PATUXENT RIVER, Md. - Military rotorcraft must have more science and technology (S&T) funding if they are to fulfill the roles envisioned for them in the future, according to Thomas Laux, program executive officer for air anti-submarine warfare, assault, and special mission programs at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).
LONDON - The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MOD) has selected a proposal from Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Systems and the U.S. government to provide the Javelin attack missile to meet British army medium-range anti-tank requirements, Defence Procurement Minister Lord Willy Bach said Jan. 22. Bach said the selection followed a rigorous and comprehensive assessment phase, which included live-fire trials of the Javelin and the Spike anti-tank missile (ATM) system, which was proposed by Israel's Rafael and the European MBDA companies.
Aviation Week will launch its Top 100 Stars of Aerospace program next month, allowing aerospace officials and readers to vote on "the most important, most interesting and most influential people" in the global aerospace community, past and present.
FRIEND OR FOE: BAE Systems will provide Advanced Identification Friend or Foe (AIFF) equipment for U.S. Air Force F-16C Block 25, 30 and 32 aircraft, the company said Jan. 23. The work will be done under a $4.6 million contract. The total program, including options, could be worth $100 million over five years, the company said.
Consolidation of companies in all tiers of the U.S. aerospace and defense industry likely will continue as long as the defense budget rises, according to a senior acquisition official with BAE Systems North America. "Depending on what analyst you listen to, what report you listen to, most people think [merger and acquisition activity] is going to go down, and as the defense budget goes back up, there'll be no need for further consolidation. I don't agree with that," said Lucy Fitch, vice president of acquisitions and strategy.
TELEPHONICS CORP. of Farmingdale, N.Y., will deliver its APS-143B(V)3 OceanEye Surveillance Radar for range surveillance missions for the U.S. Navy and NASA at Goddard Space Center in Wallops Island, Va. the work is being done under a $1.7 million contract award from Dyncorp. The radar, which will replace the Telephonics APS-128D radar used there, will be the primary sensor installed on a Beech 100 Maritime Patrol Aircraft, according to the company. The Ocean Eye Radar will provide target data to the command center during tactical missions conducted from Wallops Island.
The Navy is gearing up to conduct the inaugural flight test of a new missile target intended to help the service develop better ship defense systems and improve its fleet training. U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) was on track to conduct the first launch of a Coyote GQM-163A Supersonic Sea Skimming Target (SSST) on Jan. 24 at test facilities at Point Mugu, Calif., a NAVAIR spokeswoman said Jan. 23.
Lockheed Martin Corp. again led the Pentagon's top 10 contractor list for 2002, with contracts awards totaling $17 billion, up from $14.7 billion in 2001.
SAN DIEGO - Graphic displays will play a key role in the planning, training, and conduct of combat operations should military action against Iraq be necessary, said John Burwell, senior director of government industry for Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI). Systems will include advanced Area Air Defense Commander (AADC) systems, flight simulators that can integrate aircraft around the world and mission planning stations that enable pilots to "fly" their missions before takeoff, Burwell told The DAILY.
Three months after rival consortiums led by SAIC and ThalesRaytheonSystems submitted bids for a contract to build a command and control center for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greek officials still haven't picked a winner. The winner of the contract, expected to total at least $250 million, hasn't been named even though both sides have cut their bids by more than a third. However, an announcement could come any day.
Fourth-quarter net earnings for General Dynamics Corp. in 2002 fell 36 percent from 2001 due to a charge taken for discontinued operations, the company said Jan. 22. Earnings from continuing operations totaled $269 million for the fourth quarter, compared with $251 million for the fourth quarter of 2001. Fourth quarter 2002 sales totaled $3.9 billion, compared with $3.5 billion for the same period in 2001.
With most of the Air Force's command, control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C2ISR) aircraft recently assigned to it, the 8th Air Force is serving as the Air Force's testbed for network-centric operations, according to its commander, Lt. Gen. Bruce Carlson.
Within the next few years, military communications will shift to an Internet-like, "smart pull" system in which warfighters will request information from a global network only when they need it, according to John Stenbit, deputy assistant secretary of defense for command, control, and communications (C3).
The Senate is considering language that supports the Defense Department's request to transfer $104 million to the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile, but the measure would take some of the money from different sources than DOD had proposed. The language, included in a fiscal 2003 non-defense appropriations package, rejects the Pentagon's proposal to take $64 million in previously approved funds from unspecified midcourse missile defense systems, a congressional source told The DAILY late Jan. 21.
Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems will continue production of replacement structural assemblies and spare parts for the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet under a $47.4 million U.S. Navy contract, the company said Jan. 22. The work will extend the service life of F/A-18 aircraft operated by the U.S. Navy and CF-18s operated by the Canadian Defence Force, the company said.
MOSCOW - RSC Energia said its council of chief designers has approved a draft project for a modified Block DM-SL B upper stage, which the company said could fly as early as 2004. The new upper stage is intended for use on Zenit-3 vehicles that would launch from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome, as part of a joint Land Launch project between the Sea Launch company and Russian and Ukrainian space companies.
CONFIRMED: The U.S. Senate confirmed former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge as the first secretary of homeland security on Jan. 22, by a vote of 94-0. The new Department of Homeland Security is scheduled to begin operations Jan. 24.
PORTSMOUTH, Va. - Norway is focusing on bolstering its niche warfighting capabilities as the NATO ally plans a three-year increase in defense spending, defense minister Kristin Krohn Devold said here Jan. 21. Norway's defense budget is projected to grow 7.5 percent annually until 2005, Devold said at a two-day NATO transformation conference here called "Open Road 2003." Meanwhile, procurement accounts will rise at a faster rate and will make up a third of the budget by 2005, she said.
Congress will soon be asked to take another look at a proposal to dramatically increase funding for aeronautics research and development. Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) introduced a bill last year that would have doubled aeronautics R&D funding at NASA and the FAA. That legislation picked up significant congressional support but did not pass the House or Senate before the 107th Congress ended.
A senior Pentagon official said Jan. 22 that research and development programs likely to be accelerated are those involving battlefield communications technologies. "The [programs] that come back to immediate needs [are those] helping with some of the communications-related areas, whether it be bringing systems together in an integrated and fused way or enabling more effective communications between coalition partners," according to Ronald Sega, the Defense Department's director of defense research and engineering.
AEROSONIC, Clearwater, Fla. Gary E. Colbert has joined the company as chief financial officer. ALCOA, Pittsburgh, Pa. William F. Christopher has been named executive vice president, Alcoa and group president for Alcoa Aerospace, Automotive and Commercial Transportation. ALLIED DEFENSE GROUP, Vienna, Va. U.S. Army Maj. Gen. (ret.) John G. Meyer Jr. will succeed U.S. Army Gen. (ret.) J.H. Binford Peay III as president and CEO. DERCO AEROSPACE, Milwaukee, Wis.