MOSCOW - A Russian Proton vehicle launched a military satellite, Cosmos 2397, to geostationary orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on April 24. The Lavochkin NPO-built satellite is intended to help replenish the country's early warning constellation. The Cosmos 2397 is a Prognoz-2 type and will be part of the Oko constellation, which also includes smaller Prognoz satellites.
The U.S. Army believes it may be on the verge of deploying a system that would reduce substantially the logistical difficulties and dangers of getting equipment and supplies to troops in the field, according to a senior Army official. The system, called Precision and Extended Glide Airdrop System (PEGASYS), is a Global Positioning System-guided parafoil that can be dropped from high altitudes and steered to precise locations on the battlefield at specified times.
A coming debate about the how the U.S. should proceed in the field of offensive warfare will contrast projected capabilities of satellites with the capabilities of tactical aircraft, and pit Strategic Command against the Air Force, one analyst said. Discussion of weapons in space, such as lasers to strike ground targets, will presage a serious look at the future of the tactical aircraft fleet, according to Robbin Laird of International Communications and Strategic Assessments (ICSA), Arlington, Va.
Although Congress has given NASA funds to begin developing the Orbital Space Plane (OSP) and next-generation nuclear power and propulsion systems, many lawmakers still have major concerns they want addressed before they will support those programs for the long term, according to a key congressional aide. The fiscal 2003 NASA appropriations act provides more than $100 million for the nuclear program, which recently has been renamed Project Prometheus and is designed to support interplanetary spacecraft (DAILY, Feb. 14).
A long-awaited plan for restructuring the 1.3 million-strong U.S. reserve force should be delivered by next fall for implementation in fiscal 2005, Thomas F. Hall, assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs, said April 24. "I've met with [Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld] and he's not anxious to prolong this process," Hall said, briefing reporters at a Defense Writer's Group breakfast. "We've been given some stringent guidelines ... to make a proposal" within a year.
CACI BUY: IT and networking company CACI International said April 24 it plans to acquire Premier Technology Group (PTG), which provides intelligence analysis, information services and other support to the Defense Department and intelligence community. The deal is expected to close in May, CACI said.
First-quarter net income for Orbital Sciences Corp. jumped 42 percent, largely due to increased missile defense-related work, company officials said April 24. Net income for the quarter rose from a loss of $11.4 million a year ago to a net gain of $3.4 million, despite a $1 million settlement with Orbital Imaging Corp. (Orbimage) and a $1.5 million operating loss posted by the company's Electronic Systems business.
AMC-9 LAUNCH: International Launch Service (ILS) is scheduled to launch the AMC-9 satellite for SES Americom on April 28 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, ILS said April 24. The satellite is intended to expand the company's telecommunications services in North America.
A proposal by the Department of the Navy (DoN) to more fully integrate Navy and Marine Corps fighter aircraft raises several issues that Congress may want to consider, according to a new report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
PATUXENT RIVER, Md. - After achieving the world's first computer-controlled extremely short takeoff and landing (ESTOL) maneuver on a runway April 22, the X-31A experimental test flight program is drawing to a close at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. During an ESTOL landing, the aircraft approaches the runway at relatively slow speeds and at a high angle of attack (AOA), with its nose pointed upward. It then executes a highly precise, computer-controlled derotation maneuver two feet above the runway to come in for a safe landing.
L-3 Communications Corp., a major contractor to the U.S. Department of Defense and intelligence agencies, has reported first quarter results it said showed "strong growth in sales, operating income, diluted earnings per share and free cash flow compared to the 2002 first quarter."
President Bush has signed legislation creating a memorial to the astronauts lost in the Space Shuttle Columbia accident, NASA said this week. The Columbia Orbiter Memorial Act, which was part of the fiscal 2003 budget supplemental signed last week, calls for a memorial to be placed in Arlington National Cemetery near the memorial to the crew of the shuttle Challenger.
The Boeing Co. on April 23 reported a net loss of $478 million for the first quarter of 2003 on revenues of about $12.3 billion. The loss included an after-tax charge of $818 million, mostly for the loss of value in companies and assets acquired by Boeing, (DAILY, April 14), and $159 million to strengthen the reserves of Boeing Capital Corp., the company's financing arm for commercial aircraft buyers. The first-quarter 2003 net loss follows a net loss of $1.25 billion a year ago on revenues of $13.8 billion.
NASA's manager of the space shuttle program said he will leave his post once the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) finishes its investigation and a "return to flight" path for the shuttle fleet has been established. Ronald D. Dittemore, who has held the post for four years, said he had decided to leave before the loss of the Columbia on Feb. 1, but decided to stay on after that. Dittemore became a regular feature of NASA briefings in the wake of the shuttle disaster, before the CAIB was named and began its investigation.
The American Physical Society (APS) is nearing completion of a study on the technical feasibility of developing systems to shoot down ballistic missiles in their boost phase of flight.
Northrop Grumman Corp. and teammate Schweizer Aircraft Corp. have flight-tested a new four-bladed rotor for the Navy's RQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned helicopter. The test was conducted April 18 on a manned Fire Scout prototype at Schweizer's Elmira, N.Y., facility, Northrop Grumman said April 23. Ground, hover, taxi and flight evaluations were conducted.
NEW DELHI - A select committee of the Indian parliament has criticized the Indian Ministry of Defence for not completing the purchase of an advanced jet trainer (AJT) for the Indian air force. The latest report from the select committee on defense says that "even after a lapse of nearly 20 years since the air force set about to acquire an AJT," the government still hasn't done it.
F-2 CONTRACT: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics will build components for eight additional F-2 fighters under a $160 million contract from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), the company said April 23. The company already is producing components for Japan's first 57 F-2s.
ALCATEL, Paris Aurelie Boutin has been appointed director, press relations. ALLIED DEFENSE GROUP, Vienna, Va. Monte L. Pickens has been named chief operating officer. ANALEX, Alexandria, Va. C.W. Gilluly, John Sanders and Gerald Young are retiring from the board of directors. Lt. Gen. Lincoln D. Faurer (USAF, ret.), Alan L. Kaplan and Daniel R. Young have been nominated to fill the positions. ATLAS AIR WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS, Purchase, N.Y. Ron Lane has been named chief marketing officer.
BAE Systems will supply explosives to the U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command under a contract worth up to $141 million, the company said April 23. BAE Systems Ordnance Systems, which operates the Holston Army Ammunition Plant, will manufacture the explosives for integration into a variety of weapon systems, the company said. The work is expected to be completed by September 2007.
Raytheon Co. announced April 23 that its chairman and CEO, Daniel Burnham, will step down on July 1. Company president William Swanson will take his place. The announcement came a day after Raytheon released its first quarter 2003 earnings. Although the company's defense businesses performed well, those gains were offset by further losses posted by the company's Raytheon Aircraft (RAC) unit. First-quarter revenues for RAC declined 7 percent compared with the same period a year ago, primarily due to lower aircraft deliveries.
Several defense analysts who favor deep cuts in the U.S. defense budget say the quick and decisive victory against Iraq's numerically superior army bolsters their case for slashing weapons spending and force sizes. Even supporters of the Pentagon's long-term spending plan concede that military budgets will face intense pressure by the end of the decade, thanks to a projected surge in entitlement spending and rising federal deficits.
Lockheed Martin Corp. reported net sales of $7.1 billion for the first quarter of 2003, an 18 percent increase over last year partly due to the company's work on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and F/A-22 Raptor programs. The company's aeronautics sector reported a net sales increase of 57 percent over the first quarter of 2002, "primarily driven by greater volume on the [JSF] and F/A-22 programs, as well as increased development and support activities on international F-16 programs," the company said.
