Feb. 16 -- AHS Federal City Chapter and AAAA Washington-Potomac Chapter Joint Dinner Meeting, "Transforming & Modernizing Army Aviation while Supporting Extended Combat Operations," Army / Navy Country Club, Arlington, Va. For more information call (703) 684-6777. Feb. 16 - 17 - Aviation Week presents World Aerospace Symposium, Pierre Baudis Toulouse Congress Center, Toulouse, France. For more information or to register go to http://www.aviationnow.com/conferences.
WEST COAST ATLAS: Preparations are under way for the first West Coast launch of Lockheed Martin's Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., later this year. The Atlas V booster and Centaur upper stage arrived at Vandenberg separately aboard a Russian An-124-100 cargo aircraft. In March, the Atlas team will transport the rocket segments to the newly refurbished Space Launch Complex 3 East for vertical stacking, leading to a first launch of a classified satellite later this year.
Training and simulation company CAE of Montreal reported a net loss of $347 million for its third quarter, and said it is reorganizing and cutting 450 jobs to restore its "profitability, cash flow and return on investment." CAE reported a charge of $443.3 million, partly relating to the continued weak aviation market and the strength of the Canadian dollar. Without that, it would have recorded earnings of $8.8 million, still lower than the $14.5 million in earnings it reported for the same period last year.
Thirty U.S. Air Force C-130E aircraft have been grounded due to cracks in their center wing box sections, the Air Force said Feb. 11. Gen. John W. Handy, commander of Air Mobility Command (AMC), ordered the grounding after the C-130 System Program Office at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., suggested it. An additional 60 C-130 aircraft, including some of the E, H, H1 and HC-130 N/P models, have been placed on restricted flight status to minimize wing stress and increase the margin of safety, the Air Force said.
FALCON FLIGHT: The SpaceX Falcon two-stage launch vehicle should have its first flight by late April, says Larry Williams, SpaceX vice president for international and government affairs. "We believe we're about 10 weeks away," Williams says. "The last 10 percent of the vehicle development ... is the hardest, but we are definitely getting there." Originally scheduled for March 2004, the flight has been delayed by a series of technical issues (DAILY, May 13, 2004). The flight is to carry the Office of Force Transformation's $20 million TacSat-1 spacecraft.
TALKING POINTS: The U.S. Marine Corps soon will unveil a program requiring career officers and noncommissioned officers to become language proficient and culturally knowledgeable of areas of potential conflict, says Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis. "I want to get it put together properly before we roll it out," Mattis, commander of the Marines Combat Development Command, says.
The FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation released its draft safety guidelines for space tourism on Feb. 11, in anticipation of developing final regulations no later than June 2006. According to the guidelines, reusable launch vehicle (RLV) operators should inform space tourists in writing about the risks of flight, including the safety records of both the vehicle they will fly on and other manned space vehicles (DAILY, Feb. 11).
Revenue and net income for vehicle armor and security products supplier Armor Holdings Inc. surged in the fourth quarter of 2004, exceeding analysts' expectations, the company said Feb. 10. Full-year profits and net income also soared for the Jacksonville, Fla.-based company, which has been up-armoring military vehicles for the U.S. Army in Iraq.
'LIKE A HAWK': House Science Committee lawmakers plan to eye the regulation of the commercial space flight industry closely, says chair Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.). Boehlert says the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004, passed in December, strikes the right balance between providing FAA oversight without inhibiting the industry. Now Congress has to make sure the FAA - which is under the jurisdiction of another committee - implements the law correctly, he says. "Our committee is watching the process like a hawk," he says.
Thales Group reported 2004 revenues of 10.3 billion euros ($13.4 billion), a slight decline from 2003, the company said Feb. 10. The drop partly was due to the sale of Thales Geosolutions, the group said. Thales' aerospace division revenues were up 3%, however, driven by the "good performance" of the defense unit, including sales for the Rafale and Mirage aircraft and maritime patrol systems.
The U.S. Coast Guard's Integrated Deepwater System would receive a budget boost of 33%, or $242.05 million, in President Bush's fiscal 2006 proposal, allowing the massive replacement program to buy the third Maritime Security Cutter-Large.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Seven of the Malaysian air force's 13 F-5 fighter aircraft will be upgraded, while the remaining six will be sold. The upgrade contract has been awarded to Malaysian maintenance, repair and overhaul outfit Airod, which has appointed three subcontractors for the work. Northrop Grumman, which originally built the aircraft, will carry out structural changes. The company also has pledged to support the F-5s for the rest of their service life.
JDAM PURCHASES: U.S. Air Force and Navy purchases of the Boeing Co.'s Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), which surged over the past few years to meet increased demand during overseas military operations, are slated to come back down significantly now that use of the bomb guidance kit has eased. The Air Force plans to reduce JDAM procurement from 23,137 units in fiscal 2005 to 8,000 in FY '06, while the Navy intends to cut its purchase from 6,620 in FY '05 to 3,400 in FY '06.
NOT SO BAD: The impact of the next round of base closings will be "significantly reduced" due to a rotation of foreign-based troops back to the United States, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) says. Hutchison says after meeting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, she came away convinced that the shift away from Cold War-era overseas basing means the effect of base closings and realignments on U.S. facilities this year will be lessened. "Our military men and women are coming home, and they will need bases at which to work and live," she says.
The T-50 Golden Eagle advanced jet trainer, which Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) are marketing internationally, has completed several milestones, Lockheed Martin said Feb. 11. The supersonic T-50 has reached its maximum load factors and maximum operating speed, has completed its second lifetime of structural durability testing and is beginning stores separation testing, the company said.
F-16 WORK: LaBarge Inc. will produce electronic chassis for the F-16's fire control radar system under a $2.6 million contract from Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Systems sector, the company said Feb. 10. The company has been providing the chassis for Northrop Grumman's AN/APG-68 fire control radar since 2003. The latest batch is for F-16s being upgraded for the Polish air force, St. Louis-based LaBarge said. The work is being done at the company's Huntsville, Ark., facility, and will continue through August 2005.
The Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) program is trying to adjust to its recent Pentagon-mandated budget cut without losing momentum, according to Mike Francis, J-UCAS program manager for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). "One of our main goals is to keep this from taking momentum out of the program," Francis said during the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems' Unmanned Systems Program Review Feb. 9 in Washington. "I don't think anybody is unhappy with how the program is moving."
Rep. C.W. "Bill" Young (R-Fla.) would chair the House Appropriations Committee's Defense subcommittee under a reorganized and reduced full-committee structure, Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), chairman of the full committee, announced Feb. 9. The proposal shrinks the current 13 subcommittees down to 10. The plan had been rumored on Capitol Hill since the start of the year (DAILY, Jan. 10). "These changes will make it a little easier to get our work done on time and under budget," Lewis said in a statement.
BAE Systems has been awarded a second-year production contract for the thermal Weapon Sight II (TWS II) by the U.S. Army's Communication and Electronics Command (CECOM), the company said Feb. 10. CECOM awarded the company a modification to an existing contract, boosting the number of TWS IIs to 6,528, raising the total contract value to $53 million. The TWS II enables gunners to see deep into battlefields, increasing their surveillance and range, the company said.
A small, bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing to ensure federal funds continue flowing to a nanotechnology research and development (R&D) effort in line with a commitment Congress made two years ago.
Lockheed Martin recently conducted the fifth successful flight-test of a Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) Unitary rocket at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the company said Feb. 9. The test demonstrated the GMLRS Unitary rocket's warhead proximity sensor, which allows it to detonate at a predetermined distance from soft targets. The test also collected temperature, shock and vibration data and verified the rocket's performance and the warhead's effectiveness. All test objectives were met, the company said.
The U.S. Army is stopping work on the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) and plans to pursue a different approach for a new guided rocket, government and industry spokesmen said Feb. 10.
