Congress should support President Bush's vision for space exploration by approving NASA's budget without the large cut proposed by the House, Office of Management and Budget Director Joshua Bolten wrote in a letter to a key House lawmaker. The Administration "strongly urges" Congress to support the plan to return to the moon and go on to Mars, "a bold initiative for a long-term human and robotic program to explore the solar system," says the letter, sent to Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
United Arab Emirates is seeking 1,000 Javelin anti-tank missile systems and related equipment that could be worth $135 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on Nov. 17. Raytheon and Lockheed Martin's Javelin Joint Venture would be the prime contractor for the sale, which would include 100 command launch units and would enhance UAE's direct-fire capability for infantry, cavalry and commando units, DSCA said.
AIM-9X BUY: Raytheon Systems Co. will provide AIM-9X tactical missiles for the U.S. Air Force and Navy and the militaries of Poland, Denmark, South Korea and Switzerland, the U.S. Defense Department said Nov. 18. The work will be done under a $158 million contract modification. The U.S. Air Force and Poland will get the largest orders of missiles - 178 each - with the U.S. Navy buying 93, Denmark buying 60 and South Korea 41. The quantity of Switzerland's buy is classified. The deal includes Captive Air Training Missiles for the U.S.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Directed energy weapons could change the way wars are fought, an analyst said at a conference here, but they must have the backing of senior leaders. Richard Dunn, a senior analyst at Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Analysis Center in Arlington, Va., said directed energy weapons promise to be far more effective than guns in shooting down missiles. A bomber armed with a laser could, in theory, easily defeat a missile aimed at it.
In conjunction with an upswing in its missile and military and intelligence space segments, Orbital Sciences Corp. will see an increase in new orders for launch vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2004, company officials said Nov. 18 at the Lehman Brothers 2004 Small Cap Conference in Phoenix.
The newest San Antonio-class amphibious ship, New Orleans, will be christened by the Navy on Nov. 20, the Defense Department said Nov. 17. The ceremony will be held at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems - Avondale Operations in Avondale, La. Carolyn Shelton, wife of Gen. Henry H. Shelton, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is the New Orleans' sponsor and will christen the ship by breaking a champagne bottle across its bow, the DOD said. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark will give the principal address.
A federal advisory panel is urging the Defense Department to offer financial enticements to contractors to include more anti-corrosion technology in the weapon systems they build.
SI International Inc. of Reston, Va., has been awarded a five-year, $11.4 million contract to provide logistics support to the Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Depot Maintenance Operations and Programs Divisions at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, the company said Nov. 18.
The U.S. Army's Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile program has achieved significant progress on two key fronts, Army officials said Nov. 18.
SELLING: Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) has agreed to sell its communications software subsidiary Telcordia Technologies Inc. to Providence Equity Partners and Warburg Pincus for nearly $1.4 billion in cash. The sale of the Piscataway, N.J.-based company is subject to regulatory approval, SAIC said Nov. 18.
PLATFORM: The Airborne Laser's Turret Maintenance Conditioning Platform, shown here, is a sealed, climate-controlled structure that fits over the ABL flight turret when the aircraft is on the ground, to protect its equipment. It also can be used as a clean room to allow work on items inside the turret. The flight turret arrived at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in October, completing the beam control/fire control system, which is to focus a laser on a ballistic missile in its boost phase of flight.
Armor Holdings Inc., which builds security products and vehicle armor systems for the military and homeland defense markets, said its Aerospace & Defense Group has entered into a cooperative research and development initiative with Florida State University's Advanced Center for Composite Technologies (FAC2T).
St. Louis-based LaBarge Inc. has agreed to a $4.1 million contract to supply electronic subsystems for the Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar system to Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Systems sector, LaBarge said Nov. 16. LaBarge will integrate and manufacture complex electronic components for modules which transmit and receive radio waves, the company said. The radio waves are translated into velocity and position information for air or ground targets.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Airborne Laser (ABL) program is on the verge of achieving its second and final key goal for 2004, according to a program official. The "first flight" of ABL's beam-control/fire control system will happen "very, very soon," said Air Force Col. Ellen Pawlikowski, ABL program director. "The flight test is imminent," Pawlikowski told reporters during a teleconference Nov. 16.
Raytheon Co. has presented the U.S. Navy with the unitary/penetration variant of the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW-C), the company said. Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Ariz. hosted the first production delivery ceremony for Navy officials on Nov. 16.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - While the Bush Administration has made some steps toward protecting American assets in space, it has fallen short of implementing programs that would make a significant difference, according to one analyst.
An ambitious U.S. Navy plan to replace most of its amphibious ships and buy a new class of logistics ships may not be feasible, says a report from the Congressional Budget Office.
Defense company Elbit Systems Ltd. of Haifa, Israel, reported that revenues grew from $214.3 million last year to $223.8 million for the third quarter of 2004, an increase of 4.5 percent.
Several competing unmanned aerial vehicle missions are likely to be proposed for flight on Mars in NASA's next Scout competition, according to Andy Gonzales, program manager for NASA Ames Research Center's MATADOR project.
No new launch date has yet been set for NASA's Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) mission, while engineers continue to analyze a possible issue with loads on the payload that could occur during ignition of the Pegasus launch vehicle's second stage.
An expansion of SpaceDev's Air Force research and missile defense-related work helped increase the company's third-quarter revenues by 60 percent, the Poway, Calif.-based company said Nov. 16. SpaceDev reported that quarterly revenues went from $767,780 in the third quarter of 2003 to $1.2 million, "primarily due to the addition and expansion of our contracts with the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Missile Defense Agency, which created new revenue."
