Three microsatellites are scheduled to fly inside Node 1 of the International Space Station (ISS) next year, as part of an effort by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to learn more about spacecraft docking and servicing. DARPA is providing most of the funding for the SPHERE (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites) project through its Orbital Express program, which is pursuing technologies to enable on-orbit satellite servicing and repair.
Boeing and the U.S. Air Force have completed a crucial review in the Air Force's effort to modernize the ground control segment for the Global Positioning System (GPS), the company announced June 23. The integrated baseline review (IBR) approved a restructuring of the next-generation control segment to make it more efficient, according to Boeing spokesman Erik Simonsen. Both the Air Force and Boeing "were quite pleased with [the] review," Simonsen said.
The winner of a pending U.S. Air Force contract to install satellite receivers in B-2 Spirit cockpits must start delivering products within three months of receiving a contract, according to an acquisition notice posted June 20. The Tactical Data Links System Program Office at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., plans to award a roughly $3 million contract for the B-2 Beyond Line of Sight program in August.
NEW DELHI - India's short-range Trishul missile had a test flight June 22 from Chandipur. An official with the Indian defense ministry said the missile, which has a range of nine kilometers (5.6 miles), successfully hit a moving target. However, the missile's planned induction into the armed forces has been halted after a series of failed tests prompted the military to reject it. In March, the ministry said the missile program will continue as a research program only.
The U.S. Air Force's Space Based Radar (SBR) may be able to play a limited role in missile defense, but additional study is needed to verify that potential capability, according to a program official.
The U.S. State Department's June 20 notice announcing the formal lifting the trade sanctions against India and Pakistan may result in an occasional sale for U.S. defense contractors, according to some foreign policy observers. But it remains unclear whether large-scale defense trade between the countries would result.
LOCKHEED MARTIN has formed a Transportation and Security Solutions business unit to address national priorities for safe travel and controlling the country's borders, the company said. Don Antonucci, formerly president of Lockheed Martin's Air Traffic Management unit, has been named president of the new unit. The 2,000-person unit combines the company's work in airport, physical and border security, as well as work on advanced systems for managing information such as U.S. Customs Department and Census Department data.
FORMER LAWMAKER DIES: Former House Armed Services Committee Chairman Bob Stump (R-Ariz.) died June 20 in Phoenix, reportedly due to a rare blood disorder. He was 76.
Orbital Sciences Corp. said June 23 it intends to sell $135 million in senior unsecured debt notes that will mature in 2011, to refinance notes due in August 2006. The sale is expected to close next month, company officials said.
SUB WORK: The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded General Dynamics Corp.'s Electric Boat subsidiary a $10 million contract modification to manage and support nuclear submarine maintenance work. The work will be performed on submarines at the Naval Submarine Base (SUBASE) in New London, Conn.
NEW DELHI - France's Eurocopter has offered to work with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) to jointly build Cougar and Fennec military helicopters in India, HAL Chairman N.R. Mohanty said. Mohanty said HAL will consider equity participation in such a joint venture. The Indian government plans to upgrade 200 military helicopters and buy more than 150 new helicopters. Most of India's military helicopters are 20-30 years old and were bought from Russia.
NEW DELHI - India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), named Tejas ("Radiance"), is scheduled to fly at supersonic speed in the next two weeks. Two LCA technology demonstrators have flown so far. The Tejas, already behind schedule by more than eight years, is scheduled to be inducted in the Indian air force by 2007.
PARTNERS: A protocol signed June 17 by EADS and Sukhoi Corp. paves the way for joint development of unmanned combat air vehicle technology, integrating MBDA missile systems on Sukhoi fighters and other aircraft modernization programs. "The teaming agreement with Sukhoi is important for the development of technology for future defense systems," says a statement by EADs co-CEOs Phillipe Camus and Rainer Hertrich.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) and NASA's Inspector General (IG) are expressing concern over the implementation of the agency's new Integrated Financial Management Program (IFMP), which is scheduled to be operational at all NASA centers later this month. NASA initiated the IFMP program last year to unify its 10 field centers under the same accounting system. Two previous attempts to modernize the agency's bookkeeping were abandoned after 12 years and a reported expense of $180 million, according to the GAO (DAILY, March 21, 2002).
The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has awarded Alliant Techsystems (ATK) a $228.6 million contract to develop the Navy's precision-strike AGM-88E Advanced Anti-radiation Guided Missile (AARGM). AARGM is a follow-on retrofit program to the Navy's High-Speed Anti-radiation Missile (HARM) missile, an air-to-surface missile designed to attack radar-equipped enemy air defenses.
The U.S. Army recently conducted a series of flights in which the Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) demonstrated a new ground-operated synthetic aperture radar and moving target indicator (SAR/MTI) sensor, Northrop Grumman announced June 16. The SAR/MTI sensor is part of Northrop Grumman's Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Radar (TUAVR) package. The company has been developing the TUAVR for the Army to help its tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (TUAVs) collect battlefield intelligence.
EO/IR SPENDING: Despite U.S. Army plans to incorporate small, tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into its Future Combat Systems program, most of the money spent on UAV sensor systems in the near term will go for larger, high-endurance aircraft, according to David Rockwell, senior defense electronics analyst with the Teal Group. Rockwell predicts sales of electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) equipment for UAVs are likely to double to nearly $500 million annually by 2010. Most of that will go for large, high-endurance UAVs like Global Hawk.
The Army's Low Cost Interceptor (LCI) program has successfully completed a key design review, taking it one step closer to a potential fielding at the end of the decade. During LCI's May 15-16 preliminary design review, Miltec, the system integrator, "presented a design that met the program goals," Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) said in a recent statement responding to questions.
STRYKER REPORT: The Office of the Secretary of Defense will submit its report on the performance of the Stryker family of combat vehicles to Congress in mid-July, according to a U.S. Army spokesman. The report will cover the performance of the vehicles in three exercises that took place from mid-March to late May, starting at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., and ending at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La. The 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, which conducted the exercises, achieved initial operating capability in May.
The State Department announced on June 20 it will begin reviewing requests to export or transfer defense articles, defense services and related technical data to India and Pakistan on a case-by-case basis. The announcement represents the official lifting of sanctions that were imposed on India and Pakistan in 1998 after those countries conducted tests of nuclear weapons.
LE BOURGET, France - In an ongoing bidding war for Brazil's F-X fighter program, the JAS 39 Gripen fighter's manufacturers say they can tailor the aircraft's avionics and armament to meet the country's requirement. The contest is gradually moving forward after the roughly $700 million acquisition effort was suspended earlier this year by a new government in Brazil. At the time, the project was put on hold to pay for famine relief supplies.
STING RAY: Northrop Grumman's Navigation Systems Division will supply LN-200 inertial measurement units to guide the U.K. Ministry of Defence's Sting Ray torpedo, the company said June 20. The work will be done under a 10-year contract from BAE Systems' Underwater Systems Division.
