NEW DELHI - India's air force has received nine upgraded Jaguar combat aircraft and a Lakshya reusable aerial target drone from government-owned defense manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. The upgraded Jaguars have been fitted with an indigenous avionics suite with night attack and precision bombing capability, as well as an improved airframe for new countermeasures armament pods.
NEW DELHI - The Indian Space Research Organisation plans to hold the first ground test of its indigenously developed cryogenic stage for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in October. Integration work for the test is under way, according to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Station. The cryogenic engine for the stage has been test-fired several times. If the ground test is successful, a flight-test of the stage will be conducted.
NO COMMENT: Ronald M. Sega, the Bush Administration's nominee to become undersecretary of the Air Force and the next Defense Department executive agent for space, is staying mum, for now, on a proposed Boeing Co.-Lockheed Martin Corp. joint venture to provide government space launches (DAILY, May 3).
STANDOFF DETECTOR: A Kansas State University professor says he has won U.S. Marine Corps interest and funding to develop a standoff detector for bomb detection without having to get close to suspicious containers. Bill Dunn, an associate professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering, says his device analyzes pulses of gamma and neutron radiation that reverberate off a target to detect elemental signatures. Dunn has teamed with M2 Technologies Inc.
The U.S. Air Force's first C-130J deployment to the Middle East was "incredibly successful," according to Col. Larry Gallogly, commander of the 143rd Airlift Wing at Quonset Point, R.I., who oversaw the 120-day operation. Two of the Lockheed Martin aircraft, four crews and associated maintenance gear operated in Iraq and Afghanistan, and flew "sporadic" sorties to the Horn of Africa, Gallogly told reporters at the Pentagon July 28.
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TOMAHAWK OFFICE: The U.S. Navy's Tomahawk missile program offices have consolidated into a single new organization, PMA-280, that will be "the Navyís premier acquisition command and life-cycle manager for the Tomahawk Weapons System," the service says. Dubbed the Tomahawk Weapons System program office, the organization includes the formerly separate Tomahawk Weapon Control System office (PMA-282) and the Tomahawk All-Up-Round program management office (PMA-280). The office is located at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.
On-orbit inspections of shuttle Discovery have shown no serious damage that would prevent the orbiter from safely re-entering Earth's atmosphere, according to NASA. Shuttle astronauts used the new Orbiter Boom Sensor System on July 29 to perform a series of "focused inspections" of six areas where the orbiter may have suffered damage during launch, including the chipped tile near the nosewheel landing gear door (DAILY, July 28).
A decision could soon be made on where Lockheed Martin will do its assembly work as the prime contractor for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's targets program. Jim Tevepaugh, Lockheed Martin's program director for targets and countermeasures, said nine potential sites across the United States are being examined and that a decision is expected this fall. A mix of new and existing facilities probably will be chosen, Tevepaugh told The DAILY July 28.
Bell Helicopter Textron has been picked over Boeing to be the prime contractor for the U.S. Army's Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH), the Defense Department announced late July 29.
JSF CUTS? Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita denies recent reports that decision-makers for the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) are considering deep cuts in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, saying they are still discussing broad capabilities, not specific programs. Program officials have said they expect the Air Force's planned procurement of 1,763 F-35s to decline ultimately because that figure amounts to a one-for-one replacement of the F-16 and A-10, a ratio the Air Force no longer believes it needs (DAILY, June 15). Air Force Brig. Gen.
The U.S. Air Force is resisting a legislative effort sponsored by the Senate Armed Services Committee that would authorize $200 million for up to two fully equipped, dedicated, aeromedical evacuation (AE) aircraft for seriously wounded and ill military patients.
PENTAGON LEADERS: The White House plans to designate former Rep. Preston "Pete" Geren (D-Texas) as acting Air Force secretary and nominate Navy acquisition chief John Young to be director of defense research and engineering.
TUAVS: The U.S. Army has awarded AAI Corp., a subsidiary of United Industrial Corp., a $129 million contract to provide 12 Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) systems, the company said July 29. The systems include 48 advanced RQ-7B air vehicles, 24 ground control stations and associated components and support equipment. They will be delivered over the next 18 months.
HADITHAH, Iraq - Marines deployed in Iraq are using encrypted hand-held Global Positioning System equipment to expedite route and operations reports over radio networks.
SBIRS INFLATION: Lockheed Martin Corp., the prime contractor for the U.S. Air Force's missile-detecting Space Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High), is bracing for the possibility that the Defense Department will conclude that the program has invoked a Nunn-McCurdy Act provision requiring that defense programs be canceled or recertified if their costs grow by 25% or more.
COVERED: The House's NASA authorization bill, H.R. 3070, would extend NASA's ability to indemnify or insure developers of experimental aerospace vehicles operated by civilian developers from damage claims by third parties through 2015, the Congressional Budget Office says. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin would be able to indemnify or insure a single event for up to $1.5 billion (in 1989 dollars) beyond the developer's private insurance coverage, regardless of whether amounts are available from appropriations to pay such claims, CBO reports.
Canada is providing 105 armored vehicles to help the peace effort in Darfur, Canada's defense department said July 28. One hundred Grizzly general purpose armored vehicles and five Husky armored recovery vehicles are being loaned for one year to the African Union Mission in Sudan. Spare parts will be included, along with training, maintenance assistance and personal protective equipment.
Rockwell Collins reported a 20% increase in sales for its fiscal 2005 third quarter. Sales totaled $890 million, the company said, and net income was up 33% over the third quarter of fiscal 2004, reaching $101 million, or 56 cents per share.
The Navy is spearheading what it calls a "Manhattan Project" to counter the threat posed by improvised explosive devices, which still account for three-quarters of U.S. casualties in Iraq. The project sprang from a challenge posed by Navy Secretary Gordon England to Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Jay Cohen to develop technologies capable of detecting and neutralizing IEDs at safe distances from a moving vehicle. Most IED attacks target convoys, and most are discovered only after they explode.
The U.S. Navy will commission another Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the Halsey, on July 30 at the Naval Air Station, Coronado, Calif. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will deliver the ceremony's principal address while Heidi Cooke Halsey, Anne Halsey-Smith and Alice "Missy" Spruance Talbot will serve as sponsors of the ship named for their grandfather. Fleet Adm. William F. "Bull" Halsey Jr. (1882-1959) was the fourth and last five-star Navy admiral. The 9,300-ton Halsey is the 47th of 62 planned Arleigh Burke vessels.
EDO Corp. said July 28 that earnings for its second quarter of fiscal 2005 totaled $6.1 million, a 46% increase from last year's $4.2 million. Second-quarter revenue also was up, reaching $156.1 million, an increase of 24% over the same period last year. Revenue for the first half of 2005 was $272.6 million, a 14% jump over last year. The order backlog for the company, which supplies armament, defense eletronics and other systems, increased to $535.1 million.
