The Eurely and iNavSat consortiums submitted their final proposals to manage the deployment of Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system Jan. 25, the groups announced. Eurely includes Alcatel Space, Finmeccanica, Vinci, SFR, CapGemini and Hispasat. The iNavSat consortium is made up of EADS Space, Inmarsat Ventures and Thales. Selection of the winning bidder is expected in February.
Lockheed Martin's 2004 net earnings reached $1.3 billion, compared with $1.1 billion in 2003, the company reported Jan. 27. Revenue in the fourth quarter of 2004 was $372 million, compared with $344 million during the fourth quarter of 2003, an 8% increase.
The U.S. Army's networked Stryker Brigade Combat Teams are exemplifying the benefits of network-centric operations both during exercises and actual deployments in Iraq, according to John Garstka, assistant director for concepts and operations at the Pentagon's Office of Force Transformation.
TOP TEN LIST: The Department of Defense's top five contractors stayed the same from 2003 to 2004, according to a new list released Jan. 27 which tracks the companies receiving the largest dollar volume of contracts during fiscal 2004. Lockheed Martin Corp. kept the No. 1 spot, at $20.7 billion in contracts, followed by Boeing Co. with $17.1 billion, Northrop Grumman Corp. with $11.9 billion, General Dynamics Corp. with $9.6 billion and Raytheon Co. at No. 5 with $8.5 billion. Halliburton changed places with United Technologies Corp., with Halliburton moving from No.
NASA and contractor Alliant Techsystems (ATK) have completed stacking the twin solid rocket boosters (SRBs) for the space shuttle's first post-Columbia launch, scheduled for May at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Shuttle Discovery will fly the mission, STS-114, which is to visit the International Space Station and test new safety procedures and equipment developed by NASA in response to Columbia's loss.
BAE Systems will design, develop and demonstrate technologies that support the Radio Frequency Guided Munitions (RFGM) program under a $6.6 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the company said Jan. 27.
The Defense Department has completed an update to its National Military Strategy (NMS) document and plans to send it to Congress soon, according to a defense official. Navy Capt. Jeff Hesterman, chief of the strategy division in the Joint Staff's Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate, said that Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently signed off on the updated NMS.
Lt. Gen. Joseph "Keith" Kellogg (USA-Ret.) has been appointed executive vice president of the company's Research and Technology Systems business group. Kellogg most recently was senior vice president of homeland security solutions for Oracle Corp.
Defense spending should be "on the table" and under equal consideration for freezing or cutbacks to help get the federal budget deficit reigned in, Rep. John M. Spratt (D-S.C.), said Jan. 25. "Everything should be on the table, everything," Spratt, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, told The DAILY. The congressman also is the second-ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
Donald Green has resigned from the board of directors. Henry Pankratz will replace Green on the board. Pankratz is president of CavanCore Capital, Toronto, a private investment and corporate advisory firm. Bob Monette has been named director, international military sales/marketing for the company's subsidiary, Atlantis Systems International Inc. Karl Morgan has been appointed director, commercial sales/marketing for ASI.
The House and Senate armed services committees are preparing for painful cuts to current and future defense weapon systems and military bases due to budget deficits and Bush Administration proposals to reform Social Security and Medicare, according to statements from the House committee chairman and a Senate committee staff member.
Raymond W. Boushie has been named to the company's board of directors. Boushie has retired as president and CEO of Crane Aerospace & Electronics, a business segment of Crane Co., Stamford, Conn.
The V-22 Osprey program office is close to resolving a recently discovered glitch in the aircraft's engine pods and now foresees little or no delay in the start of a key test phase, a program spokesman said Jan. 26.
Although the U.S. Navy has decided to withdraw from the U.S. Air Force-led Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) program, prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. plans no layoffs because JASSM sales to the Air Force and foreign customers are expected to sustain the current work force, according to the company. The Air Force is in the early stages of acquiring 4,900 JASSMs, and the missile has "excellent potential for international sales," with Australia among the possible overseas buyers, company spokeswoman Jennifer Allen said late Jan. 25.
Mark Faulkner has been appointed director of engineering for the Endwave Defense Systems division. Naren Idnani has been named director of manufacturing for the same division.
Gulf Helicopters of Doha, Qatar, has signed a contract to buy a Sikorsky S-92 aircraft to carry high-ranking officials. Delivery is scheduled for 2006, Sikorsky said Jan. 25. Financial terms were not disclosed. Turkey and Turkmenistan also have selected the S-92 for head-of-state missions. Turkey has contracted for one and Turkmenistan for two S-92s.
LASER LEADER: U.S. Air Force Col. Ellen Pawlikowski, director of the Missile Defense Agency's Airborne Laser program for almost five years, is scheduled to leave the program at the end of February, an MDA spokesman said Jan. 26. Pawlikowski, whose successor has not been announced, will replace civilian Christine Anderson as director of the Military Satellite Communications joint program office. Anderson has been reassigned as special assistant to the commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.
Saab presented the first Hungarian Gripen JAS-39 fighter aircraft to roll off the assembly line to Hungary's military on Jan. 25, the Swedish defense procurement agency said. "The rollout of the first Hungarian Gripen is a significant milestone in the Gripen for Hungary program," procurement agency program director Mats Hansson said in a statement.
DRS Technologies Inc. of Parsippany, N.J., has been awarded $30 million in new orders to provide engineering services, spares and production for the U.S. Navy's AN/UYQ-70 Advanced Display Systems and related computer equipment, the company said Jan. 26. Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors Tactical Systems of Eagan, Minn., awarded the contracts. The systems will be installed on the Navy's new Aegis destroyers, cruisers and other surface ships, as well as E-2C Hawkeye aircraft and USS Los Angeles class SSN 688 attack submarines.
Lockheed Martin has successfully conducted the fourth flight-test of a Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) Unitary rocket at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the company said Jan. 25. This was the first flight of the GMLRS Unitary rocket with the enhanced capability fuze architecture. The warhead will have a tri-mode fuze, which allows airburst, point-impact and delay modes for penetrating capability, the company said.
Precision Castparts Corp., which produces aerospace metal components and products, intends to acquire the shares of Air Industries Corp. (AIC) and the assets of Air Tuf Products Inc. for $194 million in cash, Precision Castparts said Jan. 25. AIC, located in Garden Grove, Calif., manufactures airframe fasteners, which include bolts, pins, and screws made from titanium and nickel-based alloys. Precision Castparts said the acquisition will enhance PCC's presence in the aerospace fastener market.
U.S. officials should begin a connectivity-communications study to review how U.S. and foreign satellite capacity would be affected by a planned improvement of tsunami warning ability, the director of the National Weather Service told The DAILY Jan. 26.
