A House and Senate conference committee met for the first time July 14 to iron out details of the fiscal 2005 authorization bill funding the U.S. Coast Guard, including the 20-year Integrated Deepwater System modernization program to replace the service's aging aviation and surface vessel platforms. Conferees are considering H.R. 2443, a combined version of earlier House and Senate versions, which authorizes $1.1 billion for the management of Coast Guard capital assets, including $702 million for the Deepwater program.
PRAGUE - Aero Vodochody has confirmed that it is in talks with Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation about a new agreement following press reports that Aero has lost tens of millions of dollars producing whole assemblies for Sikorsky helicopters. The Czech daily newspaper Pravo reported July 13 that Aero's costs in producing assemblies for Sikorsky S76C+ helicopters since 2000 had outstripped revenues, and that losses had reached nearly 1.5 billion Czech crowns ($59 million).
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Orbital Express satellite servicing demonstration program is gearing up to begin hardware integration early next year and is on track to launch in September 2006, according to Program Manager Lt. Col. James Shoemaker.
EITA: Five contractors will share $498 million in task orders under the U.S. Air Force's Enterprise Information Technology Acquisition program (EITA). The five-year program will provide IT services to help speed transformation initiatives for combat support operations, according to Lockheed Martin Mission Systems, which announced its part in the contract July 13.
A production-series, single-seat Eurofighter Typhoon belonging to ALENIA AERONAUTICA has had its first flight, the Finmeccanica company said. The aircraft, IS001, has flown for 59 minutes piloted by the company's chief test pilot for combat aircraft, the company said July 12. Deliveries to the Italian air force of the single-seat aircraft are scheduled to begin at the end of the year, once type acceptance has been completed.
In light of U.S. plans to reduce the number of troops in South Korea, Seoul's spending on defense is expected to increase next year. According to Won Jang-hwan, director of acquisition policy, the ministry of defense has requested 21.4 trillion won ($18.5 billion) for next year, an increase of 13.4 percent over this year. This is about 2.9 percent of the country's gross domestic product.
The United States should institute prizes and revamp current federal regulations to promote commercial space transportation, according to a panel of industry leaders who spoke July 13. "We desperately need guidance in development of a healthy commercial space sector," said Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Science Committee. NASA and industry officials began brainstorming such prizes last month, and could announce prizes later this year (DAILY, June 16).
IDELIX SOFTWARE INC. will conduct research and development on the next generation of Pliable Display Technology (PDT), known as PDT "smart" lens technology, the company said July 13. The work will be done with a Cdn$470,000 ($357,3200) contribution from Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) through the Defence Industrial Research program. The company will work with the Intelligence Management Information Group of the Canadian Department of National Defence and DRDC locations in Valcartier, Toronto and Ottowa, the company said.
The launch of Telesat's mammoth Anik F2 telecommunications satellite from Kourou, French Guiana was scrubbed July 12 after a faulty gyro was discovered in its Ariane 5 launch vehicle during final countdown operations.
MAXWELL TECHNOLOGIES, INC. has added 21 additional form factors and configurations to its line of high-performance, radiation-hardened Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM) components for space applications, the company said July 12. Maxwell's new SDRAM products are fully qualified and radiation hardened for use in space. They feature configurations from 256 megabytes to 1.5 gigabytes, and enhanced memory widths for use in high-performance computer systems.
GENERAL DYNAMICS LAND SYSTEMS will provide new equipment training and field support to the U.S. Army's third Stryker Brigade Combat Team under a $14.2 million delivery order, the company said July 12. The work will be performed at Fort Richardson, Alaska and Fort Lewis, Wash. All work is expected to be complete by May 2005.
VIRTRA SYSTEMS INC. has an expanded contract with the U.S. military for its IVR-300 advanced training simulators, the company said July 12. The government's initial purchase, announced in May, will be expanded to include two customized IVR-300 HD high-resolution firearm training simulators worth nearly $1 million. VirTra Systems, of Arlington, Texas, said the use of the simulators is confidential and did not disclose details of the contract or the customer.
The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MOD) plans to boost defense spending by 3.7 billion pounds ($6.9 billion) by 2008 to modernize its forces. That is an increase of 1.4 percent a year, the MOD said in a statement.
Loral Skynet's Telstar 18 satellite has reached its on-orbit testing slot of 142 degrees East longitude, parent company Loral Space & Communications said July 13. The satellite, which carries 16 Ku-band and 38 C-band transponders, ultimately will be located at 138 degrees East longitude. It is slated to enter service in August to provide cable programming, Internet and other services across Asia.
The U.S. Navy has appointed a team to study whether targeting pod acquisition plans for Navy and Marine Corps aircraft should be revamped, a Lockheed Martin official said July 13. The panel's review recently got under way and already has solicited industry input, said Morri Leland, business development manager for Lockheed Martin's Precision Attack Navigation and Targeting (PANTERA) pod, the export version of the Sniper Extended Range (XR) targeting pod that the company produces for the U.S. Air Force.
DEEPWATER CONTRACT: L-3 Communications Systems has awarded EDO Corporation a subcontract to provide the Radio Frequency Distribution System for the early phases of the Coast Guard's Integrated DEEPWATER System. The initial contract is valued at $3.6 million, with a potential value of about $70 million over 20 years. EDO will equip up to 90 Coast Guard vessels with an RFDS, which will enable interference-free transmission among each ship's communications systems.
SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORP.'s Security and Transportation Technology business unit has been awarded a research and development contract from the U.S. Army Material Command and the Robert Morris Acquisition Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., the company said July 12. SAIC will provide research and development for systems and items supporting U.S. Army and Department of Defense objectives. Three other contractors will share the five-year, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, which has a ceiling value of $400 million.
Correction: A July 12 story on L-3 Communications incorrectly stated the company's reported sales in 2003. The correct sales number for L-3 Communications in 2003 is just over $5 billion.
HERLEY INDUSTRIES has been named the no. 6 top-performing small defense company and the no. 3 most-improved small defense company by Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine, and was named to the Fortune Small Business magazine list of 100 fastest-growing small companies. Herley, based in Lancaster, Pa., designs, develops and builds microwave technology for the defense, aerospace and medical industries.
Defense companies' financial outlooks have been relatively stable in recent months, but the revenues of second-tier defense firms have gone up significantly from spending on the war in Iraq, according to a new Standard & Poor's industry "report card."
Citing concern over the technical risks and uncertainties inherent in NASA's proposed robotic servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), a National Academies panel recommended that NASA "take no actions that would preclude" another servicing visit by the space shuttle.
AIR FORCE General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $36,940,499 fixed price incentive firm contract to provide for four MQ-9A Air Vehicles. At this time, $27,705, 374 of the funds have been obligated. This work will be complete by December 2006. Solicitation began March 2004 and negotiations were completed July 2004. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-02-G-4035).
