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.
Thailand has selected Northrop Grumman's Navigation Systems Division to supply LTN-92 inertial navigation systems for its fleet of C-130 aircraft, the company said. Installations are scheduled for completion by the end of next year. Terms of the contract were not released. More than 2,500 LTN-92s have been delivered.
The Navy's Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV-N) program will fund both Boeing and Northrop Grumman to build UCAV-N demonstrator aircraft in the next phase of the program, according to John Kinzer, UCAV-N deputy program manager for the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Funding constraints had led to speculation that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is managing the program, would not fund the construction of two demonstrators (DAILY, Feb. 20, 2002).
JOINING JSF: Israel has joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program as a Security Cooperation Partner (SCP), the Embassy of Israel said Feb. 13. The SCP program is designed to draw more countries into the JSF development program, but at a lower level than the current eight partners. Singapore also is in talks to join as an SCP (DAILY, Jan. 21).
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - A new class of skeet submunitions will be needed for the Air Force to engineer the Area Dominance (AD) concept, an emerging approach to solving the problem of striking mobile targets, according to project officers here. The most sophisticated submunitions today have crude onboard sensors that can identify targets within a narrow field of view after they are ejected by the Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD). WCMD and its anti-armor companion, the Sensor Fuzed Weapon, also are limited to one strike per mission.
The funding of research and development (R&D) programs related to homeland security and defense is a top priority for many of the federal agencies and departments receiving R&D funding, senior administration officials said Feb. 13.
Harris Corp. and Rockwell Collins will jointly develop and market interoperable ground and airborne communications equipment for the international market, the companies said Feb. 13. The equipment will be based on Harris' Falcon II tactical radios and Rockwell Collins' TALON airborne radios. Harris will incorporate the TALON waveform into its RF 5800M and RF 5800U tactical radios, and Rockwell Collins will incorporate Harris' Quicklook 1A waveform and Citadel embedded encryption into its TALON multiband radios.
The EUROPEAN AERONAUTIC DEFENCE AND SPACE CO. (EADS) has acquired BAE Systems' 25 percent stake in spacecraft builder Astrium. EADS already owns 75 percent of the company, and will acquire BAE Systems' shares for $91 million. The acquisition is a key part of EADS' move to restructure and integrate all of its space interests in the U.K., France, Germany and Spain, the company said.
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - The U.S. Air Force is launching a new acquisition program later this month to replace the large deployable shelters used to house fighter aircraft parked at undeveloped bases. The Air Armaments Center (AAC) here is close to publishing a request for information (RFI) to gauge industry's interest in the project, said Lorene H. Stanford, director of the AAC's Air Base Systems Program Office.
The Defense Department has asked Congress for permission to bypass operational testing requirements so it can begin deploying ballistic missile defenses (BMD) in 2004, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) revealed Feb. 13. DOD appears to want to skip operational testing for the BMD systems to save time and keep the deployment on track. At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Levin, the panel's ranking Democrat, said DOD quietly submitted the request for a testing waiver as part of its fiscal 2004 budget proposal.
NASA's new nuclear program has received the go-ahead from congressional appropriators. A House-Senate conference committee has approved a fiscal 2003 NASA appropriations bill that provides most of the money the Bush Administration requested for the program, which aims to develop next-generation nuclear power and propulsion systems for spacecraft.
One of the top priorities of the joint Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) program office will be to foster more competition within and among UCAV programs, 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).
NEW DELHI - The Indian air force is seeking around $12 billion over the next five years to buy aircraft and spare parts, according to spending plans submitted to the Indian Planning Commission. The request would support the air force's plan to upgrade 200 aircraft and acquire 100 more over the next five years (DAILY, Oct. 3 2002), and acquire a total of 350 aircraft over the next 10 to 15 years. The air force plans to buy Sukhoi Su-30MKIs, Mirage 2000s, Jaguars, advanced trainers and mid-air refuellers.
BATTELLE, Columbus, Ohio Vice Adm. Dennis McGinn (U.S. Navy, ret.) has joined the organization as vice president for strategic planning and business development. BOEING COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES, Washington, D.C. James W. Coon has been named director of legislative affairs for the company's Washington operations. BOMBARDIER, Montreal Pierre Alary has been appointed interim senior vice president and chief financial officer, replacing Louis Morin, who is leaving the company immediately.
BOARD AMENDMENT: Reacting to congressional criticism, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe issued an amendment to the charter of the board investigating the loss of the shuttle Columbia to reiterate that the board is independent of NASA. The amendment removes any requirement, "real or perceived," that board head Adm. Hal Gehman should "coordinate or await approval from NASA for any dimension of the panel's investigation," NASA said.
Germany may soon come around to the American position regarding war with Iraq and other national security matters, according the to the chairman of the Defense Policy Board, but France may continue to pose a challenge for the U.S. on Iraq and other matters. "By the time the Secretary [of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld] left Munich, there was a vigorous debate among the Germans about the wisdom of the course Germany has followed," said Richard Perle, referring to Rumsfeld's Feb. 8 meeting with senior German government officials.
NEW DELHI - India's supersonic BrahMos cruise missile cleared a major hurdle when it was successfully test-fired from a ship on Feb 12. The BrahMos, which is being developed jointly by Russia and India, was test-fired from an Indian navy vessel in the Bay of Bengal, according to an Indian defense ministry official.
CHANTILLY, Va. - The Defense Department needs a new, small expendable launch system that will be more "operationally responsive" than the current Delta IV and Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELVs), according to Air Force Undersecretary for Space Peter Teets. During a press briefing at National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) headquarters here Feb. 12, Teets praised the two EELVs, both of which had successful maiden launches last year, but said they still spend too much time on the pad in processing.
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - The Air Force is working to fix a serious navigation system flaw in the Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser that was revealed during an otherwise successful combat debut in Afghanistan. Acting in a close air support role, B-52s dropped about 700 WCMDs from high altitude during Operation Enduring Freedom. The weapon's ability to accurately disperse 40 cluster bombs within a defined area won raves from the warfighting community, WCMD manager Col. James S. Knox said in an interview Feb. 11.
Reps. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) and Mac Collins (R-Ga.) have been appointed to fill vacancies on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) announced late Feb. 11. Hastert also said that Reps. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.) and Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) have picked up seats on the House Science Committee.
