GENERAL DYNAMICS has chosen BAE SYSTEMS to provide the radio communications system for the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), General Dynamics said July 27. BAE Systems Electronic Systems will design the entire communication suite to provide the Navy an open architecture-base, cost-effective communications system, the company said. The work will be performed primarily in California. "We are proud to be part of the General Dynamics team.
Curtiss-Wright Corp., located in Roseland, N.J., has been awarded the first contract for the Army's future electromagnetic (EM) gun. The company received a 36-month, $30.8 million contract to design, develop, build and test a compact pulsed power supply (PPS) to power the weapon system that is scheduled to be deployed after 2010 as part of the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS). The PPS, a new technology in the advanced concept development stage, is the first of the gun's components to be developed, a Curtiss-Wright spokeswoman told The DAILY.
EVANS & SUTHERLAND COMPUTER CORP. has been awarded a $1.6 million contract from NLX LLC to upgrade the visual systems for the U.S. Air Force's Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) E-8C Weapons System Trainer (WST), the company said Aug. 3. ES&S will install a three-channel EPX-5000 system into an existing simulator, and also new ESCP-2000 projectors with auto-align capability and an EPX-5000 system for a second E-8C WST built by NLX. These systems will be delivered to NLX equipped with three high-resolution insets and a whole-earth database.
ALLIANCE ENTERPRISE CORP. has agreed with HYSTER AEROSPACE USA CORP. to acquire the exclusive license rights to market, manufacture and develop an aerial system to detect, locate and destroy plastic and metal land mines, Alliance Enterprise Corp. said Aug. 3. The aerial system includes a hybrid aircraft, the HYSTAR LML. It can carry sensors, fly vertically backward and sideways, and rotate while flying in any direction or in a hovering position. It also can fly at extremely slow speeds and maintain an altitude as low as a hovercraft.
GENERAL DYNAMICS has been awarded a $19 million contract to enhance data networks for the Navy at 16 locations worldwide, the company said Aug. 2. General Dynamics will implement technology enhancements to the server farm and information assurance systems installed under the $150 million Navy Base Level Information Infrastructure (BLII) program awarded to the company in 2001.
Rather than putting military transformation on hold, as some critics have said, operations in Iraq are accelerating the pace of transformation, according to Vice Adm. Arthur Cebrowski (USN-Ret.), director of the Pentagon's Office of Force Transformation (OFT).
EMS TECHNOLOGIES reported second-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $888,000, or 8 cents per share, on revenues of $64.5 million, on July 29. For the first six months of 2004, EMS reported continuing operations earnings of $2.8 million, or 25 cents per share, on revenues of $128.6 million.
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved 10 of 13 fiscal year 2005 appropriations bills while the Senate has voted to pass only one, leaving open the question of whether Congress will roll the remaining unfinished measures into an omnibus spending bill. Before leaving Washington for the August recess, the House completed its work on the commerce, defense, energy and water, foreign operations, homeland security and military construction bills. Unfinished bills include VA-HUD-NASA and transportation, which funds aviation safety and security.
Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer will benefit greatly from its win as part of the Lockheed Martin-led consortium that beat out a Northrop Grumman team Aug. 2 for the Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) program, according to industry analysts. "This is really a breakthrough for Embraer, that doesn't currently have any aircraft in the DOD inventory, in terms of the number of aircraft involved," Paul Nisbet, an aerospace and defense analyst with JSA Research, told The DAILY.
Congress approved fiscal year 2005 funding increases for the military's ground-launched munitions programs, including the Hellfire and Javelin missiles systems and the Precision Guided Mortar Munition (PGMM). House and Senate lawmakers approved $416.2 billion in defense spending for FY '05. The bill has been sent to President Bush for his signature, which is scheduled for Aug. 5. The committee approved $8.5 million for the PGMM. The House had approved $6 million for the program, while the Senate had voted for $10 million.
ROCKWELL COLLINS has been selected by the U.S. Air Force Collins for the initial system development and demonstration phase of the KG-3X Cryptographic Modernization Program, the company said Aug. 2. The program is designed to provide the U.S. military with highly reliable, protected, survivable and assured strategic communications for airborne portions of the Fixed Submarine Broadcast System and the Minimum Essential Emergency Communications Network. The KG-3X units are used for the strategic transmission of emergency action messages.
UAV CONTRACT: The SENTEL Corp. has awarded General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems a contract to provide unmanned aerial vehicle training support to the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center in Fallon, Nev. General Dynamics will supply the Aerostar UAV system and various payloads under license from Aeronautics Defense Systems Ltd. of Israel. The company also will provide the required support personnel and mission operators. The Aerostar UAV system provides surveillance and military operations on four continents.
RAPTOR TESTING: An F/A-22 Raptor from the Combined Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., was tested at the Benefield Anechoic Facility for the first time last month, the Air Force said Aug. 2. The tests were to ensure the aircraft's systems didn't interfere with its communications, navigation and identification systems, the Air Force said.
NASA's Office of Exploration Systems has released its second Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) requesting technologies to support the agency's vision for space exploration. Announced late July 30, the new BAA solicits technologies for the Human and Robotic Technology (H&RT) theme within NASA's Exploration Systems office. It seeks proposals for technologies related to two of the programs within H&RT - the Advanced Space Technology Program (ASTP) and the Technology Maturation Program (TMP).
A government advisory body has formed a committee to study see-and-avoid and operator training issues associated with the flight of unmanned aerial vehicles in U.S. airspace, the president of the body said Aug. 2. David S. Watrous, president of RTCA Inc., said the new committee, established July 29, could meet for the first time next month on the task of developing recommendations for the Federal Aviation Administration. He said the recommendations will reflect a consensus view of the aviation community and the public at large.
SYPRIS DATA SYSTEMS has retained AEROGEAR TELEMETRY to sell its products in nine southeastern states, Sypris Data Systems said July 28. AeroGear Telemetry represents manufacturers of telemetry and aerospace products and systems such as receivers, transmitters, antennas and data storage and acquisition products. Sypris Data Systems designs, manufactures and supports high-performance storage and data acquisition systems for industry and governments worldwide.
ALCATEL has delivered the second flight model of the Helios II high-resolution optical imaging instrument to EADS ASTRIUM, Alcatel said July 28. It will be integrated on the Helios IIB satellite in Toulouse, France, which is scheduled for launch in late 2009. The instrument will ensure the continuity of Helios II's Earth observation mission, Alcatel said. Helios II is the second generation of the Helios I security and defense program. The system is made up of the Helios IIA and Helios IIB satellites.
SOFTWARE AWARD: An aerospace engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has won Marshall's 2004 "Software of the Year Award" for a flight simulation program, the center said July 28. The software was developed by James McCarter, an aerospace engineer in the Guidance, Navigation, and Control Group in Marshall's Space Transportation Directorate. The directorate pursues advanced navigation, control, and guidance research and technology to improve safety and reliability for space transportation vehicles.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SPACE TECHNOLOGY and PRINCETON UNIVERSITY will conduct advanced electric-propulsion technologies research for NASA's space exploration plan, NASA said July 29. The program is within NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and part of Project Prometheus. NASA awarded Northrop Grumman Space Technology a 2.5-year, $3 million contract to develop a nuclear-electric pulsed inductive thruster system. Princeton will advance the technologies of a lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic thruster system under a three-year, $4 million contract.
Department of Defense (DOD) contract awards to U.S. small businesses increased nearly $9 billion in 2003 from the previous year - rising to $42 billion from $33.3 billion, DOD said July 30 in an annual report titled "Procurement from Small and other Business Firms." Defense awards to all U.S. businesses in 2003 totaled $187.5 billion, compared with $157.1 billion during 2002. Of that $187.5 billion, 22.4 percent were made to small businesses versus 21.2 percent in fiscal 2002 (see chart on page 7).
Israeli government officials and defense aircraft industry representatives said last week's test of the Arrow missile defense system off the coast of California was a success and that they plan to deploy the system as a national defense against threats from hostile countries.
