JSF FACILITIES: Machines to produce major subassemblies for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are in the final stages of assembly and testing on the factory floor at company facilities in Fort Worth, Texas, JSF maker Lockheed Martin said May 26. The Fort Worth plant will be the final assembly point for the JSF. "These are the most advanced machines ever applied to fighter aircraft assembly," Tom Burbage, the JSF general manager, said in a statement.
The Defense Department could reopen the competition to modernize Air Force refueling aircraft, once two studies on the service's tanker needs are finished in about six months, a Pentagon spokesman said May 26. "Sure, it could be" reopened, DOD spokesman Larry Di Rita said during a Pentagon press briefing.
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems has formed a multinational consortium of small-caliber ammunition producers to market to the U.S. Army, company parent General Dynamics said May 25. The team, made up of General Dynamics, the Winchester Division of the Olin Corp., Israel Military Industries Ltd. and SNC Technologies Inc. of Canada, will respond to a recent U.S. Army market survey for a small-caliber ammunition systems integrator, the company said.
ACULIGHT, Bothell, Wash. Mark Hatlen has been named chief financial officer. ALCATEL SPACE, Paris Marc Pircher has been appointed senior vice president and chief technical officer. COMPUTER SCIENCES CORP., Falls Church, Va. Tim Sheahan has been named president of the company's new Enforcement, Security and Intelligence Division. CPI AEROSTRUCTURES, Edgewood, N.Y.
A U.S. proposal to make missile defense-related upgrades to an early warning radar in Greenland cleared its last major political hurdle May 26 by receiving the approval of Denmark's parliament. Officials in Greenland, a semi-independent colony of Denmark, endorsed the plan earlier, according to a spokesman for the Danish Embassy in Washington.
Stryker vehicles used by the Army's first Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) are exceeding Department of Defense expectations, an Army official said May 26. The first SBCT, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, was deployed to Iraq in October (DAILY, Oct. 13, 2003). The Strykers have a 95 percent operational readiness rate and on average, 97 percent of their parts are available when needed, said Lt. Col. Bryan McVeigh (USA), product manager for Interim Armored Vehicle - Combat Support. 96-day turnaround
Finmeccanica, Italy's largest defense compnay, plans to buy GKN's 50 percent stake in their joint helicopter venture, AgustaWestland, the company said May 26. The company would buy United Kingdom-based GKN's stake for 1.06 billion pounds ($1.9 billion), although that is contingent on the U.K. Ministry of Defence awarding the "Future Lynx" contract to equip the British army and navy with remanufactured Lynx helicopters. If that doesn't happen, the price will be adjusted downward by 35 million pounds ($63.3 million), Finmeccanica said.
The Defense Department announced late May 25 that it will wait until November to decide whether to allow the Air Force to acquire 100 new Boeing-made KC-767A refueling aircraft. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wants two more studies to be finished before deciding whether to approve an Air Force proposal to lease 20 KC-767As and buy 80 more, DOD said.
INDUCTED: Engine maker Pratt & Whitney has been inducted into the Blackbird Laurels Society to recognize its contributions to the U.S. Air Force's SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft. Two P&W J58 engines, each with a thrust measuring at 32,500 pounds with afterburner, powered the Lockheed Martin SR-71. The induction took place in a ceremony last week at the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) Museum at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Weight is a major issue for ground vehicles that will be part of the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) as the program begins its integrated baseline review, a program official said May 25.
A new study by Northrop Grumman touts the potential of Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) radar systems to transform warfighting, and recommends higher procurement and better incorporation of GMTI into military doctrine and training.
AUSTRALIAN MISSILES: Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace of Norway will deliver more Penguin missiles to the Royal Australian Navy under a contract valued at about $10 million, the company said. The Australian navy plans to deploy the missiles on its U.S.-built Kaman helicopters.
The Joint Council on Aging Aircraft (JCAA) is in the final approval stage for its national strategy document and plans to publish and formally distribute it starting in late July, according to JCAA Chairman Bob Ernst. The national strategy identifies the council's top 12 concerns, ranging from technical issues such as corrosion to management issues such as changing the way maintainers are trained to deal with older aircraft (DAILY, Oct. 6, 2003).
The U.S. Navy's Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) unit is continuing to study the idea of a submarine-launched, intermediate-range ballistic missile (SLIRBM). Last summer, it asked industry for input to help determine "plans and programs, including technology challenges and proposed solutions" for such a system (DAILY, Sept. 2, 2003). Now, it wants "detailed cost and technical information for the development and production of a propulsion system for" an SLIRBM.
Raytheon Co. has begun flight-testing an upgraded version of the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) that is designed to give the anti-missile, ship-defense weapon the ability to destroy more types of targets.
A series of studies aimed at reducing the weight of the U.S. Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter probably will be finished in about seven to nine months, or by early calendar 2005, according to a spokeswoman for the program office. The aircraft's first critical design review (CDR), originally scheduled for April 2004, has been put on hold until the studies are completed. The CDR is now forecast for sometime in 2005.
PARTNERS: SkyWay Communications Holding Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiary, SkyWay Aircraft Inc., have entered into a sales and marketing partnership with Titan Corp., the company said. Titan Corp. will market and sell SkyWay's high-speed airborne network services to U.S. government agencies, including the departments of defense and homeland security. The product could be used for advanced air combat and flight control services, and the company anticipates contracts worth up to $500 million over the next two years.
TIMKEN CO. of Canton, Ohio, has acquired the assets of supplier Alcor Engine Co. Inc. and affiliate Advance Repair Technologies. The acquisitions have been combined in a Timken subsidiary called Timken Alcor Aerospace Technologies Inc. Alcor, of Gilbert, Ariz., manufactures and repairs components used in turbine engines. A Timken spokesman said Timken Alcor will remain in Arizona and be run by its current leadership.
The Department of Defense's long-standing problems with its business systems "adversely affect the economy, effectiveness, and efficiency of its business operations and have prevented DOD from being accountable across all of its major business areas," says a May 17 General Accounting Office (GAO) report. In 2001, GAO recommended that DOD develop an enterprise architecture to guide and constrain its almost $20 billion annual investment in business systems and establish investment controls.
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) plans to push an amendment to the fiscal 2005 Department of Defense authorization bill that would give the U.S. Army four-year authority to buy command-and-control vehicles using sale proceeds from M109 howitzers. The Senate is in recess until June 1, and is scheduled to resume consideration of the defense bill when it returns.
