EADS GROWTH: The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) will continue to push for growth outside Europe, co-CEO Rainer Hertrich tells the DAILY. The company's recent helicopter win in Australia (DAILY, Sept. 1) is an example of how "we are in the global position today," he says. Expansion in the U.S. is a mix of partnering with other companies and working alone, but Hertrich says the acquisition of U.S. companies still is a possibility. EADS is not "desperately looking," but "if there is an opportunity, we will do it," he says.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The amount of uncontrolled airspace over the United States is going to change, according to Gen. Ralph E. "Ed" Eberhart, commander of U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command. "The amount of uncontrolled airspace over this nation, where you don't have to be squawking [transmitting a transponder code] and talking [to a ground control facility] ... is going to change over time," Eberhart said Sept. 8.
If NASA embarks on its plan to return humans to the moon, the agency's total funding needs through 2020 might be $32 billion greater than its current projections, according to a recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). A $32 billion increase would represent a 12 percent growth relative to NASA's total projected funding of $271 billion through 2020, according to the CBO's report. It would represent a 33 percent increase relative to the $95 billion NASA has projected for space exploration over that same period.
Aircraft electronics manufacturer Rockwell Collins anticipates revenues of about $3.2 billion in fiscal 2005, a 10 percent increase over projected fiscal year 2004 revenues, it said Sept. 9. Earnings per share are projected to be $1.85 to $1.95. Total segment operating margin for fiscal 2005 is expected to improve to about 17 percent, compared with about 16 percent projected for fiscal 2004, said Rockwell Collins Chairman, President and CEO Clay Jones.
ADDING COMPANIES: Team US101 is adding 11 more companies in Ohio and West Virginia to supply components for its medium-lift helicopter that is competing for the next-generation presidential helicopter program. The Ohio companies are DuPont Vespel Parts & Shapes; Auxitrol Aerospace Business Group; Unison Industries; Enginetics Aerospace Corp.; Fluid Regulators Corp.; Honeywell Lighting & Electronics; Pako; Thermagon; Tyco Electronics; and Voss Industries. The West Virginia company is Star Technologies.
Operational readiness for the U.S. Air Force's KC-135 aerial tanker fleet has been reasonably steady and corrosion has not been a major contributor in cases where adverse trends have been observed, according to a review by the Center for Naval Analysis (CNA). The findings were part of a summary analysis of the material condition of the KC-135 aerial tankers, which is part of the debate on whether they should be replaced with new Boeing-built tankers or other aircraft.
NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center is planning to develop four new classes of high-altitude/long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicles for research missions over the next 14 years, according to John Del Frate, Dryden's project manager for HALE UAV technology development. Dryden's UAV technology work is moving away from the Joint Sponsored Research Agreement model, on which the center's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) UAV program was based, toward a more traditional competitive approach.
Investigators have concluded that the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) failed a recent flight test because a "foreign object" in the weapon caused the missile to lose power seconds before it was to hit its target, the U.S. Air Force said Sept. 10. An Air Force failure review board found that the foreign object damaged the missile's warhead fuze, creating the electrical malfunction, the Air Force said in a written response to questions. Air Force officials did not describe the unwelcome object or say how it managed to reach the fuze.
DISTRIBUTION: Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems of Reston, Va., will build two Army Internet Protocol Theater Satellite Broadcast Manager terminals for the Global Broadcast Service program under a $6.5 million contract modification, the Department of Defense said Sept. 10. The program is a satellite-based system for distributing video, imagery and other data files for users around the world, DOD said.
Sept. 13 - 15 - The Air Force Association presents Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition 2004, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington. Go to www.afa.org for more information. Sept. 13 - 16 -- 10 Annual Flight Simulator Engineering & Maintenance Conference (FSEMC), Adam's Mark, Tulsa, Okla. Contact Roger S. Goldberg at (410) 266-2915, email [email protected] or go to www.arinc.com/fsemc.
BUYING: Koor Industries Ltd., an Israeli investment holding company involved in diversified fields, including defense electronics, says it has signed an agreement to acquire 32.5 percent of military communications manufacturer Tadiran Communications Ltd. for about $141 million. Koor is acquiring the shares from Trefoil Israel Partner II LP, of the Shamrock group, and from FIMI Israel Mezzanine Fund LP.
Northrop Grumman has prevailed over Boeing and Lockheed Martin in the competition to develop the Battle Management Command and Control (BMC2) system for the U.S. Air Force's E-10A Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A), the Defense Department announced Sept. 10. Northrop Grumman said it expects the BMC2 development effort to be worth more than $300 million, including an initial increment of at least $50 million.
SAVING GENESIS: After taking preliminary peeks into NASA's Genesis sample return canister, scientists are increasingly optimistic that the Sept. 8 crash will not ruin the mission's science yield. "Things are looking much better today than they felt on Wednesday," said Don Sevilla, Genesis payload recovery lead engineer, during a teleconference Sept. 10. One of the major experiments onboard - the solar wind concentrator - appears to be intact, according to NASA.
B-2 RADAR: The U.S. Air Force is launching the next phase of a radar antenna replacement effort for the B-2 bomber. Northrop Grumman Corp. has received a $388 million contract for the system development and demonstration phase of the active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna. Raytheon Co., which will build the antenna, is expected to get a $200 million SDD contract from Northrop Grumman, which will install the antenna.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Russian officials, in the wake of the loss of two airliners in that country to terrorist actions, have expressed interest in operations of the U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command, according to Gen. Ed Eberhart, commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command. He said the United States and Russia might cooperate in this area.
Launch of the AMC-15 satellite for SES Americom has been delayed to allow additional testing of one of the Proton booster's avionics subsystems, launch provider International Launch Services said Sept. 9. The satellite was to be launched in late September from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, but the subsystem is being returned to the Russian manufacturer, ILS said. A new launch date will be set after the assessment is completed.
Despite the severe damage done to NASA's Genesis sample return capsule when it crashed into the ground in Utah Sept. 8, the science team remains "very hopeful" of getting good scientific results out of the mission, according to David Lindstrom, Genesis program scientist at NASA headquarters.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is making or about to make progress on several key fronts, a spokesman for prime contractor Lockheed Martin said Sept. 9. Lockheed Martin recently began testing a new facility that will coat the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to provide stealth and other characteristics. The 82,000-square-foot addition to Lockheed Martin's plant in Fort Worth, Texas, will use people and robots to apply coatings to the aircraft's exterior. A ceremony to dedicate the facility is slated for Sept. 14.
Northrop Grumman Corp. and the U.S. Army have demonstrated the first mobile operational deployment of the Distributed Common Ground System - Army (DCGS-A) with the system's Spiral 2, the company said Sept. 9. The DCGS-A is a system of ground stations that processes intelligence from a variety of sources and enhances open-system, multi-intelligence data sharing and interoperability among the U.S. armed services. Beyond 2006, the Army will be moving to the DCGS. In the interim, the service is using DCGS-A, which has spiraled-in capabilities (DAILY, July 1).
LAUNCH ORDERS: Arianespace has signed two new launch contracts with the DirecTV Group and also has been chosen by PanAmSat to launch the Galaxy 17 spacecraft, the company announced Sept. 9. The DirecTV contracts cover the launch of the Spaceway 2 satellite in April 2005 and an unnamed direct-to-home satellite. Galaxy 17 is expected to fly in late 2006. All three spacecraft will be launched on Ariane 5 rockets from Arianespace's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Global military air transport is on the rise and will be worth $53 billion through 2013, according to a new report from Forecast International. Actual shipments and revenues will be higher during the second five-year period than in the first. The world's air forces will take delivery of 922 new transports, the analysis group said Sept. 9. "In the past 10 years, a lot of C-130s were built, but they were of lower value than will be the new deliveries," FI aviation analyst Bill Dane told The DAILY.
The second operational interceptor for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system was installed at Fort Greely, Alaska, late last week and will be joined by the third one "probably within the next 10 days or so," a Missile Defense Agency spokesman said Sept. 9. The first interceptor, Initial Defensive Capability 1 (IDC-1), was installed in an underground silo July 22 (DAILY, July 26). The second interceptor, IDC-2, was placed in the ground Sept. 4.
