The first Wedgetail early warning and control aircraft for Australia has completed a series of flight tests ahead of schedule, according to an official of Boeing Co., which is building six of the highly modified 737-700 jets for the Australian Defence Force. The airworthiness tests, conducted at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and in Mesa, Ariz., beginning in June, included takeoff performance, flight handling, simulated air-to-air refueling and nacelle and engine component cooling.
BAE SYSTEMS' solid-state recorder assemblies and radiation-hardened RAD6000 computers are bound for the planet Mercury aboard the spacecraft MESSENGER, the company said Aug. 31. A Delta II rocket carrying MESSENGER was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. on Aug. 3, beginning its 6.5-year, 4.9-billion-mile journey. MESSENGER will be the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury after it arrives in March 2011, and will provide the first images of the entire planet.
INAVSAT CONSORTIUM has delivered its offer to the Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU) to become the Galileo contractor, the consortium announced Sept. 1. If chosen, the consortium would deploy the Galileo satellite constellation and operate all subsequent services. The consortium is one of three final bidders that were chosen in February. The preferred bidder is expected to be announced by December 2004, and contract negotiations are to be completed by December 2005.
Tel-Instrument Electronics Corp. has won a $1.6 million contract to supply T-36M ramp test sets to the Army National Guard, the company said Sept. 1. Tel-Instrument Electronics expects to complete delivery of all units during the current fiscal year. Tel-Instrument Electronics manufactures and designs avionics test and measurement systems for the general aviation, global commercial air transport and aerospace and defense markets. The company provides instruments to repair, calibrate, measure and test communications and airborne navigation equipment.
The first test flight of the Complementary Low Altitude Weapon Systems (CLAWS) was completed successfully at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., according to Raytheon Co. Company officials said Sept. 1 that all mission objectives were achieved with the launcher in full tactical configuration. U.S Marines operated the equipment.
IRVINE SENSORS CORP., Costa Mesa, Calif. Chris Toffales, the vice chairman of Communications Power Industries, has been appointed to the board of directors. ITT INDUSTRIES, Clifton, N.J. John Capeci has been promoted to vice president and director for business development of the Avionics Division. NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP., Herndon, Va. Steven R. Perkins has been named vice president, business development and strategy for the information technology sector. RAYTHEON CO., El Segundo, Calif.
LOCKHEED MARTIN said a classified National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) satellite lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Aug. 31, marking the final flight of the company's Atlas II series of rockets. Liftoff of the Atlas IIAS took place at 7:17 p.m. EDT from Pad 36A, followed by payload separation 73 minutes later. The Atlas II now has logged 63 flights since its introduction in December 1991. The mission also marked the final flight of the Rocketdyne MA-5A engine, which has been in service for 47 years.
SpaceDev will begin development of small satellite bus technologies under a $740,000 contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory, the company said Sept. 1. SpaceDev is to design a system that could be integrated and launched in hours or days, not years, the Poway, Calif.-based company said.
The second operational interceptor for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system is slated for installation at Fort Greely, Alaska, "within the next few days," a Missile Defense Agency spokesman said Sept. 1. Weather, especially the desire for "favorable wind conditions," will determine the specific timing for inserting the Initial Defensive Capability 2 (IDC-2) interceptor missile in an underground silo, the spokesman told The DAILY. The first GMD interceptor, IDC-1, was placed in the ground July 22 (DAILY, July 26).
The addition of armor kits and a new .50-caliber ramp gun to the Marine Corps' CH-53E Sea Stallion are highlighting the changing mission for the heavy-lift helicopter, which is more frequently being required to go into harm's way without escort, according to program officials.
E-10A BMC2: The U.S. Air Force is on track to pick a prime contractor in mid-September to develop the Battle Management Command and Control (BMC2) system for the E-10A Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A), an Air Force spokesman said Sept. 1. Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are competing for the BMC2 contract. The E-10A is designed to replace the E-8C Joint Stars air-to-ground surveillance aircraft. The Air Force plans to use a Boeing 767-400ER for an E-10A test bed. Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are developing the radar.
Fokker Services, part of Stork Aerospace, will modify two Fokker 60 aircraft for the Netherlands air force, the company said Aug. 30. The modifications will include an enhanced radar system, additional fuel tanks and special observation windows, the company said. The work is worth 12 million euros ($15.6 million). The aircraft will take over air reconnaissance of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba from P-3C Orion aircraft, which are being retired. They will be stationed in the Netherlands Antilles for up to two years.
Metal Storm Ltd. will take the lead role in a U.S. Navy program to develop a system for defeating rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), the company said Aug. 31. The program is part of a Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research award to the Australian company's U.S. subsidiary, Metal Storm Inc. It is intended to demonstrate the feasibility of producing an anti-RPG system that would incorporate Metal Storm's electronically fired stacked ammunition system with a sensor, mount and fire control system provided by Raytheon Co.
BUY COMPLETED: Curtiss-Wright Corp. has completed the acquisition of Synergy Microsystems, Inc. with a $49 million stock purchase, Curtiss-Wright said Aug. 31. Synergy will operate as a business unit of the Motion Control segment of Curtiss-Wright, based in Gastonia, N.C. Synergy specializes in the integration, manufacture, and design of single- and multiprocessor single-board computers for VME and Compact PCI systems to meet military, aerospace, industrial and commercial market needs.
The USS Momsen, the Navy's newest guided missile destroyer, which was commissioned Aug. 28, is the first warship equipped with Lockheed Martin's Remote Minehunting System (RMS), the company said. The RMS uses an unmanned, semisubmersible vehicle that can be operated remotely. The RMS uses a variable depth sensor to transmit information to the ship using real-time data links, Lockheed Martin said.
The aircraft division of Naval Air Systems Command awarded a $15.5 million contract modification for the procurement of 270,000 hours of engineering and technical services to BAE Systems Applied Technologies Inc., in Rockville, Md. Paula Sandin, a spokeswoman for BAE Systems, said the contract would provide telecommunications for fixed, transportable and ground mobile systems. System support includes design, development, integration, installation, test and evaluation, fielding, certification, maintenance and logistics.
DELAYED: The sentencing for former Air Force and Boeing official Darleen Druyun has been moved to Oct. 1, the U.S. Justice Department said Aug. 31. Druyun pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in April for covering up her job negotiations with a Boeing executive while overseeing aerial tanker negotiations between Boeing and the U.S. Air Force (DAILY, April 21). Boeing fired Druyun and Chief Financial Officer Mike Sears, who had negotiated with her for the job (DAILY, Nov. 25, 2003). She could receive a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Guinness World Records has recognized the world speed record set by NASA's "Hyper-X" X-43A experimental aircraft during its successful Mach 6.83 flight over the Pacific Ocean in March, NASA announced Aug. 30. Traveling at almost seven times the speed of sound (nearly 5,000 miles per hour), the unmanned 12-foot demonstrator flew for 11 seconds under power from its supersonic-combustion ramjet (scramjet) engine during a flight March 27 (DAILY, March 30).
An evaluation team working for Ireland's Ministry of Defence is considering three bids for utility and light utility helicopters, and is expected to complete its work by the end of October, the ministry said. AgustaWestland, Eurocopter and Sikorsky have submitted proposals to supply the helicopters. A contract is expected to be awarded by the end of the year.
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) has won a $1 billion contract to provide 12 new NH-90 troop lift helicopters to the Australian army, the contractor and the Australian government announced Aug. 31. EADS was awarded the project over Sikorsky and its UH-60M Black Hawk variant.
Orbital Sciences Corp. has announced the second successful flight of the GQM-163A Supersonic Sea-Skimming Target (SSST) system it is developing for the U.S. Navy. The target, also known as Coyote, flew Aug. 27 at the Navy's missile test range in southern California, OSC said Aug. 31. The first successful flight took place last May. The target is being developed to replace the Vandal.
Vice Adm. Phillip M. Balisle, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command, said the combination of contractors and government workers in the nation's shipyards has created a stable, flexible work force in an unpredictable environment.
