Northrop Grumman Corp. and TRW Inc. said Dec. 5 they hope to reach an agreement with the Justice Department about their proposed merger by Dec. 11, the day shareholders will vote on the merger. If an agreement cannot be reached by Dec. 9, the companies agreed not to close the transaction before a deal is reached with regulators or until Dec. 16, whichever comes first, Northrop Grumman officials said in a statement.
An X-band radar being developed for the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system will be used during flight testing of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system for the first time later this month, a spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency said Dec. 5.
An Atlas IIA rocket successfully launched NASA's Tracking and Data Relay System-J (TDRS-J) satellite from Cape Canaveral, Fla., Dec. 5. Liftoff from pad 36A took place at 9:42 p.m. EST. TDRS-J separated from the rocket 30 minutes later, and an hour after launch NASA's Deep Space Network ground station in Australia received the first signals from the spacecraft. For the next two weeks, transfer orbit operations will boost the 7,039-pound (3,196-kilogram) satellite into a geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the equator.
A U.S. proposal that NATO members play a military support role in a possible war against Iraq is "not unreasonable," a NATO policy planning official said Dec. 5. Accepting such a role would require "countries like Germany, for example, to either opt out, in the sense of 'constructive abstention' ... or they redefine what they mean by military involvement," the official, Michael Ruhle said in an interview before addressing a meeting held by the European Institute in Washington.
Resolutions coming from the recent NATO Summit in Prague have laid the groundwork for the European countries to begin addressing new security threats, according to a senior NATO official. "Prague recalibrated NATO's agenda in line with the security environment post-9/11 and therefore, also in line with the two dominant U.S. concerns: terrorism and weapons of mass destruction," Michael Ruhle, head of NATO policy planning said.
MOTOR TEST: Orbital Sciences Corp. successfully test-fired the rocket motor that will serve as the first stage of the interceptoazr booster the company is developing for the ground-based midcourse missile defense program, the company said Dec. 5. The Orion solid-fueled motor, provided by ATK Thiokol Propulsion, was test-fired for 70 seconds. Orbital, which is doing the work under a contract from Boeing, plans to launch its booster in early 2003.
Orbital Recovery Corp. said its new "space tug," the Geosynch Spacecraft Life Extension System (SLES) could be used to boost the stranded Astra 1K satellite. Astra 1K, the largest commercial satellite built in Europe, was left in a too-low orbit after its launch vehicle had an upper-stage malfunction (DAILY, Nov. 27).
VORTICES: The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded a $1.1 million contract to continue development of a program to provide warnings of air disturbances at airports, such as wake vortices, Lockheed Martin said Dec. 5. The program, Project Socrates (Sensors for Characterizing Ring-eddy Atmospheric Turbulence Emanating Sound), is a collaboration between Lockheed Martin and Flight Safety Technologies. The program aims to develop a laser listening device to "hear" the sound generated by hazardous atmospheric conditions.
NEW DELHI - Russia has offered to sell India multirole MiG-29Ms to replace its aging MiG-21s, MiG-23s and MiG-25s, according to an official with Rosobronexport, Russia's arms export agency. The MiG-29M has a larger fuel tank than the MiG-29, giving it a range of up to 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles). The MiG-29M has a more rugged airframe and is capable of carrying a six-ton weapons payload, instead of the four-ton capability of the Indian air force's current MiG-29s. It also has new Zhuk radar and weapon control system.
NASA has decided to add at least one instrument to a spacecraft that will serve as a test bed for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).
The U.S. military's first fully networked, deployable headquarters for a theater-level commander is now assembled and running for a U.S. Central Command exercise in Qatar, making its debut in an operational setting, according to military officials. The mobile command post, a cluster of trailers containing staff workstations and communications and data links to the U.S. and the region's allied forces, is the centerpiece of Operation Internal Look. It offers a first glimpse of the mobile future for regional command and control stations.
MILESTONE: Rolls-Royce has shipped the 100th AE 1107C turboshaft engine for the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, the company said Dec. 4. The company is scheduled to deliver 22 AE 1107C engines in 2003 to support the Osprey's low-rate initial production, the company said. The engines are provided to the U.S. military under a commercial procurement agreement.
Naval Air Systems Command will brief industry Dec. 17 on its vision of a Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aerial vehicle. Such a UAV would "provide persistent unmanned, long dwell Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) capability to the warfighter," NAVAIR said. At the "industry day" session, to take place at the Mitre Corp. facility in McLean, Va., the Navy UAV program office will outline its acquisition strategy and get industry feedback on program issues, risks and schedule.
The newly developed air-to-air refueling capability for Hawk 127 advanced jet trainers is under scrutiny this month during a two-week series of flight trials performed by BAE Systems and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The trials are the last step in the RAAF's plan - Project Air 5367 - to field a fleet of upgraded lead-in jet trainers for fighter pilots picked to fly F/A-18 Hornets. The RAAF's 33 Hawk aircraft are customized with Hornet-type cockpit layouts.
Accelerating the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) will "slightly" drive up the cost of the $11.8 billion program, but higher production rates may yield some savings, according a U.S. Defense Department spokeswoman. Overall program costs will rise $124 million, or about 1 percent, as a result of increasing production to a total of 208 missiles in fiscal 2003 and 2004, the spokeswoman said by email. It was not clear how the Pentagon would find extra funds for FY '03.
PRAGUE - Czech aircraft producer Aero Vodochody is likely to see a downturn next year but the company's future is not in jeopardy, Industry and Trade Minister Jiri Rusnok told journalists. Aero Vodochody's sales are expected to drop from last year's $385 million to less than $230 million for 2002, as it nears completion of a Czech military order for 72 L-159 subsonic fighters. In the first half of 2003, it will deliver the last batch of 14 aircraft and has yet to secure its first international order for the aircraft.
L-3 Communications Corp. announced Dec. 4 it has completed its offer for all outstanding shares of Wescam Inc., a maker of visual wireless systems. As of Dec. 4, nearly 97 percent of all Wescam shares had been tendered to a Canadian subsidiary of L-3, company officials said in a statement. The transaction, valued at nearly $118 million, is expected to add $100 million to L-3's sales in 2003.
EXPO: India has invited delegations from 45 countries to the International Aerospace Exposition-Aero India 2003, which will be held in Bangalore from Feb. 5-9. A senior defense ministry official said leading defense companies from the U.S., the United Kingdom, Israel, France, the Netherlands, Russia, Poland, Italy, Brazil, Belgium, the Czech Republic, South Africa and Ukraine have confirmed they will participate. Seventeen countries participated in the third Aero India exhibition, held in 2001, which included the first display of India's Light Combat Aircraft.
LAUNCH: The Coriolis spacecraft, built by Spectrum Astro for the Department of Defense, has moved to the SLC-4W launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in preparation for its planned Dec. 15 launch. The spacecraft carries an instrument to measure ocean wind speed and direction and one to study coronal mass ejections on the sun.
RIVET JOINT WORK: Signal Technology Corp. of Danvers, Mass., will produce switch matrices - which help distribute voice and data transmissions - for U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft under a $2 million contract from Sierra Nevada Corp., the company said Dec. 4.
NEW DELHI - India plans to integrate the air navigation system it is developing with international navigation systems, according to an official with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The system's technology demonstration stage is underway and expected to be complete in another two years. It is slated to become operational by 2007, said an ISRO official. India's system would be linked to the Global Positioning System, Russia's Glonass system and Europe's Galileo.