Spacehab, Inc. reported a net profit of $1.2 million for the second quarter of its 2003 fiscal year, although the destruction of the shuttle Columbia, which was carrying the company's Research Double Module (RDM) in its cargo bay, leaves the company's future earnings uncertain.
Goodrich Corp. on Feb. 7 reported a profit for the fourth quarter, but results for the newly acquired Aeronautical Systems business were worse than expected. Fourth-quarter net income rose from a loss of $54.4 million a year ago to nearly $12 million. Revenue for the quarter climbed 12 percent, from $1.05 billion to $1.18 billion, partly due to the inclusion of results generated by the former TRW Aeronautical Systems business.
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.
DEVELOPING THE ORD: The military services in general, and the Marine Corps in particular, are trying to do a better job of communicating operational weapon requirements to defense contractors, according to Marine Corps Assistant Commandant Gen. William Nyland. Doing a better job of developing the operational requirements document (ORD) before the early milestones of a weapons program is key, he says. "We have not historically done a great job in [developing the ORD]," he says.
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.
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.
ARMY BUDGET: Army Secretary Thomas White and Gen. Eric Shinseki, Army chief of staff, are scheduled to appear before the House Armed Services Committee Feb. 12 to provide their first congressional testimony on the Army's fiscal 2004 budget request. The request includes about $1.1 billion to continue research and development for the recently restructured RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program.
NO SHOW: Americans, U.S. companies and the armed forces should not participate in the Paris Air Show if France continues to oppose the potential use of force to disarm Iraq, says Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.). Saxton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's new terrorism subcommittee (DAILY, Jan. 10), is circulating a letter seeking co-sponsors for a resolution asking Americans to steer clear of the show.
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.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Science Committee's space and aeronautics subcommittee, plans to reintroduce legislation that would offer tax incentives to promote greater commercial investment in space, according to a spokesman for the congressman.
ZERO-SUM GAIN: The loss of the space shuttle Columbia could have a positive impact on U.S. space programs if plans are implemented to develop new orbiters or multiple pathways to space, according to senior aerospace and defense analyst Byron Callan of Merrill Lynch. Ensuring access to space through multiple paths "may result in greater attention to providing funding for two strong suppliers of expendable launch vehicles and renewed development of other reusable concepts," Callan says.
Two new advisory groups reporting to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will monitor the development of the Pentagon's concept for a Total Information Awareness (TIA) system. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) effort, headed by retired Vice Adm. John Poindexter, aims to detect signs of terrorist transactions in cyberspace. It has stirred a storm of controversy among civil libertarians and privacy advocates.
V-22 ASSESSMENT: The V-22 program at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., hosts a visit this week by Aldridge, who is looking for an update on the aircraft's critical recent flight tests. "My trip ... should get me a little bit more education on how they are progressing," he says. "I haven't heard of any real problems yet." Aldridge plans to review the program's flight test plan and get an update on the plane's reliability, among other measurements.
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.
TANKER LEASE: A decision on the potential $17 billion lease of 100 Boeing 767 tankers for the Air Force could be reached this week, says E.C. "Pete" Aldridge Jr., the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. Perhaps mindful of several previous false starts for the lease deal last year, Aldridge says his prediction may be more of a preference. "We would like to [reach a decision], but whether or not we can depends on a lot of external" factors, he says. A go-ahead decision likely will trigger another series of deliberations over funding.
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.
NEW JSOW: A new and improved Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) is preparing to enter production as early as May of this year, according to Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). The munition recently underwent an 18-month redesign effort intended to address vibration issues with the F-16 that were causing wear on the JSOW's control fins. JSOW developer Raytheon led the effort, which culminated recently in three test launches from an Air Force F-16D and a Navy F/A-18C fighter at NAVAIR's Pacific test range in southern California.
Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), the prime contractor for the Arrow missile defense system, and the Boeing Co. are completing a contract that will allow Boeing to begin producing Arrow missile components in the U.S., industry sources said Feb. 7.
EDO BUY: EDO Corp. said it has acquired Advanced Engineering and Research Associates, Inc., for $38 million in cash. The Alexandria-based company provides information technology, engineering and logistics support to several military programs, including the U.S. Marine Corps' Commercial Enterprise Omnibus Support Services and the Coast Guard's Deepwater program. The company will become part of EDO's Systems and Analysis Group. EDO said last year the company planned to become "substantially larger" through acquisitions (DAILY, Aug. 7, 2002).
Northrop Grumman is being awarded a $185 million contract to prepare its Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to participate in a maritime demonstration in 2006 that will be a crucial step in the Navy's effort to develop a high-altitude maritime surveillance UAV.
Despite the U.S. military's growing need for bandwidth, the likelihood that it will turn increasingly to the commercial satellite industry to fulfill that need remains remote, according to some industry analysts. The military always will depend on the commercial sector for some of its communications needs, such as casual communication, analysts say, but budget issues and the military's unique needs may make longer-term relationships difficult.
WORK BEGINS: Northrop Grumman's Ship Systems sector has begun construction of DDG 100, the 50th ship in the DDG 51-class of Aegis destroyers, the company said Feb. 6. The company has delivered 17 Aegis destroyers to the U.S. Navy, with the delivery of the 18th scheduled for Feb. 28.
The fiscal 2004 budget cycle marks the first time the Pentagon combined its program and budget review processes, and more changes could be ahead, according to a senior Defense Department official. DOD's former procedure required a program review at the beginning of the process and a budget review for the same program months later, Pentagon Comptroller Dov Zakheim told reporters Feb. 3. "We're trying to finally clean up all the instabilities that have piled up for 30 or more years," he said.
Taking the next step in the streamlining of defense export controls, the Eurofighter consortium is set to sign the first Major Program Authorization (MPA) approved by the U.S. State Department, industry and government sources said. The MPA would clear the way for U.S.-based supplier Hamilton Sundstrand to export electronics components to the Eurofighter program under a single license.
An unmanned bomber could offer advantages over manned aircraft for long-range strike missions, Boeing's chairman suggested Feb. 6 in an interview. Boeing, in conjunction with the U.S. Air Force and the Defense Advanced Projects Agency, is developing the X-45 Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle technology demonstration system. The X-45A demonstrator aircraft first flew May 22, 2002.
