The House Armed Services Committee takes up a proposal May 5 to increase the size of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. The proposal is included in H.R. 4200, the Department of Defense Authorization bill. It would increase the size of the Army by 30,000 troops over three years and the Marines by 9,000 over three years. Pentagon spokesman Glenn Flood said the need for additional equipment is driven by the mission and not by the number of troops, so increasing the size of the services may not lead to the production of more equipment.
RESTON, Va. - Under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. Navy, Foster-Miller, Inc. of Waltham, Mass., is developing a small robot that would inspect the propeller shafts of 688-class submarines without requiring the shafts to be removed.
The Boeing Co. has acquired unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) maker Frontier Systems Inc., the company said May 4. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Irvine, Calif.-based Frontier Systems builds the A-160 Hummingbird and Maverick UAVs.
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s sales for the first quarter of 2004 increased 21 percent, from $5.9 billion for the same period of 2003 to $7.1 billion, the company said May 4.
ACQUISITION: Austin Semiconductor of Austin, Texas, has acquired SAAT Technology LTD. of Alton, Hampshire, United Kingdom, a silicon design company. The acquisition will provide Austin Semiconductor with a "sister company in Europe with common goals and aspirations," the company said. SAAT Technology will change its name to Austin Semiconductor Europe Ltd. The buy will bolster Austin Semiconductor's move into the military and aerospace market, the company said.
RESTON, Va. - The U.S. Navy is sponsoring the development of a tool that would allow maintenance personnel in different locations onboard ships to collaborate and share knowledge over a wireless network. Navy ships are entering an era of increased automation and reduced crew sizes, according to Joseph Tesar, director of research and development for Cybernet Systems Corporation of Ann Arbor, Mich. For example, the DD(X) will have about 130 personnel onboard, compared with roughly 300 on a comparably sized ship today, he said.
The Army-led Joint Common Missile (JCM) program has received the Defense Department's approval to move into development, clearing the way for the selection of a prime contractor. Based on a review led by acting Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Wynne, JCM was cleared May 3 to enter a four-year system development and demonstration (SDD) phase, DOD said in a brief "information paper" released May 4.
DISPLAYS: Elbit Systems Ltd. subsidiary EFW Inc., of Fort Worth, Texas, will design and develop Upfront Control Display and Multi-Purpose Color Display units for F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft, the company said May 4. The contract includes options for production units of up to 360 aircraft, and could be worth more than $45 million, the company said. EFW will provide form, fit, function and interface replacements of the existing aircraft configuration, with the work to take place from 2005 to 2009.
RESTON, Va. - The U.S. Navy is sponsoring the development of a new method for refurbishing infrared (IR) domes on aircraft that would cost only one-tenth as much as replacing them, according to developer Computer Optics of Hudson, N.H.
Northrop Grumman Corp. on May 1 redelivered the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) to the U.S. Navy after a post shakedown availability (PSA) at Newport News Shipbuilding, the company said May 3. The USS Ronald Reagan was first delivered to the fleet in June 2003. It was returned for upgrades to its electronics package, combat systems, radar equipment and minor repairs, as well as modifications to accommodate F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet aircraft, Northrop Grumman CVN-76 program director Ken Mahler told The DAILY.
Northrop Grumman, having re-ceived an $888 million contract April 30 for the next phase of the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP), is preparing for a final design review of the system next month, according Dave Mazur, the company's program manager. Once the review is completed, he said in a May 3 telephone interview, "we'll basically say the design is done and we'll start actually going into the development and the demonstration" of the radar.
Avionics supplier Rockwell Collins is taking its lean development and manufacturing process to the next level, to "life cycle value stream management," Bob Chiusano, the company's executive vice president and chief operations officer of Commercial Systems division, told The DAILY.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) would maintain or expand funding for NASA if he wins the White House in November, but he doesn't support President Bush's new space exploration program, according to an aide for the campaign. Jason Furman, Kerry's economic policy director, told The DAILY that Kerry supports increasing NASA funding, focusing on research and development and high technology.
RAISED RATING: Standard & Poor's has raised its ratings outlook on European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. from negative to stable, the ratings service said. "The ratings action reflects EADS' ability to maintain strong financial measures, the expansion of the group's defense-related activities, and the resilience of subsidiary Airbus to the tough market environment," S&P said. It said Airbus aircraft deliveries will again top 300 units in 2004, and that EADS' defense activities will contribute significantly to cash flow generation by 2006.
RESTON, Va. - Through Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is sponsoring the development of multi-purpose flight data recorders for the F/A-18 and E-2C Hawkeye aircraft. Most current Navy aircraft fly with several data recording systems that separately record voice, video, vehicle health, and other information, according to Francis Peter of Management Sciences, Inc. Based in Albuquerque, N.M., Management Sciences is working on a multi-purpose flight data recorder for the F/A-18 under a Phase II SBIR grant.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers released a survey that said workers in Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Washington are concerned about continued job losses. The poll found that 51 percent of those polled who identified themselves at blue-collar workers were somewhat or very concerned about job loss. The IAM represents members in aerospace, manufacturing and defense related industries.
MEP TROUBLE: Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, says a planned budget cut still threatens the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), which provides technical and business support to defense contractors and others. The Administration's fiscal 2005 budget request would cut MEP's budget from $106 million to $39 million. The White House wants to phase out the program to avoid subsidizing competition, according to budget documents. Snowe and Sen.
REFUELING IMPROVEMENT: The Boeing Co. is close to unveiling a hardware change designed to increase the stability of hose and drogue systems that tanker aircraft use to refuel planes in flight, says Boeing vice president Bob Gower, who oversees his company's tanker programs. Gower says he will be able to talk about the "hose stabilization technique" in about a month, once it is patented by Smiths Aerospace, a Boeing partner. The hardware adjustment is intended to reduce hose oscillation, which mainly is a problem in bad weather.
WORKING TOGETHER: Today, unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) are "point solutions," in that they conduct single missions with an operator. In the future, they will work in tightly integrated teams with other UGVs, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and warfighters, says Eugene Hudson, coordinator of the Office of the Secretary of Defense's Joint Robotics Program. OSD is conducting a study on the collaborative engagement of unmanned systems and naval vessels, says Mack Barber, president of Northrop Grumman's REMOTEC.
UPGRADE: Rockwell Collins will upgrade the communications of U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagles to allow the fighters to "engage more actively" in homeland security activities, the company said. Rockwell Collins will replace one of the F-15's military single-band radios with a multi-band radio capable of providing Very High Frequency communications with civil air traffic control authorities and civil aircraft. "The addition of this new Rockwell Collins radio is a critical improvement for the U.S.
TANKER REPORTS: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is scheduled to be briefed during the week of May 3-7 on two reports he requested on the Air Force's controversial proposal to lease 20 Boeing KC-767 refueling aircraft and buy 80 more. The report by the Defense Science Board (DSB) is to examine whether new tankers are needed now, while the report by the National Defense University (NDU) is expected to examine the cost effectiveness of the Air Force proposal. Early this year, Rumsfeld put the potential deal on hold so DOD could finish several reviews of the matter.
MTHEL TEST: The test bed for the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) successfully tracked a large-caliber rocket for the first time April 29 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., but no shoot-down was attempted because of bad weather, time constraints and problems with test-range equipment, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army. The test bed, developed jointly by the United States and Israel, shot down artillery shells and smaller-caliber Katyusha rockets in earlier tests.
