NASA needs to tighten up its management-milestone process as it embarks on President Bush's planned $104-billion effort to return humans to the Moon, the Government Accountability Office says. GAO evaluators who reviewed agency management practices recommend closer looks at technology maturity, design stability and cost/schedule targets before metal gets bent. They found that NASA doesn't have specific requirements in those areas that must be met in order for a project to move on to the next phase.
Douglas Barrie (London), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
France will embark on a final study to determine whether it can build an aircraft carrier to complement the Charles De Gaulle on the basis of a British-designed vessel, following a last-minute deal on payments that will allow the French to access U.K. designs. The decision, which French officials say was taken within the spirit of the Franco-British defense summit in St.-Malo, France, in 2003, could have profound implications for European military collaboration and defense industry consolidation.
The failure of the Scaled Composites GlobalFlyer fuel system design to properly cater to the 350-year-old Boyle's Law principles of pressure, temperature and volume nearly caused the 21st-century aircraft to run out of fuel on its initial round-the-world flight. But the aircraft's team believe they have now introduced a fix that would please Robert Boyle, the 17th-century Irish chemist who originally documented the kind of trouble GlobalFlyer could run into. But first they have to test it.
The two-man International Space Station crew plans to toss an old Russian spacesuit over the side this week--unoccupied, of course--in an exercise to give schoolchildren around the world a chance to hone their amateur radio skills. Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev will launch Suitsat-1 as soon as they emerge for an extravehicular activity (EVA) scheduled Feb. 3 to move a Russian cargo boom.
Aiming to strike gold in the satellite imagery business, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon put up $750 million in the 1990s to create Space Imaging. But earlier this month the two powerhouses quietly exited the business, closing a deal to sell Space Imaging to competitor OrbImage for just $58.5 million.
The British Defense Ministry will likely try to plug gaps in its helicopter lift capacity, at least in the short term, with upgrades of types already in service. Defense officials are in the final stages of determining what to do with the Royal Air Force's "mothballed" Boeing Chinook Mk3s. Formal approval of a "fix-to-field" program is the probable outcome, with funds already allocated. The ministry is also working on a common configuration for its Chinook Mk2/2As as a precursor to a later capability sustainment program.
Contractor performance in major arms programs shows strong improvement, but still needs work, French defense officials say. Curtailing defects and resultant schedule and cost overruns is a key objective of a new round of defense ministry reforms introduced two years ago. At the time, four major programs, including the Syracuse 3 military satellite communications system, missed critical milestones, and the average delay was two months. There were also problems with the Rafale fighter, principally concerning avionics obsolescence.
Downsizing is affecting almost every business. The latest example: Cyber Defense Systems Inc., which has commercialized what may be the world's smallest--and least costly--unmanned aerial vehicle. The CyberBug, a hand-launched UAV, comes in three sizes from a 31-in.-long, 43-lb. version to a 62-in., 14-lb. unit. The UAV has a 10-km. (6-mi.) range at 22 kt. Powered by an electric engine with rechargeable batteries, it can fly for about 1 hr. Its soft wing is made out of a fabric used in sails on racing yachts and allows the vehicle to float to ground like a hang glider.
The British Defense Ministry is working to overcome "teething problems" with flight-line availability on its first squadrons of Eurofighter Typhoon. The availability issue, described as "frustrating" by some sources close to the program, is being caused by the Royal Air Force (RAF) grappling with spares support without the full on-base backup of BAE Systems.
The Pentagon has named its Top 10 contractors for Fiscal 2005. In all, Defense Dept. prime contract awards totaled $269.2 billion, up $38.5 billion from Fiscal 2004. The Top 10 are: Lockheed Martin, $19.4 billion; Boeing, $18.3 billion; Northrop Grum- man, $13.5 billion; General Dynamics, $10.6 billion; Raytheon, $9.1 billion; Halliburton, $5.8 billion; BAE Systems, $5.6 billion; United Technologies, $5 billion; L-3 Communications, $4.7 billion; and Computer Sciences, $2.8 billion.
Ryanair is changing its cost structure and will start charging for checked luggage starting mid-March with a fee of $4.30 per bag if booked in advance, or $8.60 if unbooked. To offset the fee, the airline is lowering fares in general by $4.30 per flight. At the same time, the checked bag weight limit is going to 30 kg. (66 lb.) from 20 kg.
Italian-French aircraft maker ATR is studying whether to develop a glass cockpit for its turboprops along with other enhancements that could boost the aircraft's operational and sales performance. The prospects of major product enhancements to the ATR 42 and 72 is a sign of how things have changed for the company. With an orders surge generated by high fuel prices that has driven ATR's regional jet rivals out of the 50-seat market, the EADS/Finmeccanica joint venture expects to ramp up production drastically in the next two years.
In the largest homeland security aerial-surveillance deal outside the United States, Australia has awarded a U.S.$750-million contract to Surveillance Australia, a local subsidiary of British aerospace services group Cobham. Under the 12-year deal, the company will provide 10 specialist maritime patrol versions of the Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft to patrol Australia's maritime exclusive economic zone. Surveillance Australia will provide air and ground crews, maintenance, training and base infrastructure.
Sales growth is slowing at major U.S. defense contractors and will be tougher to maintain if anticipated Pentagon spending reductions are implemented this year. But profits are still soaring. That is the mixed picture that emerged from the first group of fourth-quarter and full-year 2005 financial results that were rolled out by aerospace companies last week (see p. 15).
In a lab in Georgia, an entomologist and an engineer who teamed up to solve the problem of farm pests say they've created a reliable, low-cost weapon in the war on improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. U.S. Agriculture Dept. entomologist Joe Lewis and University of Georgia engineer Glen Rains invented the Wasp Hound, a 3 X 10-in. white plastic (polyvinyl chloride) pipe outfitted with a web camera and a small cartridge containing five wasps. Inside the contraption, the insects respond to target odors sucked in by a small fan by clamoring around a pinhole.
Just over a year after fielding its first Bowman digital radios, the British Army is planning further use of this new technology to revolutionize how senior commanders lead troops into battle. Project Roberts--named for a World War II general who pioneered armored warfare tactics--is expected to be endorsed by the Ministry of Defense early this year, a move that will pave the way for field trials and eventually, equipment and software procurement.
The Scaled Composites/Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer aircraft and pilot Steve Fossett are poised for a dawn takeoff from the space shuttle runway here in a high-risk bid to eclipse the Breitling balloon and Voyager aircraft world absolute distance flight records. The goal is for the GlobalFlyer to circle the globe, then cross the Atlantic a second time to set a new unrefueled distance record of more than 26,000 mi. The attempt is scheduled to begin as early as Feb. 1-3.
A package of legislation being introduced in the Senate aims to restore U.S. stature in technology and scientific research. The three bills seek to revitalize science and math education in the nation's schools and universities, and encourage corporate investment in basic R&D, to the tune of $9.5 billion over seven years. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), one of the sponsors, is optimistic about getting this through the Senate, but comments that House appropriators tend to favor directed R&D spending over basic research.
The commercial aerospace recovery has been good to industrial conglomerate United Technologies Corp. (UTC). The company's Pratt & Whitney unit experienced a fourth-quarter operating profit rise of 15% from a year earlier. Quarterly sales were up 20%, to $2.6 billion, on higher engine shipments, strong sales of spare parts and revenues from the recently acquired Rocketdyne space propulsion business. Operating profit at UTC's Sikorsky business was up 37% as revenues rose 33% to $854 million.
A hybrid near-space vehicle tailored to fill military and homeland security "tactical capability gaps" could revolutionize the commercial remote-sensing and cellphone-communication sectors.
NASA is trading an estimated six-month hit to its shuttle-replacement schedule by dropping plans to modify the shuttle main engine for the job, in exchange for long-term cost savings on the way to Mars.
Since 9/11, the U.S. Defense Dept. and Federal Aviation Administration have debated about what to do with the aging set of internal long-range radars that provide spotty coverage of the United States. It may not be a full solution, but when the FAA this spring picks the winner of a $210-million competition to extend the life of the radars, it will take a first step in the journey to improve the defense of U.S. airspace.
Courtney B. Banks (see photo) has been named vice president-homeland security for the Raytheon Co.'s Arlington, Va.-based Intelligence and Information Systems (IIS) business. She was director of the Homeland Systems Solutions and Screening Partnership Program business units of the Lockheed Martin Systems Management Corp.
After spending almost $200 million to initiate development on a $6-billion next-generation intelligence and surveillance aircraft fleet, the U.S. Army has decided to start over. The cancellation of the Aerial Common Sensor is bad news for Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor. The company had originally proposed to use an Embraer ERJ 145 as the platform. After that aircraft was deemed too small to house the sensor suite, Lockheed scrambled for an alternative and proposed Bombardier's Global Express business jet.
