The radio communication bands allocated by the Army for the control of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) aren't suitable for the entire range of UGV operations, according to the chief of the robotics division at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. The approved frequency ranges for UGVs are 4,400-5,850 MHz or 14,250-15,350 MHz, David Knichel said Feb. 11 at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International's (AUVSI) Unmanned Systems Program Review 2003 in Washington. The 138-144 MHz band is approved for command and control of the vehicles, he said.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - One challenge facing the board investigating the breakup of the space shuttle Columbia is deciding how to handle potentially sensitive information from a variety of government sensors that monitored the orbiter in its final minutes. Any data gathered by ground-based missile defense radars, for instance, "could be and probably is classified if it would reveal ... operational capabilities," said Lt. Col. Andy Roake, a spokesman for Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) at Peterson Air Force Base here.
Another RQ-8A Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) successfully completed the first of several flight tests at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., according to officials with Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector. The tests, conducted in January, involved a second test vehicle built as part of the program's engineering manufacturing and development phase. Three more air vehicles will be built as part of the program's low-rate initial production phase
A House-Senate conference committee has tentatively agreed to add $10 billion to a fiscal 2003 non-defense appropriations bill to continue the war on terrorism. The Senate already had approved $3.9 billion for war-related intelligence activities (DAILY, Jan. 21). At the Bush Administration's request, the House-Senate panel tentatively has agreed to provide an extra $6.1 billion for defense: $4.5 billion for operation and maintenance and $1.6 billion for personnel.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is holding costs steady despite the first significant cut in orders, a senior Pentagon official said Feb. 7. The Pentagon's six-year spending plan unveiled Feb. 3 would cut roughly 400 aircraft from the U.S. order. The reduction drops the total JSF order to about 2,600, which includes the United Kingdom's order for 150 F-35Bs, the short-take-off-vertical-landing variant.
Administrator Sean O'Keefe defended NASA's process for forming the independent Columbia mishap investigation board during a press conference Feb. 10, saying the formation of a more independent "blue ribbon" panel would have slowed the investigation in its critical early stages.
GREEN LIGHT: Arianespace flight 159, the final mission for the Ariane 4 booster, was approved for launch over the weekend and is scheduled to carry the Intelsat 907 telecommunications satellite to orbit on Feb. 12. The Ariane 4 entered service in 1988, according to Arianespace, which is transitioning to the Ariane 5.
Officials with Northrop Grumman Ship Systems sector on Feb. 10 unveiled details of a monohull ship design they say would meet the Navy's requirements for a Littoral Combat Ship. The ship, based on the Visby-class corvette built by Sweden's Kockums, would be nearly 105 meters (346 feet) long and weigh 2,700-2,800 tons, Northrop Grumman officials said in a media briefing in Washington. Kockums has partnered with Northrop Grumman on the project.
Phil Condit, chairman and chief executive officer of The Boeing Co., faces daunting challenges, including declines in commercial aircraft sales and in demand for commercial space launches, but he also sees significant new business opportunities in which he thinks the company is well-positioned to succeed. Boeing no longer thinks of itself as mainly a builder of airplanes and spacecraft but as a large-scale systems integrator, Condit said in an interview last week.
Members of the newly formed Suborbital Institute visited Capitol Hill this week for a series of briefings intended to raise awareness of the emerging market for suborbital reusable launch vehicles (RLVs). The Institute is a trade association made up of companies who are exploring applications for suborbital RLVs. Using a stair-step approach, the companies are attempting first to develop small, "sustainable niche" markets, according to Pat Bahn, CEO of TGV Rockets, Inc. and Washington director of the Suborbital Institute.
Boeing Co. has received a contract for phase two concept advanced development work on the Navy's Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft, and Lockheed Martin is in line to receive a similar contract, a Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) spokesman said. Boeing received a $20.5 million contract from NAVAIR on Feb. 6, and Lockheed Martin's contract is "coming shortly," Justin Ward said Feb. 10. "It's administrative," he said. "As soon as they [complete] the paperwork," Lockheed Martin will get its contract.
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Sens. George Allen (R-Va.) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) have reintroduced legislation that would double funding for aeronautics research and development at NASA and the FAA over five years. Under the proposal, aeronautics R&D funding would reach $1.15 billion at NASA and $550 million at the FAA by fiscal 2008. The bill is designed to make the U.S. aerospace industry more competitive internationally by reversing a long-term decline in aeronautics R&D spending.
Three companies - Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman - have told the Missile Defense Agency they each plan to compete to become the prime contractor for a new ground-based interceptor test bed that could shoot down missiles in their boost phase of flight, MDA announced in the Feb. 6 Federal Business Opportunities.
President Bush intends to designate Hansford T. Johnson, the assistant secretary of the Navy for installations and environment, to be acting secretary of the Navy, the White House said Feb. 7. Johnson will replace Susan Morrisey Livingstone as acting secretary while tending to his current duties, the Department of Defense said Feb. 7. Livingstone became acting secretary on Jan. 24, when Gordon England left the Navy to join the new Department of Homeland Security. She asked not to be considered to succeed England, according to DOD.
BANGALORE, India - The deep-penetration Jaguar aircraft is set to become a mainstay of the Indian air force after the government agreed with the recommendations of an air force report that calls for upgrading existing aircraft and buying more. The state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) has begun upgrading 18 two-seat Jaguars, in addition to the upgrades of 17 single-seat aircraft that already are underway, HAL Chairman Nalini Rangan Mohanty said in a Feb. 7 interview at the Aero India 2003 expo here.
NASA confirmed Feb. 7 it is analyzing photographs of the Space Shuttle Columbia, taken by an Air Force laboratory just before the orbiter's destruction on Feb. 1, which could provide clues as to the cause of the disaster. According to Aerospace Daily affiliate Aviation Week & Space Technology, photographs taken by the Air Force with ground-based cameras in the Southwest show significant damage on the left inboard leading edge wing section. The photos were taken about a minute before the shuttle was destroyed.
DSP HELP: Infrared images of the Space Shuttle Columbia's breakup taken by an Air Force Defense Support Program satellite, and shown on television that same day, imply that at least one of the geosynchronous orbit DSPs is keeping an eye on North and South America. During the Cold War, the satellites monitored the Eurasian landmass and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans for missile launches aimed at the U.S. The terrorist attacks of Sept.
Feb. 9 - 11 -- Helicopter Association International's Heli-Expo 2003, Dallas Convention Center. For more information call (703) 683-4646 or go to www.heliexpo.com. Feb. 10 - 13 -- Fatigue Concepts' course on fatigue, fracture mechanics and damage tolerance. Rose College, Oklahoma City. Call (916) 933-5000 or go to www.fatigueconcepts. com. Feb. 11 - 12 -- NAVWAR Conference, "NAVWAR After 9/11." Aerospace Corp., Los Angeles, Calif. SECRET clearance required, U.S. only. For more information call (888) OLD-CROW or visit www.crows.org.
MINI KILL VEHICLES: The Missile Defense Agency plans to conduct a flight experiment for its miniature kill vehicle program in fiscal 2005, according to MDA. MDA believes that developing smaller kill vehicles would allow it to put more than one on a interceptor, giving it multiple chances to hit a target. The agency is trying to decide what kind of "contract strategy" to pursue for the new program, according to a senior budget official at the Defense Department.
BANGALORE, India - Global defense companies are competing to equip India's latest combat helicopters and to sell the country new aircraft. Technical managers for the Indian military's helicopter directorate are holding up to 20 meetings with company officials a day during the India Aero 2003 expo here to see what new weaponry and other equipment can be fitted to India's combat helicopters. The meetings have included Eurocopter, Sikorsky, AgustaWestland and Kazan Helicopters.
