NEW DELHI - Russian officials have assured India that the planned upgrading of the Indian Navy's Ilyushin IL-38 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft will begin in the next two months. Work on configuring the first of three IL-38s to the IL-38-SD configuration should be completed within six months, said an Indian navy official. Work on the two remaining IL-38s should be finished by next year.
NEW DELHI - India and Pakistan conducted tests of short-range missiles on March 26. India's Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) conducted the first test of a multifunctional warhead on a mobile surface-to-air Prithvi missile, which was followed the same day by a Pakistani test-launch of its nuclear-capable Abdali short-range missile.
The 100 contractors that received the largest dollar value of NASA direct awards to business firms during fiscal year 2002 are listed below. The awards to these contractors accounted for 88 percent of the direct awards to business firms during the year, according to NASA.
The Russian-American Observation Satellite (RAMOS) program is nearing a preliminary design review (PDR), but funding shortfalls and barriers to international travel could impede the program's progress, according to an industry source.
RAPTOR DAB: The Defense Acquisition Board met March 27 to consider Lot 3 production of the F/A-22 Raptor. The meeting follows recent General Accounting Office reports that say the program's cost is rising and DOD should scale back its acquisition plans (DAILY, March 13, 18). Results of the DAB meeting have not been released.
ICAP ASSESSED: The U.S. Navy has completed the operational assessment series of test flights of Northrop Grumman's Increased Capability (ICAP) III electronic attack weapon system one month ahead of schedule, the company said March 27. Successful completion of that assessment is a critical step leading to low-rate initial production of ICAP III. That decision is expected this spring, Northrop Grumman said. A team led by Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector developed the system for the EA-6B Prowler and the EA-18.
Demonstrations show that an autonomous unmanned aircraft flown from the ground could be integrated into controlled airspace with manned aircraft, Boeing said March 26. The demonstrations, carried out under the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) program, used a T-33 trainer modified as a UCAV surrogate aircraft, according to the company.
Southwest Research Institute of San Antonio will conduct foam impact testing on space shuttle components, including heat-resistant tiles and the reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) wing edge, as part of the investigation into the loss of the shuttle Columbia.
The services and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) must deliver a plan for the proposed joint Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) program office to the Office of the Secretary of Defense by mid-April that would establish the office by the end of the year.
The war with Iraq is not likely to be a windfall for defense contractors, according to several credit and financial analysts covering the aerospace and defense industry. "Defense contractors will likely see very limited benefit from either a short or longer war scenario," senior aerospace and defense analyst Christopher Mecray of Deutsche Bank said in a March 26 report. One reason, Mecray said, is that the U.S. military already has stockpiled substantial amounts of expendable weapons, including bombs, missiles and other munitions.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper said March 26 that he wants to re-evaluate the military's airlift needs in light of its high operational tempo over the past year and a half. The Mobility Requirements Study-2005 (MRS-05), released in early 2001, raised the minimum airlift requirement from 49.7 million ton miles per day (MTM/D) to 54.5 MTM/D (DAILY, Jan. 26, 2001). But the study was completed before the U.S. became engaged in a global war on terrorism that has greatly increased demands for moving troops and cargo.
The U.S. State Department has approved the first implementation agreement submitted under a fledgling export control reform called the Global Project Authorization (GPA), a key victory for the international component of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. State Department and program officials touted the fact that the approval came March 24, a day before a required five-day review period closed, but the move caps a reform process that began three years ago.
NASA, Washington, D.C. Patricia L. Dunnington has been named chief information officer. NOAA, Washington, D.C. Mary M. Glackin has been named assistant administrator of NOAA program planning and integration. NORTHROP GRUMMAN, Los Angeles Albert F. Myers has been elected corporate vice president for strategy and technology. James L. Sanford will succeed Myers as corporate vice president and treasurer. NCI INFORMATION, McLean, Va.
The U.S. military is using more than 10 types of unmanned aerial vehicles to support operations in Iraq, more than three times the number used in Afghanistan, a defense official said March 26.
More analysis will have to be done before the International Space Station can be configured to support more than three crewmembers, according to a senior NASA engineer. Expanding the station's crew is a goal of many in Congress and in the science community. One problem, said Jeffrey Arend, program manager for ISS integration and analysis at the Johnson Space Center, is that additional crewmembers will require additional systems on the spacecraft.
The U.S. Air Force plans to hold an industry day at Langley Air Force Base, Va., on April 10 to distribute the latest draft concept of operations (CONOPS) for its proposed Command and Control Constellation (C2C) and solicit input from industry.
In a sharply critical report, U.S. Defense Department inspectors found record-keeping errors that amounted to nearly one-third of the total value of supplies and spare parts at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC), Ga. The Pentagon's Inspector General (IG) estimates in a new report that $30.2 million worth of materiel at the maintenance center either is lost or hasn't been counted. The center keeps about $93.1 million of supplies on hand to repair Air Force aircraft, including F-15s and C-5s.
UAV WORK: DRS Technologies will produce Neptune maritime UAV systems for the U.S. Navy under new orders worth $5 million, the company said March 26. The five-foot-long Neptunes can be launched from small surface vessels or from land and are intended to assist tactical military operations and civil applications where runways aren't available, the company said.
GOODRICH CORP. will supply spoiler assemblies for the Boeing Co.'s next-generation family of 737 aircraft. Spoilers are hinged plates located on the upper surface of an airplane wing, which can be raised to reduce lift and increase drag to slow and stabilize an aircraft for landing.
NEW DELHI - A report from parliament has criticized aircraft builder Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) for its failure to put the Pilotless Target Aircraft (PTA) into regular production. The March 25 report from parliament's Public Accounts Committee said the problem "causes serious misgivings about the expertise of HAL in fructifying vital defense projects within a reasonable timeframe."
The Bush Administration's fiscal 2003 supplemental appropriations request contains $3.7 billion for munitions, $1.1 billion for military procurement and research and development, and $1.7 billion for classified defense programs, according to documents sent to Congress March 25.
