LE BOURGET, France - Contractors vying to build the battle management suite aboard the E-10A Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A) are pushing for a multi-intelligence fusion capability for the first production aircraft, despite U.S. Air Force fears that the technology is not available at an affordable price.
The U.S. Navy has awarded a subsidiary of Italian marine engine manufacturer Isotta Fraschini a spare parts contract potentially worth more than $30 million if all options are exercised. Under the initial three-year contract, FDGM Inc. will supply spare parts for the non-magnetic, Isotta Fraschini-built engines that power the Navy's minesweepers. The contract has a minimum guaranteed annual value of $700,000 for the first three years with an annual maximum ceiling of $10 million. The contract has an option for an additional three years.
A vision of being able to quickly hit fleeting targets anywhere in the world is prompting the U.S. Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to solicit industry for ways to make the idea a reality. The ultimate goal of the FALCON (Force Application and Launch from CONUS) program, to be met in about 2025, is development of a hypersonic cruise vehicle (HCV) that would take off from a runway and strike targets 9,000 nautical miles away in less than two hours.
Lingering disagreements between the U.S. and Germany over the war with Iraq have affected discussions between Northrop Grumman and German shipbuilder Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG (HDW), according to a senior Northrop Grumman official. Those discussions involve cooperation between the two companies to design and build eight diesel-electric submarines for Taiwan. Administration officials have expressed interest in selling eight diesel-electric submarines to Taiwan (DAILY, April 25, 2001).
NEW DELHI - After postponing the commissioning of the first of three Russian-made stealth warships because of problems with its Shtil missile system, the Indian navy now has decided to take delivery of the vessel. Adm. Madhvendra Singh, chief of the Indian navy, arrived in Russia this week to take delivery of the INS Talwar. Singh originally had been scheduled to arrive June 4, but postponed that due to persistent problems with the Shtil system, Indian navy sources said. However, a navy spokesman said the problems have been resolved.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has appointed Donald Winter as its lead executive for missile defense business, a move that reflects the company's increased role in that sector. Winter will set direction for all of the company's missile defense work and will be Northrop Grumman's main liaison to the director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). Winter will remain corporate vice president and president of the company's Mission Systems sector.
The House Appropriations defense subcommittee approved a fiscal 2004 defense appropriations bill June 18 that provides the 22 F/A-22 Raptors requested by the Bush Administration and adds money for several programs, including the Tomahawk and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles, according to a congressional source. Although the subcommittee made a small cut in the funding request for the Lockheed Martin F/A-22, it believes the money still is adequate to buy the 22 Raptors the Air Force wants to procure in FY '04, the source told The DAILY.
LE BOURGET, France - Eurocopter's Tiger and multirole NH-90, and military helicopters yet to be developed, will be key to company plans for maintaining strong growth rates, according to Fabrice Bregier, the firm's president and CEO. Last year, Eurocopter's sales climbed to 301 units, a 12 percent increase from 2001, he said.
LE BOURGET, France - The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) is proposing a NATO-wide program to replace the Sikorsky CH-53 helicopter, starting in 2012, according to co-CEO Rainer Hertrich. The project for a 65,000-pound-plus helicopter, bigger than the Boeing CH-47 Chinook, would draw on EADS subsidiary Eurocopter's experience with the high-technology, multinational NH-90 and would meet the needs of the German army, U.S. Marine Corps and other NATO forces with aging heavy helicopters.
MOSCOW - Russian officials have announced several plans this week they said would lead to a significant restructuring of the country's orbital launch capability. According to Yuri Koptev, general director of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, or Rosaviakosmos, Russia still considers the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan one of its most important launch sites.
NEW DELHI - India has asked RAC MiG, builder of the MiG-29 K naval aircraft, to meet several conditions before the aircraft is ready for use on the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, which India plans to acquire from Russia. Although the Indian government accepted RAC MiG's technical report on the MiGs' readiness for carrier use, the defense ministry asked the company to meet the following conditions: * The aircraft's radar, which has not undergone flight demonstrations, should be tested.
House Armed Services committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) on June 18 questioned Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz on the U.S. Air Force's possible need to develop a new deep-strike bomber, emphasizing the crucial role that bombers have played in recent military campaigns.
Northrop Grumman has received a $220 million contract to enhance the integrated communications, navigation and identification (CNI) system for the Army's RAH-66 Comanche reconnaissance/attack helicopter, the company announced June 18. Under the new contract, the company's San Diego-based Radio Systems division will develop and incorporate three new communications capabilities for the Comanche's CNI avionics suite: * Enhanced Position Locating Reporting System via the Tactical Internet
AEROSONIC, Clearwater, Fla. Tom Bates has been appointed to the new position of director, business development. BOEING, Chicago Kees Blekxtoon has been named president of Boeing Northern and Western Europe, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. John Craig has been named to the new position of regional vice president in the Middle East, based in United Arab Emirates. EADS NORTH AMERICA, Washington, D.C. Diane Williams Murphy has been appointed vice president of communications and public relations.
The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NVSEA) has awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a $67 million contract extension to develop and produce a new version of the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) missile launcher. A contract option totaling $129 million in support of South Korea's KDX-III destroyer program could raise the contract's total value to $196 million.
MILESTONE: Northrop Grumman has conducted 38 hot-fire tests of a hydrogen peroxide-based engine for the Missile Defense Agency's Liquid Booster target program, the company said June 18. More tests are planned through the fall and a risk-reduction flight is set for 2005, the company said.
LE BOURGET, France - The proposed military avionics project of Finmeccanica and BAE Systems is close to reality, according to Finmeccanica President and CEO Pier-Francesco Guarguaglini. The new joint venture, referred to as AeroSystems, will be "colossal," with annual revenues of 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion), he said.
LE BOURGET, France - "Chronic underfunding of defense programs in Europe in the face of robust U.S. spending is a recipe for several unappealing results," said Lockheed Martin's senior vice president for corporate business development, Robert Trice.
LE BOURGET, France - In spite of short-term uncertainty caused by the present crisis in the commercial aviation market, "long-term expectations are good," observes Giorgio Zappa, chairman and CEO of Alenia Aeronautica. With a flexible and diversified strategy, aimed at maintaining the company's financial and economic performance while increasing its competitive level, Zappa sees the company in 2003 as achieving target performance despite unfavorable market conditions.
LE BOURGET, France - U.S. officials guiding development of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) are willing to negotiate opening assembly lines for its international partners. An early round of talks begin in August when U.S. officials hope to learn what each of its 10 international partners desire for the production phase of the contract that starts in 2006, said Col. Dennis Dwyer, deputy director of the international directorate.
AEGIS BMD: The June 18 test of the Missile Defense Agency's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system will occur between 4 and 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, according to the Defense Department. The test will use a new solid divert and attitude control system (SDACS) to guide the warhead to its target (DAILY, June 16).
Seat belts for military vehicles may need to be redesigned so troops are more comfortable using them when they wear flak jackets, a defense official said June 17. Military personnel sometimes say they "don't want to wear a seat belt when they're wearing their flak jacket. It's cumbersome," said David Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. "But it means that you have to design the belts in the vehicles so that [people] can be belted in despite the equipment that they're wearing."