The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has begun a program to develop advanced radar capabilities for tactical-level unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS), the agency announced Sept. 29.
The U.S. Army has awarded TVI Corp. of Glenn Dale, Md. a $1.4 million contract for the TVI Guardian Col/Pro(TM) systems, which provide increased protection against chemical and biological threats, TVI Corp. said Sept. 30. If there were a biological or chemical attack, the systems would protect military personnel with quickly deploying shelters and help prevent the spread of contamination by isolating individuals exposed to life-threatening agents, the company said.
Researchers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, flew a 7 percent scaled Joined-Wing Technology Demonstrator for the first time last week, the Air Force said Sept. 29. The flight supports development of the SensorCraft, an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) program intended to study how sensors, links, components and propulsion systems can be used on a future long-range, high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle.
AMC-15: The launch of SES Americom's AMC-15 satellite has been rescheduled for Oct. 14 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, according to International Launch Services spokeswoman Fran Slimmer. The original September launch date was postponed to allow for additional checking of the Proton launch vehicle's avionics. The next ILS launch after that will be SES Americom's AMC-16, to take place on an Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral in December.
ROBOTICS: DOD's Joint Robotics Program and the Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) will hold a robotics conference in Panama City Beach, Fla., from Nov. 30 through Dec. 1. The purpose of the conference is to "leverage on efforts and expose users [to] technology currently available on the robotics market," according to an announcement on Federal Business Opportunities.
CABLE ASSEMBLIES: Meggitt Safety Systems (MSSI) of Simi Valley, Calif., will supply Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. with silicon dioxide cable assemblies for the F/A-22 Raptor's electronic warfare system, Meggitt Safety Systems said Sept. 29. Meggitt Safety Systems is a unit of the Meggitt Aerospace Equipment Group. MSSI will provide its amplitude stable and highly advanced phase cable assemblies for the electronic warfare and leading-edge flap communication navigation information systems for the F/A-22, the company said. MSSI will be the sole supplier for 203 ship sets.
NASA has chosen Lockheed Martin's Atlas V rocket to launch its Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in April 2008, International Launch Services (ILS) announced Sept. 30. The first Space Weather Research Network mission in NASA's Living With a Star (LWS) program, SDO will study the sun's influence on Earth and Near-Earth space by studying the solar atmosphere in multiple wavelengths simultaneously. NASA's Kennedy Space Center is managing the launch contract, while Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the SDO project.
Australian Defence Industries' Bushmaster infantry mobility vehicle recently underwent successful testing in a pair of three-day trials in the United Arab Emirates, ADI said Sept. 29. The five-year-old, left-hand-drive prototype vehicle took on 1,553 miles of desert, sand dunes, and rocky tracks in 136-degree temperatures, New South Wales-based ADI said. ADI was required to provide a driver for the vehicle while a UAE observer was a passenger throughout the trials.
EADS North America has restructured its defense business into EADS North America Defense Company, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. said Sept. 29. The new company is a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS North America, Inc., operating under a special security agreement to regulate and ease the management of classified information through procedures establishing industrial security and export control measures, the company said. James Mulato will serve as CEO and the company will be located in Arlington, Va.
A House-Senate conference on the fiscal year 2005 defense authorization bill got under way a day after the House leadership chose the members who will work to reconcile the two versions of the measure. The conferees gathered for a full committee meeting on Sept. 29. Sources on Capitol Hill told The DAILY that members would try to reach agreement before the presidential election.
Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne completed its first qualification flight to win the Ansari X Prize Sept. 29, reaching suborbital space despite an unexpected roll that caused pilot Mike Melvill to shut the vehicle's rocket engine off 11 seconds early. SpaceShipOne and its White Knight carrier aircraft took off from the Civilian Aerospace Test Center at Mojave Airport at 7:12 a.m. Pacific time. After being carried to 47,000 feet, SpaceShipOne detached and fired its SpaceDev-built hybrid rocket engine.
TESTING: Ground and flight-tests of the Yak-130 training and light combat aircraft will be completed by the end of 2005, Moscow-based IRKUT Corp. said. First production flight-tests are being completed, a second production aircraft will fly in November and a third will be tested next year, the company said. Two other aircraft are undergoing static ground testing. The tests have checked stability and controllability, power plant operation, aircraft systems, and takeoff and landing performance, the company said.
Intelligence community-revamping legislation being considered by the House Armed Services Committee would remove the secretary of defense from the funding loop between the White House budget office and federal agencies. The committee met in a markup session Sept. 29 to work on H.R. 10, legislation proposed in response to the recommendations recently made by the 9-11 Commission.
The Department of Defense (DOD) outsources almost half of its contracts on a noncompetitive basis, has increased the amount it contracts out, and awards most of its funding to a small percentage of firms, according to a new report by the watchdog group Center for Public Integrity, released Sept. 29. No-bid contracts have accounted for more than 40 percent, or about $362 billion, of Pentagon contracting from 1998 to 2003, said Charles Lewis, the group's executive director.
Lockheed Martin's Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) team recently completed airborne and ground demonstrations of potential sensors for the vehicle, the company announced Sept. 29.
Comprehensive avionics upgrades of the Australian air force's C-130J and C-130H full-flight simulators have recently been completed by CAE Inc. of Montreal, the company said Sept. 29. The simulators are located in Richmond, New South Wales, Australia.
AEROSPACE CORP., El Segundo, Calif. Heinz L. Butner has been named principal engineer in the Delta IV Program Directorate, Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Division (EELV), at the company's El Segundo headquarters. Steve Pavlica and Thomas A. Ramberg have been promoted to principal engineer in the Electronic Programs Division in the company's Chantilly, Va., office. HERLEY INDUSTRIES, Lancaster, Pa. Thomas V. Gilboy has been appointed vice president and chief financial officer. HONEYWELL, Morris Township, N.J.
MERGER: Sensytech Inc. and Argon Engineering Associates have completed their merger, the companies said Sept. 29. Company stockholders approved a name change, from Sensytech to ARGON ST Inc. The company's headquarters will be in Fairfax, Va.
Developers of the Tactical Tomahawk (TacTom) are turning their attention to the horizontally launched variant of the cruise missile now that the vertically launched version has been fielded. Capt. Robert Novak, the U.S. Navy's Tomahawk program manager, said Sept. 29 that the first launch test for the horizontally launched version of TacTom is scheduled for May 2005 from a British submarine. Deliveries of the variant are slated to begin about two years after that.
MARS DRILL: NASA's Johnson Space Center is testing a drilling rig designed for use on the moon or Mars at the Eureka Weather Station in the Canadian Arctic. Located on Ellesmere Island in Canada, the testing location is about 690 miles from the North Pole and approximates certain attributes of the martian environment. The drill itself is roughly the height of a street sign and consumes only 100 watts of power. For the tests, JSC is collaborating with McGill University in Montreal, the University of Toronto, and Baker Hughes Inc. of Houston. Testing will last through Oct.
BAE Systems North America has agreed to purchase Alphatech for $88.4 million, BAE Systems said Sept. 28. Alphatech specializes in intelligent systems, multi-intelligence fusion and image and signal processing for the Department of Defense and other government intelligence agencies. It employs 322 people and is headquartered in Burlington, Mass.
The Netherlands has requested Secure Mobile Anti-Jam Reliable Tactical Terminals (SMART-T) and M998A1 Humvees, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Sept. 28. The Netherlands is seeking seven SMART-Ts and seven Humvees for a total contract value of up to $71 million, DSCA said.
The first flight test for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's revamped Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system has been delayed slightly by a congressional funding cut, according to Defense Department officials. The test had been scheduled for December but now is planned for sometime in the January-March quarter of 2005 because the FY '05 defense appropriations act, without explanation, trimmed $30 million from MDA's $834 million request for THAAD, the DOD officials said Sept. 29.
