NASA is planning follow-on tests of an experimental unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed to fly on Mars. Known as the Mars Advanced Technology Airplane for Deployment, Operations, and Recovery (MATADOR), the vehicle follows the Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey (ARES) project, which was a finalist in NASA's 2007 Mars Scout competition (DAILY, April 25, 2003).
A U.S. Air Force (USAF) official recently assigned to improve coordination between air and ground forces is seeking to have a voice in weapons purchases. Col. Michael Longoria, director of the Air Force's new Joint Air-Ground Operations (JAGO) office, said on Nov. 8 that he hopes to have influence in deciding the number of Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters that the Air Force buys in the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) configuration.
The Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a large bomb the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is pursuing to destroy hardened and deeply buried targets, will have to be highly agile for its size, posing a key challenge for the weapon's developers, according to a laboratory representative.
Helicopter builder and aerospace equipment maker Kaman Corp. reported losses for the third quarter of 2004 and the first nine months of the year, the company said Nov. 8. Kaman reported a net loss of $11.9 million for the third quarter of 2004, compared with net earnings of $1.2 million for the same period in 2003. For the first nine months of the year, the company reported a loss of $12.4 million, compared with net earnings of $18.4 million in 2003.
Engineers at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi are conducting tests to learn more about how ice and frost formation forms on the foam insulation that covers the space shuttle's external tank, NASA announced Nov. 6. The tests are part of the agency's effort to understand and minimize the processes that can result in dangerous debris such as that which doomed Columbia. Lessons learned from the tests will be used in making launch day decisions, according to NASA.
The U.S. Air Force has asked the office of acting Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Wynne to help enlist the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in taking over a review of protests by companies alleging bias by now-former Air Force official Darleen Druyun, a service spokesman said Nov. 8. Since Air Force rulings on the protests likely would spur the losing companies to appeal to the GAO, the Air Force believes it makes sense to shorten the process by having the GAO involved at the start (DAILY, Nov. 8).
BVR Systems of Rosh Ha'ayin, Israel, will supply an Infantry Multi-Weapon Firing Simulation System to Systex Corp. of Taiwan, the company said Nov. 8. The system is a computer-based tactics and infantry combat trainer that enables small arms training, BVR Systems said. The work is being done under a $2.6 million contract.
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. has awarded FLIR Systems Inc. of Portland, Ore., a contract to deliver three BRITE Star airborne thermal imaging laser designator systems for Fire Scout vertical takeoff unmanned air vehicles, FLIR Systems Inc. said Nov. 8 Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed. The systems' installation will be part of the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase for the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship, the company said.
DART SLIPS: NASA's Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) mission has once again been postponed from its most recently scheduled launch date of Nov. 9. Its first available backup launch date is Nov. 11, according to a NASA spokesman. DART will be boosted to orbit by a Pegasus rocket following release from the L-1011 Stargazer aircraft, which will take off from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. Two launch attempts in October were postponed for technical reasons (DAILY, Oct. 29).
General Dynamics Land Systems has been awarded a $9 million contract by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command to perform transmission conversions on 151 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, the company said Nov. 5 The work will improve the reliability of the transmissions, the company said. It will be performed during the remanufacturing process at the General Dynamics Land Systems' Muskegon, Mich., operations facility.
TRMM OBSERVATION: The El Nino Southern Oscillation is the main driver in changing rain patterns around the world, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission has confirmed. The TRMM satellite, launched in 1997, is a joint venture of NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense has awarded Haifa, Israel-based Elbit Systems Ltd. a multiyear, $300 million contract to supply advanced electronic systems, the company said Nov. 8. Elbit Systems will supply logistic support and training, command and control systems and airborne systems, the company said. The integration of various systems also is included in the contract, as are homeland security products.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is scheduled to reach a historic high of 30 operational satellites following the checkout of GPS IIR-13, which was launched successfully from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Nov. 6. Checkout is expected to take two weeks. When GPS IIR-13 comes online, the overall constellation will consist of 18 Block II and IIA spacecraft and 12 new-generation Block IIR spacecraft. GPS requires a minimum of 24 satellites.
SWIFT SCHEDULED: NASA has scheduled its Swift observatory to launch from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 17 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket, the agency announced Nov. 8. The one-hour launch window opens at 12:09 p.m. eastern time. Swift's primary mission is to observe gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most powerful explosions observed in the universe. Within roughly a minute of a detected GRB, the entire Swift spacecraft will rotate autonomously so its onboard X-ray and optical telescopes can view the burst.
Diversified Global Resources of Silver Spring, Md., will help NASA solicit and select research investigations for funding under a five-year contract, NASA said last week. The company also will provide logistical support to workshops and conferences for sponsored research and education and maintain an Internet site and electronic database for submission and storage of proposals and their documentation. The contract has a minimum value of $15 million and a maximum value of $130 million, NASA said.
The U.S. Army recently awarded qualification to the T700-GE-701D turboshaft engine being produced by Lynn, Mass.-based GE Aircraft Engines, the company said Nov. 4. The T700-GE-701D is the latest generation of T700s powering the Army's Apache and Black Hawk helicopters. The Army plans to convert its entire fleet of Black Hawks and Apaches to the T700-GE-701D, the company said.
EUROPEAN CUTS: Defense budget cuts are being enacted across most of Europe, but "we believe the current projections are safe in the U.S. for several years," says Credit Suisse First Boston's European Aerospace and Defense Equity Research Team. "Record returns/growth are priced in for the U.S. sector and for the defense contractors, but declining returns for the European sector," CFSB says. However, even in the United States, "operational commitments could put pressure on procurement and we see risk of program deferrals in the fiscal 2006 U.S.
Raytheon Co. is ahead of schedule in delivering its family of thermal weapon sights (TWS) to the Army, Jon Piatt, manager of Raytheon Soldier Weapon Sensor Systems, told The DAILY. The TWS are used for surveillance, detection and targeting in degraded battlefield conditions. In response to an Army request 11 months ago for Raytheon Systems Co.'s Network Centric Systems to more than double its TWS production from 400 to more than 1,000 systems per month, Raytheon today is producing more than 1,200 systems a month, Piatt said.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Adm. Timothy J. Keating, who assumed command of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command on Nov. 5, said terrorists might think they have the best chance of successfully attacking Canada and the U.S. from the sea, but the vulnerability is not as great as some have said. Gen. Ralph E. "Ed" Eberhart, who passed the commands to Keating in a ceremony at Peterson Air Force Base here, said recently that he believes "terrorists are looking at that avenue of attack. Our maritime domain awareness is not as secure as our monitoring of our airspace."
SUB CONVERSION: The USS Ohio, the first of four Trident ballistic missile submarines being converted to carry Raytheon-built Tomahawk cruise missiles, is on track to achieve an initial operational capability (IOC) in May 2007, says U.S. Navy Capt. Willy Hilarides, the project's overseer. The USS Ohio is being modified at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., and is about two-thirds of the way through its conversion.
Nov. 11 - 13 -- Pacific Marine Expo, The West Coast Commercial Marine Marketplace," Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Seattle, Wash. For more information go to www.pacificmarineexpo.com. Nov. 15 - 16 -- ISR Integration 2004, "Enabling Precision Strike," Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, Va. For more information go to www.defensenews.com/conferences/isr.
NASA's Centennial Challenges program on Nov. 5 issued two requests for information (RFI) seeking information on potential support contracts for future prizes and one announcement of partnership opportunity looking for organizations wishing to contribute funding or services to the program.
If upcoming U.S. Air Force experiments are successful, free-floating "near space" surveillance balloons could be deployed to the field by late next year, according to Maj. Robert Blackington of the Air Force Space Battlelab. Blackington is the program manager for the Near Space Maneuvering Vehicle (NSMV), a high-altitude airship that is one of several technologies being developed by the battlelab to exploit near-space altitudes (DAILY, Nov. 5). Near space is roughly defined as 66,000-300,000 feet.
