SIMULA SALE: Simula Inc., which builds products for military aviation safety and other markets, is considering a company sale or merger, selling its assets or refinancing, the Tempe, Ariz.-based company said Dec. 16. The company has hired Relational Advisors and Libra Securities to evaluate its alternatives.
The Missile Defense Agency is redesigning a pylon on top of the first Airborne Laser aircraft because of vibration discovered while the plane was in flight, a program spokesman said Dec. 16. The redesign is not expected to affect plans for the aircraft, a modified Boeing 747-400F freighter, to undergo its first attempt to shoot down a missile in December 2004, added the spokesman, who asked not to be named.
The Air Force is devising a new concept of operations (CONOPS) for lethal unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in which they would be released into a theater and loiter until they are tasked by a larger network, according to Maj. Gen. Robert Chedister.
European defense company representatives called on the U.S. Dec. 16 to further streamline its process for granting export licenses to companies doing business with European firms. "U.S export controls are ... a deterrent to international collaboration," said Michael Bell, group head of Strategic Analysis at BAE Systems. The problem isn't getting the U.S. to approve the export of items on the Commerce Department's dual-use Control List or the State Department's Munitions List, Bell said.
A Lithuanian request to import Raytheon Stinger missile systems is moving forward after the U.S. Army signed a letter of agreement for the $21 million deal, according to a Dec. 16 company statement. The agreement clears the path for the sale of the export-controlled Low Altitude Surface-to-Air Missile System (LOSAMS) to the Lithuanian government, Raytheon said.
Arianespace has appointed the inquiry board that will investigate the Dec. 11 failure of the new, heavier-lift version of its Ariane 5 launch vehicle, the company announced Dec. 16. The heavier-lift configuration features an additional cryogenic upper stage that provides a 10-ton payload capacity, up from 6.5 tons for the previous version. This new variant had to be destroyed on its first flight 7.5 minutes after lifting off from Kourou, French Guiana, after an engine anomaly caused a problem with the vehicle's flight control system (DAILY, Dec. 13).
The Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will launch flight tests next fall on an airborne node that packs communications relay, jamming and signals intelligence capabilities into a single unit, an industry official said Dec. 16.
The DAILY incorrectly described the Defense Department's hierarchy in a Dec. 16 story. The future undersecretary of defense for intelligence, who has not been named, will not outrank E.C. "Pete" Aldridge Jr., the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
NEW DELHI - Antrix Corp. Ltd. (ACL), the marking arm of the state-owned Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), has launched a marketing drive to export small remote-sensing satellites worldwide and forge links with aerospace and communications companies for hardware and other backup support.
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) plans to reintroduce legislation in 2003 to revamp the Export Administration Act, a Cold War-era law that restricts the export of dual-use products, or items that can have both military and civilian uses. The Senate in September 2001 passed an Enzi bill to overhaul the EAA, but comparable legislation stalled in the House. Lawmakers wrapped up the 107th Congress in November, so EAA legislation will have to be reintroduced when the 108th Congress convenes in January.
Credit analysts with Standard & Poor's have lowered the ratings on BAE Systems' short-term bond notes after the company acknowledged last week it had fallen behind on two key defense programs. Analysts lowered the company's commercial paper rating from "A-1" to "A-2" and placed its long-term "A-" corporate credit rating on CreditWatch with negative implications.
LESSONS LEARNED: If a war with Iraq does occur, the cost of rebuilding Iraq and paying for the war could reduce the funding for weapons modernization, according to Merrill Lynch. "But wars are audits of capability, and each tends to spawn a series of 'lessons learned' which shape subsequent defense budgets," Callan says. The experiences from the Gulf War boosted interest in missile defense, precision-guided munitions and information technologies.
EL PASO, Texas - The Army is considering a "modest" expansion of the aviation component of its special operations forces, according to Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John Keane. Keane said recent military operations in Afghanistan strained the Army's special ops aviation units. "We had a lot more requirements than we had aircraft to meet all of those requirements," he told reporters Dec. 11 here at a conference sponsored by the Association of the U.S. Army.
Lockheed Martin Corp. believes its booster rocket is not to blame for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system's unsuccessful intercept attempt Dec. 11, in which the booster and the Raytheon exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) failed to separate, according to a Lockheed Martin spokesperson. "Preliminary data" show the booster did everything it was supposed to, suggesting the fault may be with the EKV, the spokesperson said late Dec. 12. The separation failure prevented the EKV from engaging the target.
IMPLEMENTATION: Representatives from government agencies and the aviation and space industry are developing an "action plan" to implement the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry, according to the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). Officials from the departments of Commerce, State, Defense, Transportation, the FAA and NASA met with industry leaders last week to divide the report's nine recommendations into those that can be accomplished in the short term and those that need more time.
U.S. government agencies are seeking ways to protect commercial airliners from attack by shoulder-fired missiles, sources told The DAILY. A three-day closed meeting on the subject in Washington wrapped up Dec. 13, but the findings weren't immediately known. If it's ultimately decided to put electronic warfare defenses on airliners, however, the government probably would have to foot the bill, according to two sources familiar with the meeting. The cost might be $1 billion.
RETIRE 'C4ISR': Although it proved useful for organizing military thinking in the past, the term "C4ISR" (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) is now "damaging," according to Keith Masback, director of ISR integration at Army headquarters. The term is damaging, he says, "because we start to blend and confuse this idea of pipes and routers and switches, with [the] knowledge that has to travel on it.
WASTED TIME: A key aide to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld blasts the military for what he says was at least three decades of slow progress on developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Richard Havers, Rumsfeld's special assistant for intelligence, says "we would have been far ahead of where we are today if the department had consistently kept a strong focus and desire to make this technology work." Havers spoke at a UAV conference in Virginia last week.
TOO COSTLY: Installing electro-optic (EO) countermeasure systems on commercial aircraft to counter surface-to-air missile attacks likely would be too costly, according to a report from Merrill Lynch. "We are skeptical that the protection of large civil aircraft against [surface-to-air missile] threats will become a significant market for the companies we follow," senior aerospace and defense analyst Byron Callan says. Assuming a conservative $1 million cost per aircraft, U.S.
Northrop Grumman Corp. announced major changes in its organizational structure Dec. 13 following its acquisition of two TRW business units. In a meeting with defense reporters in Washington, Northrop Grumman Chairman and CEO Kent Kresa and Chief Operating Office Ronald Sugar said the company is creating two additional business sectors and named two former TRW executives to head those units.
Jan. 14 - 16 -- Naval Institute and AFCEA West 2002-From Change to Transformation, San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, Calif. For more information contact Kim Couranz at (410) 295-1067 or visit [email protected]. Jan. 23 -- Precision Strike Association presents Winter Roundtable 2003 - Global Strategy for Joint Precision Strike. Crystal Gateway Marriott, Salon A, 1700 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Va. For more information call Leslie Mueller at (301) 475-6513 or email [email protected].
NORAD ROLE: The missile defense duties of the new U.S. Northern Command may be moved to the binational North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), according to Army Lt. Gen. Edward Anderson, deputy commander of Northern Command and vice commander of the U.S. element of NORAD. The U.S. is discussing such a transfer with Canada, the other member of NORAD. Northern Command's roles, which still are being defined, include defending the U.S. against ballistic and cruise missiles. The U.S.
