LITTON INDUSTRIES has completed the purchase of most of Imo Industries' Electro-Optical Systems operations, Litton said Monday. The Texas-based Imo units develop and produce laser and night-vision equipment. Terms of the purchase weren't disclosed.
The cruise missile threat to the U.S. and its allies is set to grow substantially in terms of numbers and quality of missiles available to hostile forces, a defense analyst said Monday in Washington. David Isby, senior analyst for McLean, Va.-based Sparta Inc., said the "most stressing [cruise missile] threat will start in the medium term," five to fifteen years from now. It will include: -- Possession of land attack cruise missiles by Syria, Iran and China.
The newest U.S. Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) has been designated GOES-9 after reaching its operational orbit 22,300 miles above the Equator, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which operates the nation's weather satellites. Positioned at 90 degrees E longitude for a four-and-a-half-month checkout period, the Space Systems/Loral-built platform ultimately will give forecasters two state-of-the-art weather satellites with views of the entire U.S. (DAILY, April 27, page 148).
House opponents of the proposal to increase the B-2 stealth bomber program beyond the present 20 have calculated that building the additional planes at the most efficient rate of three a year would absorb more than the likely increase in procurement and R&D outlays through 2002. The Air Force has testified that it wants more B-2s, but not at the expense of its other programs.
LOCKHEED MARTIN Defense Systems, Pittsfield, Mass., will expand its investigation of a Regenerative Liquid Propellant Gun System under a modification to a previous contract from the Naval Surface Warfare Center. NSWC's Crane Div., Louisville, Ky., said in a June 6 Commerce Business Daily notice that the company would conduct further studies under the Gun Weapons Systems-Warships Program. "This research is to identify performance characteristics of XM46 regenerative liquid propellant at lower pressures in a longer term combustion environment," it said
The Eurofighter 2000 made its first flight with a production-standard Eurojet EJ 2000 turbofan engine Sunday, according to European media reports. The 52-minute test flight of the Eurofighter's Alenia-built DA.3 prototype took place over Northern Italy.
EER Systems Corp. has agreed to pay $1.8 million to lease the recovery vehicle developed by Space Industries International for the old Commercial Experiment Transporter (COMET) program. Under the deal SII, which opted out of the COMET program after NASA declined to increase its contribution beyond $14 million for a "COMET-like mission" (DAILY, April 10, page 44), will simply provide the recovery vehicle and analyze it after flight.
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORP. today is slated to deliver to the U.S. Navy the first torpedo defense system to be developed using commercial off- the-shelf components. The Multi-sensor Torpedo Alertment and Recognition Processor (MSTRAP) and Launched Expendable Acoustic Device (LEAD) will be the focus of ceremonies at Westinghouse Electronic Systems' Sykesville, Md., facility. The company said MSTRAP and LEAD represent a significant improvement over the Navy's surface fleet torpedo defense capability and are examples of acquisition reform.
ANALYSIS AND TECHNOLOGY INC., Technology Park, North Stonington, Conn., on May 25 received a $25.4 million contract from the U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center Detachment, New London, Conn., to evaluate and develop programs to determine advanced concept requirements for multi- platform sonar, combat, communications and weapon systems. The Dept. of Defense said the work is expected to be completed by May 2000. Fifty proposals were solicited and two offers were received.
NASA's proposal to set up public/private science "institutes" to draw on the expertise of its field centers won't be incorporated in the agency's fiscal 1997 budget request because details of how the institutes will function won't be ready in time, according to the agency's chief scientist.
KOLLMORGEN CORP.'S Electro-Optical Div., Northampton, Mass., on May 31 received a $6.9 million contract from U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command for the design, development, fabrication, testing and delivery of the Universal Modular Mast (UMM) system, a non-hull penetrating periscope mast for the New Attack Submarine. The Dept. of Defense said 40 proposals were solicited and three offers were received. The effort is expected to be completed in 36 months.
HUGHES MISSILE SYSTEMS CO., Tucson, Ariz., received a $6.3 million contract from the U.S. Navy on May 23 for risk reduction engineering and long-lead material to support the decision to proceed with the design and development of a Ship Self Defense System. The contract was awarded by Naval Sea Systems Command.
U.S. astronaut/physician Norman Thagard set a U.S. space endurance record aboard Russia's Mir space station yesterday as ground controllers in Moscow pondered how to free a stuck solar array on Mir's newest pressurized module.
RUSSIAN-BUILT MODULE to equip the Mir space station for Space Shuttle docking missions arrives at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., today aboard an An- 124 cargo plane. The Shuttle Atlantis will deliver the module to Mir late in October for the final six Shuttle/Mir docking missions, replacing a docking port on the Krystal module that will be used for the first such mission this month.
RAYTHEON CO.'S Electronic Systems Div., Sudbury, Mass., on May 23 was awarded a $22.6 million U.S. Navy contract for long lead materials for fiscal year 1995 NATO Seasparrow surface missile system production. The Dept. of Defense said the contract, from Naval Sea Systems Command, combines purchases for the government of Turkey (20%), a member of the NATO Seasparrow consortium, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to the governments of South Korea (49%), and Japan (31%).
McDonnell Douglas is working toward a near- term goal of being able to launch a Delta II rocket within two years of order to respond to increasing demand from satellite manufacturers for quicker turnaround. In an interview Friday at the company's Space Systems complex here, senior Delta officials said they eventually hope to be able to reduce the cycle time for the Delta II and upcoming Delta III rocket to as little as 18 months.
LORAL DEFENSE SYSTEMS, Akron, Ohio, received a $5.2 million contract from Naval Sea Systems Command on May 23 for nine additional Vertical Launch ASROC (VLA) missiles for the U.S. Navy.
A U.S. government interagency panel headed by the Commerce Dept. has approved a 20% Saudi investment in Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Orbimage satellite remote sensing business, clearing the way for distribution of the company's high-resolution commercial imagery in the Middle East.
The House National Security Committee's authorization of $553 million in long lead funding to support additional production of B-2 stealth bombers beyond the present 20 would lead to "an extraordinarily costly program" and "without justification," ranking Democratic Rep. Ronald Dellums (Calif.) and three other Democrats have charged.
Boeing is thinking about reviving the 234 helicopter, a commercial version of the CH-47 Chinook, for overseas sales, according to sources. A likely market is China, although the company would face a number of bureaucratic wickets, such as obtaining U.S. State Dept. approval, before it could begin trying to make sales there, sources said. A Boeing spokesman had no comment on the subject.
McDonnell Douglas has made significant progress in negotiations with Boeing for its International Space Station subcontract, and the two companies could announce a preliminary agreement by the end of this week, the chief of McDonnell's Station program says. "A week ago I wasn't quite sure I knew how we were going to get through this thing, but today I'm feeling very good about it," R. Gale Schluter said in an interview Friday in his office at McDonnell's Space Systems plant here.
A new high-level steering committee formed by Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) John Deutch is scheduled to meet today to hash out plans for a study that will re-examine the management of U.S. national and tactical imagery operations. The study will be undertaken this summer by a task force that will be established by the steering committee in the next week or two, National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Director Jeffrey Harris, a member of the steering group, said in an interview yesterday at his Pentagon office.
June 1, 1995 Boeing Defense and Space Group, Seattle, Washington, is being awarded a $5,681,981 Firm Fixed Price contract for various technical orders in support of the Peacekeeper and Minuteman missile systems. Contract is expected to be completed December 1997. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One firm was solicited; one firm submitted a proposal. Solicitation began August 1994 and negotiations were complete March 1995. Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah is the contracting activity (F42610-95/D-0019).
