Lockheed Martin and Boeing delivered the first Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (MTADS/PNVS) system to the U.S. Army this month for deployment on AH-64D Apache helicopters. The Army's first unit equipped with MTADS will be fielded this July, Frank Winget, manager of business development for MTADS at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, told The DAILY April 12. MTADS is an upgrade to TADS, which are being used on Apaches in Iraq.
Orbital Sciences Corp. has successfully launched an $80 million experimental Air Force satellite designed to explore future military space applications and a new Medium Range Target vehicle for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, the company said April 12.
EnerSys, which builds industrial batteries, announced April 11 that it was awarded a $4.6 million contract by the U.S. Navy for continued development of advanced submarine batteries. The contract - coming after an initial $1 million award to the Reading, Pa.-based company in March 2004 - is part of an ongoing effort by the Navy to retrofit the entire nuclear submarine fleet with valve-regulated lead-acid batteries in place of flooded lead-acid batteries.
Mike Griffin told Senate lawmakers April 12 that if confirmed as NASA administrator he will push to accelerate the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) from its current schedule, which has manned flights beginning in 2014, four years after the proposed retirement of the space shuttle. "I think that's too far out," Griffin said during his nomination hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee in Washington. "President Bush said not later than 2014. He didn't say we couldn't be smart and do it early. And that would be my goal."
A bill headed for the House floor that is intended to boost U.S. supercomputing capabilities by realigning research and development at six civilian agencies, including NASA, would cost $220 million between 2006 and 2010, the Congressional Budget Office said. That assumes lawmakers appropriate "necessary" funds for the new directives in the bill, H.R. 28. Nevertheless, CBO estimates that enacting the legislation, sponsored by Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), would have no effect on direct spending or revenue.
Iridium Satellite LLC has begun preliminary talks with satellite manufacturers about building replacement satellites that could start being launched early in the next decade. The Iridium constellation includes 66 operational satellites and 13 spares occupying six orbital planes in low-Earth orbit. The company plans a gradual, 10-year replenishment program, according to Chairman and CEO Carmen Lloyd. Recent projections show current spacecraft lasting until roughly 2014.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Cisco Systems recognizes the value of leveraging commercial-off-the-shelf technology for space systems, and is working to help change current business practices that often don't allow its full potential to be achieved, according to Rick Sanford, director of space initiatives for the company's Global Defense, Space and Security group.
NAVAL GUNS: United Defense Industries Inc. of Arlington, Va., has been awarded a $43.3 million contract modification to produce three Mk 45 Mod 4 Naval Gun systems, the company said April 11. The contract was awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command. The 5-inch, 62-caliber Mk 45 Mod 4 is a fully-automated naval gun. It can support anti-surface, strike, fire support and anti-air warfare missions. The guns will be installed on DDG 110 through DDG 112 Arleigh Burke U.S. Navy destroyers.
Proposed cutbacks in the F/A-22 Raptor fighter program could have a big effect on "both the scope and composition of the world market for fighter/attack/jet trainer aircraft over the next 10 years," according to a new market analysis from Forecast International.
CRYOGENIC TANK: XCOR Aerospace of Mojave, Calif., has signed a $7 million contract with NASA to develop a composite cryogenic tank to hold liquid oxygen (LOX), the company said April 12. The contract is part of NASA's Exploration Systems Research and Technology program to develop key technologies for manned exploration of the moon and Mars. The LOX tank will be designed to reduce weight by serving as both an insulated tank and vehicle structure. The tank materials would retain their toughness and flexibility at cryogenic temperatures and be nonflammable, the company said.
ASTEROID AWARDS: Proposed legislation to encourage amateur astronomers to discover and track near-Earth asteroids would pay awards of $3,000 each and would have a "negligible" effect on NASA's bottom line, the Congressional Budget Office said. CBO estimates that implementing the legislation, H.R. 1023, would have no significant effect on the budget and would not affect direct spending or revenues.
Leading executives of the nation's two shipbuilding companies told U.S. Senate members April 12 that future U.S. shipbuilding is at risk because the U.S. Navy's latest shipbuilding plan still is too vague, and said lawmakers should consider legislative changes to provide more work to their shipyards. In testimony prepared for the Senate Armed Services Committee's seapower subcommittee, the head of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Ships Systems unit, Philip Dur, said the Navy 30-year plan's range of 260 to 325 ships would not help industry "rightsize" itself.
PASS THE AMMUNITION: Alliant Techsystems delivered 1.2 billion rounds of small-caliber ammunition to the U.S. Army in its fiscal 2005, which ended March 31, ATK said April 12. ATK produces 5.56mm, 7.62mm, .50-caliber and other rounds at the Army's Lake City small caliber plant in Independence, Mo.
International Truck and Engine Corp., a maker of medium-duty trucks and 3-to 9-liter diesel engines, on April 12 displayed its International 4200 MV armored logistics truck on Capitol Hill. The display was to demonstrate "the benefits of a commercially based platform for military vehicles, including the latest commercial technology and lower procurement costs based on greater scale of production," the company said. A spokeswoman told The DAILY that the company displayed the truck to Senate and House members for full effect.
Although its information technology spending continues to grow by almost 5%, the Defense Department is expected to spend less on products and only slightly more on professional services while its IT budget stabilizes over the next few fiscal years, consulting company Federal Sources Inc. said April 12.
Ballistic Recovery Systems Inc., which builds parachutes to rescue small aircraft, said earlier this month that it has signed a nonbinding letter of intent to buy Free Flight Enterprises, an aviation safety systems company. The acquisition, which remains subject to due diligence and the execution of a final agreement, is expected to close in early summer.
Israel has accepted its first three AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters, the Boeing Co. said April 11. Israel's air force, which has operated AH-64A Apaches since the early 1990s, is modernizing its Apache fleet through a combination of AH-64A upgrades and new Longbow combat helicopters, Boeing said. The helicopters - which Israel designates AH-64D-I Apaches - were bought through a U.S. Foreign Military Sales agreement, although some of the modifications are being done under a direct commercial sales agreement signed in 2000.
BEGINNING CONSTRUCTION: Space Systems/Loral said April 11 that it has completed design reviews of the TerreStar-1 communications satellite for TerreStar Networks Inc., and has begun construction. The satellite, which is to provide next-generation 2 Ghz mobile voice and communications services throughout the United States, is scheduled for delivery in 2007.
Recent test failures and the long-term affordability of certain systems will likely be among the issues that receive close attention when Congress debates the Missile Defense Agency's $7.8 billion fiscal 2006 budget request this year, congressional aides said April 11.
PRAGUE - Europe has placed security and space research at the top of its research and development agenda reaching well into the next decade. The European Commission announced April 7 that the two key areas will share a budget allocation of $640 million a year between 2007 and 2013 under proposals for the European Union's 7th Framework Program (FP7) for Research & Development, which aims to find synergies between security and space research.
