GD unit to continue sonar system improvements

Staff Apr 08, 2004
General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems will continue to develop improvements for the U.S. Navy's AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 surface ship sonar system, the company said April 7. The work will be done under an $8.9 million contract modification that calls for systems and software engineering and integration and tests to field sonar technologies in U.S. and allied ships. The technologies include automated torpedo detection, sonar performance prediction, active sonar and active displays.

Supplier News: Westland Transmission gives Timken Co. supplier awards

Staff Apr 08, 2004
THE TIMKEN CO. has received two supplier awards from Westland Transmission Ltd. of Yeovil, United Kingdom. The company's Timken Aerospace subsidiary was named Most Improved Supplier of the Year and Proprietary Parts Supplier of the year by the company, which is a first-tier supplier to helicopter and aeroengine manufacturers.

Lockheed Martin reduces Titan merger offering

Lisa Troshinsky Apr 08, 2004
Lockheed Martin reduced the amount it is offering to acquire Titan Corp. to $20 a share in the wake of recent investigations by the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission into alleged improper payments by Titan, the company said April 7.

CV-22 tiltrotor program six months behind schedule

Jefferson Morris Apr 08, 2004
The Bell-Boeing CV-22 tiltrotor has fallen six months behind schedule in flight testing, although the program is working on a plan to make up for the lost time and prevent the aircraft's debut from slipping, according to Program Manager Col. Craig Olson.

Deepwater industry team says program on track

Lisa Troshinsky Apr 08, 2004
Almost two years since the Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) industry team won the contract for the Coast Guard's Deepwater program, it is making considerable advances, ICGS leaders said April 7 at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Expo 2004. For example, this month ICGS plans to open a Maritime Domain Awareness Center in New Jersey to conduct development, testing, and integration of command, control, computers and communications and intelligence (C4I) suites, said ICGS president Gerry Moorman.

Supplier News: BAE Systems to support U.S. Navy radars

Staff Apr 08, 2004
BAE SYSTEMS will provide technical, program and financial management and administrative support for the U.S. Navy's in-service radars and next-generation surface ship radars under an $85 million Navy contract, the company said. Under the one-year award, which has four option years, the company will provide support to the Integrated Warfare Systems Above Water Sensors program office. It will support all radar systems used in current surface ships and those planned for future ships, such as the next-generation destroyer DD(X).

LM to provide Marine Corps three KC-130J WSTs

Staff Apr 08, 2004
Lockheed Martin will provide three KC-130J Weapon Systems Trainers (WSTs) to the U.S. Marine Corps under a contract worth more than $73 million, the company said April 7. The simulators will support training for aircrews of the KC-130J, a medium-sized tanker/transport used for airlift and aerial refueling of tactical aircraft and helicopters.

Supplier News: L-3 to supply VRS-3010 system for USAF KC-135 tankers

Staff Apr 08, 2004
L-3 AVIONICS SYSTEMS will supply its Vertical Reference System, VRS-3010, to the U.S. Air Force for use on KC-135 tanker aircraft, the company said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The VRS-3010, which provides attitude information for primary or standby flight displays, will replace aging electromechanical systems now used on the aircraft to offer increased reliability and lower costs, according to L-3. The equipment uses solid-state components to eliminate scheduled maintenance and overhaul.

GoldenEye-100 UAV completes flight test program, company says

Staff Apr 08, 2004
TESTING DONE: Aurora Flight Sciences Corp.'s GoldenEye-100 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) successfully completed its initial flight test program, the Manassas, Va.-based company said April 7. The UAV's flight testing program began in September (DAILY, Sept. 11, 2003) and validated the GoldenEye-100's vertical takeoff and landing capability, thrust vectoring, waypoint navigation and other performance goals, the company said.

Supplier News: Boeing picks GE, Rolls-Royce engines for 7E7

Staff Apr 08, 2004
BOEING has selected GENERAL ELECTRIC'S GENX and ROLLS-ROYCE'S Trent 1000 engines for the 7E7 Dreamliner, the company said. The decision follows months of collaboration with leading manufacturers of large commercial aircraft engines, the company said. "The General Electric and Rolls-Royce engines will enable the 7E7 to fly higher, faster, farther, cleaner, quieter and more efficiently than comparable airplanes," 7E7 Senior Vice President Mike Bair said in a statement. "Having an engine choice is a key consideration for our customers.

Table: NASA Missions Updates

NASA Apr 07, 2004

Chart: Army Budget Request Amendment

U.S. Army Apr 07, 2004

Shipbuilding industry concerned about skill base deterioration

Kathy Gambrell Apr 07, 2004
The American Shipbuilding Associa-tion (ASA) plans to survey several hundred suppliers for the next-generation destroyer DD(X) to see what effect a possible production gap would have on them, the group's president told The DAILY April 6. ASA President Cynthia Brown, whose organization represents shipbuilders and companies that design and manufacture ship systems and components, told lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week that the "anemic" rate of ship production over the last 13 years has taken a toll on the industrial base.

Boeing confident about V-22 costs, USAF tanker deal, officials say

Marc Selinger Apr 07, 2004
Boeing officials expressed confidence April 6 about their ability to contain the cost of the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor transport aircraft and win a contract to provide the U.S. Air Force with 100 KC-767A tankers.

Companies seeking to improve, exploit anti-missile technology

Marc Selinger Apr 07, 2004
Companies involved in the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system said April 6 that they are looking for new ways to improve the missile shield and apply its technology to other programs.

Weapons cost increases by $73B, Pentagon says

Staff Apr 07, 2004
Major Pentagon acquisition programs have increased in cost by $73 billion, or 5.8 percent, the U.S. Defense Department said April 6 in releasing the latest selected acquisition reports (SARs).

Lockheed Martin considering longer-range JASSM variant

Kathy Gambrell Apr 07, 2004
Lockheed Martin is evaluating a third variant of its Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) that would have a striking range of more than 1,000 nautical miles, according to company officials. Grant Begley, business development manager for Lockheed Martin, said April 6 that the armed services have "expressed interest" in a weapon with longer-range capabilities than currently available. Begley said the company could seek development funding for the JASSM extra-extended range (JASSM-XR) variant as early as fiscal 2007.

Officials: OIF showed gaps in logistics, communications

Lisa Troshinsky Apr 07, 2004
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) showed that improvements have been made in joint operations, but it also showed that challenges remain in areas such as logistics, damage assessment and coalition communications, U.S. service officials said April 6 at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Expo in Washington.

MH-60R schedule slips 10 months as team addresses problems

Jefferson Morris Apr 07, 2004
The testing schedule for the U.S. Navy's MH-60R helicopter slipped about 10 months while engineers grappled with technical and training-related issues discovered during testing last summer, according to prime systems integrator Lockheed Martin.

Lockheed Martin JCM completes inert munitions testing

Jefferson Morris Apr 07, 2004
Lockheed Martin's proposed Joint Common Missile (JCM) rocket motor has completed a series of company-funded tests designed to ensure it won't detonate when subjected to fire or struck by debris. The company completed the tests April 3 at the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC) in Socorro, N.M., in conjunction with rocket motor supplier Aerojet and propellant supplier Roxell U.K.

BAE Systems to buy STI Government Systems assets

Staff Apr 07, 2004
BAE Systems North America will buy the assets of STI Government Systems of Honolulu, Hawaii, for $27 million in cash, the company said April 5. STI Government Systems provides photonics, information technologies and systems integration services to U.S. government customers. "STI Government Systems scientists and engineers are well respected throughout government and industry for their innovative technology solutions," Galen Ho, president of BAE Systems North America's Information and Electronic Systems Integration Sector said in a statement.

In Brief: Boeing to develop fire control station for SLAMRAAM

Staff Apr 07, 2004
FIRE CONTROL: Boeing will design and develop the Integrated Fire Control Station for Raytheon's Surface Launched AMRAAM (SLAMRAAM) under an $18.9 million contract, the company said April 6. SLAMRAAM pairs up to six U.S. Air Force AIM 120 AMRAAMs with a turreted Humvee. The work will be done at Boeing's facility in Huntsville, Ala.

In Brief: General Atomics awarded EMALS SDD work

Staff Apr 06, 2004
EMALS: General Atomics was awarded a $145.6 million contract for the system development and demonstration of an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), the Defense Department said April 5. The SDD phase includes the design, delivery, test and support of a full-scale EMALS at Naval Air Systems Command facilities in New Jersey, the DOD said.

HASC members seek to limit DOD ship leases

Kathy Gambrell Apr 06, 2004
Members of the House Armed Services Committee are asking their leaders to include an amendment in the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill that would limit the leasing of foreign-built ships by the U.S. Department of Defense to 12 months, including contract optionss.

Lockheed Martin says JSF maturing despite weight struggles

Staff Apr 06, 2004
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is showing signs of maturity even as the aircraft continues to battle a weight problem, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. "A lot of stuff is coming together right now," said Tom Burbage, who heads Lockheed Martin's work on JSF.