The project manager of a U.S. Army anti-armor missile system declined to comment July 29 on the system's recent cancellation by Congress. The fiscal 2005 defense appropriations conference report calls for killing the Line-of-Sight Anti-Tank (LOSAT) system. The report was drafted by a House-Senate conference committee. It denies $71 million of the Army's $86 million program request and leaves $15 million for termination costs (DAILY, July 28).
PARTNERS: Aavid Thermalloy and Swales Aerospace have formed an alliance to pursue new commercial opportunities for Swales' Loop Heat Pipe technologies, which stem from its thermal management work for NASA and Department of Defense satellites. The companies plan to offer commercial-off-the-shelf heat removal devices that Swales said would reduce the size, weight and cost of semiconductor-based products.
Major defense companies reported increased earnings in the second quarter of 2004 compared with the second quarter of 2003, partly due to increased sales in defense and information technology. "Every one of the companies we follow exceeded expectations in their performance, in terms of revenues and bottom line earnings," Paul Nisbet, JSA Research, told The DAILY.
The U.S. Air Force is launching a pair of reviews to determine why the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) failed a recent flight-test and whether the stealthy cruise missile could be improved.
Six areas of work have won awards for innovation as part of NASA's Turning Goals into Reality (TGIR) Awards Program, NASA said last week. The awards were presented July 14 during the 2004 TGIR Conference in Washington. The six areas are aviation safety and reliability, environmental protection, space launch reliability, communications architecture, technology transfer and educational outreach to U.S. youth. Those awarded and their categories are:
The Arrow missile defense system, a joint U.S.-Israeli program, shot down an actual Scud ballistic missile for the first time during a July 29 test. The intercept occurred at an altitude of about 24 miles after the ground-launched target had flown a distance of about 180 miles, said Yair Ramati, general manager of MLM, a subsidiary of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), Arrow's prime contractor. Ramati declined to say what type of target was used, but other sources confirmed it was a Scud, the kind of missile that several of Israel's enemies have deployed.
INTELLIGENCE CONTRACT: The Defense Department has awarded Titan Corp. a contract to provide comprehensive worldwide intelligence and information technology, the company said. The agreement has a potential value of $255 million through 2011. The Joint Deployable Intelligence Support Systems (JDISS) program is used by the U.S. military services to connect intelligence users, command centers and field commanders. It provides interoperable solutions, intelligence mission applications, integration, security coordination, deployment, and training support.
Military officials responsible for the upkeep and repair of equipment for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan told lawmakers recently that the services are adequately handing the influx of work in maintenance depots. The House Armed Services Committee asked the services to detail their progress on handling depot maintenance requirements for equipment returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
SIGNAL SWITCH: NASA Television has switched it signal, improving coverage for viewers in the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii, NASA said. The switch from NASA's AMC-9 satellite took place on July 24. In the continental U.S., NASA TV can now be seen on AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude, Transponder 9, 3880 MHz, vertical polarization, audio at 6.8 MHz. In Alaska and Hawaii, NASA is now seen on AMC-7 at 137 degrees west longitude, Transponder 18, at 4060 MHz, vertical polarization, audio at 6.8 MHz.
The U.S. Air Force's tanker and transport aircraft face a series of crucial decisions and tests in the coming months, a key general said July 28. The Air Force recently discovered that struts that hold the engines on 30 KC-135E Stratotanker refuelers need major repairs for corrosion. But with no money budgeted for such work and with Congress resisting attempts to retire the aging aircraft, the Air Force may have to ground the planes until it figures out what to do, said Air Force Gen. John Handy, commander of U.S. Transportation Command.
WARNING SYSTEMS: Alliant Techsytems (ATK) will produce AN/AAR-47 Missile Warning Systems and sensor upgrade kits under an additional $6.7 million contract from Naval Air Systems Command, the company said July 28. Total orders for the kits and systems in the last four months have passed $43 million, ATK said. The kits and systems will be delivered to the U.S. Navy and Air Force and to allied governments.
The Marine Corps' V-22 Osprey tiltrotor program has passed an interim Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) review that a Boeing spokesman called a "rehearsal" for the crucial DAB next fall that will determine whether the program moves into full-rate production. The DAB review took place July 14. Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Michael Wynne signed the acquisition decision memorandum (ADM) for the meeting on July 26.
The U.S. Air Force is asking industry for input on the idea of procuring a fleet of as many as 60 "hunter/killer remotely operated aircraft" that would fly 30-hour unmanned missions of up to 50,000 feet with 3,000 pounds of bombs. The first would become operational by late fiscal year 2007. Each air vehicle would cost about $10 million. Responses to a request for information are due Aug. 25.
BALL AEROSPACE & TECHNOLOGIES CORP., Boulder, Colo. Maj. Gen. John P. Casciano (USAF-Ret.) has joined the company as director of systems engineering for the national capital area. EAGLEPICHER HORIZON BATTERIES, Phoenix Ajoy Datta has joined the company as chief technology officer. GEORGIA TECHNOLOGY AUTHORITY, Atlanta Alfred G. Hansen, president and CEO of EMS Technologies, has been named to the board of directors. GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH INSTITUTE, Atlanta
SUPERCOMPUTING: NASA, SGI and Intel have joined forces to increase NASA's supercomputing capacity by creating a Space Exploration Simulator, NASA said July 27. As part of Project Columbia, the new machine will provide an estimated tenfold increase in supercomputing capacity. It will be based at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. "NASA is excited to be working with industry in an innovative way to allow the agency to deploy a versatile capability in supercomputing," NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said.
With the transition from the U.S. Navy's current Nimitz-class aircraft carrier to its future CVN-21, the service to date has cut manpower costs by $2.7 billion, said Capt. Mike Schwartz, program manager for the Future Aircraft Carrier Program Office.
TECH WEB: Honeywell has launched a new technology Web site, Honeywell Aerospace Engineering, aimed at design engineers seeking the latest aerospace technologies information, the company said July 18. The site features seminars and training on Honeywell aerospace technologies, white papers, trends, and technology, and is located at aeroengineer.honeywell.com. The site also includes briefs on key processes, green technologies, more electric architecture, and systems integration.
OPTION EXERCISED: NASA has exercised a contract option with Lockheed Martin Space Operations of Houston to do work on space station mission operations and the space shuttle, NASA said July 27. The two-year contract is valued at $178.5 million. This will be the third option period of the contract, called the Mission Support Operations Contract. Under the MSOC, Lockheed Martin and its subcontractors perform space operations and data services support work for space shuttle missions and international space station expeditions.
The Boeing Co. reported second quarter net income of $607 million, or 75 cents per share, on revenues of $13.1 billion, the company said July 28. A year earlier, the company suffered a second quarter net loss of $192 million, or 24 cents per share, on revenues of $12.7 billion.
Some political analysts have expressed doubt that Congress will act on recommendations from the 9-11 commission to revamp its intelligence and homeland security committee structure.
GOODRICH CORP. will provide the air data system to Northrop Grumman for the Joint-Unmanned Combat Air Systems' X-47B air vehicle, Goodrich Corp. said July 19. Goodrich Smartport technology will be used on the air data system, which provides several benefits over traditional systems, the company said. By integrating processing capability, pressure sensors and multifunction sensing ports, the weight is decreased, reliability is improved and the number of discrete sensor installations is reduced, the company said. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the U.S.
FIRST FLIGHT: BAE Systems has achieved its first shakedown flight of a day/night, all-weather visibility system being developed under the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence's CONDOR II helicopter technology demonstrator program, the company said. The equipment being tested includes BAE Systems' latest LCD helmet-mounted display and uncooled infrared and low-light sensors, which project images on the helmet's visor. The system also incorporates BAE Systems' TERPROM obstacle-avoidance and ground-collision software.
