Reps. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) and Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) are creating a House caucus to promote homeland security. The group, which Weldon and Dicks will co-chair, will organize briefings for lawmakers and seek to rally support for homeland security programs. A formal announcement of the group's formation is expected within a few weeks, Weldon told The DAILY late Feb. 25.
GENERAL DYNAMICS LAND SYSTEMS of Sterling Heights, Mich., said the Stryker Mobile Gun System entered U.S. Army production qualification testing this week at Aberdeen Test Center, Md. Successful completion of the test is required before the system enters low-rate initial production, which the Army is expected to authorize in the fourth quarter of this year. General Dynamics has delivered seven pre-production Stryker Mobile Gun Systems to the Army, with an eighth to be delivered this month.
ALLIANCE: Israel Military Industries (IMI) and Alliant Techsystems (ATK) of the U.S. have signed a strategic alliance to market IMI's self-destruct fuzes in the United States, IMI said Feb. 26. The company's Self-Destruct Fuze is NATO qualified and is being evaluated for use by the U.S. Army, IMI said.
MTHEL TRANSFER: Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) announced Feb. 26 that it plans to hold a ceremony Feb. 28 to mark the transfer of the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) from SMDC's technical center to the Army program executive office for air and missile defense (PEO AMD). The ceremony will take place at Redstone Arsenal in Hunstville, Ala. The transfer is slated to be completed by Oct. 1.
Government customers for satellite services must do a better job of conveying their needs to major providers, a panel of top satellite executives said Feb. 26.
PRAGUE - The Czech ministry of defense has grounded its fleet of 57 L-159 light combat aircraft for at least several weeks following a fatal crash in central Bohemia last week (DAILY, Feb. 24). The ministry said the aircraft, produced by Czech company Aero Vodochody, probably will remain grounded until the completion of an investigation into the incident, in which an experienced air force pilot died. The investigation, which is being carried out by a special commission appointed by the Czech army's chief of staff, is expected to take at least six weeks.
NASA's venerable Pioneer 10 spacecraft, launched in 1972, has sent its last signal to Earth, NASA said Feb. 25. A weak signal was received Jan. 22, with no telemetry data. NASA has no plans to made additional contact attempts, and aerospace agency engineers said the spacecraft's radioisotope power source has decayed and may not have enough power to send additional transmissions to Earth.
Actions taken by launch service providers to boost demand for service, such as reducing rates, are unlikely to significantly benefit the satellite industry, according to a panel of satellite executives and analysts. Instead, launch service providers need to focus on launch vehicle reliability and ensuring that their rates remain competitive, they said.
DEBRIS SEARCH: NASA has used one of its ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft, which are similar to the U.S. Air Force's U-2 reconnaissance planes, to search for debris from the shuttle Columbia, the aerospace agency said Feb. 26. The ER-2 flew a seven-hour mission at 40,000 feet over western Texas on Feb. 22, and researchers are studying the imagery.
Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., reported fourth-quarter revenues of $161 million, an increase of 33 percent over fourth quarter 2001. Orbital also reported an operating income of $10.8 million, compared with a loss of $23 million in the same period last year. Revenues for the year were $551.6 million, also an increase of 33 percent over 2001. Some of the increase was due to the company's work on a missile defense boost vehicle under a multi-year contract from the Boeing Co., Orbital said (DAILY, March 6, 2002).
In a memo sent earlier this week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld questioned the Air Force's decision to delay the GPS III program, according to Owen Wormser, principal director for spectrum, space, sensors, and command, control, and communications (C3) at the Pentagon.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The Department of Defense's investments in high-energy laser research are shifting from technologies designed to attack incoming ballistic missile warheads to tactical requirements, according to a defense technology official. That trend should be confirmed by an event scheduled in April by the High Energy Laser Joint Technology Office (HEL-JTO), which coordinates the Pentagon's research on laser technology and provides about $70 million each year to fund fledgling research and development efforts.
ManTech International Corp. of Fairfax, Va., will acquire Integrated Data Systems (IDS), a Chantilly, Va.-based software development and systems integration company that supports intelligence and Department of Defense customers. ManTech will acquire IDS for $57.5 million in cash, the company said Feb. 25. The buy is the company's third acquisition since its initial public offering in February 2002. Last year, the company acquired Aegis Research Corp. and CTX Corp.
An Army official told a Senate panel Feb. 25 that the Defense Department plans to terminate the Joint Simulation System (JSIMS) due to problems in developing the computer-training tool, but the proposal drew immediate criticism from a senator whose state hosts the program.
Three companies have received Air Force contracts for early work on a payload for the projected Space Based Radar (SBR). Harris Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Raytheon Co. each got about $8.6 million to competitively "define, analyze, design and demonstrate a pre-prototype" payload for SBR, which will be able to monitor tactical targets when it becomes operational.
Boeing achieved the first Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) launch during a flight test at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the company said Feb. 25. The SDB separated from an F-15E and flew a planned mission, Boeing said. Boeing's announcement came two weeks after Lockheed Martin said it had completed the first flight tests of its captive-carry variant of the weapon (DAILY, Feb. 13).
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A space wargame being held this week at Schriever Air Force Base here will help the Army generate space-related requirements, according to Brig. Gen. Richard V. Geraci, deputy commanding general of Army Space Command. "You start talking and you start generating requirements," Geraci said in an interview last week as the week-long game began. "You say, 'You know, if our satellites had this capability and they could perform this way, we may be able to minimize casualties, be able to execute a mission in more rapid manner.'"
GLOBAL HAWK: Northrop Grumman has delivered the seventh Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle to the U.S. Air Force, the company said Feb. 25. The vehicle, which includes enhanced avionics, is the last to be delivered under the advanced concept technology demonstration phase. The company is scheduled to deliver the first two Global Hawk production vehicles later this year.
RADAR WORK: The Australian Department of Defence has awarded Daronmont Technologies a three-year, $15 million contract for building, operating and supporting a demonstration of an over-the-horizon, high-frequency surface wave radar. The SECAR radar can detect surface vessels and low-flying aircraft beyond the visible horizon, which will allow 24-hour surveillance of the coastline. Authorities will use the radar to monitor fisheries and offshore oil and gas equipment and deter smugglers.
Initial results from the first flight test of the Navy's "Coyote" GQM-163A Supersonic Sea Skimming Supersonic Target (SSST) appear favorable, according to Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). The booster launch and separation phases performed as expected during the Jan. 23 test at Point Mugu, Calif., NAVAIR said. Data collected during the test is being analyzed to measure the rest of the Coyote's performance.
The Defense Department is trying to find promising technologies that could quadruple the military's deployable electric power supply within 10 years, a senior DOD official said Feb. 25. "Our power needs are insatiable," said Al Shaffer, director of plans and programs for Defense Research and Engineering. The military's electrical supply crunch was a key theme of his speech at the Non-Lethal Weapons conference in Alexandria, Va., which was sponsored by the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The Army plans to bring image fusion to the individual soldier when it fields the next-generation of night vision goggles in fiscal year 2007, according to Lt. Col. Cynthia Bedell, product manager for sensors and lasers at Program Executive Office-Soldier. Bedell is responsible for the development of hand-held night vision devices, from image intensification and infrared goggles to low-light cameras and laser rangefinders.
