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.
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.
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.
Navy interest in a program managed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force is prompting a look at ways to increase the Navy's level of participation, a DARPA official said. Stephen P. Welby, deputy director of the agency's Information Exploitation Office, said significant strides have been made in the Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement (AMSTE) program, and that the Navy would like to be more involved in it.
The Pentagon added 29 missiles to the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) program and accelerated the fiscal 2003 production rate by 26 percent, a Defense Department spokeswoman said Dec. 3. E.C. "Pete" Aldridge Jr., undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, has signed an Acquisition Defense Memorandum (ADM) on the PAC-3. The new production schedule calls for a total of 208 PAC-3 missiles in the next two years, including 100 in FY '03, up from a previous estimate of 79.
Having completed its first flight test last week, the Have Lite missile is ready to begin final flight testing once the first order is received, according to the missile's co-producer, Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control. Have Lite, a lighter, smaller version of the AGM-142 Have Nap air-to-surface missile, is designed for countries flying single-seat F-16 Fighting Falcons and other smaller manned fighters, Bill Rivera, manager of international business development said Dec. 3.
General Dynamics Corp. and the Boeing Co. said they will seek court orders to halt Defense Department plans to deduct nearly $2.3 billion from payments to the companies as part of the long-running dispute over the failed A-12 Avenger program. The DOD told the companies Dec. 2 it would begin deducting about $66 million per month from each company for the next 18 months, to collect money it says the government is owed for the program.
The U.S. Air Force miscounted deferred maintenance costs by $190.7 million last year and is not preparing to fix its accounting practices, according to a report posted Dec. 3 by the Defense Department's Office of Inspector General. The Air Force reported in early fiscal 2002 that it had $167.5 million of deferred maintenance on the books, which is a major factor in service readiness levels. Equipment repairs ranged from those to aircraft and engines to software and buildings.
CONTRACT: The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon Co. a $118.7 million contract for the second year of low-rate initial production of the Evolved Seasparrow Missile (ESSM), the company said Dec. 3. The award includes funding for 163 all-up-round missiles, Raytheon said. The missile, used for advanced ship defense, is being produced for the Navy and member nations of the NATO Seasparrow Consortium.
The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet's APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar is on schedule for first flight and a low-rate initial production (LRIP) decision in June of next year, according to manufacturer Raytheon. The APG-79 program is a joint effort of Raytheon, F/A-18E/F prime contractor Boeing, and the Navy. The team expects to produce a total of 413 AESA radars for the Super Hornet fleet, including 277 forward-fit units and 136 retrofit units.
The U.S. Defense Dept.'s Acquisition Technology and Logistics (AT&L) division is implementing a new electronic business plan that should yield its first Internet portal and an overall information technology blueprint. AT&L, the military's top authority for weapons acquisition policies, also is creating two new offices to manage the division's internal systems and its electronic links to the Pentagon's weapons suppliers.
LONDON - Longstanding plans to unify multinational European military air training took a step forward Dec. 2 with the signing of a new one-year Eurotraining Feasibility Study agreement. Acting on behalf of a consortium of five leading European aerospace companies, Italy's Aermacchi signed the contract with the Italian General Directorate for Aeronautical Armaments (DGAA). The directorate was representing the air forces of 12 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
The U.S. Navy has given a General Dynamics unit a contract to begin low-rate production of the Area Air Defense Commander (AADC), a system designed to improve air defense planning. The contract, awarded to General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, calls for Naval Sea Systems Command to make an initial purchase of four systems. If options to buy four more systems are exercised, the contract's total value will exceed $45 million. The contract also includes engineering support services.
German Aerospace Center (DLR) has licensed its robotic capture technology for use on Orbital Recovery Corporation's planned satellite "tug," Orbital Recovery announced Dec. 2. The capture tool will allow the company's Geosynch Spacecraft Life Extension System (SLES) spacecraft to dock with a telecommunication satellite in orbit by attaching to the satellite's apogee kick motor (AKM). Once docked, the 'tug' will extend the satellite's life by providing propulsion, navigation, and guidance (DAILY, Sept. 4).
The Defense Department's Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) program, set up eight years ago to speed the fielding of better weapon systems and other new technology, has had some success but could be improved significantly, the General Accounting Office says.
PRAGUE - The Czech government will adopt a fast-track approach once it decides to go ahead with a new tender for supersonic aircraft, deputy defense minister Stefan Fuele told The DAILY. Czech defense minister Jaroslav Tvrdik is expected soon to provide the cabinet with several options for replacing the country's aging MiG-21 fleet. These include leasing or buying supersonic aircraft in line with the government's declaration in the summer that it was committed to protecting airspace by "national means."
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is expected to become chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in January, has announced that Capitol Hill veteran Michael Bopp will become the panel's Republican staff director. Bopp currently is legislative director and general counsel in Collins' office. During earlier service on the Governmental Affairs Committee's investigations subcommittee, Bopp looked into such issues as the global proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
PRAGUE - Construction work on a $20 million repair plant capable of handling Boeing 747s began Nov. 27 at Ostrava-Mosnov airport in the Czech Republic. The plant, which is slated for completion by the end of August 2003, will include a hangar with sufficient space for two wide-bodied and two smaller aircraft.
