In another sign of the U.S. military's increasing interest in combat drones, the Air Force is seeking to add a simulated missile to the software package that powers the Predator Training System. A sole-source contract synopsis posted Jan. 13 calls for upgrading the Predator's simulator with a Hellfire anti-tank missile capability, a weapon the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has fired in tests and on enemy targets.
MOSCOW - The major emphasis of Russia's space program in 2003 will be supporting the nation's telecommunication satellite constellation, according to the head of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. Rosaviakosmos chief Yuri Koptev, in an interview released by the government press service, said an NPO PM-built Express AM satellite is due to be launched by a Proton booster. Two RSC Energia-built Yamal-200 satellites, part of a commercial project, also are scheduled for launch, along with a Russian-Ukrainian Sich-1M remote sensing satellite.
BAE Systems will provide Theater Airborne Reconnaissance System (TARS) upgrades for U.S. Air National Guard F-16C Falcons under a $3.8 million contract, the company said Jan. 14. The TARS pod was developed by BAE Systems Reconnaissance and Surveillance Systems of Greenlawn, N.Y., and provides daylight tactical reconnaissance to theater commanders. The contract begins the process of upgrading the TARS fleet with a wide-bandwidth, Airborne Information Transmission datalink and solid-state recorder, the company said.
After switching from a three-blade to a four-blade rotor design, the A160 Hummingbird unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has had three successful flights in Victorville, Calif., according to prime contractor Frontier Systems. The first flight with the new rotor took place at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville on Nov. 20. Operating at 62 percent of its maximum rotor rpm, the 35-foot long UAV demonstrated its ability to precisely and efficiently hover close to the ground in a flight that lasted several minutes, according to the company.
The incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) said Jan. 14 that he is drafting a letter asking the Bush Administration to study the potential uses of unmanned aerial vehicles for homeland security. Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) said UAVs, which have played a prominent role in military operations in Afghanistan, offer surveillance capabilities that could be useful in protecting the homeland. But he wants to be sure that adequate consideration is given to the privacy implications of using UAVs domestically.
Northrop Grumman has completed a test in which a dummy unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was launched from an expendable capsule designed to be released from a submarine, the company said Jan. 14. In the first of three planned tests, the Stealthy Affordable Capsule System (SACS) successfully demonstrated key technologies including capsule hydro-stability, payload support, and payload ejection, according to the company. The test took place in a pool at the SRI Corral Hollow Experiment Site in Tracy, Calif.
Lockheed Martin Corp. has formed a team to compete for the contract to design and build a battle management command-and-control system for the Air Force's multi-mission command-and-control (MC2A) aircraft program. The development phase of the contract could be worth $500 million over five years. Production orders could be worth many times that amount, company officials said at a media briefing in Washington Jan. 14. The team will consist of Raytheon Co., Science Applications International Corp., L-3 Communications Corp. and Alphatech Inc.
Project Alpha, a Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) experimental laboratory for futuristic concepts, is preparing to launch the next phase in a gradually unfolding research and discovery process on an emerging military reconnaissance and strike concept called "swarming."
Legislation aimed at promoting the development of nanotechnology will be reintroduced in the Senate, according to congressional sources. Sens. George Allen (R-Va.), Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) offered a bill last September to put the National Science and Technology Council in charge of a new interagency program to support long-term research and development of nanotechnology.
Raytheon Co. would supply missiles for a Navy program to replace the canceled Area Theater Ballistic Missile Defense program in which it was also a key player, a Naval Sea Systems Command spokesman said. The new program, Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM), "is basically going to be the successor to" the Navy Area TBMD program, cancelled in 2001, said David Caskey of NAVSEA.
Airships should assume a prominent role in homeland security and military operations, according to Steve Huett, Naval Air Systems Command's (NAVAIR) program manager for the Littoral Airborne Sensor Hyperspectral (LASH) airship program. "A lot of people feel that it's time to take another look at [airships]," Huett told The DAILY. "The big advantage is cost per flight hour. It's been told to me that airships can operate at one third to one fourth the flight hour costs of a normal aircraft, because you've got all that free lift coming from the gases."
Arianespace and the European Space Agency have delayed the launch of the Rosetta comet rendezvous mission, as Arianespace continues to investigate a Dec. 11 launch failure of its heavier-lift Ariane 5. Rosetta was to orbit and land on comet Wirtanen in 2011, according to ESA, but the launch delay could mean another comet will have to be found.
ENGINE WORK: Rolls-Royce will provide logistics support for its AE 2100D3 engines on U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J tanker aircraft, the company said Jan. 14. The work will be done under a $34 million Naval Air Systems Command contract. The company will provide engine and propeller support on a flight-hour basis, Rolls-Royce said.
NEW DELHI - India's Agni-1 ballistic missile could be used by the Indian army even though it has had only two test flights, V.K. Aatre, head of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), told The DAILY. India tested the Agni-1 for the second time on Jan. 9, just a day after Pakistan inducted its Hatf-5 missile into its army. The short-range version of the missile, which has a range of about 700 kilometers (435 miles), had its first test in May
The Coast Guard is leaning away from buying Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as part of its Deepwater recapitalization effort, and is considering General Atomics' Predator to fulfill its high-altitude surveillance requirements, according to the Coast Guard's UAV program manager.
FACTORY WORK: Spectrum Astro has completed the financing for its new, 115,200-square-foot "Factory of the Future," the company said Jan. 13, and work on the facility will accelerate. The Gilbert, Ariz., facility, dedicated to building space and missile defense systems, is due to be finished by February 2004.
Lawmakers have kicked off the new 108th Congress by introducing legislation that would help guide the development of technology in aerospace and other sectors. Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) has proposed reviving the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), which Congress eliminated in 1995 to save money. Holt's bill, introduced Jan. 7, would provide members of Congress information and analysis on a range of science and technology (S&T) topics, including aerospace.
HIDSS: Rockwell Collins has delivered the first engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) Aircraft Retained Unit (ARU) Helmet Integrated Display Sighting System (HIDSS) to Boeing and Sikorsky for the RAH-66 Comanche program, the company said Jan. 13. Kaiser Electronics, a Rockwell Collins business unit, designed and developed the HIDSS for the Comanche program. The system uses solid state, active matrix liquid crystal display technology to give Comanche pilots head-up situational awareness, according to the company.
SPACE POST: Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), who said in November he expected to become chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee's science, technology and space subcommittee (DAILY, Nov. 8, 2002), probably will not head the panel after all, congressional sources said Jan. 13. Instead, a senator with more seniority on Commerce likely will chair the subcommittee. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) is now the leading candidate, but Sens. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) also are possibilities.
Two transportable shelters designed to house the B-2 Spirit fleet in a climate- controlled environment have been erected at a U.S. base in the Indian Ocean, giving the $2 billion bomber its first home beyond the gates of Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., the Air Force announced Jan. 13. The shelters, each the size of two football fields, were erected by 20 airmen working 12-hour shifts for 70 days. The mobile structures are the first of five hangar systems delivered to the Air Force by contractor American Spaceframes Fabricators Inc., of Crystal River, Fla.
The Army has launched a contractual effort to field its first weapon-carrying unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and the first since the Air Force's Predator pioneered the modern armed drone concept two years ago. The Army intends to award a sole-source contract to Northrop Grumman to equip the aging Hunter UAV, a short-range reconnaissance drone, with Brilliant Anti-Armor (BAT) submunitions, according to a Jan. 10 notice. The deadline to respond to the notice is Jan. 14.
