PRAGUE - Senior U.S. officials are seriously interested in acquiring the Czech Republic's Vera advanced passive radar system, Czech foreign minister Cyril Svoboda said. After a two-day trip to Washington last week, Svoboda told Czech journalists that the U.S. wants to test the system to assess its capabilities.
William R. Graham, chairman of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, is set to release the panel's final report to Congress at a House Armed Services Committee (HASC) hearing on July 22. The report is expected to address national security concerns that a nuclear weapon detonated at a high altitude could generate a powerful electromagnetic pulse that could damage or destroy orbiting satellites and civilian and military electronic systems on the ground.
The U.S. Air Force's RQ-4A Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial reconnaissance system recently passed 2,000 combat flight hours, its producer, Northrop Grumman, said on July 19. The Global Hawk accomplished the feat while supporting the war on terrorism and now has accumulated more than 4,000 total flight hours since its first flight mission in February 1998, the company said. Global Hawk has been on three combat deployments and also has deployed to Florida, Australia and Germany.
The U.S. Army awarded a $295 million contract on July 16 to General Dynamics for the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase of the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Cluster 5 radios. The Cluster 5 radios will satisfy Department of Defense requirements for handheld, manpackable and embedded radio applications, as part of the Army's Future Combat Systems, Land Warrior and Joint Service Transformational Communications.
FARNBOROUGH, England - The Bell/Agusta BA609 program is preparing for the second phase of flight-testing this year in which the tiltrotor craft will be operated in its high-speed airplane mode for the first time. The first flight took place in March 2003.
MIDS TERMINALS: Data Link Solutions has won a $48.3 million delivery order to provide Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) Low Volume Terminals to the U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, the company said July 19. The MIDS terminals will provide secure, high-capacity, jam-resistant voice and data communications capabilities for U.S. and allied forces. The terminals will be installed on B-2, MH-60, EA-6B, F/A-18, and F-16 aircraft in the U.S. and aboard several international aircraft.
NASA's estimate for the fiscal year 2004 costs of returning the space shuttle to flight have jumped from $240 million to more than $450 million, NASA officials said July 16.
F/A-22 TESTING: The F/A-22 Raptor, which began its initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) on April 29 (DAILY, April 30), remains on track to finish that key test phase in September, the U.S. Air Force says. IOT&E is intended to lead to a January 2005 decision to shift from low-rate to full-rate production. The Lockheed Martin-built aircraft also is still on course to achieve an initial operational capability in December 2005 at Langley Air Force Base, Va., the Air Force says.
The first guided launch of the AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missile was successfully conducted July 8 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., the Air Force reported July 16. Maj. Bill Peris, a test pilot with the 416th Flight Test Squadron, fired the short-range dogfight missile from an F-16, scoring a kill against a Navy subscale drone, the Air Force said. It was the third AIM-9X launch from an F-16, the first two having been unguided.
Set for launch on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., Aug. 2, NASA's MESSENGER probe is poised to become the first spacecraft to travel to the planet Mercury in more than 30 years.
An industry team led by Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) is examining a broad range of potential air-, land- and sea-based systems as part of a missile defense study it is conducting for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), according to a company official.
Aerostats and airships, which are receiving growing interest in the U.S. military for surveillance and other missions, raise a host of financial, operational and technological issues that lawmakers may want to consider, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) says in a new report.
NO FAITH: Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan has "no faith" in NASA's ability to run its Centennial Challenges prize program (DAILY, June 16) successfully on its own, according to a statement by Rutan to the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. "The Congress must direct NASA to conduct the prizes in the only way that they can work - to allow innovation and provide an atmosphere that will result in breakthroughs," Rutan says.
July 19 - 21 -- National Small Business Conference, "Beyond the Basics: The Next Step to Success," Hyatt Regency Islandia, San Diego, Calif. For information go to www.ndia.org. July 19 - 25 - Farnborough International 2004, sponsored by the Society of British Aerospace Companies, Farnborough, England. For more information go to www.farnborough.com.
AFTERMARKET OUTLOOK: The military aftermarket "looks poised to surprise to the upside this quarter," says Credit Suisse/First Boston. CSFB put out a second quarter 2004 earnings preview July 14. "General Electric already reports strong spare parts orders for both commercial/military engines and aeroderivatives, and Goodrich and Rockwell Collins are likely to deliver solid military aftermarket results, in a repeat performance from last quarter," says the banking and securities firm.
MUOS DELAY: The initial fielding of the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) is being delayed from fiscal 2009 to FY '10, the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) says. The news follows the recent revelation that the selection of a prime contractor for the $6.4 billion program has slipped from June 2004 to October 2004 (DAILY, July 2). Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are competing to develop the narrowband satellite communications system.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) "Spirit" is still experiencing high levels of friction in its right front wheel, although mission controllers are confident that they can drive the six-wheeled rover on five wheels without losing much mobility. "The end result is, driving may take us a bit longer than it used to," Rover Engineer Joe Melko said during a press conference at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., July 16.
COMMITTEE 'ENCOURAGING': Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) says the National Academy of Science's Committee on the Assessment of Options for Extending the Life of the Hubble Space Telescope is "encouraging." Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), chairman of the VA/HUD Appropriations Subcommittee, and Mikulski, the committee's ranking member, requested an independent review of the risks and benefits of the Hubble servicing mission before a decision is made to cancel the next trip to the telescope.
CONSOLIDATION: The Senate's fiscal 2005 defense appropriations bill would combine the Army's Land Warrior (LW) program and Future Force Warrior (FFW) programs. LW is an acquisition program intended to increase the lethality, survivability and command and control capabilities of small ground units, starting with the dismounted foot soldier. FFW is the Army's science and technology initiative that feeds advanced technologies into the LW program.
VENUS FLYBY: NASA's Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft will take the opportunity to make observations of Venus as it flies by that planet twice during its circuitous trip. The flybys are designed to slow the spacecraft so that it won't require as much fuel to enter orbit around Mercury in 2011. "We will be flying instruments by Venus that are not typically flown to that planet," MESSENGER Principal Investigator Sean Solomon says.
FIRST FLIGHT: The Aermacchi-Finmeccanica M-346 next-generation advanced-lift military trainer made its first flight on July 15 in Venegono, Italy, the company said. Its pilot was Olinto Cecconello, Aermacchi's experimental chief test pilot. The aircraft was controlled in real time by an Aermacchi flight test team operating from the company's telemetry facilities. The M-346 was chased by two Aermacchi MB-339CD aircraft. They were piloted by Capt.
