The U.S. aerospace industry has lost more than 500,000 jobs in the last decade while production employment fell 58 percent, a trend that an aerospace labor group says could be made worse by the use of offsets in defense transactions. "When those work packages go offshore, we will be conceding production technology and capacity we have never held ourselves," said Stanley Sorscher, a labor representative with the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace.
SIRENZA MICRODEVICES, INC. has announced the introduction of a variety of radio frequency (RF) components. They include: DC-20 GHz InP HBT Gain Blocks; DC-3500 MHz Mixer family; Frequency Multipliers and Dividers; Narrow Band and Broadband VCOs operating up to X Band; 20-100 GHz Double Balanced Schottky Diode Mixer family; and 2-16 GHz, 1/4 Watt Distributed Amplifier. The new products were showcased at the IEEE-MTTS Symposium and Exhibition earlier this month.
JACOBS SVERDRUP will be awarded a contract worth more than $48 million by NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., to provide support services for facilities maintenance and operations and aerospace testing. The contract covers ARC's wind tunnels, thermophysics testing complex, and other aerospace testing complexes. Jacobs Sverdrup, an advanced technology company based in Tullahoma, Tenn., will provide testing services for NASA programs such as space science initiatives, the Crew Exploration Vehicle, the X-37, and the space shuttle return to flight effort.
Boeing will provide two ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle mobile deployment units for use with the First Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) in Iraq, the company said July 8. Each deployment unit will include several UAVs, as well as the computers, classification links and ground equipment needed to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support for I MEF operations, Boeing said.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee questioned July 8 whether federal regulation of defense trade offsets is necessary as they examined global defense procurement. "The revelations that are now coming to light indicate troublesome trends for the U.S. prime and subcontractor defense industries," said Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chairman of the committee.
More of a strain has fallen on the assets most used in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) - light helicopters, and to a lesser extent heavy-lift helicopters, said Lt. Gen. Chip Gregson, commander of U.S. Marine Corps Pacific. "We need convoy escorts and troop lift escorts," he told reporters July 8 at a Defense Writers Group breakfast. "We are being careful to manage these assets and sustain them over time."
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - The Czech government has given its defense ministry the green light to sell nearly 50 L-159 light combat aircraft. The formal decision, which was taken at a cabinet meeting July 7, is part of a long-term strategy to reduce the air force's subsonic fleet of 71 Czech-built aircraft.
READY: Telesat's Anik F2 telecommunications satellite is ready for launch July 12, spacecraft builder Boeing said July 8. The satellite, slated to deliver commercial satellite-based broadband Internet service, is to launch from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, Boeing said. The satellite carries Ka-band, C-band and Ku-band transponders and is to provide two-way, high-speed Internet access from the southern United States to the northern reaches of Alaska and Canada, according to Boeing.
EA-18G Electronic Attack Aircraft The EA-18G aircraft, a derivative of the F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter, will replace the U.S. Navy's long-serving Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler electronic combat jet. The EA-18G, built by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, will feature a new and enhanced version of the airborne electronic attack system that Northrop Grumman builds for the EA-6B.
GAITHERSBURG, Md. - Lockheed Martin's Integrated Systems and Solutions (IS&S) business unit is focusing on several major upcoming military competitions as it seeks to maintain and strengthen its position in the C4ISR market, according to Stan Sloane, the unit's vice president.
LIGHTER WEIGHT: Goodrich Corp. will develop mortar barrel segments incorporating its FyreRoc composite material system under a contract from the U.S. Army's Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. Goodrich will evaluate the performance of the FyreRoc material under live fire conditions when used in 81mm mortar barrels, the company said July 8. Use of the composite "could potentially reduce the weight of the current steel 81mm mortar barrel, allowing a soldier to more easily carry the weapon into battle," Ray Espinosa, systems project engineer at the arsenal, said in a Goodrich statement.
The V-22 Osprey has completed a seven-week operational assessment, a precursor to the crucial operational evaluation (OPEVAL) that is scheduled to begin in about six months. The operational assessment, or "pre-OPEVAL," began May 18 and concluded near the end of the week of June 28-July 2, said Ward Carroll, a spokesman for Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), where the V-22 program is based.
DELAYED: The launch of NASA's Aura spacecraft has been bumped from July 10 to July 11 to give NASA time to check out electronic transistors on the spacecraft, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., said July 8. NASA has detected a problem involving some transistors and wants to make sure it isn't related to transistors on the spacecraft, the Air Force said in a statement. Aura will study the Earth's ozone, air quality and climate.
AEGIS SUPPORT: The U.S. Navy Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded a Blanket Purchase Agreement to Anteon International Corporation to provide management and technical support to the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program Directorate. The BPA is valued at about $45 million and has a 16-month period of performance. Anteon will provide acquisition and life cycle management, test evaluation, engineering and integration, system design, concept development and requirements analysis, and strategic planning for technology programs.
Egypt wants to continue a program to upgrade its CH-47C helicopters to the more modern CH-47D configuration. It has asked the Pentagon for engines and other equipment worth about $108 million to convert three C model Boeing Chinooks in its inventory to D models, according to a July 6 announcement from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). Congress must approve the plan.
ALLEGENT TECHNOLOGY GROUP, Woodbury, N.Y. Michael Swetnam, CEO of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, has been appointed to serve on the company's board of advisers. ELBIT SYSTEMS LTD., Haifa, Israel Itzhak Dvir has been appointed chief operating officer. FLIGHTSAFETY INTL., LaGuardia Airport, N.Y. Geoff Bloss has been appointed director of business application development. HELICOPTER ASSOCIATION INTL., Alexandria, Va.
The first cluster for the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) has begun building hardware and is on track to begin a key evaluation near the end of the year, according to government and industry officials. Lt. Col. David Lockhart (USA), the government's Cluster 1 manager, said in a July 7 press briefing that his program has not been easy because it was the first in a multiservice family of software-programmable communication radios. But he said Cluster 1 is making "significant progress."
Three members of the House Armed Services Committee have asked the General Accounting Office to explore post-employment restrictions on government officials. At issue is the so-called "revolving door," where federal executives and lawmakers move into lucrative jobs with contractors who do business with the U.S. government.
