NEW DELHI - India's defense ministry is believed to be negotiating the purchase of two Russian Smerch 9K58 300mm long-range Multiple Launch Rocket Systems. The Smerch systems are expected to complement the Indian-developed Pinaka MLRS. India's defense minister, Pranab Mukherjee, has said that purchasing the Smerch systems would be one of his country's priority procurements.
Investigators are trying to determine why an air blower on a V-22 Osprey broke apart as the tiltrotor aircraft was hovering above a ship during recent testing, a spokesman for Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) said June 30.
The House Armed Services Committee is planning a July 8 hearing on the economic implications of trade offsets, or the compensation countries require as a condition for buying aerospace and defense products. The committee, chaired by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), also plans to examine the impact of offsets on technology. Witnesses scheduled to testify before the panel include Katherine V. Schinasi of the General Accounting Office and Charles W. Wessner, director of the program on technology and innovation for the National Academy of Sciences.
Popular among writers of science fiction, the concept of a "space elevator" is now coming within practical reach given recent advances in nanotube manufacturing, according to Bradley Edwards, director of research at the Institute for Scientific Research, Inc. (ISR) in Fairmont, W.Va.
U.S. Army information technologies are helping to obtain actionable intelligence in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, a service official said June 30. The technologies include analysis tools, biometrics, digital handheld reporting systems, document exploitation and sensors, said Lynn Schnurr, director of intelligence community information management and deputy chief of staff for intelligence for the Army.
KEYSTONE, Colo. - Recent actions by space officers "clearly showed an insufficient ability to analyze unintended consequences and assess the impact of their actions on the overall campaign plan beyond the vacuum of space," according to Lt. Gen. Norty Schwartz (USAF), director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Schwartz, addressing a symposium here June 29, gave no details, saying he couldn't be "too specific in this venue."
KEYSTONE, Colo. - Recent actions by space officers "clearly showed an insufficient ability to analyze unintended consequences and assess the impact of their actions on the overall campaign plan beyond the vacuum of space," according to Lt. Gen. Norty Schwartz (USAF), director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Schwartz, addressing a symposium here June 29, gave no details, saying he couldn't be "too specific in this venue."
UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Northrop Grumman will begin assembling the first EA-18G electronic attack aircraft on July 1, the company said. Mechanics will begin by loading the aircraft's first bulkhead components into place on the F/A-18 production line in El Segundo, Calif., where major parts of the EA-18G will be built. The company is the principal subcontractor to EA-18G prime contractor Boeing.
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $43.6 million contract by the U.S. Marine Corps to provide an AN/TPS-59(V)3B ballistic missile defense radar system to Bahrain, the company announced June 30. Lockheed Martin will provide the radar system and related supplies, equipment and services. The contract also will cover the costs of resuming production of the radar at the company's Syracuse, N.Y. facility. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress that Bahrain had requested the sale in 2002 (DAILY, June 28, 2002).
The Boeing Co. is selling its Commercial Electronics unit to BAE Systems North America, the company said June 30. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The unit, based in Irving, Texas, will become part of BAE Systems' Platform Solutions Sector, which provides services and products for commercial and military aircraft, Boeing said. The sale included the Texas operations and service center, service centers in London and Singapore and parts of the unit's operations in Puget Sound.
AMAZONAS SHIPPED: The Amazonas Latin American satellite has been shipped to the launch site of Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, EADS Astrium said June 29. The satellite is scheduled to launch in the last week of July on a Proton/Breeze M booster. The spacecraft is intended to provide telecommunications services to North and South America as well as a transatlantic link to Europe. Amazonas carries 32 Ku-band and 19 C-band transponders and is based on EADS Astrium's Eurostar E3000 bus.
BIODEFENSE CORP., Lexington, Mass. R. James Woolsey, former director of central intelligence and vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton, has joined the board of advisers. DRS TECHNOLOGIES, Parsippany, N.J. Thomas F. Daley has joined the company as vice president, corporate counsel. HERLEY INDUSTRIES, Lancaster, Pa. Lawrence J. Rytter has been named vice president and general manager for Herley's Lancaster operation. ITT INDUSTRIES, White Plains, N.Y.
Northrop Grumman Corp., as part of an Air-Force-led team, has won the 2004 Brent Scowcroft Air Force Association Award for outstanding performance on one of several life extension programs for the Minuteman III ICBM system, the company said June 29. The program, called REACT SLEP, or ICBM Rapid Execution and Combat Targeting Service Life Extension Program, is intended to ensure the viability of the system through 2020. It is named for Brent Scowcroft, the former national security adviser.
In a highly accelerated procurement, the U.S. Army has contracted with Lockheed Martin and Raydon Corp. of Daytona, Fla., to deliver virtual reality simulators for training soldiers on convoy operations in Iraq.
The U.S. Army's logistics operations are undergoing major improvements, including the installation of a permanent satellite-based network in Iraq and the replacement of land-based prepositioning with a sea-based capability, said Lt. Gen. Claude Christianson (USA), deputy chief of staff, logistics. The Army also wants to improve logistics by modernizing its transportation delivery platforms and better integrating its supply chain with commercial partners, he told reporters June 29.
Loral's Telstar 18 communications satellite, launched June 29 by Sea Launch from its ocean-based equatorial platform, was left in a too-low orbit but is expected to recover, Sea Launch said. "From what we understand, the satellite is in excellent condition," Paula Korn, Sea Launch's director of communications, told The DAILY. "Loral will be raising the spacecraft to its final position this week," she said. "The solar panels are deployed and it looks good."
TELESPAZIO has chosen Intelsat to provide oil and gas industry contractor Saipem with voice and data services for its on-shore and off-shore drilling, construction, and deepwater operations, Intelsat said June 28. Intelsat's IS-701, IS-905 and IS-904 satellites will transmit voice and data traffic from Saipem's land-based operations center in Europe to 16 oil and gas vessels in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. All 16 vessels will communicate with Intelsat's satellite system with 2.4-meter C-band maritime antennas.
CAPGEMINI and SFR have joined the Eurely consortium, which was formed to bid on the European Galileo satellite positioning system, France's Alcatel said. The consortium was formed by Alcatel, Finmeccanica and Vinci Networks. Galileo will be based on a constellation of 30 satellites providing global coverage and is to be compatible with America's Global Positioning System.
NEW DELHI - India's navy and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) signed a memorandum of understanding on June 28 to create a facility in Bangalore to repair and overhaul the transmissions of the navy's Sea King helicopter fleet. The rehab of India's four squadrons of Sea Kings, used for anti-submarine warfare in the Indian Ocean, will be done in concert with a $15.6 million transfer of technology contract with Westland Helicopters Ltd. of the United Kingdom. The Westland contract was a prerequisite to establishing the new facility.
