PREDATORS: General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems will provide seven MQ-1L Predator unmanned aerial vehicles and 14 ruggedized aircraft maintenance test stations under a $22 million contract modification, the Department of Defense said Nov. 15. The work is to be complete by January 2007.
The German Bundestag's budget committee has approved buying eight P-3C Orion maritime reconnaissance aircraft from the Netherlands navy as well as 55 Dingo 2 armored transport vehicles, the German defense ministry said Nov. 12. The aircraft cost totals 271 million euros ($352 million), including simulators, documentation, spare parts, ground service and testing equipment. Deliveries of the P-3Cs are to begin next year.
General Dynamics C4 Systems, located in Taunton, Mass., won a $14.9 million increment as part of a $112 million contract for development of an initial architecture for the Warfighter Information Network -Tactical Communication System (WIN-T), the Defense Department said Nov. 15.
ACQUIRED: Honeywell is now sole owner of GEM Microelectronics Materials, which manufactures chemicals for the semiconductor industry. Honeywell acquired Mitsubishi Chemical America's 40 percent stake in the company for an undisclosed amount. Honeywell will market GEM's products under its Honeywell Electronic Materials business.
Goodrich yesterday predicted that its sales in 2005 will jump about 6-8 percent from levels this year to about $5 billion, partially due to help from its military unit. Military sales are expected to increase roughly in line with overall military budgets around the world, which are expected to grow in the low single-digit range for 2005, compared with 2004, the company said. Earnings per share next year are expected to be in the range of $1.60-$1.80, an increase of 20-35 percent from the earnings per share predictions for 2004.
NASA is lobbying Congress for the authority to award prizes of more than $250,000 in its Centennial Challenges program, and hopes to get a green light during the current lame-duck session of Congress or early next year. NASA needs authorization from Congress to award prizes of more than $250,000. Centennial Challenges Program Manager Brant Sponberg met with authorizers on Capitol Hill to discuss the issue Nov. 15.
The U.S. Air Force's E-10A Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft has received a vote of confidence from a key Pentagon panel, a program official said Nov. 15. The Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) Oct. 14 approved a document outlining the need for the E-10A, which is designed to replace the E-8C Joint STARS air-to-ground surveillance aircraft, said Col. Joseph Smyth, E-10A's program director, who spoke at the Defense News Media Group's ISR Integration 2004 Conference.
Christie Immersive Solutions Group signed an agreement with Computer Sciences Corp.'s Defense Solutions Division to provide visual projection systems for six simulator installations for the U.S. Army Maritime Integrated Training Systems program, the company said Nov. 15. The Immersive Solutions Group is part of visual systems provider Christie Digital Systems Inc. The contract includes the installation of 31 Christie DS30W wide-screen digital projection systems for three Full Mission Bridge (FMB) and three crane simulators.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Defense Department's concept of transformation was greeted with skepticism by speakers at a conference here, with one, a former Army colonel who left the service in June, saying the emphasis in changing the armed forces to meet new challenges should be on thinking, not technology.
Rolls-Royce is establishing a University Technology Centre (UTC) at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, to study what it dubbed future "more electric" engine technologies. Developing engines that rely more on electricity for ships could lead to weight savings, reduced fuel use, increased cargo space and simpler maintenance, the company said Nov. 15.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University are designing an inflatable, expendable, high-altitude vehicle that could stay aloft for weeks monitoring a battlefield.
The contractor team that will build NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has opened a new facility in Cullman, Ala., where the telescope's optical components will be machined into the proper shape, Northrop Grumman announced Nov. 15. Axsys Technologies Inc. owns the facility, which houses advanced computer-aided manufacturing and metrology equipment that will shape JWST's optical components. The telescope's 6.5-meter (20-foot) primary mirror will consist of 18 hexagonal beryllium segments.
Former Boeing Co. Chief Financial Officer Michael Sears will be sentenced in January after entering a guilty plea Nov. 16 in connection with improper dealings with former Boeing executive and Air Force acquisitions official Darleen Druyun. Sears pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Virginia to one count of "aiding and abetting acts affecting a personal financial interest," court documents said. The maximum penalties are five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Judge Gerald Bruce Lee set a sentencing date of 9 a.m. Jan. 21.
Norway's air force has exercised an option to buy additional Lockheed Martin Precision Attack Navigation and Targeting (PANTERA) advanced targeting pods, the company said Nov. 15. The terms and quantities of the option were not disclosed.
Lockheed Martin conducted a second successful controlled flight-test of the Compact Kinetic Energy Missile (CKEM) recently at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the company said Nov. 12. The missile was guided internally and flew 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). It did not attempt to hit a target.
A Moog Inc. protest of an Army decision to seek small businesses to overhaul and upgrade UH-60 Black Hawk flight control components was denied Nov. 12 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Information Handling Services (IHS) and the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) expanded their multiyear agreement to provide improved access to industry standards and related publications, AIA said Nov. 15. Under this long-term arrangement, IHS will become the exclusive distributor of AIA standards and related publications, and will upgrade and manage the AIA's National Aerospace Standards Store for easier access to these documents.
LUH AWARD: The Army will issue a contract for its Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) at the end of 2005 and the aircraft will deploy in 2006, says Paul Bogosian, deputy program executive officer for Army Aviation. "We held the industry day for the LUH November 8," Bogosian says. Because the LUH is a commercial-off-the-shelf aircraft, it will not have a system development program but will go straight into production (DAILY, Oct. 28). The Army plans to procure 322 LUHs to replace UH-60 Black Hawks, 144 of which will be used for homeland security, he says.
A new study by Dittmar Associates of Seabrook, Texas, has found strong support among the public for NASA's overall space exploration plans, including returning astronauts to the moon, but less support for a human Mars landing. Sixty-five percent of respondents supported a moon return, although only 18 percent supported a Mars landing, which was seen as riskier. "Interest and excitement about the vision for space exploration is strong for near-term aspects of the plan," Dittmar Associates said in a statement.
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems will design and develop the Expeditionary Fire Support System (EFSS) that is to be transported to the field by the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, the company said Nov. 10. The contract, awarded by the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command, has an initial value of $18 million but could be worth up to $300 million if initial production and fielding options are exercised.
