Credit analysts with Standard & Poor's raised a key credit rating for Orbital Sciences Corp. as a result of the company's settlement with its bankrupt subsidiary, Orbital Imaging Corp. (Orbimage). Under the settlement, Orbital will pay Orbimage $2.5 million following the launch of the OrbView-3 satellite. Orbital has agreed to pay additional penalties totaling up to $5 million if the satellite is not launched by April 30 or checked out by August 1.
LONDON - Continuing its emphasis on combined industry and academic basic military research, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MOD) has awarded a new contract to the U.K.-based Aerosystems International (AeI), to establish the Defence Technology Center (DTC) for Human Factors Integration (HFI).
ITT Industries said it will upgrade 12 Boeing Global Positioning System Block IIF satellites under a contract worth up to $31 million. In an April 17 announcement, which had been expected (DAILY, April 10), ITT said the contract calls for the addition of two new transmitters and associated power amplifiers, modulators and converters to create a flexible power system that can be used to overcome jamming.
A 30-month demonstration of autonomous attack systems will include a step toward achieving for the U.S. Air Force's ultimate goal of integrating data links on most precision munitions, Lockheed Martin officials say. A request for proposals for the newly renamed Autonomous Wide Area Search Munition (AWASM) program was to be released April 15, but industry officials still are waiting to see the document.
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) is recommending that NASA develop and implement a comprehensive inspection plan to determine the integrity of all reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) system components on the space shuttle before the fleet is allowed to return to flight. The new plan, which should take advantage of "advanced non-destructive inspection technology," is needed because existing inspection techniques are insufficient to assess the integrity of the RCC panels, supporting structure, and attaching hardware, according to the CAIB.
The forward air base (FAB) in Tallil, Iraq, will be one of at least two long-term air hubs for U.S. and allied air crews operating in northern and southern Iraq, an Air Force official said April 17. The Tallil base is one of several captured air fields that have been converted into operating bases for air combat crews, search and rescue teams, logisticians and humanitarian relief workers.
Vice Adm. Joseph Dyer, head of Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), believes the U.S. Navy should selectively pay industry contractors more money to reward outstanding performance and increase profits. With 83 percent of the Navy's spending going to industry, many in the operational Navy "think that our contractors are rolling in cash and incredibly wealthy," Dyer said, speaking at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space expo in Washington April 17.
The Boeing Co. may decide to enter the competition for the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) after the program's design contract has been awarded, a senior Boeing official said April 17. The reason, according to John Lockard, senior vice president of Boeing Naval Systems, is that Boeing could best serve the Navy by overseeing the systems integration of the entire ship. "We were working with one of the competitors up until a few weeks ago," Lockard said in an April 17 interview at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition in Washington.
AEROSONIC, Clearwater, Fla. Charles M. Foster Jr., retired from Teledyne Technologies, has been elected to the board of directors. He also will serve on the company's audit committee. ATHENA TECHNOLOGIES, Manassas, Va. James W. Blanchard has been appointed president and CEO. BAE SYSTEMS NORTH AMERICA, Rockville, Md.
The U.S. Air Force plans to sign a $3.5 billion contract with Lockheed Martin to buy 20 F/A-22 Raptors and award $630 million to Pratt & Whitney for 40 F-119 engines, the service announced April 16. Both contracts are included in the Lot 3 production cycle and were approved March 27 by the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB).
The U.S. Air Force is weighing the fate of the Space Surveillance System, with options under consideration ranging from termination to modernization, a service spokesman said April 16. The Air Force is studying whether the ground-based system, also known as the Space Fence, duplicates other systems and deserves to be canceled or whether it provides unique capabilities that should be continued and even upgraded, the spokesman told The DAILY. The review could be completed in about a month.
The program to build the LPD-17 amphibious assault ship is back on schedule and the first ship will delivered for less than the Navy's latest estimated cost, senior officials with Northrop Grumman Ship Systems sector said April 16. "The program is under control," Ship Systems President Philip Dur told defense reporters at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition in Washington.
Flight tests continue on the Marine Corps' H-1 helicopter upgrade program as program officials prepare for a Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting in August that will decide whether to proceed with low-rate initial production. It will be the first DAB meeting for the program since it was certified by Pentagon acquisition chief E.C. "Pete" Aldridge Jr. last May, after significant cost growth put the program in violation of the Nunn-McCurdy Act (DAILY, May 3, 2002).
The Pentagon plans to ask Congress to reprogram tens of millions of dollars so the V-22 Osprey's joint program office can convert one of its Bell-Boeing aircraft from the Marine Corps MV-22 configuration to the Air Force special operations variant, the CV-22, a program official said April 16.
The Navy's DD(X) next-generation destroyer program is on schedule to meet its program milestones despite being held up for nearly four months, senior officials with Northrop Grumman's Ship Systems sector said April 16. The delay was the result of a protest filed by Bath Iron Works and its partner, Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems, contesting the $2.9 billion DD(X) contract award to Northrop Grumman and its partner Raytheon (DAILY, May 10, 2002). The General Accounting Office overruled the objection in August 2002.
BALL AEROSPACE & TECHNOLOGIES CORP. of Boulder, Colo., has been selected to build the spacecraft and conduct mission operations for NASA's Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) program, a super-cooled infrared telescope designed to create a full-sky, infrared map. Ball Aerospace's spacecraft will be based on its RS300 bus, part of a family of small, low-cost remote sensing spacecraft buses, the company said. WISE is intended to help the James Webb Space Telescope identify which objects to observe after it is launched in 2010.
Northrop Grumman last month conducted the first flight of its RQ-8A Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (VTUAV) in which the aircraft was fully operated from the Marine Corps' S-788, a Humvee-mounted ground control station (GCS), the company said April 16.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The challenges of replacing the U.S. Air Force's aging space infrastructure may prompt the service to stick with upgrades, at least for the time being, according to one analyst.
NEW DELHI - France's Alcatel is negotiating with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to set up a satellite-based navigation system. An Indian space ministry official said Alacatel and ISRO are discussing collaborating on the $100 million Gagan project, which would be linked to the Global Positioning System, Russia's Glonass system and Europe's Galileo (DAILY, Dec. 5, 2002).
SUPPLEMENTAL SIGNED: President Bush signed the fiscal 2003 supplemental appropriations bill into law on April 16, providing $62 billion for the military for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terrorism. Meanwhile, in a speech at Boeing F/A-18 facilities in St. Louis, Bush praised the aircraft's performance in the war with Iraq. "We've applied the new powers of technology - like the F-18s - to strike an enemy force with speed and incredible precision," Bush said.
The role of the $5.7 billion Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) program is growing to become a vital routing system on the networked battlefield, and the Pentagon is close to naming Internet Transfer Protocol (ITP) 6 as the new military standard, a senior U.S. Defense Department official said April 16.
The Pentagon is expected to decide in late May or early June whether to begin low-rate production of Northrop Grumman's Increased Capability-III (ICAP-III) upgrade for the Navy and Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, according to Northrop Grumman officials.
NAME CHANGE: FlightSafety Boeing Training International began operation under its new name, Alteon, on April 14, according to company owner Boeing. The flight and maintenance training company had operated as a joint venture of Boeing and FlightSafety International since 1997, but Boeing acquired the entire company in October 2002.
