GRIP: The first major modification of a C-17 Globemaster III at Warner-Robins Air Logistics Center, Ga., is complete, Boeing said May 2. The work was done under the Global Reach Improvement Program (GRIP), an annual modification and retrofit plan to update operational C-17s, the company said. Previous GRIP modifications were done at Boeing Aerospace Support Center in San Antonio, Texas.
WEAPON STUDIES: Studies being conducted by the Pentagon on weapon performance in the Iraq war could reflect favorably on older systems and unfavorably on some proposed systems, according to senior aerospace and defense analyst Byron Callan of Merrill Lynch. "We believe that program areas with reputations enhanced from the war include the M1 [Abrams] tank and Bradley [Fighting] Vehicle" and communications and electronics equipment for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, Callan says.
Lockheed Martin will participate in the June 2003 Paris Air Show, but will send 70 fewer people than it did it in 2001 and will not display or fly any of its aircraft, a spokesman said May 2. "We're going," Tom Jurkowsky said in response to a reporter's question. "We're just going to have a reduced presence." In 2001, Lockheed Martin sent 200 people to Paris for the show, but this year only 130 are to attend, he said. By comparison, in 1997, 450 people from the company attended.
Two major aspects of the Missile Defense Agency's approach to developing anti-missile systems came under close scrutiny at a closed-door hearing of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, according to a source who attended the May 1 meeting.
Air Force Secretary James Roche could face opposition in the ranks if he is nominated to head the Army, but he also could bring his transformation-oriented background to bear, according to several analysts. "Roche is a card-carrying member of the OSD transformation club," senior analyst Jay Korman of DFI International said.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The combat power, intelligence and command and control used in Operation Iraqi Freedom constitute a "new American way of war," according to Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The war revealed "what I'll call a deliberately decisive force that's more capable" than the one used over a decade ago against Iraq, "and it means the way we fight is very different," Myers said in a May 1 address to the Air Force Academy here.
May 5 - 7 -- Aerospace & Defense Finance Conference, Grand Hyatt New York Hotel, New York City. To register go to http://www.AviationNow.com/conferences. May 6 - 8 -- AHS International 59th Annual Forum and Technology Display, "Vertical Flight Transformation," Phoenix Civic Plaza, Phoenix, Ariz. For more information call (703) 684-6777, fax (703) 739-9279, email [email protected] or go to www.vtol.org.
UAV DEMO: Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) will conduct the second public demonstration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on July 14 at the Webster Field Annex of Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The Program Executive Office for Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation is sponsoring the event in conjunction with the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). Possible UAVs at the demo include Scheibel's CamCopter, Boeing's ScanEagle, Northrop Grumman's Fire Scout, the Marine Corps' Dragon Eye and InSitu's Aerosonde.
Roger G. Dekok, 56, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general and a vice president of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Mission Systems sector, died suddenly April 24, the company said. DeKok served 34 years in the Air Force before joining Northrop Grumman in June 2002. He was a vice president and the deputy general manager of Mission Systems' Command, Control and Intelligence Division. He was based in Colorado Springs, Colo.
CEC AWARD: Raytheon Network Centric Systems will build 13 Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) systems and related components under a $90 million U.S. Navy contract, the Defense Department said May 1. The St. Petersburg, Fla.-based company's work on the sensor netting systems is expected to be completed by September 2005, DOD said.
On May 2 NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe will travel to Kazakhstan to greet the Expedition Six crew of the International Space Station (ISS) upon their return to Earth, and discuss with Russian space agency head Yuri Koptev options for continuing to sustain the ISS in the absence of the space shuttle.
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thomas Collins said May 1 his service will explore ways of using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in carrying out traditional Coast Guard missions in addition to those relating to homeland security. Traditional missions of the Coast Guard include illegal drug interdiction, fisheries protection and stopping the flow of illegal migrants to the U.S.
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has awarded a team led by Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control a $2 million contract to help develop the Marine Corps' Tactical Unmanned Ground Vehicle (TUGV). Under the contract, the Lockheed Martin-led team, Team Retiarius, will help develop the technology and hardware for the vehicle and conduct operational demonstrations. The primary function of the TUGV will be to provide ground troops with reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition (RSTA) capabilities.
A team of experts now being formed to appraise the remaining life of the U.S. Air Force's oldest planes likely will pass judgment on the Lockheed Martin C-5A Galaxy heavy airlifter by October, Air Force officials told The DAILY. An eight-member Air Force Fleet Viability Board (AFFVB), championed by Secretary James Roche, should be launched by late May or early June, according to Richard Mutzman, chief engineer for the Aging Aircraft System Program Office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
L-3 Communications' Electron Devices division will continue to supply traveling wave tubes for Raytheon's AIM-20 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) under a $6.9 million contract, the company said May 1. The money is the first release under a new six-year contract that could have L-3 delivering more than 3,000 tubes through 2008, said the company.
CARLISLE BARRACKS, Pa. - U.S. Army wargamers are planning for a theoretical threat in 2015 from an enemy with access to commercial space resources and off-the-shelf guidance systems for long-range missiles. Although the scenario staged April 27 to May 2 here during the Unified Quest 03 wargame is fictional, Army planners consider the threat inevitable as space-based communications and imagery grows more accessible. Adjusted tactics
The Pentagon's proposal to stop preparing Selected Acquisition Reports (SARs) came under criticism May 1 from members of the House Armed Services Committee, who said lawmakers need the quarterly reports to keep track of major weapon system programs.
NEW DELHI - The Indian government has decided to install new engines in the MiG-27s that are being upgraded by the state-owned aircraft builder Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). The MiG-27s' R-29 engines will be replaced with AL-31s, the same engines that power the new Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters India is building under license, a defense ministry official said.
NEW DELHI - Indian defense ministry officials say progress has been made in negotiations between India, Israel and Russia over India's plan to install Israeli-built Phalcon radars on Russian-built Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft. India plans to mount the radars on the IL-76s to serve as airborne early warning systems.
Five senators have asked the General Accounting Office to study whether the National Guard and Reserve need more equipment to handle their increased workload. In a recent letter to the GAO, the lawmakers noted that the Guard and Reserve are being used with greater frequency and longer durations than anticipated. Hundreds of thousands of Guardsmen and Reservists have been called up to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and the global war against terrorism for periods that could last up to two years.
OUTSOURCING: Northrop Grumman Corp. will provide outsourced information technology support for Vought Aircraft Industries under a three-year, $120 million contract, the company said May 1. Options could boost the contract's value to more than $200 million, Northrop Grumman said. Under the contract, Northrop Grumman will provide support services including network engineering, CPU operations support and support for technical applications servers and workstations, among others.
AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION, Washington, D.C. Remy Nathan has been appointed director of international affairs. Michael Romanowski has been appointed assistant vice president, civil aviation. ANTEON INTERNATIONAL, Fairfax, Va. Charles S. Ream will become chief financial officer, succeeding Carlton Crenshaw, who will retire in May. BAE SYSTEMS NORTH AMERICA, Nashua, N.H.
TEAM MEMBER: L-3 Communications has joined the Lockheed Martin team competing for the U.S. Army's Aerial Common Sensor program, the company said May 1. A team led by Northrop Grumman also is competing for the ACS, intended to replace the Guardrail and Airborne Reconnaissance Low systems. Both teams were awarded 15-month component advanced development contracts last year.
