Korea Aerospace Industries Co. (KAIC) delivered the first batch of wings and forward fuselages to Boeing for South Korea's F-15K fighters on April 18. The work is being done under a contract that KAIC signed with Boeing in May 2002.
The Michoud external tank production facility in New Orleans hopes it will be able to avoid shutting its doors following the retirement of the space shuttle by winning work on projects such as NASA's Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and the Air Force's FALCON program.
Raytheon Co. said it was awarded a $44 million contract to provide 42 of its ALR-67(V)3 radar warning receiver system for the U.S. Navy. The ALR-67(V)3, onboard F/A-18E/F carrier-based tactical aircraft, recently completed a successful initial deployment in Iraq, the company said April 20.
If shuttle Discovery's scheduled May 22 launch is delayed further, NASA could consider launching the orbiter up to a few days after the nominal cutoff date of June 3, according to shuttle managers. The June 3 deadline was dictated by the safety requirement that the shuttle lift off in adequate daylight to ensure high-quality pictures of the launch and external tank (ET) separation.
Singapore has dropped the Eurofighter Typhoon from consideration in its next fighter aircraft program, leaving the French Dassault-built Rafale and the U.S. Boeing F-15 in the $2 billion, 20-plane competition. The same two jets were finalists in South Korea's recent competition for a new fighter, which the F-15 won. Singapore, which has slipped its final decision several times, now is expected to choose a winner in the second quarter of this year. The new planes will replace aging A-4s and F-5s.
Raytheon Australia will join Lockheed Martin on the Australian navy's Air Warfare Destroyer program as the domestic Combat System-System Engineer (CSSE), Robert Hill, Australia's defense minister, said in a statement. Lockheed Martin was tapped last year to provide the Aegis Weapon System for the three-ship program.
The U.S. Air Force is putting the finishing touches on an analysis of alternatives (AOA) for America's land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that will explore possible new applications including missile defense, global strike with conventional warheads and responsive space launch.
The Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus, a 71-member group advocating increased naval ship construction and fleet size, will push to boost the $6.3 billion fiscal 2006 shipbuilding budget by $984 million and is crafting legislation to limit Defense Department leasing of foreign-built ships to two years.
An agreement to develop the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) is expected to be signed by German officials within days, now that their parliament has given the go-ahead, industry officials said April 21.
BODY ARMOR: Ceradyne Inc. said April 21 that it has received an $8.5 million order to provide its ceramic body armor system to protect "certain elite U.S. military personnel." The order is scheduled to begin shipping in June 2006 and be completed by March 2007, the Costa Mesa, Calif.-based company said. Ceradyne reported a similar $5.3 million order in February (DAILY, Feb. 18).
FCS WORK: General Dynamics C4 Systems will expand its command and control systems integration work for the Army's Future Combat Systems under a $75 million contract from FCS leads Boeing and SAIC, the company said April 21. The new work includes delivering the largest battle command software package for FCS.
Orbital Sciences Corp. announced revenues of $167.1 million for the first quarter of 2005, a 10% increase over the same period last year, spurred by satellite and launch vehicle sales. The company's operating income for the first quarter was $12.2 million, compared with $14.2 million for the same quarter last year. Net income was $6.2 million, or $0.10 per diluted share.
The U.S. Senate late April 20 approved a move sponsored by Georgia's two Republican senators to bar the Pentagon from spending funds included in the fiscal 2005 supplemental funding bill to kill the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules program.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. of Stratford, Conn., was awarded a $5.4 million contract modification for the fiscal 2005 Special Progressive Aircraft Rework of one VH-60N Executive Helicopter, which flies the U.S. president.
The U.S. Navy may have to increase its purchase of Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets if the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is delayed again or if aging Boeing F/A-18A-D Hornets prove less durable than hoped, a service official said April 21.
President Bush's nominee to be the next undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics pledged April 21 to work with Congress to address lawmakers' concerns about procurement integrity, program cost and schedule growth and industrial base issues.
Thales will provide simulators for Eurocopter Tiger helicopter aircrews under a 236 million euro ($306.8 million) contract from OCCAR, the European armaments agency. The contract calls for complete simulation facilities at the French-German Tiger training center in Le Luc, France, and four operational units in France and Germany. In all, the company is to provide nine full-flight mission simulators and nine trainers, as well as support systems. The contract has an option for another 11 simulators.
NASA has postponed the return-to-flight mission of the shuttle Discovery from May 15 to May 22 to ensure the program will have enough time to complete all remaining preflight reviews. "The 15th was always just a target," Shuttle Program Manager Bill Parsons told reporters during a teleconference April 20. "We always knew we were going to re-evaluate that when we got a little bit closer." The launch window will remain open until June 3.
Tony Bauckham has been appointed managing director of Volga-Dnepr UK Ltd. Stan Wraight has been named vice president of the Volga-Dnepr Group of Companies. Walt Blackwell has been appointed president and CEO.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Coast Guard subcommittee is ready to look at accelerating the Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization effort, but the service still does not have performance metrics that would be needed to speed up the program.
SDB APPROVAL: The U.S. Air Force's Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) program has received Defense Department approval to begin low-rate production, the Pentagon announced late April 20. DOD had been scheduled to convene a Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting to review the program, but a lack of difficult issues prompted the department to hold a written or "paper DAB" instead. SDB is smaller than comparable precision-guided bombs now in use and will allow strike aircraft to carry more weapons. The Boeing Co.
