expertise is expected to open new domestic and international opportunities," Herley President John Kelley said in a statement.

The U.S. Army has awarded TVI Corp. of Glenn Dale, Md. a $1.4 million contract for the TVI Guardian Col/Pro(TM) systems, which provide increased protection against chemical and biological threats, TVI Corp. said Sept. 30. If there were a biological or chemical attack, the systems would protect military personnel with quickly deploying shelters and help prevent the spread of contamination by isolating individuals exposed to life-threatening agents, the company said.

AMC-15: The launch of SES Americom's AMC-15 satellite has been rescheduled for Oct. 14 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, according to International Launch Services spokeswoman Fran Slimmer. The original September launch date was postponed to allow for additional checking of the Proton launch vehicle's avionics. The next ILS launch after that will be SES Americom's AMC-16, to take place on an Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral in December.

ROBOTICS: DOD's Joint Robotics Program and the Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) will hold a robotics conference in Panama City Beach, Fla., from Nov. 30 through Dec. 1. The purpose of the conference is to "leverage on efforts and expose users [to] technology currently available on the robotics market," according to an announcement on Federal Business Opportunities.

J-UCAS BROKER: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., a $26.9 million contract to serve as the integrator/broker for the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System's (J-UCAS) common operating system. To ensure interoperability, DARPA is requiring the competing Boeing and Northrop Grumman-led J-UCAS teams to adopt a common operating system capable of controlling either team's J-UCAS vehicle.

Through the acquisition of The Specialty Group Inc., a Department of Defense supplier of individual protective equipment, Armor Holdings Inc. expects to add about $90 million to its fiscal 2005 revenues, Armor Holdings said Sept. 30. Armor Holdings would pay $92 million in cash for The Specialty Group, including the assumption of any debt. The transaction, which is subject to the approval of Specialty Defenses' shareholders and federal antitrust clearance, is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of 2004.

The first flight test for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's revamped Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system has been delayed slightly by a congressional funding cut, according to Defense Department officials. The test had been scheduled for December but now is planned for sometime in the January-March quarter of 2005 because the FY '05 defense appropriations act, without explanation, trimmed $30 million from MDA's $834 million request for THAAD, the DOD officials said Sept. 29.

The Department of Defense (DOD) outsources almost half of its contracts on a noncompetitive basis, has increased the amount it contracts out, and awards most of its funding to a small percentage of firms, according to a new report by the watchdog group Center for Public Integrity, released Sept. 29. No-bid contracts have accounted for more than 40 percent, or about $362 billion, of Pentagon contracting from 1998 to 2003, said Charles Lewis, the group's executive director.

Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne completed its first qualification flight to win the Ansari X Prize Sept. 29, reaching suborbital space despite an unexpected roll that caused pilot Mike Melvill to shut the vehicle's rocket engine off 11 seconds early. SpaceShipOne and its White Knight carrier aircraft took off from the Civilian Aerospace Test Center at Mojave Airport at 7:12 a.m. Pacific time. After being carried to 47,000 feet, SpaceShipOne detached and fired its SpaceDev-built hybrid rocket engine.

AEROSPACE CORP., El Segundo, Calif. Heinz L. Butner has been named principal engineer in the Delta IV Program Directorate, Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Division (EELV), at the company's El Segundo headquarters. Steve Pavlica and Thomas A. Ramberg have been promoted to principal engineer in the Electronic Programs Division in the company's Chantilly, Va., office. HERLEY INDUSTRIES, Lancaster, Pa. Thomas V. Gilboy has been appointed vice president and chief financial officer. HONEYWELL, Morris Township, N.J.

A House-Senate conference on the fiscal year 2005 defense authorization bill got under way a day after the House leadership chose the members who will work to reconcile the two versions of the measure. The conferees gathered for a full committee meeting on Sept. 29. Sources on Capitol Hill told The DAILY that members would try to reach agreement before the presidential election.

MARS DRILL: NASA's Johnson Space Center is testing a drilling rig designed for use on the moon or Mars at the Eureka Weather Station in the Canadian Arctic. Located on Ellesmere Island in Canada, the testing location is about 690 miles from the North Pole and approximates certain attributes of the martian environment. The drill itself is roughly the height of a street sign and consumes only 100 watts of power. For the tests, JSC is collaborating with McGill University in Montreal, the University of Toronto, and Baker Hughes Inc. of Houston. Testing will last through Oct.

TESTING: Ground and flight-tests of the Yak-130 training and light combat aircraft will be completed by the end of 2005, Moscow-based IRKUT Corp. said. First production flight-tests are being completed, a second production aircraft will fly in November and a third will be tested next year, the company said. Two other aircraft are undergoing static ground testing. The tests have checked stability and controllability, power plant operation, aircraft systems, and takeoff and landing performance, the company said.

EADS North America has restructured its defense business into EADS North America Defense Company, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. said Sept. 29. The new company is a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS North America, Inc., operating under a special security agreement to regulate and ease the management of classified information through procedures establishing industrial security and export control measures, the company said. James Mulato will serve as CEO and the company will be located in Arlington, Va.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Airborne Laser (ABL) program plans to order more iodine for the ABL's kill laser because the current batch has not performed properly in testing, possibly due to excessive moisture in the chemical, an MDA spokesman said late Sept. 28.

The Netherlands has requested Secure Mobile Anti-Jam Reliable Tactical Terminals (SMART-T) and M998A1 Humvees, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Sept. 28. The Netherlands is seeking seven SMART-Ts and seven Humvees for a total contract value of up to $71 million, DSCA said.

Lockheed Martin's Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) team recently completed airborne and ground demonstrations of potential sensors for the vehicle, the company announced Sept. 29.

Comprehensive avionics upgrades of the Australian air force's C-130J and C-130H full-flight simulators have recently been completed by CAE Inc. of Montreal, the company said Sept. 29. The simulators are located in Richmond, New South Wales, Australia.

MERGER: Sensytech Inc. and Argon Engineering Associates have completed their merger, the companies said Sept. 29. Company stockholders approved a name change, from Sensytech to ARGON ST Inc. The company's headquarters will be in Fairfax, Va.

The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) has made 12 Phase 1 awards for six-month studies beginning in October. The proposals selected include work on moon-based infrared telescopes, large swarms of picosats, a lunar space elevator, and redesigning living organisms to survive on Mars. A complete list of winning proposals and abstracts is available on the Web at http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2004/0930niac_phase1.html.

BAE Systems North America has agreed to purchase Alphatech for $88.4 million, BAE Systems said Sept. 28. Alphatech specializes in intelligent systems, multi-intelligence fusion and image and signal processing for the Department of Defense and other government intelligence agencies. It employs 322 people and is headquartered in Burlington, Mass.