Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.'s plans to acquire Schweizer Aircraft Corp., a privately owned U.S. company specializing in light helicopter, reconnaissance aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), would be a good move in positioning Sikorsky in the UAV market, according to two aerospace and defense analysts. Schweizer manufactures three proprietary helicopters, including the unmanned Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing tactical UAV and the Argus 300, a multipurpose unmanned utility helicopter.
NASA has fine-tuned its space shuttle return-to-flight window next year to between March 16 and April 18, aerospace agency officials said Aug. 26. Speaking on the first anniversary of the release of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) report, William Readdy, the space operations associate administrator, and Bill Parsons, the space shuttle program manager, said NASA is on track to meet the CAIB's requirements for launch.
A Bell-Boeing team plans to offer the CV-22 Osprey in the U.S. Air Force's (USAF) Personnel Recovery Vehicle (PRV) competition, an industry source said Aug. 26. The CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft is expected to join at least three helicopters in bidding for the PRV, which would replace the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter for combat search and rescue.
Engineers are trying to determine why the Arrow missile defense system missed its target during its latest flight test. The Aug. 26 event, conducted at the Point Mugu Sea Range in California, began about 10:02 a.m. Pacific time when a short-range, air-launched target was dropped from the back of a C-17 aircraft. Six minutes later, the land-based Arrow interceptor missile was launched from San Nicholas Island.
The U.S. Air Force has awarded the Boeing Co. a $54 million contract to launch four Global Positioning System (GPS) IIR satellites, the Defense Department announced Aug. 26. Although Boeing remains under suspension for ethical violations in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, the Air Force said national security needs forced it to award the contract.
DEPLOYMENT: The United Kingdom has decided to deploy six Royal Air Force Harrier GR7 aircraft to Kandahar, Afghanistan, for an initial period of nine months, said Geoff Hoon, the U.K. defense secretary. It is the first time in the current Afghanistan campaign that the U.K. has deployed combat aircraft. The Harriers will provide reconnaissance and close air support to coalition forces and the International Security Assistance Force.
MICHIGAN AEROSPACE CORP., Ann Arbor, Mich. Michael Dehring has been promoted to manager of Light Detection & Ranging Systems. NASA HEADQUARTERS, Washington John "Row" Rogacki has been named director of the University of Florida Graduate Engineering and Research Center in Shalimar, Fla. Rogacki was director of the space transportation technology division in NASA Headquarters' old Office of Aerospace Technology. NASA MARSHALL SPACEFLIGHT CENTER, Huntsville, Ala.
In tapping BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman to continue work on protecting U.S. commercial airliners from shoulder-fired missiles, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has opted to continue work on laser-jamming systems instead of decoys, which were offered by another competitor. BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman are developing laser jamming systems. A team led by United Airlines, which was not chosen to go forward, had offered expendable decoys (DAILY, June 23).
The National Security Committee of the Australian cabinet has approved government acquisition of long-range, stealthy, self-guided land-attack cruise missiles for the Royal Australian Air Force's F/A-18 fighters and its P-3 Orion maritime surveillance aircraft.
The Predator B, a successor to the U.S. Air Force's combat-proven Predator remotely piloted aircraft, is a single-engine, long-endurance, high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle designed for a variety of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, targeting, weapons delivery and scientific and commercial research.
The Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) test bed, which recently destroyed mortar rounds for the first time (DAILY, Aug. 25), may undergo more anti-mortar testing later this year, U.S. Army officials said Aug. 26. The chemical-laser test bed shot down seven medium-caliber mortar rounds during an Aug. 24 test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. Three of the rounds were airborne at the same time before being engaged by the test bed. The Army is considering conducting tests against other mortar threats in September or October.
Lockheed Martin has awarded DRS Technologies a $9.6 million contract to provide Launch Control Electronics for the MK 41 Vertical Launching System, DRS said Aug. 26. The VLS is on board the ships of allied navies and the U.S. Navy's Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Officials at U.S. Northern Command here are gathering information on the loss of two Russian airliners Aug. 24, and, if it's discovered that terrorism was involved, will match that knowledge with airliner security practices in the United States, according to Gen. Ed Eberhart, commander of NORTHCOM. The two planes crashed separately just minutes apart after leaving Moscow's Domodedovo Airport. More than 80 people were killed.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The U.S. Army plans to lead a broad study on the science and technology (S&T) needs of cruise missile defense. Michael Schexnayder, deputy to the commander for research, development and acquisition at the Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC), said the study will assess what S&T issues should be focused on in the future, including gaps that should be closed.
The market for basic and advanced lead-in trainer aircraft could be worth $42 billion from 2004-2025, spurred by the sales of fourth- and fifth-generation fighter aircraft, according to a new study by consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.
Senate leaders this week appointed a working group to examine how to reform the Senate's oversight of homeland security and intelligence as recommended by the 9/11 Commission. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Minority Leader Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) appointed the working group Aug. 24.
The U.S. Navy is set to announce a contract award Aug. 31 on its Extended Range Active Missile Program (ERAM), service officials told The DAILY. The ERAM, also known as the Standard Missile-6 (SM-6), will be compatible with the fire control system on the next-generation DD(X) destroyer and would fill the Navy's requirement for a long-range interceptor. It is intended to defeat aircraft and cruise missiles.
The U.S. Air Force plans a second presolicitation conference on the Rapid Attack Identification, Detection, and Reporting System (RAIDRS) program. The first conference was held July 20-22. The second is slated for Sept. 15-17. The purpose of the second conference, according to an Aug. 23 FedBizOpps notice from Air Force Space Command's Space and Missile Systems center, is to "continue communication with industry and further define the ... draft request for proposal (RFP)" for RAIDRS Spiral 1, or RS-1.
NASA is planning to use U.S. Navy radars to monitor space launches after data gathered in a recent launch showed they could be useful when the shuttle returns to flight. A pair of radars on loan from the USNS Pathfinder, an instrumentation ship, were used to track the launch of NASA's MEcury Surface, Space, ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) earlier this month (DAILY, Aug. 5) from Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
The U.S. Defense Department plans to take steps to make key satellites less vulnerable to various threats, including radiation from a high-altitude nuclear blast.
One of the issues the Aerospace Industries Association's Technical Operations Council (TOC) is grappling with is the Department of Defense's service and industry requirement to comply with new unique identification (UID) and radio frequency identification (RFID) rules that become effective Jan. 1, said the TOC's new head. "The military services are feeling that the UID requirements are an unfunded mandate," Bruce Mahone, AIA's new assistant vice president of technical operations, told The DAILY Aug. 25.
Teams led by BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman have been selected by the Department of Homeland Security to begin Phase II of the Counter Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) system development and demonstration program, the DHS announced Aug. 25. Each team will receive about $45 million over 18 months to build and test prototypes to determine whether a viable technology exists to address the use of shoulder-fired missiles against U.S. commercial aircraft.
ARMOR CONTRACT: Cercom Inc., a subsidiary of United Defense Industries, has been awarded a $5.9 million order for interceptor body armor inserts, the company said Aug. 25. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Acquisition Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. Work will be performed at Cercom's Vista, Calif., facility, and is to be completed by May 2005. "We're pleased to be improving troop survivability," Rich Palicka, Cercom president, said in a statement.
