The level of support for electronic warfare (EW) systems within the Department of Defense (DOD) is insufficient, according to Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-Pa.), founder and co-chair of the Congressional Electronic Warfare Working Group. "Unfortunately, electronic warfare seems to be the stepchild of the military," Pitts said during the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement's (IDGA) Aircraft Survivability conference in Alexandria, Va., April 29.
The U.S. Air Force expects industry to respond by May 7 to a request for information on the Global Positioning System (GPS) III program that was issued on April 24. The action, which follows an April 17 meeting at the Pentagon of high-ranking Air Force officials (DAILY, April 21), would lead to a request for proposals in June, the Space and Missile Systems Center said in an April 28 response to reporters' questions.
The Defense Department wants to give the Missile Defense Agency greater leeway in how it spends its money, but legislation to do that is meeting resistance from some lawmakers and groups critical of the Bush Administration's missile defense approach.
NEW DELHI - India's military research agency, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), tested on April 29 an advanced version of its nuclear-capable Prithvi surface-to-surface missile. "Today's test was basically to test the new guidance system in the Prithvi-2 missile", said an official of the Indian Ministry of Defence (MOD). In March 2003, DRDO tested a Prithvi-2 with an advanced warhead.
The Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. have received additional contracts from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for work on their Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) prototypes. The contracts call for work on "a more common set" of objectives for the military services. They also respond to demands from recent conflicts for greater persistence over a battlefield, and mark the beginning of Phase IIB of the Naval UCAV effort, which envisions operations from aircraft carriers.
NIMA HONOR: The National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) has recognized Space Imaging of Denver, Colo., with an award for its work in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, the company announced April 28. NIMA presented the award at the 2003 Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS) luncheon held last month in Washington. Space Imaging owns Ikonos, the first 1-meter resolution commercial imagery satellite.
Moving the scheduled first launch date for the Global Positioning System (GPS) III up two years to fiscal year 2010 was one of the options discussed at a recent meeting of top Air Force officials, although no firm decision to accelerate the program has been made yet, according to the Air Force.
International Launch Services (ILS) postponed the launch of SES Americom's AMC-9 satellite due to a hardware problem with the Proton K launch vehicle that has required the entire rocket to be de-stacked. The launch had been scheduled for scheduled for April 26. During pre-launch verification activities at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, technicians identified a launch vehicle component anomaly requiring a fix that couldn't be performed on the launch pad.
NASA's launch of its Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) spacecraft was successful, the agency said April 29. The spacecraft was launched April 28 from a Pegasus XL rocket at approximately 8:00 a.m. EDT, approximately 11 minutes after the Pegasus was released from its L-1011 host aircraft flying off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Fla.
NEW DELHI - India and France have begun talks on a French offer to provide the Mirage 2000-5 fighter aircraft. "Talks on licensed production of Mirage 2000-5 aircraft is on top of the agenda during the French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie visit to India beginning April 28," said an official of the Indian Ministry of Defense.
The U.S. Defense Department is moving to simplify management of a $1.4 billion annual investment in chemical and biological defense resources. A Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD) is being created to manage centrally all related procurement and research programs.
In response to a request from the Marine Corps, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) and the UH-1N Huey engineering test team at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., have rushed a new forward-looking infrared (FLIR) system into operations in Iraq, NAVAIR announced April 28.
NEW DELHI - The Indian air force has demanded that Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) correct serious problems with the Adour engines that power the service's Jaguar fighter aircraft. A senior air force official said a number of Jaguars have been grounded, in part because of problems with the reheat fuel control units, which have caused extensive damage to the engines. The Jaguar fleet, which is overhauled and upgraded by the state-owned HAL, is equipped with Adour MK-811 and MK-804 engines.
The Bell Boeing CV-22 Osprey program has cleared a program milestone, performing the first exercise for the aircraft's critical terrain-following radar system, according to the U.S. Air Force. The event marks the latest in a recent flurry of flight tests aimed at proving the V-22's value to the Pentagon's top acquisition officer before he decides the program's fate. A meeting is scheduled May 20 between Marine Corps and Air Force V-22 officials and E.C. "Pete" Aldridge, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
The head of the Missile Defense Agency has approved a plan that would make it easier to enlarge the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system in Alaska if the Defense Department decided to pursue such an expansion, an agency spokesman said April 28.
NEW DELHI - India has successfully flight-tested a Lakshya Pilotless Target Aircraft (PTA) with a new engine, an Indian defense ministry official said. The aircraft was tested April 28 at the integrated test range at Chandipur in the eastern Indian state of Orissa. Lakshya was inducted into the Indian air force (IAF) in 2000. The version just tested has a new engine developed by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
The U.S. Marine Corps wants an electromagnetic gun for its new family of Marine Expeditionary Family of Fighting Vehicles (MEFFVs), the MEFFV program manager said April 28. Development of the gun will draw upon the Army's research into electromagnetic guns, said Col. Dennis Beal. Beal said the Marine Corps looked at a variety of options before choosing to pursue an electromagnetic gun. Those options included developing a directed energy weapon, using a conventional gun and developing an electro-thermal chemical gun.
EAGLE VISION: Veridian Corp. said April 28 the Air Force had awarded it a contract worth up to $37.7 million to develop satellite image processing systems for the Air Force's Eagle Vision program. The program provides a platform to downlink and process commercial satellite imagery into "geocoded" electronic images for use by Air Force mission planners and intelligence analysts.
RIDLEY PARK, Pa. - Boeing and Sikorsky dedicated a new production facility for the companies' RAH-66 Comanche reconnaissance/attack helicopter on April 25 here, where workers already are building the aft section for the first engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) aircraft.
RED HERRING: FAA regulations concerning the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the national airspace are a "red herring" and aren't holding back commercial development, according to Aurora Flight Sciences Corp. President John Langford. "If you removed all restrictions tonight, you wouldn't see these things flying around tomorrow," Langford says. "It's not the FAA that's holding back the development of UAVs." The problem is one of simple economics, he says.
President Bush plans to appoint James Albaugh, president and chief executive officer of Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems segment, to the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), the White House announced April 24. NSTAC, which is chaired by Vance Coffman, chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp., advises the president on national security and emergency preparedness communications policy.
A Defense Information System Agency acquisition program running nearly four years behind schedule points to the hazards of using outdated contracting methods for high-risk technologies, Pentagon auditors say. The Defense Information System Agency (DISA) now plans to field a $34 million deployment planning software tool called the Joint Operation Planning and Execution System 21 (JOPES 21) in March 2004, 46 months after it originally was to be delivered.
