Despite delays, NASA's Deep Impact team is confident of launching its mission by Jan. 28, which it must do to successfully rendezvous with and smash into comet Tempel 1 next July.
INTERESTED: As many as 10 countries are interested in buying the joint Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, the Times of India News network said Dec. 14. At least three "trusted nations" have been shortlisted to get the new weapons, the network said, quoting sources in India's Defence Research and Development Organisation.
DRS Technologies Inc. has bought Night Vision Equipment Company (NVEC) for $42 million in cash, with additional payments possible if the company meets revenue targets, DRS Technologies said Dec. 14. Allentown, Pa.-based NVEC is expected to generate $45-50 million in annual revenues in its first year of operation under DRS ownership. For DRS's current fiscal year ending March 31, 2005, the business is expected to contribute about $15 million to DRS's sales, the Parsippany, N.J.-based company said.
THIRD TEST: Orbital Sciences Corp. conducted a third successful test flight of the GQM-163A "Coyote" Supersonic Sea-Skimming Target system on Dec. 14, the company said. The test, at the Navy's Point Mugu, Calif., missile-testing range, achieved all of its objectives, the company said, including the verification of booster ignition and stable first-stage flight. Capt. Richard Walter, the U.S.
A senior Pentagon official warned the unmanned aerial vehicle industry Dec. 15 that UAVs could lose favor with the U.S. military if concerns about affordability and interoperability are not resolved. Michael Wynne, the Defense Department's acting acquisition chief, told Shephard's UV North America conference that UAVs are poised to be the "wave of the future" but face several "potential pitfalls."
The U.S. Air Force said it is set to award risk reduction contracts of about $1.25 million to each of the four competitors most likely to bid for the Personnel Recovery Vehicle, the planned follow-on to the aging HH-60G Pave Hawk combat search and rescue helicopter. "The four contracts are planned to be issued to Northrop Grumman, Bell-Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky," according to an Air Force notice in the Dec. 14 issue of FedBizOpps.
LCS WORK: A Lockheed Martin-led team will begin detail design and construction of the first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) under a $188.2 million contract option awarded by the Navy Dec. 15. Construction work will begin in the first quarter of next year, and the ship is to be delivered in late 2006. A General Dynamics-led team will build the second LCS.
MOVING: Bell Helicopter is moving its V-22 Program Office from Fort Worth to Amarillo, Texas, "in anticipation of the eventual need to ramp up for full-rate production on the V-22," company CEO Michael Redenbaugh said in a statement Dec. 13. Bell wants to move its program engineers and managers to where the aircraft are built. The Amarillo facility also will be responsible for Marine Corps' AH-1Z/UH-1Y helicopter upgrades, the Bell Eagle Eye unmanned aerial vehicle and the Bell 407 ARH, which has been proposed for the Army's Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter.
Although 20 percent of Army Humvees currently are unarmored, service officials said Dec. 15 that by March 2005, all Humvees and heavy trucks in Iraq and Afghanistan will be up-armored. In addition, the Army is "now using up-armored Humvees in all high-threat areas," said Maj. Gen. Stephen Speakes, Army director of force development.
Ronald C. Marcotte has been appointed vice president of Air Force Airlift and Tanker programs and site executive for the Boeing Integrated Defense Systems units in Long Beach, Palmdale and Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Richard D. Nanula, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Amgen Inc., has been elected to the board of directors effective Jan. 1. John B. Sams Jr. has been named vice president of the Air Force Systems business unit within Integrated Defense Systems.
Stuart Boulton has been appointed managing director, DRS Tactical Systems Ltd., a unit of the C4I Group, and head of United Kingdom and European operations.
The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon Co. of Waltham, Mass., a $29.7 million contract to provide 10 AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low Frequency Sonar (ALFS) systems for its MH-60R multimission helicopter, the company said Dec. 15. The ALFS is an undersea warfare sensor for the MH-60R. It detects submarines and provides tracking, localization, classification, acoustic intercept, underwater communication and environmental data collection, the company said.
The Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) charged with developing a plan to modernize America's air transportation system delivered its report to Congress this week. The JPDO includes the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the FAA, NASA, the Department of Defense, and the Commerce and Homeland Security departments. Congress chartered the office to draw up a plan for moving to a next-generation air transportation system by 2025 (DAILY, April 28).
BLACK HAWK MODS: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. will provide eight Army Black Hawk helicopters under a $245 million contract modification, the Department of Defense said Dec. 13.
The U.S. Air Force is preparing a repackaged Space Based Radar (SBR) program for its fiscal year 2006 budget submittal that should address concerns that prompted lawmakers to slash the program's budget, according to Maj. Gen. Craig Cooning, director of space acquisition for the undersecretary of the Air Force for space.
The French army will receive 72 truck-mounted Caesar howitzers under a 300 million euro ($402 million) contract awarded to France-based tank and weapons systems manufacturer GIAT Industries, the company said Dec. 13. GIAT also will supply and manage spare parts and provide maintenance and operational support. Eight nine-gun batteries will be ready for use by 2011.
