F/A-22 FUNDS: When the full House takes up the fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill as early as the week of May 19, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), whose congressional district includes the F/A-22 Raptor assembly plant, says he probably will not offer an amendment to restore $161 million that the House Armed Services Committee cut from the Air Force's F/A-22 budget request.
MOSCOW - A failure in a descent control system instrument is the most likely reason for the off-target landing of a Soyuz capsule returning from the International Space Station May 3, according to an official of Soyuz-builder RSC Energia. Nikolai Zelenschikov, the first deputy general designer for the company, said RSC Energia has been studying the capsule since May 7 to understand what happened and try to keep it from happening on the next Soyuz return from the station.
JOINT DECLARATION: After an interruption caused by the U.S.-led war against Iraq, governments on both sides of the Atlantic should return to defining roles for crisis management and defense structures, says a joint declaration signed last week by 18 former U.S. cabinet officials and lawmakers, including four former defense secretaries. The governments also should continue reforming the export control process on arms shipments, the declaration says. It proposes creating a set of allied policies that divide responsibilities between the European Union (EU) and the U.S.
PRAGUE - India should be not put off from buying the Aero Vodochody-built L-159, despite a high number of breakdowns in the aircraft being introduced into the Czech air force, the Czech army's chief of staff told The DAILY. As of last week, only 17 of the 60 L-159s delivered to the Czech air force were capable of flying (DAILY, May 14). The aircraft are experiencing a defect every 3.68 flying hours, well below the contract agreement of one defect per 10 flying hours.
EXPOSURE: Exposure during the war in Iraq has had a huge positive impact on high-resolution commercial satellite imagery providers Digital Globe and Space Imaging, according Digital Globe President and CEO Herb Satterlee. Both companies regularly provided imagery to major television news outlets during Operation Iraqi Freedom. "I think Space Imaging and Digital Globe, for the first time, became widely recognized by the average American and probably the average news watcher around the planet," Satterlee says.
May 19 - 22 -- 2003 Global Demilitarization Symposium & Exhibition, John Ascuaga's Nugget, Sparks, Nev. Contact Tim Becker at (703) 247-2573, fax (703) 522-1885, email [email protected] or go to www.ndia.org. June 2 - 4 -- 3rd Annual National Symposium and Exhibition on Terrorism Preparedness & Response, "Enhancing the Capabilities of First Responders." Contact Simone L. Baldwin at (703) 247-2596, email [email protected] or go to www.ndia.org.
LITTLE BIRD: FLIR Systems of Portland, Ore., will deliver up to 75 lightweight airborne multisensor thermal imaging systems for U.S. Army Special Operations A/MH-6 Little Bird helicopters, the company said May 16. The Special Operations Command contract is worth about $40 million, the company said. The imaging system, which is nine inches in diameter, also will contain a CCD-TV camera and a laser rangefinder.
7E7 SITE: Only U.S. locations will be considered for the final assembly site for Boeing's proposed 7E7 passenger jet, the company said May 16. Boeing briefed Washington state officials in its selection criteria, which also are posted on the web at www.boeing.com/commercial/7E7/. The final assembly location will be announced by the end of the year.
SUCCESSFUL REVIEW: Senior Army and industry officials are expected to announce this week that the Future Combat Systems program will move into the systems development and demonstration phase (SDD), albeit with additional oversight given the complexity of the program. The announcement will coincide with the release of the Acquisition Decision Memorandum (ADM), which specifies how the program will move forward. One likely stipulation is that the program should undergo a review by the Defense Authorization Board in November 2004 and each year thereafter.
The U.S. Navy is considering shifting resources from the Atlantic Fleet to the Pacific Fleet to counter potential threats that may arise in Asia, according to a senior Navy officer. The plan is being reviewed by Adm. Vern Clark, the chief of naval operations (CNO) and other fleet command officers, Adm. Robert Natter, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, said May 16.
The U.S. Navy's fleet of aging, heavily used EP-3 signals intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft soon may face a "crisis" because they are wearing out, according to a congressional panel. The Navy has just 12 EP-3s, which have been flying for an average of 29 years. Demand for the SIGINT aircraft always has been high and has intensified since the war on terrorism began in 2001.
TALLY: In a four-week snapshot of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), more than 1,800 U.S. and allied aircraft targeted 25,240 aimpoints and dispensed about 29,000 munitions, says a recent U.S. Air Force report tallying the combined air war effort. Coalition forces lost 20 aircraft during the war, including seven downed by enemy fire. The report lists 1,224 attacks from Iraqi anti-aircraft fire, 1,669 launches of surface-to-air missiles and 19 launches of surface-to-surface missiles.
NEW DELHI - The Indian air force is considering a proposal from France's Snecma to upgrade the M53-P2 engines in India's fleet of Mirage 2000-H MK II aircraft. The Indian air force has about 40 Mirage 2000-Hs and has ordered 10 more. An official with the Indian defense ministry said upgrading the engines could increase their thrust by about 6 percent. The first upgrade of India's Mirages was in 1998, when their night attack and electronic warfare capabilities were enhanced with Indian-built equipment.
Vought Aircraft Industries will acquire the Aerostructures Corp., which designs and builds airframe structures, the company said May 14. The deal is expected to close by July 1 pending regulatory approval, Dallas-based Vought said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Vought builds wings, fuselage subassemblies, nacelles and other aircraft equipment for programs such as the F/A-22 Raptor, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the V-22 Osprey.
NEW DELHI - India and the United States have agreed to hold a bilateral meeting on technology issues within the next three months to speed cooperation on dual-use technology and civilian space and nuclear issues. An official with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said a decision to hold the meeting was made during last week's meeting in London of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Indian National Security Adviser Brijesh Mishra. Sources in the external affairs ministry said the meeting could take place at the end of July.
The Department of Homeland Security plans to ask two companies to develop prototype countermeasure systems to shield commercial aircraft from shoulder-fired missiles, lawmakers said May 15. To ensure it does not ignore promising ideas from anyone else in the private sector, DHS also intends to issue a Broad Agency Announcement to solicit proposals from high-tech firms "on the best way to protect our aircraft from this threat," Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) announced at a press conference with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.).
BUYING: Lockheed Martin will acquire ORINCON Corp. International, a defense and information technology company. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the second quarter, the company said.
Lockheed Martin has staged a successful test of a two-way data link designed to double the accuracy of satellite-guided weapons and offer an in-flight targeting capability against moving targets, company officials announced May 15. Lockheed Martin plans to integrate the data link on its proposed design for the Global Positioning System-guided Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), seeking to achieve accuracy rates "in the neighborhood" of laser-guided bombs, said Randy Bigum, vice president for strike weapons at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
Two U.S. Army ground commanders in Operation Iraqi Freedom defended the combat performance of the AH-64 Apache fleet but reserved glowing praise for other systems, such as mobile command centers, blue force tracking systems and new tactical targeting systems. Maj. Gen. Buford Blount, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, on May 15 described coordinating three battles spread across 230 kilometers (143 miles) while on the move.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved language requiring a test of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) system against an actual Scud ballistic missile. The language, contained in a report accompanying the committee's recently completed version of the fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill, calls for using a Scud B, the most widely proliferated version of the Scud. The committee said the test could wait until FY '05 to provide adequate preparation time.
The U.S. Air Force on May 14 awarded a $215 million contract to an integration team led by Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems Sector to begin initial work on the E-10A Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A). The deal covers integration of the aircraft's radar, battle management system and airframe during the program's system development and demonstration phase, which ends in September 2004, an Air Force acquisition notice says.
SELLING: Vector Aerospace of Toronto is selling its fixed-wing repair and overhaul business to focus on its helicopter business, the company said May 15. The company has received "a number of expressions of interest," it said.
Spanish shipbuilder Izar will join a team led by Lockheed Martin Corp. to help develop a proposal for the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), company officials announced May 14. Izar will provide core support in the areas of mission development planning, ship design support and materials studies.
