VERIDIAN: General Dynamics completed its $1.5 billion acquisition of information technology provider Veridian Corp., the company said Aug. 11. Veridian's four divisions will become part of two businesses within General Dynamics Information Systems and Technology group. The buy will give the company a "stronger base" in network security, information systems and other areas, General Dynamics said.
The first test trials of the M777E1 155mm lightweight howitzer using the Global Positioning System-guided XM 982 Excalibur projectile have been completed, BAE Systems said. The test trials, at the Yuma Proving Grounds near Yuma, Ariz., involved the firing of seven XM 982 instrumented test projectiles under three temperatures using the Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS). MACS is a new, solid-propellant charge designed to replace the currently fielded M3A1 (green bag), M4A2 (white bag), M119A2 (red bag) and M203A1 charges.
Not all of the "Buy American" provisions in the House 2004 defense authorization bill are opposed by aerospace and defense trade industry groups. The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) supports some Buy American provisions regarding the amount of U.S. titanium in weapons and aircraft. Those provisions relate to the "Specialty Metals Clause" of the Berry Amendment, a pre-World War II amendment to Title 10 of the United States Code.
Lockheed Martin recently took its new Marine Corps Aviation Simulator Master Plan F/A-18D simulator on a "first flight," the company said Aug. 11. The simulator uses a PC-driven image generator and has distributed mission training capability and networked systems to allow pilots to "see" and react to other simulators, Lockheed Martin said. It has an open architecture to allow for easy upgrades.
NEW DELHI - The first flight of Pakistan's Super-7 fighter has been delayed until later this month at the earliest to allow for more ground testing, according to a Pakistani diplomat here. The aircraft, built by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and the Chinese Aircraft Industrial Corp., was to have flown in June. The aircraft program began in 1991. The Super-7, a derivative of China's FC-1, originally was to be built only for the Pakistan air force, but China agreed to buy some of the aircraft as well to lower its unit cost.
The leader of Australia's Joint Strike Fighter team said Aug. 8 he is hopeful that a controversial strategic sourcing plan introduced by Lockheed Martin may improve business prospects in the program for his country. Lockheed Martin launched a strategic sourcing plan earlier this year that targets work for certain companies, promising contracts if price and schedule goals can be achieved. The move was intended to resolve growing complaints among some of JSF's eight international participants about the company's "best value" system.
A U.S. defense entity plans to convene a forum later this year with the goal of promoting improvements in cruise missile defense. The Joint Cruise Missile Defense Joint Test and Evaluation (JCMD JT&E) organization, based at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., has announced it will hold its first annual conference and exhibition Nov. 17-20 at a resort in Destin, Fla. The conference will focus on cruise missile defense acquisition, training, exercises, simulation and warfighter support.
BAE Systems of Britain and Rheinmetall DeTec of Germany have agreed to split defense electronics manufacturer STN Atlas Electronik GmbH into two companies. Rheinmetall owns 51 percent of ATN Atlas. BAE Systems owns the remaining 49 percent. Under the plan announced last week, Rheinmetall will take control of STN Atlas' Land and Airborne Systems and Simulation Systems divisions. The new company will be called Rheinmetall Defence Electronics GmbH.
INTERIM: The Stafford-Covey Return to Flight Task Group (SCTG) will issue interim reports as it oversees NASA's efforts to implement the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), according to Task Group Co-Chairman Richard Covey. The reports will be internal and may not be released publicly, he says. The Task Group will focus on CAIB recommendations relevant to NASA's return-to-flight effort for the space shuttle. "A month before the first flight, our work should be done," Covey says.
SUSPENSIONS: The Boeing Co. is allowed 30 days to appeal the U.S. Air Force's ban on new business for three corporate units linked to a document-stealing scandal, but such an objection could complicate the company's efforts to get reinstated, a senior Air Force official tells The DAILY. A suspended business must show a "recognition of a responsibility" and a "recognition of a problem" as the key criteria the service uses to lift corporate sanctions, says Steve Shaw, the Air Force's suspensions and debarring official.
SATELLITE WORK: Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices of Torrance, Calif., will provide amplifiers and power conditioners to Lockheed Martin Corp. for the JCSAT-9 satellite, the company said Aug. 8. The satellite is being built for Japan's JSAT Corp. Boeing will provide S-band linearized traveling wave tube amplifiers and C-band electronic power conditioners for the communications satellite, scheduled for launch in 2005. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
COLUMBIA FUNDING: Before starting its traditional August recess, Congress was unable to complete action on the Bush Administration's fiscal 2003 supplemental appropriations request for $50 million to continue the investigation of the Columbia space shuttle disaster. But lawmakers are expected to resume consideration of the request when they return in early September. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) says NASA needs the supplemental funding so it does not have to take money from shuttle safety upgrades to pay for the investigation.
The U.S. Navy's Littoral Airborne Sensor Hyperspectral (LASH) airship will travel to San Diego in late August or early September to perform a series of homeland security demonstrations using its suite of hyperspectral sensors. The LASH team hopes to demonstrate their system for officials from the Coast Guard, the Customs Bureau, the Department of Homeland Security, "and whoever else is interested," according to Stephen Huett, LASH program manager at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).
ROTOR R&D: As part of their renegotiated agreement to partner on rotorcraft research and development (R&D) work, the Army and NASA initially will focus on eight areas, according to Terrence Hertz of NASA's Office of Aerospace Technology. Those areas are: interactional aerodynamics; tiltrotor technology; advanced rotor concepts; advanced flight control autonomy; drive system health monitoring and management; damage crash tolerance; measurement and prediction of aircraft flight acoustics; and oil-free turbomachinery.
FOURTH SATELLITE: XM Satellite Radio has asked the Boeing Co. to build its fourth telecommunications satellite despite problems with the first Boeing-built spacecraft. The 702-series satellite, designated XM-4, will be delivered in late 2005 for launch to XM's orbital slot at 115 degrees west longitude. As with the first three XM satellites, Alcatel Space will provide the S-band Digital Audio Radio Service (DARS) payload.
LOSAT TEST: Lockheed Martin's Line-of-Sight Antitank (LOSAT) successfully completed its fourth firing test last week, the company said Aug. 8. A Kinetic Energy Missile hit a moving target at short range, the company said, marking the program's first guided test against a moving target.
August 11 - 17 -- Technical Information Division Annual Symposium, "Creating Competitive Edge: Integrating & Measuring Maturity of Processes," The Royal Sonesta Hotel, New Orleans, La. Contact Simone L. Baldwin at (703) 247-2596, email [email protected] or go to www.ndia.org. August 14 -- Fighter Training Symposium, Norfolk Marriott Waterside, Norfolk Va. For more information call (703) 247-9471, fax (703) 243-1659, or go to www.trainingsystems.org/events.
TANKER HEARING: The Senate Armed Services Committee has scheduled a Sept. 4 hearing to examine the Air Force's proposal to lease 100 Boeing KC-767A tankers. Representatives of the Air Force, Pentagon acquisition office, White House Office of Management and Budget, General Accounting Office, Congressional Budget Office and Institute for Defense Analyses are expected to testify. The committee is one of four congressional panels that must sign off on the deal. The three other panels already have given their approval (DAILY, July 29).
SEA LEGS: Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy have completed the first phase of at-sea testing expected to lead to the first shipboard landing of the Navy's RQ-8A Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle, the company said Aug. 8. The first phase included shipboard engine starts and software tests. The second phase, to begin later this month, will involve autonomous Fire Scout flights from Point Mugu, Calif., to an offshore test range. The final phase, which includes repeated approaches, landings and takeoffs from the USS Denver, is scheduled for September.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command is on track to expand its role with U.S. Strategic Command in October, according to Lt. Gen. Joseph M. Cosumano Jr. Cosumano, who heads SMDC, said the command is "going through a series of staff [exercises] and planning and preparing "for our initial operational capability" with STRATCOM in about a month and a half.
The final round of demonstration tests in a U.S. Air Force effort to enable the B-2 fleet to drop 80 500-pound smart bombs on a single mission are to start later this month, the service said Aug. 8. On Aug. 6, a B-2 successfully flew the ninth sortie staged since March using inert versions of the Mk-82 Joint Direct Attack Munition, according to a statement from the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
STILL ON TRACK: Alliant Techsystems' space shuttle booster program remains on track despite the Columbia disaster, company officials say. The program generated about $100 million in revenues during the recent quarter, down slightly from the same period a year ago. "From my financial perspective, the program continues to function much as it did prior to the Columbia tragedy and in line with our expectations," ATK Chief Financial Officer Eric Rangen says. Company officials expect the program to generate nearly $370 million in the company's fiscal 2004, which began April 1.
Lockheed Martin engineers are focusing their attention on June 2005, the date when the Army will test two Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) network prototypes. WIN-T is the Army's networking infrastructure that allows mobile units to communicate with command-and-control centers. WIN-T provides the "pipeline" soldiers will use to communicate with command centers via the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS).
