FARNBOROUGH, England - End-of-year sales figures for the U.S. aerospace industry are improving and are likely to be $1-5 billion higher than the Aerospace Industries Association's forecast of $148.1 billion, AIA's president said.
The U.S. Army will have to move $9 billion forward of the $34 billion that will help fund its Future Combat Systems (FCS) program to accelerate technology deployment and expand the number of systems it will deploy, Army officials told reporters July 22.
Northrop Grumman Corp. and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on ballistic missile defense solutions, Northrop Grumman said July 22. The accord establishes an industrial framework for formal discussions between the companies to identify and pursue business opportunities in the global ballistic missile defense market. An executive steering committee made up of individuals from both companies will begin work immediately.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - China has offered to sell KS-1A medium-range anti-aircraft missiles to Malaysia in a package that would include a technology transfer of another missile system, a Malaysian government official said.
FARNBOROUGH, England - The U.S. KC-135 tanker replacement program may be in limbo, but the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) is keeping its eye firmly on the developments in the hope of jumping back into a competition it had been sidelined from.
The United States should plan for the systematic recovery of critical infrastructures in the event of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack that could severely disable and damage electronic systems throughout the nation, members of a commission that studied the issue told House Armed Services Committee members July 22. "The proliferation of nuclear weapons and rise of new nuclear powers with small nuclear arsenals have forced us to think about EMP as an asymmetric threat in its own right," said Committee Chairman Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.).
The Army plans on about Aug. 5 to release a request for proposals for the Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ERMP) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system. Proposals will be due Aug. 20, according to a July 21 FedBizOpps notice from the Army Aviation and Missile Command in Huntsville, Ala.
The House on July 21 approved $8.2 billion in fiscal 2005 funding for the U.S. Coast Guard, including $1.1 billion for the Integrated Deepwater System recapitalization program. "I believe that through our negotiations with the other body, we have crafted legislation that will give the Coast Guard the resources and authorities necessary to protect the safety and security of lives and property on U.S. waters," said Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
MTC TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Dayton, Ohio Brig. Gen. Billy J. Bingham (USAF-Ret.) has been appointed senior vice president for its national security group. He replaces Hugh Bolton, who resigned for personal reasons.
FARNBOROUGH, England - Boeing's claims about Airbus subsidies may make nice rhetoric, but they don't reflect the facts, said Ralph Crosby, who runs the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.'s (EADS) North America operation. Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher has charged Airbus, which is owned by EADS, with being out of compliance with the 1992 European Union-U.S. agreement on support for large civil aircraft (DAILY, July 21). Boeing is trying to undo the agreement. "There is a lot of noise about an issue that is poorly understood," Crosby said.
AEROSONIC, Clearwater, Fla. David Baldini, Robert J. McGill, William C. Parker, P. Mark Perkins, David M. Vosen and Thomas E. Whytas have been elected to the board of directors.
TRIUMPH GROUP, INC., Wayne, Pa. John B. Wright II has been appointed vice president, general counsel and secretary. He succeeds Richard M. Eisenstaedt, who has retired. Terry D. Stinson has been elected to the board of directors.
A $416.2 billion fiscal 2005 defense budget appropriations conference report, released July 21, would make a slight cut to President Bush's request of $417.8 billion but is $25.4 billion over the FY '04 level, not counting a $25 billion wartime supplemental appropriation. The House and Senate conferees, who completed their work late last week, found fault with several defense programs, including the Air Force's Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), which conferees agreed to fund at $140 million.
SPACE IMAGING'S IKONOS satellite is being used by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to survey the cultivation of illegal crops in Afghanistan, Laos, Myanmar and Bolivia, the Denver-based company said July 13. One of the most recent surveys, the Afghanistan Opium Survey 2003, was completed in conjunction with the new government in Kabul, Space Imaging said.
FARNBOROUGH, England - It was once among the largest air forces in the world, and even when the current commander of the Swedish air force, Maj. Gen. Jan Andersson, joined up in 1976, his nation could boast 28 squadrons of Swedish-built jet fighters.
The INTERNATIONAL SPACE BUSINESS COUNCIL (ISBC), in cooperation with the American Stock Exchange (Amex), has launched a new proprietary index to benchmark the performance of securities in the defense, homeland security and space marketplace. The SPADE Defense Index is made up of publicly traded companies that meet objective screening critera, ISBC said.
AXSYS TECHNOLOGIES, Rocky Hill, Conn., Scott B. Conner has been named vice president for strategic planning and corporate development. He replaces Kenneth F. Stern, who resigned to start his own management-consulting firm.
TITAN CORP., San Diego, Calif. Peter A. Cohen has been elected lead director of the company's board of directors. Lawrence J. Delaney has been named executive vice president of operations.
The first flight of a U.S. Air Force Space Test Program (STP) mission on an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) will deploy seven satellites at two altitudes and inclinations, according to the Air Force.
The United States is vulnerable to an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack that would disable civilian and military information and power systems nationwide and cripple the country's economy, according to Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) "Nothing can equate to the potential impact," Weldon, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee's tactical air and land forces subcommittee, told reporters July 21.
