A dispute between Boeing Co. and the State Department over the sale to China of airliners that carry certain microchips is one of a series of industry-government technology export conflicts that go back some 20 years, said Jim Lewis, director of technology and public policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Boeing sold airliners to China between 2000 and 2003 that used BEI Technologies' QSR11 microchip, designed to help determine an aircraft's orientation in the air, among other things.
Despite worries about Hurricane Dennis as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico toward landfall in the U.S., NASA on July 8 decided not to roll shuttle Discovery back from the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center. Shuttle managers feared they might have to roll Discovery back into the safety of the Vehicle Assembly Building when Dennis began drifting eastward toward KSC on July 7. NASA's rules dictate that the orbiter be rolled back if sustained winds at the launch pad could exceed 69 mph.
SPENDING GROWTH: Overall federal outlays in the first nine months of fiscal 2005 were 7.4% higher than in the same period last year, the Congressional Budget Office estimates in the latest monthly budget review. Defense and nondefense outlays have grown at similar rates so far this fiscal year: 7.8% and 7.3%, respectively, CBO said July 8. The Agriculture, Education and Homeland Security departments have recorded the largest increases; outlays for each of those agencies jumped 20% or more through June.
EF-35? Although an electronic-attack variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been mentioned as a possible replacement for the U.S. Marine Corps's aging EA-6B Prowler, the U.S. Defense Department's JSF program office has no plans, at least for now, to participate in a study on the Marines' future electronic-attack needs, according to JSF's leader, Navy Rear Adm. Steven Enewold. Enewold tells The DAILY that the F-35 program has to focus on doing several more years of design work for its three fighter variants before getting involved in possible development of an EF-35.
UAV COORDINATION: The Defense Department is forming two organizations to better coordinate the development and use of unmanned aerial vehicles. The Joint UAV Overarching Integrated Product Team will promote commonality among UAVs, and the Joint UAV Center of Excellence, to be located at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., will try to improve interoperability. The organizations are in lieu of making the Air Force the executive agent for UAVs, a proposal resisted by other services.
COMET HUNTER: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft is expected to discover its 1,000th comet this summer, says NASA, which jointly developed the spacecraft with the European Space Agency. The SOHO spacecraft, built to study the sun, has turned into a champion comet finder. Almost all the SOHO-found comets have been discovered using images from the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronograph instrument. SOHO has enough fuel to continue comet-hunting for decades as long as LASCO keeps working, NASA says.
PRV RENAMED: What's in a name? Apparently something, at least in the view of the U.S. Air Force, which says it is changing the name of the Personnel Recovery Vehicle (PRV) program to Combat Search and Rescue-X (CSAR-X) to "more accurately describe" the aircraft's mission. "Personnel recovery is the umbrella term that encompasses many forms of recovery operations from civil search and rescue to unconventional recovery," the Air Force says. "The Air Force performs combat search and rescue ...
AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq - The Blue Force Tracker locator system is helping to blend military tactical resources in Iraq, although more compatibility among systems is needed, according to a Marine communications officer stationed in Al Anbar province. "Functioning on a joint battlefield, and trying to see each other out here is usually problematic," said Maj. Peter Schiefelbein, who oversees communications and information systems for 2nd Marine Division Regimental Combat Team-2, based out of Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq.
Kuka Robotics Corp. of Clinton Township, Mich., has joined forces with six other automation companies to develop new manufacturing processes for the aerospace industry. The industry needs to reduce production time by using new generations of flexible robots, sensors and "intelligent fixturing," the company said July 7.
CATCHING UP: The Senate faces both the authorization and spending bills for the Defense Department next fiscal year as it reconvenes from its July 4 break. Senate Democrats have complained that the authorization bill has been ready for debate since early May but was stifled by what they deem GOP preoccupation with confirming judges (DAILY, June 9). Meanwhile, Senate appropriators have yet to mark up their version of the fiscal 2006 spending, although they agreed on an allocation of almost $408 billion (DAILY, June 22). The House has approved both of its related bills.
SONIC BOOM: Four industry teams are studying how to build aircraft that make quieter sonic booms under NASA's Sonic Boom Mitigation Project. The studies will determine whether it's feasible to modify an existing aircraft or necessary to design a new one to demonstrate quieter booms. Based on the results of the studies, NASA could begin work on a demonstrator aircraft as early as this fall, the agency says.
July 11 - 12 -- 10th Annual Corporate Aircraft Transactions, Marriott Marquis Hotel, New York, N.Y. For more information call 1-800-599-4950 or go to www.srinstitute.com/cx542. July 19 - 20 -- Tactical IA, "Precise, Immediate, Secure Information Exchange on the Battlefield," Doubletree Hotel Crystal City, Arlington, Va. For more information go to www.idga.org. July 26 - 27 -- Nanotechnology for Defense, Georgetown Conference Center, Washington, D.C. For more information call 1-800-882-8684 or go to www.idga.org.
The decision by defense research company QinetiQ to move into the U.S. defense and security markets has paid off, according to the United Kingdom-based company. QinetiQ, which has acquired several U.S. defense technology companies in the past year, announced strong results July 6 for the 2004-2005 financial year. The company reported a 9.7% increase in sales, from 795.4 million pounds ($1.38 billion) to 872.4 million pounds ($1.51 billion), with operating profit up by more than 33% to 69.6 million pounds ($120.6 million).
WORK HARDER: Gen. Michael Hagee, commandant of the Marine Corps, laments the inability of private sector and government researchers to find a solution to the problem of roadside bombs and mines, known as improvised explosive devices (IEDs), plaguing coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. "What I'm not satisfied with is the speed at which our scientific and engineering community - and I know they're working hard - are coming up with new technologies to address this problem," he says.
The Australian government has approved a $207 million plan to improve special forces training facilities at Holsworthy Barracks in Sydney which will allow Special Operations Command units to relocate there, Australia's defense department said July 8. The project will include construction of medical facilities, workshops, briefing rooms, warehouses and vehicle parks, Robert Hill, the defense minister, said in a statement. Communications, security, external lighting, and storm water management will also be upgraded.
B-2 RADAR: The radar modernization program (RMP) for the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber plans to begin flight-tests in the January-March quarter of 2006, the U.S. Air Force says. The RMP, whose prime contractor is Northrop Grumman Corp. and which recently completed a final design review (DAILY, June 23), calls for replacing the B-2's radar antenna to resolve a radio-frequency conflict with commercial aircraft and to make it easier to upgrade the radar's performance in the future.
SPECIAL ENGINES: The U.S. Special Operations Command (Socom) has awarded General Electric Co.'s Aircraft Engines unit a $15.5 million contract for the UH-60M Alternate Engine Program for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. The work will be performed at the GE unit's Lynn, Mass., facility and should be finished by Aug. 16, 2007, SOCOM said July 7. Socom, the lead combatant command in global counterterror operations, is unique among combatant commands in that it can acquire its own equipment.
ANXIOUSLY AWAITING: The crew of the International Space Station is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the space shuttle Discovery and its crew, currently scheduled for Friday, July 15, according to Flight Engineer John Phillips. "I'm very anxious to see them come up here, because we've had our assembly sequence for the space station on hold for about two and a half years," Phillips says. "So I'm looking forward to getting some new lab equipment ...
CHINA RISING: China and its military and economic ambitions will be the focus of House military authorizers this week as Congress looks at China National Offshore Oil Corp.'s proposed acquisition of Unocal Corp. The House Armed Services Committee, chaired by China critic Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), will host a hearing July 13 on the national security implications of the possible merger. Slated to appear are former CIA chief James Woolsey, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Chairman C. Richard D'Amato and Center for Security Policy chief Frank J.
A "significant" percentage of the U.S. military's pre-positioned tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles that would be used in a war with North Korea are not fully mission capable, but that's because the Defense Department is doubling its weapons inventory for such a conflict. The information came to light during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing June 30 in a dialogue between Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the ranking committee Democrat, and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker.
General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products will provide the U.S. Army with 168 armor tile sets for Bradley Fighting Vehicles under a $37.8 million contract modification, the company said July 7. The tiles fasten to the outside of the vehicles to provide better protection from anti-armor munitions. Rafael Armament Development Authority Ltd. Ordnance Systems of Haifa, Israel, a General Dynamics partner, will share half of the production workload. The work will be directed from General Dynamics' Burlington Technology Center in Burlington, Vt. U.S.
The U.S. Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is tweaking the design of the Navy's carrier variant (CV) to ensure the jet performs as planned. The CV's wing area will grow to 664 square feet, an increase of 40 square feet or 6%, to meet the plane's speed goals for landing on aircraft carriers, said Navy Rear Adm. Steven Enewold, JSF's program executive officer. The increase will be hard to notice, adding only a few inches to the wing's leading and trailing edges.
NASA's network of Earth-observing satellites has revealed that global ocean levels have risen at a more rapid pace over the past 12 years than in previous decades. Over the past 50-100 years, Earth-based tide gauges have shown ocean levels rising at a rate of 1.8 millimeters (.07 inches) a year, according to NASA. By contrast, satellite data gathered since 1992 has shown that the rate has risen to 3 millimeters (.12 inches) a year.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malayasia - Thailand has agreed to buy four Mi-17 multirole helicopters worth $140 million from Russia and 132 armored vehicles from China through barter trade agreements with both countries for Thai agricultural products. The Mi-17, known as the Mi-8MT in Russia, can carry cargo with its cabin door half-open or completely removed. The Mi-17 also can operate with just one of its two engines if necessary. The helicopter can carry up to 30 troops and will be used for transport and logistics missions, Thailand army chief Pravit Wongsuwan said.
Sweden has agreed to purchase three hovercraft for its military's amphibious battalion from England-based Griffon Hovercraft, the FMV Swedish Materiel Administration said July 6. The cost of the hovercraft was not disclosed. The air-conditioned hovercraft will be used to transport people and equipment regardless of water depth or icing conditions. The hovercraft has a capacity of about 11 tons and can carry up to 50 people as well as vehicles or containers. Its cruising speed while loaded is about 35 knots, and its maximum speed is more than 42 knots.
