LAUNCH: Arianespace successfully launched an Intelsat 907 communications satellite on Feb. 15, on the last flight of the Ariane 4 booster, the company said. The flight marked the 116th launch of the booster, which is being replaced by the Ariane 5, the company said. The Intelsat 907 will provide Ku-band spot beam coverage for Western Europe and West Africa and C-band capacity to the Americas, Europe and Africa, according to Intelsat.
Fleet pilots are beginning the first operational assessment of the Marine Corps' new AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) said. NAVAIR said crews will conduct five sorties of each aircraft, with the sorties representing tactical missions. The AH-1Z SuperCobra and UH-1Y Huey are being developed under the H-1 Upgrades Program, which is modernizing the aging fleets. The assessments are intended to confirm that the revamped helicopers are suitable for fleet operations. 'On the right track'
LONDON - The four partners in the Eurofighter consortium have announced they have conducted initial flights with their first series production aircraft (SPAs). These aircraft follow the first seven development prototypes - one of which recently crashed in Spain (DAILY, Nov. 25, 2002) - and three instrumented production aircraft (IPAs), which began their flight-clearance programs in the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy last spring.
NEW DELHI - India has agreed to invest about $150 million in the development of the Arrow-2 anti-missile system, according to an official with the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The United States, which is developing the system with Israel, must approve the investment.
Congress has provided $20 million in the fiscal 2003 NASA appropriations bill so the space agency can get an early start on developing an orbiter to explore three Jupiter moons. The Bush Administration had proposed starting the Jupiter Icy Moon Orbiter (JIMO) program in FY '04, which does not begin for almost eight months. But lawmakers decided to advance NASA $20 million in the current fiscal year so it can get started on JIMO right away. NASA hopes to fly JIMO within a decade.
CONVERSION: Ten Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) C-130Hs will be converted from conventional airlifters to AFSOC aerial refuelers, Lt. Gen. Paul V. Hester says. The converted airlifters will be transferred from Air Mobility Command. AFSOC faced a shortage of aerial refuelers after the Pentagon decided to elevate regional special operations commanders to "supported command" status, he says. In another development, AFSOC plans to award a contract soon to build four more AC-130 gunships that Congress approved last year, Hester says.
HEAVY LIFTING: A U.S. national security policy involving proactive military strikes may have to be carried out without much international support, according to Defense Policy Board chairman Richard Perle. "We are in for a lot of heavy lifting," Perle says. "We have to recognize that however much we might say and believe that we're all in this together, when you look in detail we have different interests, not necessarily in direct contradiction to one another, but not the same either," he says. He cites South Korea as an example.
Feb. 23 - 25 -- U.K.-U.S. Defense Industry Seminar, "Promoting Transatlantic Alliances and Partnerships Between U.K. and U.S. Defense Firms," Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, Va., 22182. Contact Ben Stone at [email protected] or register online at http://register.ndia.org/interview/register.ndia~Brochure~3990. Feb. 25 - 28 -- Royal Aeronautical Society's Guided Flight Conference, Boscombe Down, England. Call +44 (207) 670-4345 or go to www.aerocsociety.com.
The Thales Group said Feb. 14 that revenues from military sales rose more than 18 percent in 2002, accounting for nearly 61 percent of all company revenues for the year. Defense revenues rose from 5.74 million euros ($6.20 million) in 2001 to 6.81 million euros ($7.35 million) in 2002. "As expected, the increase in consolidated revenues stemmed entirely from the steep rise in defense sales," the company said in a statement.
HASC DEMS: The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) is getting a new roster of Democratic subcommittee leaders. Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) will be the ranking Democrat on the airland panel and Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) will take the same spot on the strategic subcommittee. Other ranking Democrat appointments include Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) for projection forces and Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) for terrorism. The new chairman of the full committee, Rep.
EW WORK: The Defense Research Association of Beavercreek, Ohio, will develop electronic warfare (EW) test and evaluation methodologies under a $6.3 million contract from the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, the Defense Department said Feb. 14. Of the contract amount, $500,000 has been obligated, with the rest to be spent through individual delivery orders.
HIGH STANDARDS: Unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) are included in the Pentagon's developmental spending plans, but the armed drones may face a higher standard before they're used in battle. UCAVs must demonstrate an "order of magnitude" increase in capability over manned aircraft, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper says. UCAVs won't be used because of their novelty, but because of their unique qualities, including endurance and persistence, he says.
ADOPTING STRATEGY: Many major U.S. defense companies appear to be adopting the strategy of Northrop Grumman Corp., according to senior aerospace and defense analyst Byron Callan of Merrill Lynch. "They aim to amass a portfolio of defense technologies and then pursue systems solutions utilizing these capabilities, drawing from all corners of the company," Callan says. That strategy is demanding, because it assumes that internal technologies are the best in their class.
A recent flight of the Hummingbird A160 vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) demonstrated 50 percent power and fuel consumption compared with a similarly loaded conventional helicopter, according to designer Frontier Systems of Irvine, Calif. The flight, which took place Feb. 10 at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, Calif., was the fifth flight for the A160 featuring its new four-blade rotor system since November 2002. Previous flights featured a three-blade rotor.
ORLANDO, Fla. - Lockheed Martin is seeking to fix the F/A-22 Raptor's persistent software problems in the laboratory, but a recent flight test failed to validate the results of those efforts in the air, senior Air Force acquisition officials said at a symposium here Feb. 14. The F/A-22's integrated suite of advanced sensors has been plagued by reliability problems for months. A $700 million cost overrun revealed by F/A-22 officials in November was linked partly to testing delays caused by computer shutdown errors.
NEW DELHI - India and the U.S. have accelerated talks on defense ties, and discussions on India's planned purchase of P-3 Orion aircraft will be held within a month, an Indian defense ministry official said. A spokesman for Lockheed Martin, builder of the P-3, said, "there are meetings going on" about the P-3, and added that the company also is "in dialogue with [Indian officials] across a whole range of requirements that they have - fighters, airlift and maritime patrol."
BAE Systems North America said Feb. 14 it has reached an agreement to buy Advanced Power Technologies Inc. (APTI), which it said will help the growth of its network-centric warfare work. APTI, a privately held company based in Washington, D.C., builds equipment for processing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data for defense, civil and commercial uses. BAE Systems will buy the company for $27 million in cash.
ORLANDO, Fla. - EDO Corp. is driving for foreign sales of the BRU-57 smart bomb racks it builds for U.S. Air Force F-16s, company officials said at a symposium here Feb. 14. EDO has added the planned Eurofighter Tranche 3, which incorporates an air-to-ground strike role, to its list of smart bomb rack candidates, said Ed Mygland, a business development group director. United Kingdom officials last month examined the device aboard a Eurofighter in a scheduled "fit check," he said.
SAT WARS: Undersecretary of the Air Force for Space Peter Teets thinks the time has come for the Defense Department to begin working on both defensive and offensive systems for U.S. satellites. "Our space systems do give us a very, very significant capability advantage," he says. "There's no doubt in my mind that our adversaries have taken note of that." Early defensive measures might first come in the form of attack warning systems, according to Teets.
LONDON - BAE Systems' Underwater Weapons Division will build what the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MOD) describes as the world's most advanced lightweight torpedo systems. Under a 441 million pound ($715 million) contract announced Feb. 14 by defense procurement minister Lord Willy Bach, BAE Systems will produce a major upgrade of its Sting Ray advanced lightweight homing torpedo.
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) has picked up a seat on the House Science Committee, where he plans to look out for the interests of the local Boeing Rocketdyne facility, which makes engines for NASA's space shuttle. Sherman said the Rocketdyne facility is the largest private employer in the San Fernando Valley, which he represents. "The San Fernando Valley receives a significant share of funding from NASA. I will continue to fight for these funds," Sherman said.
UAV ROADMAP: The Office of the Secretary of Defense's new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) roadmap should be released by the end of February, according to Dyke Weatherington, deputy in charge of OSD's UAV planning task force. "We've been working on [it] hard for over a year to update it," Weatherington says.
