Northrop Grumman's newly released design for an operational Naval Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV-N) probably also could fulfill the Air Force's UCAV requirements as they stand today, according to a company official. Kenny Linn, director of business and strategy development for the air combat systems unit of Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, unveiled the company's design for an operational UCAV-N at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition in Washington April 15.
The Coast Guard hopes to tweak the design of its proposed National Security Cutter (NSC) to increase integration with the aviation assets of one of its sister agencies in the new Department of Homeland Security, an industry official said April 15. The changes mainly would entail expanding the flight deck landing area on the NSC to accommodate the Customs Service's SH-60S helicopters, said Doug Lounsberry, a vice president at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, which recently won contracts to design and produce long-lead items for the first NSC (DAILY, April 3).
NEW DELHI - Even as the Indian government is trying to procure advanced jet trainers (AJTs) elsewhere for the Indian air force, state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) has proposed designing and developing a homegrown AJT.
PROPULSION WORK: Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices of Torrance, Calif., will develop advanced xenon ion propulsion technologies under three contracts from NASA's In-Space Propulsion Technologies program, the company said. Boeing will work on the Carbon-Based Ion Optics project, the NASA Evolutionary Xenon Thruster System and the High Power Electric Propulsion project. The goal of the propulsion program is to develop technologies for use beyond Earth's orbit.
PRAGUE - The Czech defense minister may urge his government to abandon plans to bring arms producer ZVI Vsetin into state hands, as questions remain over the completion of its 20mm Plamen air cannon project. The Czech cabinet decided last December to nationalize ZVI Vsetin after the company's owners, the Trustfin group, ran into serious financial difficulties. It is temporarily in the hands of the state bailout agency, CKA.
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.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - While some forces are pulling back from the Iraqi theater of operations, Air Force Space Command personnel are not, an AFSPC spokesman said. "There's been no official word that we know of in terms of pulling people back," Mike Kurcharek said April 15. "Until we get the word, we're there." The command, based at Peterson Air Force Base here, has about 1,100 people deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom and other operations around the world, Kucharek said.
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.
NEW DELHI - Canada could participate in India's planned lunar program, according to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed recently in Bangalore. The MOU was signed by Marc Garneau, president of the Canadian Space Agency, and Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). An Indian space ministry official said the MOU would make Canada the first country to partner with India in its space program.
Two of three industry teams competing for the contract to design the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) have proposed surface-effect ship designs, company officials said April 14. A third team has chosen an advanced semi-planing mono-hull form based on the design of a 1,000-ton ship that won the transatlantic speed record in 1992. The semi-planing hull form was chosen after studies were conducted on more than one dozen hull forms, said Carol Hulgus, vice president of programs for Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems.
PRAGUE - The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence is disputing a Czech newspaper report that it is negotiating the possible sale or lease of used Tornado F-3 fighters to the Czech Republic. The daily Pravo claimed April 15 that Britain could supply up to 14 Tornado aircraft by 2006 under a Czech-U.K. inter-governmental agreement.
SATELLITE SHIPPED: Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., has shipped the OrbView-3 imaging satellite to its launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., the company said April 15. The satellite will be integrated and mated with the company's Pegasus launch vehicle upon arrival at Vandenberg. OrbView-3 is scheduled to be launched in about 45 days, Orbital said. The satellite was built for Orbital Imaging Corp. (ORBIMAGE) and will provide imagery for commercial, environmental and government customers.
In the build-up for the war in Iraq, the Office of Naval Research used a new quick response procedure to answer urgent warfighting needs, a senior Navy official said April 15. Rear Adm. Jay M. Cohen, chief of naval research, described three technologies, including two unmanned aerial vehicles and a cruise missile, that were certified within weeks of being requested and shipped to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
A board investigating the loss of the shuttle Columbia now believes that the section of the shuttle's left wing hit by foam debris during launch is a few inches farther out than previously thought. "New analysis has moved the possible strike zone outboard a bit, from [panels] five, six, seven to panels seven and eight," Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) member Scott Hubbard said in a briefing.
Lockheed Martin Corp. said April 14 that it has completed the latest hardware upgrades to the sonar systems used in Navy submarines. The upgrades, part of the Acoustic Rapid COTS Insertion (ARCI) program, involve the replacement of older Pentium processors used in a submarine's sonar system with 2.4-gigahertz Xeon processors made by Intel Corp. COTS is the acronym for commercial off-the-shelf systems.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) broke ground on the site of a new $61 million Satellite Operations Center in Suitland, Md., on April 11. Scheduled to open in 2005, the new building will house $50 million in equipment, including 15 antennas. The facility will control approximately $3 billion worth of satellites, including the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES).
AsiaSat 4 was launched successfully April 11 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., satellite maker Boeing said. The Boeing Satellite Systems 610HP spacecraft was launched by International Launch Services for the Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. of Hong Kong.
The Boeing Co. is hoping the U.S. Navy will help it develop the Harpoon 21, a next-generation variant of its original Harpoon surface-warfare missile. Boeing already has developed a Block II variant of the ship-launched Harpoon missile. The Block II has been sold to nine countries, but the Navy so far has opted to retain its older Block 1C variants, although it is testing the Block II.
AMRAAM WORK: Raytheon Co. has received a $95.8 million Lot 17 production award for the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM), the company said April 14. The work is part of a six-year procurement plan awarded last year by the U.S. Air Force. Lot 17 covers 206 AMRAAMs and related services through August 2005.
Congress has approved a fiscal 2003 supplemental appropriations bill that provides money for munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles and other equipment to support ongoing military operations.
In June, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is expected to award two or more contracts for its Tera Hertz Operational Reachback (THOR) program, which seeks to deliver broadband communications to the battlefield by way of optical (laser) links.
MOSCOW - On April 14, an RSC Energia chief designers' council meeting approved plans for Russia's support of the International Space Station (ISS) this year, which include the launch of a Soyuz TMA-2 carrying a two-person crew to the station later this month. Plans for the rest of the year include launching one Progress M cargo spacecraft, two Progress M1 cargo craft modified to carry extra fuel, and another manned Soyuz later in the year.
AMARILLO, Texas - A CV-22 aircraft now in storage may be pressed into the U.S. Air Force's flight test program by next summer, Bell-Boeing officials said here April 14. The V-22 program office is considering accelerating the Air Force special operations variant into production. Adding a third vehicle to the flight-testing program at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., may be required to accelerate the program, said Sean Bond, Bell-Boeing's program director.
NEW DELHI - The Indian air force has allocated an additional $50 million to upgrade 11 MiG-21 aircraft at India's Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) facility in Bangalore. A defense ministry official said the allocation has been added to the budget for the current fiscal year, which began April 1 and will end March 31, 2004. India is upgrading 125 MiG-21s at a total cost of $626 million. The total cost of each upgraded aircraft would be around $4.5 million, including design and development, new systems, maintenance and ground support.
