Canadian defense procurement officials plan to release soon a letter of interest spelling out the details of sweeping changes in the Maritime Helicopter Project (MHP), according to a Ministry of Defense spokeswoman in Ottawa. The revisions were triggered by a ministerial announcement last week that stunned some Canadian military observers. On Dec. 5, Defense Minister John McCallum told Parliament the project's two contracts would be fused into a single tender.
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.
ACQUISITION: Computer Sciences Corp. plans to buy the technology company DynCorp for $950 million, including the assumption of DynCorp's $273 million debt. DynCorp will become part of CSC's Federal Sector Unit. The move, which requires shareholder approval, will help CSC support the new Homeland Security Department, the company said.
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].
NEW DELHI - BrahMos, a supersonic cruise missile being developed by an Indo-Russian joint venture, will undergo final trials in January at Balasore missile test range in eastern India. After the trials, the missile is slated to begin production by India's only missile development agency, the Defence Research and Development Laboratory.
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.
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.
ACQUISITION: Textron has acquired the helicopter skid shoe business of Carbide Technology Inc., to expand its presence in the helicopter parts and service market, the company said Dec. 12. Skid shoes protect helicopter landing gear and other equipment from abrasion damage from contact with hard surfaces. The Calimesa, Calif.-based company will become part of Edwards & Associates, a Textron unit that provides parts, service and customization for the helicopter market, Textron said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
ARLINGTON, Va. - The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) plans to nearly triple spending on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the next five years, reaching $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2007. According to Diane Wright, deputy director for air warfare at the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the department spent roughly $360 million on UAVs in 2001. That level reached $760 million in 2002, and the department plans to spend $1.6 billion in 2003, she said.
EL PASO, TEXAS - The Defense Department's joint program office for the Ground-based Missile Defense (GMD) system has come up with 37 proposals for enhancing the GMD test bed, deputy program director Thomas Devanney said Dec. 12.
PRAGUE - Czech officials are remaining tightlipped about a Canadian newspaper report saying Canada's defense department is negotiating the sale of up to 15 CF-18 fighters to the Czech Republic. The Canadian daily National Post, quoting sources from the country's defense department, said Dec. 12 that the fighters are to be declared surplus in the Canadian Air Force.
An investigation into the failed launch of Arianespace's new heavier-lift Ariane 5 on Dec. 11 will begin Dec. 16, according to a senior company official. The company is putting together an independent team of investigators to look into the matter, Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall told space industry reporters in a Dec. 12 conference call.
Aerospace and defense companies around the world are adopting tough new ethical guidelines regarding the use of foreign representatives, according to an aerospace and defense attorney in Washington. Much of that interest stems from the fear aerospace and defense companies have about inadvertently violating the laws of jurisdictions in which they operate, according to Alexandra Wrage, senior counsel with Northrop Grumman Corp.
The Navy, NASA, and AeroVironment Inc. plan to propose an advanced concept technology demonstration (ACTD) in which a variant of AeroVironment's solar-powered Helios unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) would be used to extend the communication range of ships at sea. Dubbed "TheaterNet," the partners hope the project will be chosen by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) as a fiscal year 2004 ACTD, according to AeroVironment Vice President Bob Curtin.
NEW DELHI - India soon will send out new requests for proposals for its planned buy of advanced jet trainers, according to a defense official here. India had planned to buy 66 BAE Systems Hawk 100s, but the Czech Republic offered Aero Vodochody's L-159 at a lower price - about $12 million a copy, compared with the $21 million BAE Systems wants for the Hawk (DAILY, Nov. 22). "The Indian government now is left with no option but to re-tender the entire [trainer] procurement program," the official said.
A U-2 spy plane veered off the runway in a touch-and-go landing last summer due to a maintenance error, according to an Air Force report released Dec. 12. The 9th Reconnaissance Wing aircraft was conducting touch-and-go landings Aug. 15 at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., when the mishap occurred. The pilot lost control of the aircraft and rolled off the runway before stopping, according to the Air Combat Command (ACC) Accident Investigation report. The pilot was not injured.
TEACHER IN SPACE: Educator Barbara Morgan has been named to a space shuttle crew to fly in November 2003, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said Dec. 12. Her flight will be the first of several NASA plans for its new Educator Astronaut program, scheduled to be revealed early next year. Morgan was selected as the backup candidate for NASA's Teacher in Space program in 1985, which was suspended after the Challenger accident the following year.
NEW DELHI - India's largest military contractor, state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), is launching a drive to export MiG aircraft spares and subsystems to 30 nations. HAL already exports MiG spares to 17 countries under an Indo-Russian protocol that allows the export of armament systems manufactured under license, but this is not enough, a HAL executive said in a Dec. 12 interview. HAL plans to expand its marketing deals for spares and systems to 30 countries, which could bring in more than $150 million a year, the official said.
EL PASO, TEXAS - An Air Force program to demonstrate a 25-kilowatt solid-state laser in the laboratory likely will spawn programs that seek to turn such technology into actual weapons, according to a representative of TRW Inc., one of two companies developing the laser for the Air Force.
ARLINGTON, Va. - Europe's three largest militaries - those of the United Kingdom, Germany and France - are seeking unprecedented levels of modularity and interoperability for a new generation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) each plans to field within 10 years. Europe has used small tactical UAVs since the Balkan conflicts in the early 1990s, but interest is building for real-time sensors and long-endurance UAVs.
U.S. aerospace industry sales are expected to weaken by about $10 billion next year due to a faltering economy and lackluster demand for commercial aircraft and space products, according to the Aerospace Industries Association. Industry sales are expected to fall from a projected $148.2 billion in 2002 to about $138.4 billion in 2003, John Douglass, president and CEO of AIA, said during the organization's annual yearend forecast luncheon in Washington (see charts on Page 5).
Northrop Grumman's Navigation Systems Division will provide updated technology and software to upgrade the warning and caution and mission computer subsystems on Boeing's C-17A, the company said Dec. 11. Under the contract's development phase, Northrop Grumman will create new software, test equipment and qualification units that will be flight-tested by Boeing in the second quarter of 2004. In the production phase, the company will provide 43 shipsets of equipment, with deliveries beginning in the first quarter of 2005.
