GOES-R WORK: Lockheed Martin will perform design and risk-reduction work for NASA's Solar Imaging Suite (SIS), scheduled to fly on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites R series (GOES-R), the company said Sept. 27. The work will be done under a $6 million, 18-month contract. SIS instruments are to study solar activity and the effects of the sun on the Earth. The launch of the first GOES-R satellite is scheduled for 2012.
The U.S. Coast Guard awarded a $451,000 contract to VideoRay LLC of Exton, Pa., for five underwater surveillance robots to conduct underwater hull inspections. Company spokesman Erick Estrada told The DAILY that the contract would provide for five video remote devices with different accessories to enable the service to examine hull damage on vessels.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is slowing efforts to promote international participation in its cash-constrained Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) program. Instead of awarding development contracts in fiscal 2005, as previously planned, MDA now intends to provide funding for multiple concept studies in FY '06, a Defense Department official said Sept. 27 in a written response to questions. After the eight-to-12-month studies are completed in FY '07, one of the concepts will be chosen for development.
The Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) has formed a new company, Farnborough International Ltd., to run future Farnborough air shows, the society announced Sept. 24. The move will allow a dedicated team to focus on Farnborough International while allowing the SBAC to retain overall control, the SBAC said. The dates for Farnborough 2006 are: July 18-21 for trade days and July 22-23 for public days.
More aerospace and defense suppliers are using lean manufacturing processes to reduce costs and increase business, said Bill Lewandowski, vice president of supplier management for the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). "More than 90 percent of the top 50 percent of suppliers have lean programs, and 50 percent of all aerospace and defense subcontractors use lean," Lewandowski told The DAILY Sept. 27.
Naval Sea Systems Command's Undersea Technology directorate (SEA 073) is on track to conduct the Silent Hammer exercise next month, according to Navy officials. The exercise is scheduled to take place Oct. 5-14 off the coast of San Diego. Silent Hammer will involve the simulated launch of an unmanned aerial vehicle from a submarine (DAILY, July 12). It is also intended to show how networked special operations forces can fill gaps in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and time-sensitive strikes.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she is concerned about reports that the U.S. Navy has prepared a budget proposal that should decrease funding for shipbuilding in fiscal year 2006. Collins, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent a letter late last week to Navy Secretary Gordon England, saying, "I am concerned about reports that the Navy has prepared a budget proposal that would erode our current fleet force structure."
X PRIZE: Scaled Composites of Mojave, Calif., is in the final preparations for its first qualification flight to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize, scheduled for Sept. 29. At 6 a.m. Pacific time, the White Knight carrier aircraft will take off from the Civilian Aerospace Test Center at Mojave Airport carrying the SpaceShipOne spacecraft. After climbing for roughly an hour, SpaceShipOne will detach from the White Knight and fire its hybrid rocket engine to reach suborbital space at approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles) altitude.
ITT Industries Aerospace/Communications won a $7.3 million contract from the Department of Defense Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) program office to make JTRS interoperable between the United States and Britain, ITT said Sept. 27. Under terms of the contract, ITT will develop and deliver 13 modes of the Bowman VHF waveform - five modes of which demonstrate interoperability with a British advanced digital radio - to be installed on U.S. JTRS radios.
Snecma International, a manufacturer of propulsion, equipment and services for aircraft engines, helicopters, launchers and satellites, acquired the assets of Gespac Integration, a Moroccan company that manufactures electric wiring via its Labinal subsidiary, Snecma said Sept. 27.
Swiftships Shipbuilders of Morgan City La., will build six 25-meter fast patrol craft (FPCs) for Egypt, the U.S. Department of Defense said Sept. 24. The company also will provide technical data and training under the $32 million Foreign Military Sales program contract. "The FPC will be contructed of aluminum and conform to American Bureau of Shipping High Speed Naval Craft Requirements," the DOD said in announcing the Naval Sea Systems Command contract award.
DIVESTING: Precision Castparts Corp. (PCC) of Portland, Ore., which builds metal components for the aerospace industry, is selling the pump and valve businesses of its Fluid Management Products segment, the company says. Sulzer Pumps Ltd., headquartered in Winterthur, Switzerland, intends to acquire the businesses for about $36 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter, PCC says.
ON HOLD: Canadian X Prize contender the da Vinci Project has put its planned Oct. 2 flight attempt on hold pending the delivery and integration of "key components" of its Wild Fire spacecraft, the team says. After a high-altitude launch from a helium balloon, Wild Fire is expected to ignite its rocket and climb to approximately 110 kilometers (68 miles) altitude. The flight is to take place from Kindersley, Saskatchewan.
The U.S. Army is scheduled to decide in October which type of engine system it will use for the Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) and Non-Line-of-Sight Mortar (NLOS-M) manned ground vehicles, a Honeywell official told The DAILY Sept. 24. The vehicles are part of the Army's Future Combat Systems program. The Army will decide next month to go with a one- or two-engine system for the NLOS vehicles, said Rich Douglas, Honeywell's director of military propulsion, engines, systems and services, told The DAILY.
Raytheon Co. will provide 11 AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) and related equipment for a Foreign Military Sale to Australia, the U.S. Department of Defense said Sept. 24. The work is being done under a $10 million contract modification from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The contract includes six AMRAAM Air Vehicles Instrumented (AAVIs), instrumentation unit field kits and software configuration management. The work is to be completed by August 2005.
After regulatory review by the Federal Trade Commission, Alliant Techsystems (ATK) of Minneapolis has completed its $165 million purchase of Omaha, Nebraska-based PSI Group, ATK said Sept. 23. The PSI Group manufactures and designs components for commercial and military space-based applications, including deployable mast booms, reflectors, struts, satellite bus structures, navigation and communication satellites and global positioning.
EA-18G PRODUCTION: The Boeing Co. plans to begin building the forward fuselage for the U.S. Navy's new EA-18G on Oct. 22, company officials say. The start of work on the forward fuselage in St. Louis, Mo., is supposed to coincide with the completion of a preliminary design review (PDR) for the electronic attack jet. The PDR will be followed by a critical design review in April 2005. Northrop Grumman began making the center/aft fuselage in July in El Segundo, Calif. (DAILY, July 1).
The Naval Air Systems Command has awarded San Diego-based Cubic Corp.'s defense segment a one-year, $1.6 million contract to provide contractor instructors for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter maintenance training program, Cubic Corp. said Sept. 23. Cubic won the award under its indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract from NAVAIR for fielded training systems support. Cubic is one of seven companies awarded the ID/IQ in 2000, which allowed it to compete for about $500 million in simulator support work, Cubic Corp. said.
BOWIE, Md. - The U.S. Army is exploring or pursuing several new features for its RAID surveillance system, government and industry representatives said Sept. 24. RAID, or Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment, has been fielded in Afghanistan and Iraq to allow troops to monitor their surroundings (DAILY, April 14, 2003; Nov. 21, 2003). The deployed equipment includes electro-optical/infrared cameras mounted on towers and 49-foot-long aerostats. The aerostats are unmanned, balloon-like devices tethered to the ground by cables.
L-3 Vertex, a Vertex Aerospace subsidiary of New York-based L-3 Communications, has won a one-year, $47 million contract to provide operation and contractor logistics support of the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department (AIMD) for the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), L-3 Communications said Sept 23. If the four one-year options are exercised, the contract's total value would be $216.7 million.
Northrop Grumman Corp. selected Aerosystems International and QinetiQ as core United Kingdom partners in its team for Project Helix, an upgrade to the Nimrod R1 aircraft electronic reconnaissance mission capabilities, the company said Sept. 23. As prime integrator, Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector leads one of the three teams selected by the U.K. Ministry of Defence to focus on the program's problem-understanding phase. One of the company's European divisions also is partnering with the Electronic Systems sector, Northrop Grumman said.
Sept. 27 - 29 -- SAFE Association 42nd Annual Symposium, Grand America Hotel, Salt Lake City, Utah. Call (541) 895-3012, fax (541) 895-3014 or email [email protected]. Sept. 28 - 29 -- International Quality & Productivity Center Defense IQ Divison's Electronic Warfare 2004, The Cafe Royal, London. For information call +44-207-437-9090 or go to www.iqpc-defence.com. Sept. 28 - 30 -- ISR Transformation Government Symposium, "New Vision for Global ISR," Denver, Colo. For information call 1-800-603-8899 or go to www.federalevents.com.
Northrop Grumman Corp. will manufacture and integrate a voice, data and multiplexing communications infrastructure for the U.S. Air Force under an initial order worth $18 million, the company said Sept. 24. The Theater Deployable Communications (TDC) modules and kits program is designed to securely transmit and receive voice, data and video.
