Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy completed the first flight of the BQM-74F subsonic aerial target on Aug. 29, the company said Sept. 1. The flight was conducted at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division sea range at Point Mugu, Calif. The target flew nearly an hour, met all its test objectives, and was successfully recovered, the company said. The BQM-74F, unveiled last month (DAILY, Aug. 23), can fly 70% farther than the E model, is 15% faster and has 75% more endurance, Northrop Grumman said.
Sept. 5 - 8 -- 9th World Summit for Satellite Financing, Hotel Intercontinental, Paris, France. For more information email euroconsult, [email protected] or go to www.euroconsult-ec.com. Sept. 8 - 9 -- Next Generation Tactical Data Links, "Opportunities and Requirements," Holiday Inn Tysons Corner, McLean, Va. For more information go to www.technologytraining.com.
Winning the war on terrorism, using better business practices and improving training and education for sailors and Marines are three top priorities for the U.S. Navy as it moves forward, according to Dionel M. Aviles, undersecretary of the Navy.
ACQUIRED: General Dynamics completed its acquisition of Itronix Corp., the company said Sept. 2. Itronix, of Spokane, Wash., makes wireless, rugged mobile computing systems. The 450-employee company is now part of General Dynamics C4 Systems. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
DEFENSE ACCORD: Switzerland's government is seeking parliamentary approval of a cross-border air force defense accord with Italy to guard against a terrorist attack during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin next February, the Swiss Information Service says. Switzerland's cabinet says an agreement is needed because the Olympics will be held so close to the Swiss border, although the accord would not be limited to the duration of the games. An agreement would improve communications between the countries and their ability to respond to a threat, the cabinet says.
The Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) development effort has gotten off to a quick start to meet the U.S. Army's goal of rapidly fielding the aircraft, an industry official said Sept. 2.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. Army troops are using the portable Raven unmanned aerial vehicle throughout Iraq, but units charged with patrolling Baghdad have found it unsuitable for use in the congested airspace of the Iraqi capital. The Raven gives Army units greater control over their "situational awareness," said Maj. Raul Benitez, intelligence officer of the 4th Brigade Combat Team. "The best thing about it is we're able to push it down to the lower echelons, to the company and platoon level," Benitez said.
SHIPYARD EQUIPMENT: Most major Northrop Grumman Corp. shipyard equipment in the Gulf Coast region, such as cranes and most fabrication facilities, appears to have weathered Hurricane Katrina but is inoperable, according to company and U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command updates. All Ship Systems facilities sustained some structural damage and will stay closed until final damage assessments are complete and basic services are restored, the company says. "All six ships located at Ship Systems facilities successfully weathered the storm," Northrop Grumman says.
A story in the Sept. 1 issue of The DAILY, headlined "Iran act changes affecting NASA could pass House soon," incorrectly named a committee working on the issue due to incorrect information. The House Science Committee is working with the House International Relations Committee on the issue.
DEEPWATER C4ISR: The first round of upgrades to the U.S. Coast Guard's aging, unconnected legacy ships and aircraft that will allow them to communicate across the Homeland Security and Defense departments will be finished in 2009, says the joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. which is running the Deepwater recapitalization program. Further C4ISR upgrades scheduled from 2008 to 2011 are to improve joint operations and decision support, with a focus on Sector Command Center integration and local- and port-level intelligence tools.
JET DEBUT: The T-50 Golden Eagle jet trainer and light attack aircraft will make its South Korea debut in October at the Seoul Air Show 2005, the country's Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy says. The show will be held at Seoul Airport from Oct. 18-23. Event organizer Korea Aerospace Industries developed the aircraft with Lockheed Martin, and the companies are marketing it internationally (DAILY, Feb. 14). KAI says it hopes the T-50 will eventually capture one-fourth of the world jet trainer market.
WINDS OF CHANGE: Merrill Lynch analysts say they expect to see more interest in Washington over the coming weeks and months in the expeditionary, amphibious aspect of the U.S. military. Hurricane Katrina-borne debate could insulate Army and Marine Corps ground forces from Quadrennial Defense Review cuts and may spawn more interest in the ability to rapidly deploy these forces and provide infrastructure and essential services.
The U.S. military on Sept. 2 continued its efforts to provide help to the Gulf Coast region in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Defense Department said. The U.S. Coast Guard said it has rescued more than 3,000 people off rooftops and from flooded neighborhoods. In addition, 113 DOD helicopters, about half from the National Guard and half from active-duty Navy, Army and Air Force units, were continuing to support search and recovery missions.
The U.S. Navy and Air Force are dispatching a number of vessels and aircraft to aid Hurricane Katrina relief operations, the Defense Department said Sept. 1. Thousands of Army and Air National Guard members also are responding, and the Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. is sending aircraft.
VIBRATION CONTROL: Sikorsky Aircraft was given an $11 million U.S. Navy contract modification for developing and installing its Active Vibration Control System for MH-60R helicopter low-rate initial production aircraft, the U.S. Department of Defense said Aug. 31. The work mostly will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is to be finished in October 2007.
Two contractors have been chosen by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for the first phase of the Walrus program, intended to develop and evaluate a huge airlift vehicle capable of transporting a payload of more than 500 tons to a distance of 12,000 nautical miles in less than a week. Walrus, in contrast to earlier generation airships, "will be a heavier-than-air vehicle and will generate lift through a combination of aerodynamics, thrust vectoring and gas buoyancy generation and management," DARPA said.
Israel Aircraft Industries and Elbit Systems will jointly supply unmanned aerial vehicles to Turkey's armed forces, the companies said Sept. 1. The contract for the UAVs is worth $150 million, which the Israel-based companies will split evenly as part of their Israel UAV Partnership joint venture. The UAVs will be delivered over the next three years, and will be operated by the Turkish military.
DIVIDEND: TAT Technologies Ltd. of Gedera, Israel, said Aug. 31 that it will pay shareholders a dividend of 18 cents per share on Oct. 20. The aerospace equipment maker said the dividend payout will total more than $1 million.
READY FOR LAUNCH: International Launch Services plans to launch the Anik F1R satellite for Telesat Canada on Sept. 9 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, the company said Sept. 1. The satellite, which will carry 24 C-band and 32 Ku-band transponders, will be launched on a Proton M/Breeze M combination, ILS said.
Savi Technology has completed a series of radio frequency identification (RFID) demonstration projects with the Israeli Defense Force to evaluate the effectiveness of RFID systems in tracking military supplies, the company said Sept. 1. The projects involved tracking and managing pallets, delivery trucks, tank power units and weapons containers, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Savi said.
With the Mars Exploration Rover "Spirit" finally perched atop the summit of Husband Hill in Mars' Gusev Crater region, mission planners are taking measurements of the surrounding area to develop a route and schedule for descending the other side. Spirit's slow climb has taken well more than a year, bringing the golf cart-sized rover to a point 106 meters (348 feet) higher than the area where it first landed in January 2004.
