Both contractors sharing a $281 million Air Force contract to build Paveway II laser-guided bomb kits each say they are in good position to gain market share after the base year of the award. Raytheon received 62 percent of the base-year contract with a $173.7 million award, the company announced March 19. Another $106.6 million contract was awarded to Lockheed Martin, which entered the laser guided bomb market in force only four years ago.
SEAWOLF WORK: General Dynamics Electric Boat will continue research and development work for Seawolf-class submarines under a $17.2 million contract modification from the U.S. Navy, the company said March 19. Electric Boat will study design improvements, systems engineering integration and logistics and production engineering under the modification to a March 2000 contract.
The Navy may need to continue producing precision-guided munitions (PGMs) at peak levels even after a war with Iraq, according to Adm. William Fallon, vice chief of naval operations.
MOSCOW - Rosaviakosmos, the Russian aviation and space agency, has selected a team headed by Sukhoi Civilian Aircraft to provide regional mid-range aircraft. The program calls for development of an aircraft with at least 70 seats and a range of about 2,200 miles. The aircraft is intended to replace about 200 Tupolev Tu-134s, most of which have been operated for nearly two decades.
LONDON - Britain's military contribution to possible operations in Iraq is the largest deployed to the Middle East since the 1956 Suez campaign, and significantly larger than in the 1991 Gulf war. The 100 or so British fixed-wing aircraft now in the area represent a major part of overall United Kingdom air power resources, with equally strong support from U.K.-based air transport and logistic support elements.
An early design review revealing a significant potential weight increase for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has become the first major development test in the 16-month-old, $19 billion design phase of the program. The weight increase was discovered during system checks leading to the program's first broad internal evaluation, the Preliminary Design Review (PDR), scheduled for March 24-28.
NEW DELHI - The Indian Ministry of Defence said defense purchases have slowed due to stricter conditions imposed by the Central Vigilance Commission in the wake of a 2001 scandal in which senior defense officials were accused of taking bribes. George Fernandes, the defense minister, said March 17 that as an example, the renewed bidding for India's $1.5 billion advanced jet trainer (AJT) program will postpone acquisition of those aircraft by at least a year.
The V-22 Osprey has resumed flight testing after being grounded for 10 days to remove 20 potentially defective hydraulic tubes inside critical engine nacelles. The full extent of the faulty parts problem - and its solution - continue to be investigated. Aircraft No. 21, with test pilots Bill Leonard and Maj. Shawn Healy, performed a 20-minute flight test, a shakedown of the aircraft's JASS 2.6.1.1 software drop, V-22 spokesman Ward Carroll said in an interview March 18.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A higher national terror alert level has prompted increased activity on the part of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) but the activities can't be described because this could be helpful to enemies, a NORAD spokesman said March 18. The Department of Homeland Security raised the alert level from "elevated" to "high" on the evening of March 17, just after President Bush gave Saddam Hussein and his sons 48 hours to leave Iraq. "High" is the second-highest level of alert on a five-level scale.
PRAGUE - Czech and Russian experts are assessing the condition of three new Mi-24V combat helicopters delivered to the Czech Republic by Russia, after Czech officials found a series of defects. The helicopters were delivered by transport aircraft to Prerov air force base in south Moravia at the end of January as partial payment of a Russian debt to the Czech Republic, which currently stands at around $1.1 billion.
WRIGHT FLYER: The Experimental Aircraft Association unveiled its 1903 Wright Flyer reproduction on March 18 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The aircraft is scheduled to reinact the Wright brothers' first flight exactly 100 years later, on Dec. 17, 2003, at Kill Devil Hills, N.C.
Defense officials insisted March 18 that they are not seeking to exempt a planned missile defense deployment from operational testing requirements, although the Bush Administration has given Congress proposed language that would seem to do just that.
After a three-month delay, Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials in the United Kingdom are gearing up to downselect in mid-April to two competitors for the 1 billion pound ($1.56 billion) Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) program, according to industry officials. The U.K. is developing GBAD to counter a list of increasingly sophisticated airborne threats, ranging from attack helicopters to cruise missiles to unmanned aerial vehicles.
Increased military threats from North Korea and China are unlikely to cause other East Asian countries to develop remote sensing satellite systems, according to two space analysts. That's because it probably will remain cheaper to simply buy imagery from the many commercial satellite imagery providers, the analysts said.
The U.S. Air Force's upcoming X-45C Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator incorporates changes from previous models that will point the way for a future joint UCAV, according to Dyke Weatherington, deputy in charge of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) planning task force at the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).
Jean-Luc Lagardere, the chairman of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS), died in Paris on March 14 at age 75, the company said. Lagardere's career began more than 50 years ago with Avions Marcel Dassault, the company said, and he oversaw the merger of several European companies, including Matra High Technologies with Aerospatiale and the formation of EADS in July 2000. He was named to Aviation Week & Space Technology's Laureates Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement in 2001 (DAILY, April 27, 2001).
A heavy business schedule has prompted the House Armed Services Committee to delay a hearing on U.S. participation in the Paris Air Show, the committee announced late March 17.
The Boeing Co. will provide Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) for Denmark, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman and South Korea, the Defense Department said March 18. Boeing will produce 245 JDAM kits for Denmark, 202 kits for UAE, 84 for Oman and 14 for Korea under an $11.6 million Foreign Military Sales contract from the Air Armament Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The work will be completed by November 2005, according to the contract.
AUTOPILOT: The U.S. Navy has selected BAE Systems' Digital Autopilot System for some configurations of its P-3 patrol aircraft, the company said March 18. The system was selected based on its suitability for long-range maritime patrol missions, the company said.
Hamilton Sundstrand has formed two new business units, Homeland Security Systems and Land Systems, to address markets for infrastructure protection and for outfitting soldiers, the company said March 18. The company said it will leverage its work in space-related systems for the new units.
The Boeing Co. and General Dynamics Corp. said March 18 they look forward to additional court proceedings on the case involving the canceled A-12 Avenger fighter aircraft. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit released a ruling late March 17 that sent back an earlier decision by the Court of Federal Claims against the companies. "Since the trial court misunderstood our mandate and misapplied the controlling standard, we vacate this judgment and remand," the decision says.
The Turkish air force hopes to extend its military cooperation with the U.S. to the area of space systems, a senior Turkish service official said March 18. "Turkey's ultimate goal is to reach self-sufficiency in some select space capabilities in an incremental manner," said Maj. Gen Bilgin Balanli, head of plans and policy for the Turkish air force.
NEW DELHI - The Indian government has approved the design and development of a naval version of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), according to a defense ministry official. The approval comes as development of the standard version of the LCA is nearing completion. The aircraft is scheduled to enter Indian air force use in 2006-2008. Although the naval and standard version will share a common engine and armament, a Russian 23mm cannon, the official said the naval version will have some unique features, including being more salt resistant.
The U.S. Air Force armaments community is diverting funds from legacy bomb and missile programs based on a new ranking system that elevates a new breed of capabilities, including autonomous attack systems. The shift in resources was highlighted during the fifth annual Air Armament Summit held last week at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Col. Pamela Arias said in a March 17 interview.
