Standard & Poor's upgraded the ratings outlook for Hughes Electronics Corp. late April 9 and said it may upgrade the company's credit ratings after the sale of a large stake in the company to News Corp. is completed. The ratings outlook for the satellite services provider was revised from CreditWatch "developing" to CreditWatch "positive." The upgrade follows an agreement reached earlier the same day between General Motors Corp., Hughes' parent company, and News Corp. Ltd., of Australia, owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
MINE DETECTION: Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems will develop and demonstrate the U.S. Army's Airborne Standoff Mine Detection System (ASTAMIDS) under a four-year, $41.8 million contract, the company said April 10. The system is intended to use a variety of sensors to detect and locate mines and other obstacles on the battlefield.
The floating platform for the Missile Defense Agency's sea-based X-band radar (SBX) will be towed later this month from Norway to the U.S., sources said April 10. The platform, which resembles the kind used for oil drilling in the ocean, is being manufactured in Norway. In the U.S., it will be mated with its Raytheon-built radar, as well as several other elements, including its power plant, propulsion system and bridge unit, which will control the platform's movement.
Arianespace successfully launched a pair of communications satellites on the company's Ariane 5 heavy-lift rocket at 6:52 p.m. EDT April 9 from the company's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A major challenge in meeting the goal of fielding a ballistic missile defense system by Sept. 30, 2004, will be to ensure that fire control systems are able to react as quickly against tactical missiles as they are against strategic types, a Northrop Grumman official said April 10 at a conference here. But four other officials gave nearly as many other answers when asked to define the most significant obstacle to space-based contribution to missile defense.
FORT WORTH, Texas - The U.S. Army has rushed a handful of upgrades for the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter into the field in recent months, making the aircraft easier to deploy and extending its combat range by nearly an hour, according to industry and government officials.
MH90 TEAM: Lockheed Martin Canada has teamed with NHIndustries and Thales Systems Canada to pursue Canada's Maritime Helicopter Project, expected to be worth about $2.1 billion. The team will offer the MH90, a customized version of the NH90 maritime helicopter, in its bid to replace Canada's aging Sea Kings.
NEW DELHI - Ukraine has offered to upgrade 100 Antonov An-32 Russian-built transport aircraft used by the Indian air force. A senior defense ministry official said Ukraine has offered to upgrade the aircraft at a Kiev aircraft repair facility. That facility, plant 410, already has upgraded 49 other Indian An-32 transport aircraft. An air force official said that work was satisfactory, but he added that other international companies, especially from the West, should be involved in upgrading the aircrafts' avionics.
National spending priorities may keep the U.S. Coast Guard for meeting its spending goal of $500 million a year for the Integrated Deepwater Systems program, a senior Coast Guard official said April 10. "Clearly, our challenge will be the sustainment of funding," Rear Adm. Patrick Stillman, the program executive officer for the Deepwater program, said at a small business luncheon in Washington sponsored by the Heritage Foundation.
The Department of Defense's (DOD) new Transformation Planning Guidance document assigns roles and responsibilities within the department for promoting transformation, including deadlines for new roadmaps, while placing heavy emphasis on the development of joint warfighting concepts. Every two years the commander of Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) will submit to the secretary of defense a Joint Experimentation Campaign Plan, according to the document.
Two key Pentagon officials said April 9 that they are pleased so far with the Patriot system's performance in the war with Iraq. Air Force Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish, director of the Missile Defense Agency, told the Senate Appropriations Committee's defense panel that he "would characterize the overall performance as very encouraging" based on an analysis of preliminary data.
Planning for a Defense Department initiative to improve ground-surface systems that process intelligence data and ensure their interoperability "has been slow and incomplete," according to a new report from the General Accounting Office. DOD relies on reconnaissance aircraft, satellites and ground-surface stations that receive, analyze and disseminate data, but at times they are not interoperable for technical or operational reasons.
SPY-1F: Lockheed Martin successfully detected and tracked live air targets with the first production SPY-1F radar system, the company said April 9. The first application for the SPY-1F will be new frigates that the company and IZAR of Spain are developing for the Norwegian navy. The U.S. Navy's Aegis Weapon System includes Lockheed Martin's AN/SPY-1D(V) radar.
PRAGUE - A stalled project to build a $20 million aircraft maintenance hangar at Ostrava airport in the Czech Republic will restart in a few weeks, according to the British-registered company behind the construction.
Northrop Grumman is confident that its Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) program will survive the Missile Defense Agency's ongoing re-evaluation of its sensor requirements, according to the company's vice president for missile defense. According to MDA officials, the agency is rethinking all of its sensor needs, and debating what mix of ground- and space-based sensors will be required to provide layered, global missile defense.
Lockheed Martin will provide spare parts for the AAQ-13/14 Low-Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) system, the company said April 9. The work will be done under a $13.7 million contract from Warner Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, Ga. The contract will support U.S. Air Force requirements and Foreign Military Sales to Greece and Israel.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.- ITT Aerospace/Communications has won a contract from Boeing to modernize GPS Block IIF satellites, which company officials say further cements the unit's position as a leader in the field of satellite payloads, including navigation. The contract follows similar work the company is performing for Lockheed Martin on GPS Block IIR satellites.
The Army and Northrop Grumman conducted drop tests of the new Viper Strike precision munition from a Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle on March 29 and 30 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the company said April 9. Viper scored seven direct hits out of nine attempts on targets ranging from compact pickup trucks to multiple rocket and missile launchers to a countermeasured tank, according to Northrop Grumman. The company manufactures both the Viper and the Hunter.
BAE SYSTEMS NORTH AMERICA has formed a new operating sector that combines controls and avionics capabilities for military and commercial platforms, including ground vehicles, airplanes and spacecraft, the company said. The new Platform Solutions Sector, headquartered in Johnson City, N.Y., will include the existing BAE Systems Controls business and will operate the company's Avionics Systems Division. The new sector will develop and build electronic vehicle management systems, engine controls, cockpit and helmet displays and inertial systems.
JOINT VENTURE: Boeing and DynCorp Technical Services have created Aviation Technical Services, a jointly owned company to offer support services to the U.S. military, Boeing said April 9. The new company will be based in Fort Worth, Texas, and will compete for the Fort Rucker aviation maintenance contract for the U.S. Army and the T-45TS Contractor Logistics Support program for the U.S. Navy.
THE INSTITUTE FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, Fairmont, W.Va. Bradley C. Edwards has been named director of research. NORTHROP GRUMMAN ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS, Baltimore F. Suzanne Jenniches has been appointed vice president and general manager of the new Government Systems division. RADA ELECTRONIC INDUSTRIES, Netanya, Israel
