AMMO ORDERS: MECAR S.A., a Belgian defense unit of Vienna, Va.-based Allied Defense Group Inc., has been awarded contracts worth more than $8 million by repeat customers in South America, the Middle East, and the Far East to provide 76mm, 90mm and 106mm ammunition, the company said March 1.
NAVY HOUSING: The Shaw Group Inc. on March 1 said its half-owned affiliate, American Eagle Northwest LLC, completed $226 million in private placement revenue bond financing for its Navy Northwest Housing Privatization Project. The bonds will be used to pay for design, demolition, construction, renovations and infrastructure placement for roughly 3,000 residential housing units for certain U.S. Navy installations near Puget Sound, Washington. C.E.I. Investment Corp. of Meriden, Conn., owns the other half of American Eagle Northwest.
Integral Systems Inc. of Lanham, Md., has been chosen by the U.S. Air Force to develop the initial version of the Rapid Attack Identification Detection Reporting System (RAIDRS), a ground-based method of characterizing attacks on friendly satellites. The company, which specializes in satellite ground systems, was awarded $4 million of a $23.8 million contract for the work on Feb. 25.
The Senate Budget Committee will estimate fiscal 2006 funds for ongoing U.S. military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere and place an amount in a "reserve fund" as part of the ongoing budget process for next year, committee leaders said March 1. The move - not explicitly opposed by Defense Department officials - would come as Pentagon leaders have told Congress that estimating future war costs is so difficult that they are not prepared to speak beyond the current $82 billion supplemental request for additional FY '05 spending needs.
NASA's Exploration Systems mission directorate will present an overview of its upcoming acquisition activities related to space exploration during an industry day to be held March 11 at the Department of Commerce in Washington.
Norway's military incurred a budget deficit of 941 million kroners ($154.1 million) in 2004 despite new financial initiatives instituted after a 2003 budget deficit, Norwegian Minister of Defense Kristin Krohn Devold said. More time is needed before a new accounting system, training, and financial routines have an effect, and further efforts also are required, she said.
NEW DELHI - India test fired its Akash missile from a mobile launcher three times on Feb. 26 at an east Indian test range. The demonstration included striking a Lakshya target drone. The air-breathing Akash ("sky") has provided several development challenges, but now its controls have been flight proven. The missile, which can carry a 60-kilogram (132-pound) warhead, is one of five missiles being developed by the Defence Research and Development Laboratory.
The EADS-led AirTanker consortium can begin final contract negotiations to provide tanker aircraft for the United Kingdom's Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) program after being selected as preferred bidder by the U.K. Ministry of Defence, EADS said Feb. 28. The consortium's bid, which uses the Airbus A330-200 tanker aircraft, was selected as the best last year over a team led by rival Boeing. EADS then entered lengthy negotiations with the MOD leading to the new announcement.
The Defense Department plans to award 33 research grants to 27 universities totaling $146.6 million over five years. The grants will cover multidisciplinary research in 26 topic areas of basic science and engineering, and will be made under DOD's Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) program. The average award will be $900,000 per year over a three-year period, with options for another two years.
Optical products and engineering company Michigan Aerospace Corp. has opened an office in Boulder, Colo., to be closer to some customers, the company said Feb. 28. The office will include program support for light detection and ranging (LIDAR) work - used to measure the wind in the atmosphere - mechanisms and sensors for spacecraft, and other work, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company said.
HYDROGEN: Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide said Feb. 28 that it expects $2 million out of the fiscal 2005 defense appropriations act for its U.S. Army Mobile Hydrogen Infrastructure program. The Irvine, Calif., company credited Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), chairman of the then-House Select Committee on Homeland Security, with securing the funds last year.
With three of its four planned software block upgrades wrapped up, the X-45A Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) program is looking forward to a final software upgrade that will culminate in a "graduation" demo this summer, according to Boeing spokesman Bill Barksdale.
NEW FACILITY: Northrop Grumman Corp. opened its newly consolidated Remotec Inc. robotics facility in Clinton, Tenn., on Feb. 28, the company said. The 75,000 square foot engineering, manufacturing and administrative office building consolidates what had been four separate, less-modern facilities, the company said. Remotec provides mobile robot systems for hazardous duty for the military, law enforcement, nuclear facilities and research laboratories. Remotec is part of Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector.
ATK Thiokol Inc. of Brigham City, Utah, will deliver M212 Aircraft Countermeasure Flares under a $6.7 million order from the U.S. Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, the Department of Defense said Feb. 28. The work will be performed in Corrine, Utah, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, DOD said.
COMPLETED: Lockheed Martin has completed the acquisition of STASYS Ltd., a United Kingdom-based technology and consulting company that has tactical data link integration and modeling and simulation expertise, Lockheed Martin said Feb. 28. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The company will be known as Lockheed Martin STASYS Ltd.
CORROSION: Systems and Materials Research Consultancy of Spicewood, Texas, is to develop a prototype of a microwave corrosion detector for inspecting aircraft structures under a $12 million Small Business Innovative Research contract, the U.S. Department of Defense said Feb. 28. The work is to be completed in February 2010, and is to develop a system that could inspect structures for less than competing technologies, DOD said. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division of Lakehurst, N.J., awarded the work.
L-3 Communications Integrated Systems of Greenville, Texas, has been awarded a $16.3 million contract to conduct Enhanced Special Structural Inspections (ESSIs) and center wing replacement on P-3 aircraft, the Defense Department said Feb. 28. The inspections will focus on the replacement of structural components of high-fatigue areas discovered during P-3 Service Life Assessment Program fatigue testing. The work will be performed in Greenville and is set to be finished in December 2007.
Military and commercial aerospace company RADA Electronic Industries Ltd. of Netanya, Israel, enjoyed a 15% jump in revenues and an 8.4% boost in net income in 2004, the company said Feb. 28. Revenues in 2004 grew to $14.2 million, while net income climbed to $822,000, or 3 cents per share, the company said. Net income in 2003 was $758,000. Operating profits for 2004 also increased to $1 million, compared to $25,000 in 2003.
The CVN-21 DAB A Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting to review the futuristic CVN-21 aircraft carrier has been postponed and there is no "current indication when it will be rescheduled," a Navy spokesman told The DAILY Feb. 25.
SCAR: The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) awarded a contract worth up to $700 million to a U.S. subsidiary of Liege, Belgium-based Herstal Group for the Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR). The SCAR will be built at the FN Manufacturing LLC plant in Columbia, S.C. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Ind., is responsible for SCAR program testing.
ALION: Technology products firm Alion Science and Technology of McLean, Va., has purchased Seaside, Calif.-based Carmel Applied Technologies Inc., the company said Feb. 28. Financial terms were not disclosed. CATI provides development and integration of systems to produce 3-D visuals for flight simulators. Alion primarily serves the Defense Department. CATI will become part of Alion's Strategic Operations Group within the Defense Operations Integration Sector.
The U.S. Defense Department is revamping top-level oversight of the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) to improve coordination among the program's multiple efforts, according to a program official. DOD plans to end the practice of having each of several clusters report to a different service official, said Lt. Col. Maryann Watson (USAF), program manager of the Airborne and Maritime/Fixed Station (AMF) cluster. Under the new approach, a single person will oversee all of the clusters.
