Recent action on Capitol Hill has shown that space weapon proponents need to make a better case for why their systems are needed, according to Randall Correll, a senior scientist at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in McLean, Va., and co-author of a recent paper on responsive space systems.
Pratt & Whitney is modifying the lead engine for the U.S. Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to address an erosion problem that surfaced in the propulsion system almost two months ago.
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) plans to grow its leap-ahead technology program to total 10 percent of the ONR budget by 2006, Maribel Soto, director of ONR's SwampWorks, said Aug. 4 at the Naval-Industry R&D Partnership Conference 2004 in Washington. "Currently, 'leap ahead' is 2 percent of the ONR funding, as it has been in the past, but will grow to 10 percent of the funding," Soto said. The rest of ONR's funding is divided between basic science and applied science efforts.
Congress approved fiscal year 2005 funding increases for the military's ground-launched munitions programs, including the Hellfire and Javelin missiles systems and the Precision Guided Mortar Munition (PGMM). House and Senate lawmakers approved $416.2 billion in defense spending for FY '05. The bill has been sent to President Bush for his signature, which is scheduled for Aug. 5. The committee approved $8.5 million for the PGMM. The House had approved $6 million for the program, while the Senate had voted for $10 million.
ALLIANCE ENTERPRISE CORP. has agreed with HYSTER AEROSPACE USA CORP. to acquire the exclusive license rights to market, manufacture and develop an aerial system to detect, locate and destroy plastic and metal land mines, Alliance Enterprise Corp. said Aug. 3. The aerial system includes a hybrid aircraft, the HYSTAR LML. It can carry sensors, fly vertically backward and sideways, and rotate while flying in any direction or in a hovering position. It also can fly at extremely slow speeds and maintain an altitude as low as a hovercraft.
Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer will benefit greatly from its win as part of the Lockheed Martin-led consortium that beat out a Northrop Grumman team Aug. 2 for the Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) program, according to industry analysts. "This is really a breakthrough for Embraer, that doesn't currently have any aircraft in the DOD inventory, in terms of the number of aircraft involved," Paul Nisbet, an aerospace and defense analyst with JSA Research, told The DAILY.
Curtiss-Wright Corp., located in Roseland, N.J., has been awarded the first contract for the Army's future electromagnetic (EM) gun. The company received a 36-month, $30.8 million contract to design, develop, build and test a compact pulsed power supply (PPS) to power the weapon system that is scheduled to be deployed after 2010 as part of the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS). The PPS, a new technology in the advanced concept development stage, is the first of the gun's components to be developed, a Curtiss-Wright spokeswoman told The DAILY.
Rather than putting military transformation on hold, as some critics have said, operations in Iraq are accelerating the pace of transformation, according to Vice Adm. Arthur Cebrowski (USN-Ret.), director of the Pentagon's Office of Force Transformation (OFT).
EVANS & SUTHERLAND COMPUTER CORP. has been awarded a $1.6 million contract from NLX LLC to upgrade the visual systems for the U.S. Air Force's Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) E-8C Weapons System Trainer (WST), the company said Aug. 3. ES&S will install a three-channel EPX-5000 system into an existing simulator, and also new ESCP-2000 projectors with auto-align capability and an EPX-5000 system for a second E-8C WST built by NLX. These systems will be delivered to NLX equipped with three high-resolution insets and a whole-earth database.
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved 10 of 13 fiscal year 2005 appropriations bills while the Senate has voted to pass only one, leaving open the question of whether Congress will roll the remaining unfinished measures into an omnibus spending bill. Before leaving Washington for the August recess, the House completed its work on the commerce, defense, energy and water, foreign operations, homeland security and military construction bills. Unfinished bills include VA-HUD-NASA and transportation, which funds aviation safety and security.
TITAN CORP. has been awarded a five-year contract to provide a variety of services for the U.S. Navy's Space and Warfare Systems Command Systems Center Charleston, S.C., the company said Aug. 3. Under the deal, Titan will provide security support, configuration data management, integrated logistics, program management support and systems engineering. The services will support the Navy's command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems and other command and control networks.
EMS TECHNOLOGIES reported second-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $888,000, or 8 cents per share, on revenues of $64.5 million, on July 29. For the first six months of 2004, EMS reported continuing operations earnings of $2.8 million, or 25 cents per share, on revenues of $128.6 million.
GENERAL DYNAMICS has chosen BAE SYSTEMS to provide the radio communications system for the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), General Dynamics said July 27. BAE Systems Electronic Systems will design the entire communication suite to provide the Navy an open architecture-base, cost-effective communications system, the company said. The work will be performed primarily in California. "We are proud to be part of the General Dynamics team.
UAV CONTRACT: The SENTEL Corp. has awarded General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems a contract to provide unmanned aerial vehicle training support to the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center in Fallon, Nev. General Dynamics will supply the Aerostar UAV system and various payloads under license from Aeronautics Defense Systems Ltd. of Israel. The company also will provide the required support personnel and mission operators. The Aerostar UAV system provides surveillance and military operations on four continents.
GENERAL DYNAMICS has been awarded a $19 million contract to enhance data networks for the Navy at 16 locations worldwide, the company said Aug. 2. General Dynamics will implement technology enhancements to the server farm and information assurance systems installed under the $150 million Navy Base Level Information Infrastructure (BLII) program awarded to the company in 2001.
ROCKWELL COLLINS has been selected by the U.S. Air Force Collins for the initial system development and demonstration phase of the KG-3X Cryptographic Modernization Program, the company said Aug. 2. The program is designed to provide the U.S. military with highly reliable, protected, survivable and assured strategic communications for airborne portions of the Fixed Submarine Broadcast System and the Minimum Essential Emergency Communications Network. The KG-3X units are used for the strategic transmission of emergency action messages.
Israeli government officials and defense aircraft industry representatives said last week's test of the Arrow missile defense system off the coast of California was a success and that they plan to deploy the system as a national defense against threats from hostile countries.
NEW DELHI - The Chilean military is evaluating whether to purchase India's Dhruv advanced light helicopter, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.'s chairman and managing director, N.R. Mohanty, said. Dhruv is being marketed through a joint venture between India's HAL and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI). Chile will make a decision soon, Mohanty said.
NASA's Office of Exploration Systems has released its second Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) requesting technologies to support the agency's vision for space exploration. Announced late July 30, the new BAA solicits technologies for the Human and Robotic Technology (H&RT) theme within NASA's Exploration Systems office. It seeks proposals for technologies related to two of the programs within H&RT - the Advanced Space Technology Program (ASTP) and the Technology Maturation Program (TMP).
ALCATEL has delivered the second flight model of the Helios II high-resolution optical imaging instrument to EADS ASTRIUM, Alcatel said July 28. It will be integrated on the Helios IIB satellite in Toulouse, France, which is scheduled for launch in late 2009. The instrument will ensure the continuity of Helios II's Earth observation mission, Alcatel said. Helios II is the second generation of the Helios I security and defense program. The system is made up of the Helios IIA and Helios IIB satellites.
RAPTOR TESTING: An F/A-22 Raptor from the Combined Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., was tested at the Benefield Anechoic Facility for the first time last month, the Air Force said Aug. 2. The tests were to ensure the aircraft's systems didn't interfere with its communications, navigation and identification systems, the Air Force said.
